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Scotty

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  1. Scotty

    Sticker Shock ?

    By Scotty,

    Welcome to the new Admin Blog on the freshly updated CTO site ....

    We had been warning of an update for months and in the background we have been tweaking and testing the new version(s) of the software but as with any change, when we finally take the plunge it catches everyone by surpise ... including us. Its a little difficult in the middle of a season, in between games and such like, but we wanted to get this upgrade done as we have many other projects on the go and this one has been postponed a few times.

    They say testing is boring, but in my working life it is an absolute necessity and it is something we have tried to bring to CTO any time we do even minor upgrades. We have tested this for the last 4-5 months but like clockwork, despite the testing, we always face challenges and this time was no different.

    Our last test of the upgrade process went like clockwork ... we took a copy of everything and upgraded it on a test site in about 20 minutes, then spent about a week doing various configuration changes .... so we flipped the switch on boxing day when we hoped most users would be away from the Internet !

    Holy **** !!! the site burped, farted and fell over ! The upgrade did not work !!! or should I say it half-worked .... ok, time to rollback, use the backup copy of everything and try again ... this time it did work ... or appeared to !!!! except when we tried to add articles and the titles werent displayed, or when we tried to view the gallery and the whole site went offline, or when we tried to convert articles from the previous WordPress install and everything imported but got totally screwed up and showed itself as a new topic .... 800 new topics in 5 minutes .. .thats got to be a record for us !

    Its taken a couple of days, and it was probably good that we had a match today as it forced us to check a few things that were not working as expected and I think the major parts are now working as expected .... The editorial team can now add articles (once we show them how), the gallery doesnt crash the site, the RSS feeds now work, and article titles and such like now work ......

    We were also acutely aware of the "sticker shock" for all of you guys who woke up to find a totally different site in front of you. We havent really had much comment yet ..... not sure if thats a good thing or a bad one, but for those comments and queries we do get over the coming days, weeks and/or months, we will try to answer them in here or in the forums.

    The new site is progress and although it may not have all the bells and whistles of the previous site in terms of what we could do with the article system (Wordpess is awesome - we cannot deny it), the mere fact that we now have each part of the site integrated into a single entity makes it almost seamless to navigate and over time as we refine it, the experience will be a lot easier for us, you and the editorial or other teams.


    Please use the Website Support forum to highlight any issues you may have with the site, whether its a technical one, or something that may not work as expected, or where colours might clash etc. or to request more information about how to use a certain function. We will hopefully try to use this blog to keep folk up to date on whats going on with site development and also to maybe highlight the odd tutorial for parts of the site that have changed .......
  2. Scotty
    Our younger site members may not get the reference, but our older ones surely will ..... me, I sit somewhere in the middle and cannot really remember Sally Field's oscar winning speech where she made that cringeworthy comment, but have heard about it often enough, and know enough of who she is to chuckle ....

    However, its a perfect segue into a blog about the biggest change on the site that some users will notice ... the replacement of the Red/Green dot system for a "like" system.

    The Red/Green dots certainly caused comments when we introduced them, and I am not telling tales out of school when I said that most of the moderators had grave concerns over introducing them in the first place. However, we implemented it because some (myself included) thought it would be good, users could vote up the good posts and express concerns over the dodgy or negative ones ... and those same users would be adult enough to use it properly .... but not so.

    In the end, some users used it the way it was intended, and we thank you for that. However, some abused it to take the piss, and yet more abused it to partake in cyber-bullying by saving up all their red dots for one or two users ... so much so that we had to create a new user category specifically so we could prevent the serial abusers from applying any dots at all.

    Thats not the spirit of what we intended, and its one of those areas where poison can creep into the site so we decided - with the new version of the software - to swich to the new "Like" system which only has positive vibes ......

    Users can "like" pretty much as many posts as they want (think I set it to 100 per day, but that can be increased if we want), and everyone will be able to see who liked a post, but it is not possible to "dislike" a post (and I doubt we would implement that if it ever became an option). This is more in the style of what was intended .... vote up the good stuff and show appreciation for those users making a positive contribution to the site rather than picking on users because they are younger, smaller or - in your humble opinion - less intelligent - than you.

    As we are retiring the red/green dot system, it seems only fair to retire two legacy parts of that system that still exist.

    1. We have already removed the permissions group for the "serial abusers" which prevented them from issuing any dots and they can now issue "likes" to their heart's content like anyone else .....

    2. Negative reputation points ... Many users acquired a fair total of negative reputation points over the last two years of the dot system. I am investigating ways to reset these back to zero. I hope to reset all negative reputation back to zero and leave positive reputation untouched, but if thatproves too difficult, the we will just reset everything back to zero and start everyone from scratch.
  3. Scotty
    Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I'm a bit geeky about the financial side of Scottish football. That's partly because it is a simple way of judging who is over- and under-achieving, as well as being a pretty good indicator of which clubs are well-run and which aren't.

    Moreover I increasingly worry that it is only a matter of time until another Scottish football club ends up in an administration event. Very few are self-sustaining. As I previously blogged it feels like most Championship clubs are getting by on donations and goodwill. Meanwhile the clubs at the lower end of the top flight are rather dependent themselves on a combination of overachieving (higher league positions and cup runs) and selling players. In fact, even Celtic and Rangers, despite having budgets that dwarf the rest, face their own challenges.

    For comparison though, only three Scottish clubs - Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen - have turnovers higher than the bottom end of the English Championship. Celtic's turnover is lower than that of all 12 Premier League clubs who have published figures for last season. Rangers' wage bill would put them in the bottom half of the Championship, and Aberdeen's is lower than all Championship clubs.

    That's what Scottish football is up against.

    So let's look at all the info we have on Scotland's top clubs...

    (This is the point where I should really shout out to Kieran Maguire, whose analysis of football club accounts is invaluable reading when it comes to this)

    ABERDEEN
    TURNOVER: £15.4m (2016/17 - £15.3m)
    LOSSES: £800k (2016/17 - profit of £500k)

    Did Aberdeen really spend £1.3m on new players last season? Apparently so. Hopefully they'll be better value than Paul Bernard and Robbie Winters were. Despite posting a loss for 2017/18 the Dons seem to be in a perfectly decent position due to a turnover that is the third highest in Scotland. The question is how to increase income further - cup runs this season may help - and also how much prudence will be required in the coming years as the club (subject to about the gazillionth appeal by opponents) build a new stadium at Kingsford with the aim of moving there as soon as 2021.


    CELTIC
    TURNOVER: £101.6m (2016/17 - £90.6m)
    PROFIT: £17.3m (2016/17 - £6.9m)

    Celtic's status as an enormous fish in a small pond domestically, but as a relative tiddler in the continental ocean (oof, you've pushed that metaphor far enough - Ed) presents them with unique challenges. For a start, making the Champions League is worth a huge amount of money; missing out leaves a large hole in their finances...as seen in their interim results from the first 6 months of this season where turnover dropped by £20m compared to the same period of the previous year.

    This gap in the past has been easily filled by selling a player (see: Fraser Forster, Virgil Van Dijk, Moussa Dembele). The quandary is whether to save money for those years where they miss out on the Champions' League, or to invest it to increase their chances of getting through qualifying.

    From a domestic point of view however there is no comparison. Their turnover is roughly equal to the other 11 Premiership clubs put together.


    DUNDEE
    TURNOVER: £4.6m (2016/17 - £3.9m)
    LOSSES: £425k (2016/17 - £350k)

    Dundee are in their sixth season since being taken over by FPS, their American backers led by John Nelms and Tim Keyes. The first five years have resulted in combined losses of £2.3m...despite about £1.3m from selling Kane Hemmings, Greg Stewart and Jack Hendry. Their wage bill is more than 70% of turnover, which is far from ideal.

    This season is likely to follow that trend following the sacking of Neil McCann and a plethora of new signings for successor Jim McIntyre. Obviously there would be a huge problem if FPS stepped away, though there are no signs of them doing so even if the club are relegated this season. The bigger concern is if the stalled plans for a new stadium come to nothing, because that seems to be the key to the business plan going forward.


    HAMILTON ACCIES
    TURNOVER: unreported
    RETAINED EARNINGS: £502k (2016/17 - £968k)

    Accies don't report turnover, which only tells us that it is less than £6.5m. In reality it will be much smaller than that, the lowest in the top flight by a pretty significant margin. This was a dreadful year financially for Hamilton because of the Vishing scam in 2017 which cost the club £700,000. Even though they sold Greg Docherty and Mikey Devlin they have now ended up with £450,000 of bank debt that they didn't have before. Things should be better this year though with them still in the top flight and having sold Lewis Ferguson.


    HEARTS
    TURNOVER: £12.1m (2016/17 - £11.3m)
    PROFIT: £1.8m (2016/17 - £2.3m)

    Interpreting Hearts' situation is tricky given they got £2m donated towards the new stand and another £1m donated towards player costs. The previous year's profits came after £2.5m of donations. And they got another £3.25m of donations in the first quarter of 2018/19! Now the new stand is completed it'll be interesting to see where turnover is at going forward. Still, it's a far cry from the Romanov days...


    HIBERNIAN
    TURNOVER: £9.5m (2016/17 - £7.6m)
    PROFIT: £214k (2016/17 - losses of £263k)

    On returning to the top flight, Hibs posted the fifth highest turnover in Scotland and finished an excellent fourth in the league. It's interesting to note they spent £500,000 in transfer fees for players during 2017/18. . Given the club's wages/turnover ratio is a solid 56%, things have come a long way since seven figure losses during the 2013/14 relegation season and the subsequent campaign. The sale of John McGinn will make this year's filings look quite decent.


    KILMARNOCK
    TURNOVER: £5.1m (2016/17 - £5.1m)
    LOSSES: £180k (2016/17 - profit of £960k)

    Killie's increased success on the pitch came at an increased cost as the wage bill went up by nearly £1m; some of that may be to do with the dismissal of Lee McCulloch. (Of note, this increase came after several years of costcutting. Wages and income are still lower than five years ago) It's curious that turnover was static despite finishing three places higher in the league. The increased optimism - and crowds - at Rugby Park this season should make this season's figures more impressive.


    MOTHERWELL
    TURNOVER: £6.8m (2016/17 - £4.2m)
    PROFIT: £1.7m (2016/17 - losses of £181k)

    Two cup finals, you say? Decent fees for Ben Heneghan and Louis Moult, you say? It all added up to a bumper year for Motherwell. Staff costs were the sixth highest, but a wage/turnover ratio of 57% is sustainable enough. That said, this campaign's turnover is bound to dip because of a lack of cup income - Motherwell's gate receipts had more than doubled last year - though the sale of Cedric Kipre will cover some of that. And luckily the £1.7m of ongoing interest-free loans show no signs of being called in.


    PARTICK THISTLE
    TURNOVER: £4.5m (2016/17 - £4.1m)
    PROFIT: £343k (2016/17 - £97k)

    Thistle had broken even for years, and last year managed a nice wee profit on the back of larger gates - they played Celtic and Rangers twice at home despite finishing bottom six. Relegation is an expensive business though and they were quick to wield the axe and cut costs - so much so that the outcome is that they are now in danger of dropping to League One, which would be catastrophic. But if they stay up they should be in reasonable nick going forward though this year's results are likely to be impacted further by the need to dismiss manager Alan Archibald.


    RANGERS
    TURNOVER: £32.7m (2016/17 - £29.2m)
    LOSSES: £14.3m (2016/17 - £6.7m)

    *Opens can of worms* Rangers, on the face of it, remain a financial basketcase. An optimist would say that now the whole Takeover Panel thing is out of the way and there appears to be a settled management team things should finally improve. And the interim results for the first 6 months of 2018/19 showed a healthy profit.

    The flipside is that said profit was almightily dependent on European qualification, and at the same time last year they claimed they had broken even up to that point...and finished the year £14m in the red. Add in the estimate in the 2017/18 accounts that they would need a £4.6m cash injection just to get through the year and yet another loan from financial house Close Brothers last week and it seems that things are not rosy yet. But as much as many fans of other clubs are hoping for it, there are no signs of an administration event in the near future.


    ROSS COUNTY
    TURNOVER: accounts not filed yet (2016/17 - £3.8m)
    PROFIT: accounts not filed yet (2016/17 -debt of £1.4m forgiven)

    County's situation is unique amongst the clubs on this list, given they have the unconditional support of Global Energy mogul Roy MacGregor, one of Scotland's wealthiest men. With his ongoing input, County don't really need to worry about money.


    ST JOHNSTONE
    TURNOVER: not reported (2016/17 - £4.9m)
    LOSSES: £258k (2016/17 - profit of £49k)

    St. Johnstone noted in their annual accounts that their losses pretty much reflected the consequence of missing the top six for the first time in years; These were the poorest financial results since Steve Brown became chairman in 2011, but this can probably be forgiven it was a season of transition for Tommy Wright's side. And, you know, they're not too bad, really - there's still £2m in the bank! The Perth Saints are the model example of what a well-run small club in Scotland can accomplish.


    DUNDEE UNITED
    TURNOVER: £3.2m (2016/17 - £3.5m)
    LOSSES: £219k (2016/17 - £1m)

    Thank goodness for the new American owners. United sold their training ground for £1m and made £1.4m from the sell-on clauses of Andy Robertson and Stuart Armstrong and still ran at a loss. That's after losses of £2.5m over the previous two seasons. United would be in a proper help-ma-boab situation had Mark Ogren not completed his takeover.


    FALKIRK
    TURNOVER: £2.7m (2016/17 - not reported)
    PROFIT: £140k (2016/17 - losses of £300k)

    Falkirk arrested a run of loss-making seasons partly by closing their youth academy, having reasoned that they couldn't pay for it unless they made £400k of transfer income annually. One suspects the dismissal of Paul Hartley and the fine for tapping up Ray McKinnon will badly affect the balance sheet for 2018/19

    INVERNESS CT
    TURNOVER: £2m (2016/17 - £3.6m)
    LOSSES: £810k (2016/17 - £400k)

    Relegation hit Caley Thistle like a sledgehammer. Turnover nearly halved and despite dramatic costcutting and loans from directors totally around £400k they still made a high six-figure loss. Whilst there has been further pennypinching since then and the run to the Scottish Cup semi-finals will be a welcome boost, that's still a heck of a hole to fill.


    ST MIRREN
    TURNOVER £2.8m (2016/17: £2.4m)
    PROFIT £77k (2016/17: £15k)

    How much does promotion cost? Well, St. Mirren only made a profit because they sold Stevie Mallan and Lewis Morgan for £700k.


    As for the other 2017/18 Championship clubs, Dunfermline made a very small profit but admit to being dependent on £300k of annual donations. Queen of the South made a £200k loss despite having a tiny squad and relying on local businessmen to pay the wages of Stephen Dobbie. Livingston haven't filed their accounts for last season yet, but the previous ones contained a going concern as liabilities were worth £700k more than their assets. Promotion will certainly have helped things though. Dumbarton's accounts were hard to read but it seems like they made a significant loss (correct me if I'm wrong). There wasn't much info to note on Morton's accounts, and Brechin City don't seem to publish any.


    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.



    View the full article
  4. Scotty

    Picture This

    By Scotty,

    I have been taking pictures at BMO field, in the stands since the opening season in 2007. Getting the camera into BMO Field has always been an issue, so much so that for the first few seasons I carried not only a printout of the BMO and TFC camera policies but also a letter from Paul Beirne specifically noting that cameras were permissible for personal use and that my use had been verified as such.
    This website exists for friends and fans alike, its personal rather than professional and I never thought it would be around for 15+ years if I am honest, but it has just kept plodding along. There is no commercial element to it, and although we have google ads on here, realistically they have never generated enough to pay for a memory card let alone anything else. The site is actually funded based on Ad revenue from another site that I have been running for 28 years (CaleyThistleOnline). My photos have only ever appeared in print once (other than the odd Wikipedia page) and that was in Joshua Kloke’s book, for which I asked for and received nothing but a thank you.
    Over the years, with or without the letter from Paul (mostly without since he has been gone for a fair few years now), I have had varying experiences with security at BMO mainly on entry. Once in the stands in section 113, everything is fine. The security and guest services personnel are typically those who have been around for a few years so a camera with a zoom lens is no surprise. However, getting to 113 is sometimes a challenge as I have been told everything from its absolutely not allowed, to its a professional camera (I use a trusty old D7000 which is not exactly state of the art, nor good enough to be down pitchside with a mega zoom lens) to the fact that I need a press pass … I was always able to be assertive enough or ask for a supervisor to get me in the gate but its a bit draining to be honest.
    However, it looks like this may be even more challenging during 2022 as COVID measures from 2021 have been continued in terms of a more restrictive bag policy. I understand and respect what they are trying to do for everyone’s safety, but it seems just a little too restrictive for me.
    I have access to a regular camera bag (approx 1/2 size of a backpack) and this is not allowed. Fair enough its really a backpack type item and I basically didn’t take it before because it was the one that always seemed to draw over-officious security at the entrance gate like a magnet. I also have access to a small 6x5x4 cube camera bag that snugly fits and protects the camera and not much else. It just falls within the size limit for an allowed clutch purse but it IS a camera bag and that is explicitly banned according to the BMO Field website.
    It may not be worth trying to reason with security personnel for any of this and I don’t see the camera fitting into, or being protected by, any of the approved bags so there may be a dearth of photos again this season unfortunately. Got to figure out if there is a way I can take any kind of bag which I can use until I get to BMO then just put in my pocket (like one of the black TFC drawstring bags ~ also not allowed) and sling the camera around my neck as the camera policy hasn’t changed, just the bag policy.
    I will endeavour to keep the stats and other pages up to date as I know there are several people who come here regularly to view that info but in case anything is a little behind then I absolutely recommend that you follow @martyn_bailey on twitter if you don’t already. In fact, follow him anyway as he has all sorts of instant stats at his fingertips that he regularly posts before, during and after games.  I’ll keep bashing away at the stats for as long as I can and maybe make some other enhancements to the site if the photos become an issue. Lets hope we are all posting some positive stats this year both from the football world, and the real world.
    View the full article
  5. Scotty
    Now that the first few days of the new version of the site are over, and we are into a new year, its time to blog about the numerous ways to find content across the whole site .... this has drawn a lot of questions, some users have figured it out, but it has also left a few folk scratching their heads.

    On the old version of the site you could use the search function to search for keywords in posts and bring up a list of topics containing those words. This functionality is still there. You could also use the "view new content" link on the forum index to see posts that were made since your last visit. This too is still there.

    However, both systems have been beefed up a bit, and because we are now using the forum software for our articles as well, the search and view new content functions now spread across the entire site instead of just the forums.

    Both features are still in the same place, right below each other on the header ...


    Lets talk about searching first .... its easier to explain !

    SEARCHES
    Search is easy, you enter the word you want to search for, and it will search by default in whatever section of the board you are currently in ... so if you are in articles, it will search articles, if you are in the forums, it will search forums etc ....

    If you want to search a different area from the forum or site area you are in, just click the name beside the magnifying glass and you can select different areas of the site ... see screenshot below.


    And thats about it for searches .... if your membership level allows it, you will be presented with a list from your chosen area if anything matches. The minimum length for a search word is 3 letters.

    VIEW NEW CONTENT
    This is a little more complex .. but in the end, only as complex as you want it to be !

    Like searches, the view new content link will show the new content in the area of the site you are currently in so if you are on the front page (articles), clicking View New Content will show any new articles posted in the last 24 hours, if you are in the forums, it will show forum posts for the last 24 hours ..... and so on and so forth.

    this is the default "new content" listing filter for the forum for the last 24 hours when I go to view it. If this works for you, then there is no need to fiddle with the settings ....


    So what do you see ?

    By default, you see the topics that have had postings in them for the last 24 hours and these are displayed in chronological order with the most recently posted in topic at the top. Just because they are on this list doesnt necessarily mean you have not read them .... In the example above, I have read all the topics, and we know this because the topic title is not bolded, and there is not a little dot to the left of the topic title. If a user has unread topics - regardless of filter - they will show up like the image below instead.....




    On the left, you can click on the link to change the content type ... allowable options are Forums, Members, Calendar (entries), Blogs, Gallery, Downloads and Pages (articles). They are all pretty self-explanatory.


    Once you know what content you want, you can then filter the timeline. Each of these sections can be filtered by 8 distinct time periods .... as shown below


    "content I have not read" shows anything you havent viewed and in this context, because I have read everything, it will show up like this .....


    New since my last visit will also show the same result as nothing new has been posted (no new topics, no replies) whilst I have been typing this blog entry.

    Past 24 hours is the default filter and is shown above (where I mention default filter)..... Depending on how often you visit the forum you can extend this to a week, 2 weeks, a month, 6 months or a year ... just click on the entry. The same principle applies to these as to the default filter ... content you have read as well as content you have not will be displayed and those you havent read will show up as bolded and with the little dot to the left. Clicking on the little dot - instead of the topic title like it used to be - takes you to the first unread post.

    If - like some users - you only want to see topics listed that you have not read, set it to view "content I have not read" or "new since my last visit". These are all tied to your account and will show less items than the other timeline filters .....

    Whilst the previous two categories of filter can only have one choice applied to them, the "Other" section can have a multiple filters (kind of) .....

    Lets say you have chosen FORUMS as your content type, and you chose the "past month" as your timeline ..... for me this would report something like 8 pages of topics .... we want to reduce that ... so the "Other" options can help here .....

    If I want to just see topics I follow (topics where I pressed this button on the right side of it) then I could add that to the filter and it would show Forum topics from the last month which I follow.

    If I want to see only topics I have posted in then I would select "topics I participated in" to see topics I have posted in in the last month

    If I want to see only topics I started then I click that option and I will see any topics I started in the last month.

    Where the multiple selection comes in - and this is the only multiple selection available - is that I can also use the "Filter By Forum" to only search within one specific forum (eg. just "ICT" or "Serious Topics" etc)

    [NOTE: to clear the choices made in the "other" section, just click on them again]

    In the screenshot below - I am filtering Forum Topics for the Past Month which I started, and which are located in the ICT forum ... as you can see, that whittles it down from 8 pages to 5 topics ! I dont start many topics, just post in them !!!


    A final little feature we should mention, once you have your list of topics ... is the ability to preview them .... just click this little button to the right of a topic title and you can see a section of the first and last post ....


    So there you have it .... clear as mud isnt it !!! Why not just go to the View New Content page and try it all out for yourself .....


    Oh ... and while you are there ..... try out this final little button we didnt mention ! Its the quick navigation box ! another little hidden gem which can be found immediately to the right of the view new content link !


    PS - Happy New Year to you All !
  6. Scotty
    Its been a few days since our last entry and we thought we would introduce one of the new features of the board to you ....... "shared media"

    You know how it is, you are happily adding stuff to the forum and you think .... "mmm, I already uploaded an image or file that I need to add in here too, or that would be perfect for this thread ...."

    In the last version of this software, you would need to go hunting on the site, browse your hard drive or perform a google search to try and find that file or image then upload it or link to it and all that palaver ... but no more !!! To help you with all of this in the new forum comes the "My Media" link.

    Next time you are typing a forum reply, have a look up to the button bar and you should see this one nestled in amongst things


    Clicking on it will bring up a popup called your Media Library .....


    You can add anything you previously put into a post as an attachment .....

    EXAMPLE:



    You can add a link to a photo album you uploaded .....

    EXAMPLE:




    You can add any individual picture from a gallery .....

    EXAMPLE:




    You can add a link to an event .....

    EXAMPLE:



    You can add a link to a blog entry .....

    EXAMPLE:



    You can add a link to a downloadable file .....

    EXAMPLE:



    Happy Media Sharing !!!!
  7. Scotty
    We have enabled a feature that we hope will make life easier for our existing members and also maybe gain us a few new ones who perhaps cant be bothered registering and just want to sign in .... Facebook and Twitter integration.

    We already push our own articles (previews, reports etc) out directly to CaleyThistleOnline's Facebook and Twitter pages, but now you can sign in here using them too !!!




    There are three basic scenarios:
    If you are not registered, but you have a facebook or twitter account, you can now login using that ... just click the icon next to the sign in link at the top of the page ... this will take you to the page where you need to authorise our facebook or twitter app to log you in and after that it will just ask you a few questions needed to setup your account here ...


    If you already have an account here and your facebook or twitter account is registered to the same email address, then signing in with the same facebook or twitter button at the top of the page will link it to your existing account and you can use that to login in future if you wish. This might prove handy for those folk who sometimes forget their logins or who like things a little easier than having to remember multiple passwords.


    If your facebook or twitter account is not registered to the same email address as you use here, or you want to do it manually, you can also do this by editing your profile .... go to your "My Settings" page by clicking on your name up at the top of the page when logged in and selecting it in the dropdown. When the page loads, you will see a link to 'manage Facebook' and 'Manage Twitter' on the left side of the page. Once there, just follow the instructions to add Fb or Twitter to your account and synchronize it.

    Once facebook or Twitter is connected to your account you can login using either of them, or your normal forum login and you also have the option to push your CTO status out to either account or to import your facebook or twitter status in here ..... you can also promote new topics you create to your facebook page or twitter account and all sorts of other stuff ......

    This is the first in a number of changes we are going to be making to the site in an effort to make it easier for users to interact with each other on the site here and with friends or fellow fans on social media

    As they say ... watch this space !
  8. Scotty

    Too Many Rules !

    By Scotty,

    I know some of our members think we never listen, but for the last year or more, the moderators have been discussing tweaks and changes to our site terms, rules, privacy policies and such like and it is largely based on feedback from the community of users as well as a couple of other factors.

    Normally, rule changes happen as a result of something bad happening on the site or some member or other pushing the limit and responding with "well, its not in the rules ... where does it say that?" .... forcing us to add yet another line, paragraph or section to the ever expanding rulebook to cover this or that eventuality. However, this time it may surprise some folk to hear that we are going to be going in the other direction over the summer and simplifying them !!!

    The reason for this is threefold ....
    Almost a year ago (or possibly longer) we received a detailed suggestion and framework from a site member who is neither a mod or an admin suggesting we adopt a system of "golden rules" that relied on the common sense of users to know what is and is not appropriate on the forums at any given time.

    We liked this idea and it formed the basis for a lot of discussion over several months before we put it to one side as we got busy with other. We did however vow to come back to it later ..... well now it is later !
    The software we use for the boards - especially as it relates to warnings and banning - has evolved since we started discussing the changes we wanted to make, and it now fits nicely into the framework without too much effort. This was fortuitous rather than planned.

    Until last month you all had warning bars you could see beside your user info on your own posts (but not on other peoples) and we (mods/admin) would issue warnings based on our interpretation of our not inconsiderable ruleset. Sometimes you would get 10%, sometimes 20% sometimes none .... no consistency.

    This system has been replaced by warning 'points' and we can now assign a value and reason for each infraction with specific points awarded - so consistency regardless of moderator/admin personal feelings. Minor things may attract a single point, more major breaches would have a higher points total. Once you reach a certain points total you may find that your posts are moderated for a while, that you have a posting (but not viewing) ban for a specific time, and ultimately of course the "Ban Hammer" is still around ! Its still the same consequences, just a more consistent way of reaching the decision. Of course, if you are sensible and dont disrupt the forum then this is all irrelevant !

    As we are a football forum we are classing these as Yellow / Red Card offences. Get a yellow and all that happens is your points add up. Once you reach a certain number of yellows you get what in football terms would be equivalent to a 1 or 3 match suspension (moderated/suspended for a short length of time). Get a red card offence and you will either be moderated or post-banned but eligible to return after the suspension is served ... unless its so serious we remove your account privileges forever. All points are valid for 14 days and automatically disappear after that so again there is consistency and no bias in the matter as the system does this all automatically.
    The final reason for implementing this is because, under European law, we now have to add another page to our terms detailing our cookie policy and this would mean new users having to wade through Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Forum Rules, Copyright Notice and Cookie Policy before joining .... I am tired just thinking of this.... let alone reading it. We want to simplify all this so you can basically enjoy the site, use common sense to govern your own behaviour, and only need to refer to the rules/policies if you have a specific query.

    So what to expect ????

    We havent quite worked out the full details yet, but you can expect the Terms of Service, Forum Rules and Copyright Notice pages to be rolled into a single Rules page that is shorter and vastly easier to read than the original. The current pages run to about 4000 words of legalese that we have had to add over the years. The new draft is about 1500, and although that might sound a lot, its written in plain English so sometimes takes more words to express the same thing !!! I would say that overall, the document is about 25% of the size of the original ! By the time it gets to final draft, the rules may be even shorter if we can manage it !

    We are not going to get rid of the privacy policy as we feel it is necessary to inform users of how we deal with privacy and other concerns and of course we are also mandated to now have cookie info which may or may not be part of the privacy page. These will be linked to in the rules rather than printed in full.

    ....... more to follow soon including details of new rules, the points system, and privacy/cookie policy
  9. Scotty

    CTO Updated Rules

    By Scotty,

    I mentioned in our last blog that we would be updating the rules/terms/privacy/copyright and cookie policies that we use .... and we now have !!!!

    The rules, as well as our privacy and cookie policies are now posted and active and can be accessed by clicking on one of the links at the bottom right of the page.

    We have done away with the lengthy rule set that tried to cover every eventuality that happened on the site over the last 18 years, or may happen in the future because not only were they unwieldy and unwelcoming for new users, but they were also like a lightning rod for the tiny minority of users
    whose sole function on the planet seems to be a desire to create chaos or discord or to try and get one over the mods by finding something we hadnt covered ... Those guys can continue to play their games somewhere else, but the vast majority of users are not going to be subjected to a huge rule set just on their behalf. We're not playing that game anymore.
    The new rules are about as generic as we can make them and although we have added a few specific examples based on things that have happened on the boards and which required moderator or admin intervention over the years, we are pulling back a bit and putting the onus on users to police their own behaviour somewhat.

    Lets face it, most of you know what is appropriate or inappropriate in terms of the words, images or links that you post or the attitude you display. If you have to wonder whether you will get away with something you post, or the tone in which you post it then maybe you need to think again ? Thats all we are asking !!!

    I know some folk will read this and not bother to click on the link, so for those users, here's a list of a few specific things that will bring you to the attention of the mods. Its not the full list - read the rules for that - but just enough to fill this blog post !

    1. Personal Abuse / Agressive Behaviour: As we note in the new rules, we do have a minority of users who seem to delight in this and in making everything personal. We will continue to take a dim view of this and those who want to carry on doing it will soon find out how the new points system works. Its fine to disagree or discuss and debate the issues with someone, thats what forums are about, but you should be able to do it without making it personal or aggressive. We would also include passive aggressive behaviour in this such as posting snidey comments that denigrate someone for starting a topic you dont like. If you dont like a topic, ignore it and dont post in it rather than again making things personal ....

    2. Inappropriate Posting / Swearing etc: Its a football forum with a primary demographic of male users of a certain age range. there's going to be swearing and there's going to be things that are perhaps not totally "PC". We are not going to get our underwear in a knot if someone lets the odd profanity go, or there is the odd image or link that gets close to the edge, but be aware of where that edge is. We have an audience that ranges from teenage to 80+ so bear that in mind when posting.

    3. Illegal Content: There is nobody who likes to see ICT on the telly over here more than me, and yes I have partaken of 'dodgy feeds' to get that fix, but please dont post those links in open forum. Also, please try to refrain from posting copyrighted material if you dont have permission. We're not saying this to be assholes, we're saying it to protect the site from even the vaguest hint of action from various organisations or the authorities. We have developed good relations over the years with the club, with photographers, with the likes of the BBC or other media, and with people within the SPL/SFL/SFA and we still work closely with a lot of those folks ... it allows us to post things other sites may not get, or just to get verifiable info and such like. We wont allow anyone to jeopardise that.

    4. Topic Hijacking: Topic Hijacking is not to be confused with going a little "off topic". We can all go a little off-topic here and there and thats to be expected and wont get you in the bad books unless you do it all the time and all over the place. Topic hijacking is where you purposely try to bring the topic around to your own different and unrelated agenda by changing the topic entirely rather than drifting into off topic territory ... and is usually quite recognisable as it is done on multiple threads if the poster feels strongly enough about a subject or wants to get a topic across. This is tantamount to bully boy tactics and wont be allowed. You want a topic on your subject, then start its own one ... if its of concern or interest to site users it will gather its own momentum.

    So thats my personal top 4 .... like I said, there are a few more in the actual rules, but its basically all just common sense stuff .....

    With regards to the privacy policy, we didnt change anything there other than making sure you could get to it from the link at the bottom of the page, and adding an additional portion to the end detailing the cookie policy.

    The next post in this blog will be details of our re-vamped Verbal/Yellow Card/Red Card warning points system, but this will probably be next week now as the mods are still going over the finer points of it ... we want it to be fair, transparent and consistent and I think it will be ...
  10. Scotty
    Its that time of year again .... time to go through all the polls and calculate who is winning the race to be the 16th recipient of the CaleyThistleOnline Player of the Year award. The CTO - POY award was started in season 2000-2001, and other than the Supporters Club / Trust Player of the Year award, it is the only external award recognised officially by the club and included in their year on year stats, a fact we are very proud of. 
    An interesting fact about our award is that in the 15 years of its existence it has never been won by the same person twice, although, to be fair, it has often been won by a player who has made such an impact with ICT that he has moved onward and upward at the end of that season or the next. Ryan Esson, who won the trophy in 2010-11 is the only player still on the books who has won it before. 
    Last year Marley Watkins was like a runaway train in this poll. He amassed the highest quantity of votes and points for 4 out of the first five months of the season as well as the last two months of the season and won it with 79 points. His closest rivals were Graeme Shinnie - looking to be the first ever player to win it for a second time - and Greg Tansey who both amassed what would normally be a respectable total of 44 points each. Ryan Christie and Josh Meekings rounded out the top five with 36 and 29 points respectively. 
    So onto season 2015-16 and with several of the top points scorers from last season gone, it was a question of who would step up and take the challenge this year .... The season started early with our Europa League debut and Gary Warren was the front runner that month winning the Player of the Month and grabbing maximum POY points in both games against Astra Giurgiu.  In August, with a heavy six game schedule, Danny Williams grabbed the monthly honours on number of votes received, closely followed by Ryan Christie and Owain Fon Williams. Christie however jumped into the points lead in the standings courtesy of more of his votes being first place votes. September and October belonged to Miles Storey and it was beginning to look like he "might do a Marley" but up stepped CTO sponsored player Liam Polworth to grab the honours for November and December. Miles was back at it again in January winning the Player of the Month again, but Ross Draper, Owain Fon Williams and Carl Tremarco have all taken it in the last three months. With one month, and three games to go, so a maximum of 15 points up for grabs, there are still 5 players who can win it. Miles Storey currently leads with 51 but he is only 5 points ahead of Ross Draper. Gary Warren, Owain Fon Williams and Liam Polworth are a little further behind, but not out of it by any means. Click on the graphics below to view the current standings. 
             
          
     
  11. Scotty

    TFC edge out the Revs

    By Scotty,

    TFC edge out the Revs
    Scotty's ViewFromTheSouthStands at Toronto FC
    After a good road win in Philadelphia in week 1 and no game in week two it was back to business this week with the home opener against New England Revolution. The Revs have stuttered out of the gate this season drawing 1-1 in Dallas on week 1 and then losing to Columbus last week in their own home opener but its early days.
    This fixture has gone the way of the home team for the last six games and you have to go back to 2015 to find an away win so hopes were high. The rumoured return of Jozy Altidore to the squad and the imminent arrival of Alejandro Pozuelo also helped buoy the mood and clear the gloom that was the Concacaf Champions League exit at the first hurdle.
    View the full article
  13. Scotty
    I know I keep banging on about it, but the Scottish Championship really is a compelling league. As we enter the final quarter of the season, all ten clubs have something to play for.

    Inconsistency has been the dominant theme as teams go from periods where everything goes in to ones when they seem to have smashed a mirror over a black cat whilst walking under a ladder, or vice versa. The table is so tight that some teams who were in the promotion playoff hunt a month ago are now looking over their shoulders with trepidation, whilst others who appeared set for a relegation dogfight are now dreaming of nicking a top four spot.

    The latter group include Dunfermline, who in mid-February lay seventh, just three points above bottom spot in a total mess following Allan Johnston's departure. Luckily for them his replacement, Stevie Crawford, has proven the most unlikely saviour since the disciples went to the wrong stable at the start of Life Of Brian. It also helps to have a centre forward in form; step forward Aberdeen loanee Bruce Anderson, clearly scarred for life by his parents' decision to give him a name that it is impossible to say without putting on a dodgy Australian accent. Young Brucie, as surely everybody must refer to him by law, is taking his revenge on society, or at least that part of it that stands between goalposts in Scotland's second tier.

    An in-form striker can only take you so far though, particularly when the rest of the squad is so thin that home fans at Palmerston have started taking their boots with them in case they are required on the bench. I give to you Queen of the South, who as recently as the end of January bodied Dundee out of the Cup on the back of Stephen Dobbie's goals. It's tough enough for any forward to score more goals than his age; for a 36 year old one to do so two months before the clocks change is mental. A fifty goal campaign for the veteran wasn't just a possibility at that point, it was odds-on.

    And then it all went, er, south. An extraordinary 4-0 demolition of Ross County in mid-January has been followed by seven straight league defeats; Dobbie's last league goal came in the first of those seven. Saturday's loss at home to Caley Thistle was marred by goalkeeper Alan Martin giving home fans the bird when the half-time whistle went. He was substituted at the break because "of a back injury" according to manager Gary Naysmith. Aye. Sure.

    So the Doonhamers have essentially swapped places in the table with Dunfermline. The problem is that, at the business end of things, there are now teams directly below them that have form and momentum. Falkirk and Partick Thistle are both finally reaping the rewards of their 'sign an entirely new team for our entirely new manager strategy'. If they haven't quite reached Dunfermline's Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds levels of giddiness, those two have at least moved into It's Getting Better territory, though with the duo set to clash next weekend somebody is going to suffer a rotten climbdown.

    There are exceptions to the incredible ups and downs that has permeated this division, all of which seem to exist north of the Tay. Caley Thistle are so determined to become the definition of mediocrity that physicists are concerned the universe could implode with shock if they moved either above fourth or below sixth in the table. They last won consecutive league games in September and have mastered the unfortunate habit of playing up to strong opposition and down to weaker ones. The trouble is that whilst they could argue that they have deserved at least a draw in all six league games they've played against Ross County and Dundee United, they haven't actually won any of them. They have knocked both out of the cup at least, so if John Robertson manages to drag them into the playoffs after all - by no means a certainty if Dunfermline keep going like this - and cons the players into thinking it is a knockout competition, they might pull off a miracle after all.

    As for their neighbours, "County have been crap for months" bewailed one Staggie friend of mine recently...with his team sitting top of the league. The thing is, the concept of form doesn't seem to have actually reached Dingwall. If football is indeed a results business, Ross County have got it down to such an extreme art form that Tracy Emin is nodding with approval. It's not that they haven't been playing well at times, it's just that it seems that ninety per cent of the time it doesn't matter. After an hour and a half of football each weekend, it turns out they've won. It's just one of life's certainties and there's no point fighting it.

    You just know that every single person in the country put Ross County 2-0 Greenock Morton on their pools coupon last weekend, though part of that is because Jonatan Johansson is so risk-averse away from home that even Jose Mourinho would accuse them of being too negative. They've actually scored more than once in only three of the Finn's twenty-four league games in charge. Boring your way to survival is certainly a bold strategy, Cotton. We'll see if it pays off.

    And then there's the tangerine-coloured elephant in the room. While many of the other Championship clubs have more highs and lows than the characters in Trainspotting, Dundee United fans are the ones most likely to be found on the Scottish moors lamenting the hand life has dealt them. "It's s**** supporting United! We're the lowest of the low! The scum of the f***** earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever s*** into civilization! Some people hate Dundee. I don't. They're just w*****s. We, on, the other hand, are a division below w*****s."

    Win, lose, draw or whatever, United seem in a state of perpetual crisis regardless. Given that Rangers: The Banter Years has dropped markedly in quality during its seventh season, we should be grateful that its Tayside-based spinoff continues to trundle along nicely despite yet another overhaul of the cast. Replacing Csaba Laszlo with Robbie Neilson was expected to result in a change of direction but the decision to stick with the tried-and-tested formula has proved a ratings hit.

    The games United do win seem to be mostly the result of collective embarrassment, as if the players' own self-respect forces them to occasionally perform somewhere close to their potential. However the shame wears off after a while and then it's back to their baseline, which appears to be to play as if everyone is still at the stage of needing nametags so that their teammates remember what their name is.

    To be fair, Neilson did sign eleven players - literally a new team - in January. But six weeks on from the end of that window one is entitled to suspect a degree of coherence. Instead United fans have been 'treated' to two weekends of watching their team toil for an afternoon, somehow against all reason find themselves in a drawing position, only for the football gods to take offence to this and part their central defence like the Red Sea to gift first Caley Thistle and then Partick Thistle deserved injury-time winners.

    Whereas Partick made a plethora of signings because they gutted their squad after relegation, and Falkirk brought in a gazillion new players to replace the donkeys that Paul Hartley had rounded up, United's squad is striking for the number of players under contract who have in the past few years been very competent at this level or above, but who have been discarded by Neilson in favour of new recruits. The temptation to spend those shiny American dollars was maybe too much to resist, but it might not have been unreasonable to look to the new coach to coax these players back to their best, rather than chuck them on the scrap heap.

    And sure, it might be that a Govan Witch Doctor cursed Tannadice in 2015 so that any player that wears the strip instantly becomes a haddie, but it's more likely that Mark Reynolds lost a yard of pace a couple of years ago and can't manage without it, and that Mark Connolly was only good when Manu Pascali babysat him through games at Killie. Neither have improved on United's previous options in central defence; after they were schooled by the just-out-of-retirement Scott McDonald at Firhill there was sufficient evidence to suggest they are actually a downgrade.

    Meanwhile further up the pitch United added to their attacking options with Cammy Smith, Aiden Nesbitt, Peter Pawlett and Osman Sow. All players with a bit of pedigree, but how do you play all four in the same team? Your guess is as good as Neilson's, which tells you that not nearly enough thought was put in to the recruitment drive.

    At least having new American owners means they probably don't need to worry about the financial implications of a fourth successive season at this level, but whilst a playoff place is pretty much a certainty getting through them is another matter. There's still the enticing prospect of a final between them and their struggling rivals from along the road, where we can be certain that the most positive thing that could be said about the victors would be 'that they were the least crap'.

    Neilson still has eight games to mould United into a decent unit and to build up enough confidence to put them in good stead for the postseason. But as it stands Arabs have good reason to fear they're headed for another year in this particular circle of hell, or at least for two more trips to Dumfries, which is pretty much the same thing.

    For the rest of us, it is compelling viewing, even if it is in the same way that you can't take your eyes off a crashing car. And if that doesn't sum up the Scottish Championship then I don't know what does.


    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.

    View the full article
  14. Scotty
    It may not have Rangers or Hearts or Hibs in it any more, but the Championship is still a league worthy of plenty of attention.

    Firstly, there's a title race (no, there isn't one in the Premiership. Rangers being six points behind does not a title race make). Whether Ayr can sustain a challenge is unclear but Ross County are good value for top spot and Dundee United have used their new American money to buy an entire new team in January as they look to pull back the current six point deficit to the Staggies.

    Secondly, there's a bona fide relegation battle. As the division's only part-timers Alloa were meant to give a far better account of themselves than Brechin's wretched squad last season, but were still certainties to finish bottom. Except someone forgot to give Jim Goodwin the script; his Wasps currently lie in ninth.

    Their position actually looked stronger a fortnight ago but Falkirk and Partick Thistle - both of whom made an insane number of signings in January - seem to have found form and pulled themselves back within touching distance. Now only three points separate the bottom four with Dunfermline having being dragged into a relegation dogfight.

    Yet the middle of the table is so close that the Pars are just eight points off a promotion playoff. On any given Saturday, anyone can beat anyone else. This league has been busting coupons all season long.

    So it's all rather exciting. So exciting that...pretty much everyone wishes they weren't in it.

    Alloa are the exception to that statement; the second tier is realistically as high as they can aspire to and staying up should be sufficient to make Goodwin a Manager of the Year candidate. But the other nine teams all have aspirations to go up. Inverness, Dundee United, Ross County and Partick Thistle have all been in the Premiership recently; Dunfermline and Falkirk have plenty of history at the highest level; Morton, Queen of the South and Ayr can all point to Livingston's recent success and ask "why not us too?"

    The other problem is that the Championship is not a very good place to be from a financial point of view, particularly since the big fish of recent years (and their enormous away supports) have left the pond. In recent years, the biggest financial concern for Scottish football has been top flight clubs spending outwith their means. Right now, it is smaller full-time clubs finding that is increasingly hard to make ends meet.

    For those relegated to the second tier, turnover drops by more than £1million in the first season following the drop, not least because the prize money for even winning the Championship is just half that of the figure for finishing bottom of the Premiership. In recent years relegated clubs have lost a third of their annual turnover as a result. This means huge cuts in the playing squad and elsewhere, making it very hard to bounce back.

    Dundee United's losses for last season, their second back at this level, were £200,000 - which sounds acceptable until one discovers that they had to sell their training ground for £400,000 and made £1m from Andrew Robertson's move from Hull to Liverpool. Without this they would have lost £1.6m, following on from £1.5m in 2015-16 (when they were relegated from the Premiership) and £1m in 2016-17. Their annual turnover of £3.1m is also down a third of what they were making two years ago. Without the Robertson money and the new investors they would be in what Scottish accountants (probably) call a 'help ma boab' situation.

    It's not just the 'bigger' names who are suffering. Queen of the South are a very solid fifth in the table and were comfortably mid-table last year too. And their star striker, the freewheeling and free-scoring Stephen Dobbie, has his wages subsidized by local businessmen. Their austerity state is summed up by a near-weekly failure to completely fill the subs bench. Yet last week they announced losses for 2017-18 of £200,000. That's twice as bad as the year before, which the club described as "difficult and challenging".

    Dunfermline, who enjoy a relatively healthy support, managed a profit for 2017/18 of all of £5,000, and noted they get approximately £300,000 per year in donations. The Pars were of course in administration only six years ago.

    So why don't these clubs live within their means? The problem of course is that in football you have to run just to stand still. Fail to invest in the playing squad and you'll quickly get flushed down the toilet and into the seaside leagues where income will be even more sparse. Clubs have to take a financial risk just to stay in this lousy division; the consequences of ending up in League One are for many not worth thinking about.

    But of course this is Scottish football, where the attention of the fans, the media and even those in charge of the game is focused on and devoted to only the biggest and strongest. Of course, if asked those people would say that anything other than a full-time second tier would be a disaster for the game in this country. But by the time they notice, said disaster may already have happened.

    View the full article
  15. Scotty
    After Brendan Rodgers told the media that Martin Canning "has done a wonderful job" at Hamilton, one couldn't help thinking of the bit in Return Of The Jedi when Obi-Wan Kenobi tries to convince Luke Skywalker that his claim that his father was dead "was true, from a certain point of view".

    That point of view is certainly held by Canning's employers. They are quick to point out that this is the fifth consecutive season that Accies have spent in the top flight, no mean feat considering that as recently as 2001 they were fighting it out in what is now League Two. This is the longest run they've managed at this level since the Second World War.

    And they've been doing it on a shoestring. That's inevitable given their average attendance has been bottom of the pile in each of those five years they've been back in the Premiership. Said shoestring has become even tighter after the club lost £700,000 in a vishing scam last year; now saddled with £450,000 of bank debt, goodness knows what might have become of them had they been relegated last season.

    But they weren't. In fact they went one better than they did in 2016-17, finishing tenth ahead of Partick Thistle and Ross County and so avoiding a second consecutive relegation playoff.

    When I say 'one better', I mean their league position. They finished with one fewer point than in 2016-17, when they had to beat Dundee United to secure their status. Most seasons, 33 or 34 points gets you relegated. Accies have been extraordinarily fortunate to enjoy three straight campaigns - including this one - with extraordinarily inept teams; ICT in 2016-17, Thistle and County last time out, Dundee and St. Mirren this season.

    The final league positions in Canning's three full seasons in charge have been tenth, eleventh and tenth. His initial half-season saw them come seventh...after they plunged down the table as they won three of his first eighteen games in charge.

    I know I've made this quip before, but Accies are Scottish football's Theresa May - consistently hopeless, yet somehow still surviving thanks to the unimaginable incompetence of others. But it makes for a grim spectacle, often not helped in the past by an artificial pitch that on many occasions seems to slow down the ball far more than it should. The surface was improved last summer at some cost; the quality of play has not improved with it.

    The supporters are tiring of it all. I suspect you would too if your team had won just nineteen home games in the league in four years, just one in every four played. The closest thing they've come to a spectacular result at the Hope CBD Stadium is a couple of derby wins over Motherwell. Away from home there's been a win at Ibrox, but it's Canning's only victory against either of Scotland's biggest clubs in twenty-three attempts. Twenty of those games, including Saturday's reverse at Celtic Park, were defeats.

    Nor have there been cup runs to crow about. They managed the last eight of the 2016-17 Scottish Cup...only to be thumped by Rangers. That's the only year Canning has won a Scottish Cup tie. They've been eliminated in the first knockout round of the League Cup four times in a row.

    In short, there has been a complete dearth of euphoria moments, or results to be proud of. Add in a turgid style of play which contrasts badly with the swashbuckling attacking play of his predecessor - but so resembles that of the much deplored (outside Hamilton at least) Billy Reid, who signed Canning for Hamilton as a player - and it's no wonder fans are losing the rag. Once the novelty of playing the best clubs in the country every week wore off, what was left?

    It's not often that one can try to compare the plight of Hamilton Accies with that of Tottenham Hotspur. But when Mauricio Pochettino dismissed the thought of winning a cup as not nearly as important as Spurs' league form, I imagine Accies fans could relate to the feeling of deflation amongst the White Hart Lane faithful. Watching football is supposed to be a form of entertainment. We enjoy watching good football.  We really enjoy lots of goals. We really love it when our team wins. And those moments when something really special happens - I think of them as 'McFadden in Paris' moments - these are the ones we cherish, the ones that make up for a hundred ****** nil-nil draws in horizontal rain.

    Trophies, promotions, victories against the odds - these are what football fans live for. But those who run the clubs prioritize other things - mostly the bank account. And of course they have to, because if that bit is screwed up then you end up without a club at all. And that's fine until the fans revolt and stop spending their money. Following Hamilton currently requires a quite remarkable amount of loyalty.

    So that's the tricky situation Accies find themselves in. Canning has produced just enough on the pitch to keep his employers onside...but not nearly enough for the supporters. But Canning could argue that it's becoming ever harder to come up with a decent product for them. The five most talented players in his squad from just over a year ago - Michael Devlin, Ali Crawford, Greg Docherty, Lewis Ferguson and David Templeton - have all moved on. None have been adequately replaced.

    Ferguson, the one bright spark in a relatively barren period at the club's famed academy, chose to leave for Aberdeen rather than sign a new deal. The £240,000 compensation was critical in the context of the recent financial issues but given the teenager's outstanding form in the North-East it now looks like daylight robbery. The current youth side have impressed this season but aren't apparently ready for promotion to the first team; in the meantime only two youth products, Scott McMann and Ziggy Gordon, have started more than half the club's matches this season. And Gordon doesn't really count given he has just returned from a two year spell away.

    Of course in football you often have to run just to stand still, but its harder to do so with such a tight budget. For every David Templeton that pops up there has been a Fredrik Brustad, a Marios Ogkmpoe (who has been out injured for a year), an Oumar Diaby or an Antonio Rojano.

    And the risk of replacing Canning is that, instead of finding the next Alex Neil, his replacement turns out to be even worse. St. Mirren fans could testify to that - when they tired of Danny Lennon, their decision to replace him was followed by relegation and three hellish years. Relegation has done considerable harm to much bigger clubs than Accies, ones with far more capacity to absorb disaster than they do.

    Canning made 250 appearances for Hamilton as a player. He needs to last another couple of years in the dugout to beat that tally as a manager. The chances of that are looking pretty slim.




    MARTIN CANNING AT HAMILTON ACCIES February 2008 - joined club as a player, made over 250 appearances over 10 years 2012/13 - started coaching under-17s January 2015 - became interim manager and then permanent boss after Alex Neil left for Norwich. Accies were third in the league at the time. They won three of their last 18 games and finished seventh. 2015/16 - Tenth in the Premiership, seven points clear of the playoff spot. Knocked out of the cups by Raith Rovers and Annan Athletic respectively. 2016/17 - Won only seven league games all season and finished eleventh. Avoided relegation by thumping Dundee on the final day of the season and then beating Dundee United in a playoff. 2017/18 - Won nine league games and finished tenth, ahead of Partick Thistle on goal difference. 2018/19 - Only four wins in twenty-three games so far but still just ahead of Dundee and St. Mirren. Have scored fewer goals and conceded more than any other Premiership side so far. Overall record - Played 178, won 42, drawn 43, lost 93, scored 185, conceded 102 Overall league record - Played 155, won 34, drawn 37, lost84, scored 154, conceded 270, 139 points

    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.


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  16. Scotty
    Who'd be a referee?

    The aftermath of the Old Firm game and the treatment of John Beaton - regardless of how you felt about his performance - has not been a proud moment for Scottish football. And it follows on from four months of seemingly endless refereeing controversies and criticisms. According to several managers and clubs, there is a real problem with the standard of officiating. According to the officials, it is harder than ever to do their job right, and they are being given an unfairly hard time...as well as being put at risk of harm.

    And as ever there are lots of complaints and very few suggestions for improvement. That's because there is no easy fix. To be frank, it's not just referees who are to blame for this. Not by a long shot.

    If Scottish football is indeed motivated to sort this problem out, it needs to deal with several different groups and the problems they have created. Let's go through them, one by one...

    THE REFEREES THEMSELVES
    They make mistakes. Apparently this is news to many people in football, despite the fact that it is a pretty common occurrence amongst human beings in many other walks of life. Is this is down to bad luck, incompetence, or some sort of bias? That, I suppose, is open to debate.

    So is the widely-held belief that officials have never been as bad as this. I myself often hark back to a 'golden era' 20 years ago. Back then, Hugh Dallas' gravitas (he was fourth official in a World Cup Final, after all), the possibility that John Rowbotham might abduct dissenting players and take them back to his home planet, and the beaks' annual fiddle of Willie Young's fitness test results (so he could continue exuding his wonderful command of games even when several yards behind the play) gave the impression that our referees were decent.

    But the fact is that back then, and even earlier, newspaper columnists decried the standard of officiating. And twentieth century refs didn't have to cope with the forensic examination of their decision making that there is now.

    That said, there hasn't been a Scottish referee deemed worthy of a World Cup since 2002, though there has been one at each of the last two European Championships.

    So how do we stop them making mistakes? Apart from suggesting they need to get better - which is not particularly helpful - the best way to avoid this will be to give them more support, which we'll come to.

    I'm not up for asking officials to explain decisions post-match...simply because no answer they give will actually satisfy those who feel wronged. Besides, they have enough on their plate without having to worry about media training as well.


    PLAYER BEHAVIOUR
    It's easy to forget that in any given match there are many players - possibly a majority - who will actively attempt to deceive the officials. This may range from claiming a throw-in that isn't theirs to Darren O'Dea's disgraceful antics, with a heck of a lot of other incidents inbetween. If there are a million and one attempts to con the ref over the course of ninety minutes, is it any surprise that even a handful of them succeed?

    Moreover there is the constant badgering and harrassing of referees by players. There's constant appealing and questioning of decisions, often in an aggressive or confrontational manner. It would require an iron will to not be discomforted by this.

    Making it easier for the referees to do their job would certainly help. Sadly, it seems unrealistic to stop Ryan Christie appealing for a foul whenever he feels the slightest gust of wind on his back though. A good start would be putting the kibosh on dissent once and for all. There is no good reason why football can't copy rugby and have a system where only captains can talk to officials, with any backchat at all deemed worthy of a card. In one televised game recently Rangers' Ryan Jack could be seen shouting "f*** off" at a referee who was booking him for a foul. That can't be right.


    THE BEHAVIOUR OF MANAGERS AND CLUBS
    Post-match interviews are wonderful entertainment, but it's actually pretty unfair to stick a manager in front of the cameras/microphone straight after a stressful match. Inevitably they will say things that, in the cold light of day, they probably wish they hadn't, or at least that they had phrased better. And often that includes slagging off referees. As one wit put it on Twitter recently: "a common side effect of a bad performance is blaming the officials."

    But coaches and their clubs making statements insinuating conspiracies is inappropriate and embarrassing. And don't try to persuade me that there are sincere motives behind doing so. If there were, they would be suggesting changes that might help. And don't dare forget that all these moaning clubs have had representatives in high places in the SPFL and SFA in recent years ,yet have shown no interest in doing anything about these issues. The aims are simply to deflect from their own problems, appease the lowest common denominators amongst their support, and to put pressure on officials going forward.

    And they forget that said lowest commond denominators include a tiny minority of Grade A morons who will be incited to do stupid things like, say, threatening John Beaton...


    THE FANS
    As ever, the sage Old Firm Facts sums it up perfectly.




    There's a bloke who sits near me at Caley Thistle games who accuses the officials of being biased against Inverness every single week, regardless of who they are, what they've done and what the score is. And I'm pretty sure it isn't tongue-in-cheek.

    Let's face it, rocks will melt in the sun before Aberdeen fans stop singing their infamous ditty "referee, you're such a f****** p****. Referee, you're a horse's a***". But social media now gives the real nutjobs a loud voice, as well as an echo chamber for encouragement. That in itself is a societal issue, so expecting football to sort it out is not realistic though.


    THE SFA THEMSELVES
    Here's how I'd like the SFA to handle things:

    - Be completely transparent over who is on the panel that decides what happens to players that get cited. In fact, make them all referees. Whisper it, but the panel doesn't actually have referees on it. And yet, when they change the decisions everyone assumes the match official is the one who got it wrong.

    - Force said panel to publish reasoning behind the decisions they make. This makes it harder for them to be inconsistent.

    - There's a stupid FIFA directive that stops a decision being changed if the ref 'saw it at the time'. It's a stupid directive. Find a way of circumventing it. By all means re-referee all games, like in rugby, if the footage is there to do so.

    - I'm a bit of a VAR sceptic, but officials and clubs want it and there's a way of paying for it, then go for it. It can't be any worse than what we have.

    - And finally there needs to be a change in how referees are picked for matches and rise up the rankings. Because if Andrew Dallas is refereeing a League Cup Final then something is very, very wrong.


    But how motivated are these different groups to change?

    I'm sure for a start that referees would prefer to be as accurate and fair as possible. But they are a convenient scapegoat - for clubs, for players, for fans and even for the SFA. That's been the case for a long time. The current situation, one of coin throwing, death threats and police protection, should surely focus some minds. But I wouldn't hold my breath.



    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.
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  17. Scotty

    Looking ahead to January

    By Scotty,

    The January transfer window always seems a bit mental. With it being the last decent chance to bring in new players, we often see managers panic and bring in an entire team of players, the footballing equivalent of throwing a ton of stuff at a wall and hoping some of it will stick. There are also inevitably some unexpected arrivals, and some unexpected departures too. So frankly, predicting what will happen is a mug's game.

    But we're going to do it anyway, because, you know. Let's have a look at who each Premiership side might punt, and which areas they need to strengthen in...


    ABERDEEN
    Outs? Have the Dons given up on Chris Forrester already? The midfielder has made just a single start for the club after joining for £150,000 in the summer, though he did make his first appearance for more than two months against Dundee in midweek. Derek McInnes will have been gutted that Max Lowe, the loanee who has excelled in recent weeks at left-back, has been recalled by Derby County. However he may well look to end James Wilson's spell at the club early with the Manchester United forward having failed to impress. Oh, and don't forget Greg Tansey who has been out injured but was out of favour anyway.

    Ins? A left-back to replace Lowe is a necessity unless the Dons want to play Andrew Considine there for the rest of the year. Central defensive reinforcements may be needed if Michael Devlin can't get over a foot problem. A pacey wide player would add a new dimension. And of course a centre-forward who scores regularly - unless Sam Cosgrove can keep up his recent form.


    CELTIC
    Outs? The recent injury crisis may mean Brendan Rodgers has to hold on to some players just for the sake of having numbers. But there appears to be no future at the club for Marvin Compper, Cristian Gamboa, Scott Allan or Kundai Benyu. Might they try to cash in on Dedryck Boyata before his contract runs out in the summer?

    Ins? Rodgers has intimated he wants to upgrade three or four positions in January. Another option up front is a necessity. Right-back has looked like a weak area all season too.


    DUNDEE
    Outs? This is Jim McIntyre's chance to move on anyone he inherited who he doesn't rate. That group will probably include midfielders Karl Madianga and Elton Ngwatala and forwards Sofien Moussa and Jean-Alassane Mendy. Adil Nabi's contract is up in January and unlikely to be extended, while Andy Boyle's loan also runs out; it's unclear whether he and Ryan Inniss (who could be sent back south early) have done enough to impress the new boss.

    Ins? Aside maybe central midfield, the Dark Blues could justifiably seek reinforcements in every position. There is a dire need for new central defenders.


    HAMILTON ACCIES
    Outs? Summer signings Sam Kelly, Aaron Smith and Kieran Monlouis have barely registered on the radar so far this season so one wonders if they have any future at the club.. It wouldn't be a surprise to Mason Bloomfield's loan terminated early. Jan Mucha is only on a short-term deal but given he is already first choice keeper you'd expect Accies to try and extend his contract.

    Ins? Martin Canning has already stated his intention to sign a couple of players. It wouldn't be January if Hamilton didn't sign a Dutchman or Greek who went on to barely play for the first team...


    HEARTS
    Outs? Danny Amankwaa appears to be completely out of favour after a brief return to the lineup in the Autumn. However, the Jambos will hope to extend the loan contract of Jimmy Dunne, which runs out in January. Expect a number of young players to be loaned out.

    Ins? Czech striker David Vanecek will join on after signing a pre-contract in the summer.


    HIBERNIAN
    Outs? Charis Mavrias' short-term contract will be up. However they will hope to extend Emmerson Hyndman's loan deal.

    Ins? Given that Neil Lennon pulled a few rabbits out of the hat this time last year, it wouldn't be a surprise if there were one or two interesting new faces. Gillingham striker Tom Eaves has recently been linked.


    KILMARNOCK
    Outs? Jack Byrne has already left for Shamrock Rovers. The loans of Bright Enobakhare and Mikael Ndjoli are both up in January but the latter has proven a useful squad player and might be kept on. Ross Millen's short-term deal also runs out.

    Ins? Steve Clarke may find it hard to improve on his current best XI and though he has a great track record of convincing decent players to join his project he may feel that any depth concerns can be dealt with by youngsters returning from loan spells.


    LIVINGSTON
    Outs? Egli Kaja has returned to parent club AFC Wimbledon. Otherwise expect Gary Holt to try and keep the squad he has.

    Ins? Could ex-Lion Stefan Scougall come back for a second spell? Otherwise the club will think hard before risking disrupting the current team with newcomers.


    MOTHERWELL
    Outs? Andy Rose will join Vancouver Whitecaps once the window opens. Forward George Newell's development seems to have stalled and it would be no surprise to see him leave, at least on loan. Connor Sammon's spell at the club has gone as well as most predicted, but it may be that Hearts refuse to take him back early!

    Ins? Unless Trevor Carson's return is well before the end of the season they may look for an experienced keeper to compete with Mark Gillespie. The Steelmen would probably also prefer not to need to play Richard Tait out of position at left-back if they could avoid it.


    RANGERS
    Outs? Umar Sadiq's exit was hardly a surprise. But Ovie Ejaria had started 23 games this season before he returned to Liverpool. Though his performances had dropped off, it leaves Rangers short in that area. Further departures will surely only be the result of unrefusable (is that a word?) offers for the likes of James Tavernier or Alfredo Morelos.

    Ins? Steven Gerrard has already made it clear he wants several new faces in this window, though Dominic Solanke and Kieran Dowell seem optimistic targets. Steven Davis has been linked with a return to Ibrox having captained Rangers prior to liquidation.


    ST. JOHNSTONE
    Outs? Stefan Scougall has been told to find a new club after failing to live up to expectations in his 18 months at the club. Greg Hurst can go too. Tristan Nydam has confirmed he will return to parent club Ipswich, while young midfielders Kyle McClean and Ali McCann will be loaned out.

    Ins? Whilst Saints have managed much better than expected after losing Drey Wright for the season, they could do with finding a pacy wide player to take over his role in the side. Tommy Wright might also look for another striker to take the pressure off Tony Watt.


    ST. MIRREN
    Outs? This will be Oran Kearney's chance to clear house and get rid of a bunch of has-beens and never-weres signed by Alan Stubbs. Matty Willock is already gone, and expect Josh Heaton, Alfie Jones, Cole Kpekawa and Cody Cooke to be moved on if possible. Goalkeeper Dean Lyness and midfielder Adam Hammill are both out of contract next month, though the club will be desperate to keep the latter.

    Ins? Expect the Buddies to be very active; frankly, it's hard to think of an area of the park they wouldn't consider strengthening.


    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.

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  18. Scotty
    In the Spring of 2015, I was lucky enough to be on a city break in Barcelona right on time to take in the second leg of Barca's Champions League Quarter Final against Paris St. Germain. You may well remember the home side's opening goal; facing his own goal, midway inside his own half, Andres Iniesta took a pass into feet with a PSG player steaming in to close him down. The crowd collectively took a deep breath, only for Iniesta to spin 180 degrees and leave his opponent for dead. The 80,000 cheers that greeted the audacious skill were followed quickly by two louder ones as Iniesta then danced past two flailing tackles and over the halfway line. With everyone already on their feet, he then played Neymar clean through with the perfect pass, and the Brazilian went round the keeper to score. The actual celebrations for the goal were relatively short, the subsequent chants of "INIESTA! INIESTA!" that went round the ground went on far longer.

    You may think it is a little bit of a stretch to segue from one of the greatest players of the last decade to Caley Thistle midfielder Liam Polworth, but bear with me. Against Dundee United on Saturday, Polworth played in Tom Walsh to open the scoring. It was an exquisite through ball into the inside-right channel, and was in fact identical to goals set up and scored by the same players in each of Caley Thistle's previous two games. In the second half there was a moment where Polworth was trapped by United's Billy King against his own corner flag, only to outrageously nutmeg him before galloping up the pitch.

    That's not to say Polworth was especially outstanding in the match. He was as guilty as many teammates of giving the ball away cheaply, though his forwards too rarely got into space to receive the ball from him. But nor was he one of the poorest players. And what always makes him stand out in this Inverness side is that he always looks to get on the ball, though this may be a reflection on his teammates' timidity as much as anything.

    And that makes the crowd's reaction to him all the more curious and, frankly, nauseating.

    For what it's worth, Polworth's bit of skill near his own corner flag brought barely a murmur from the home support. But they did attract their attention, though, was a shanked cross. Polworth himself showed frustration at his error. However, he was quickly drawn to the loud catcalls and booing coming from the main stand. With as much subtlety as a brick, he turned towards them and shouted something which I suspect probably was a bit less polite than "sorry about that, I'll do better next time".

    Now, a common criticism of Polworth in these parts is that he has 'lousy body language'. Of course, that is entirely objective. When an on-form or well-liked player gets frustrated at the mistakes of himself or others, it's because he cares, because he wants to win, because others aren't as switched on as he is. When an off-form or unfavoured player does so, it's because he's a whinger with lousy body language. Of course, if said player doesn't react at all, it's because he doesn't care. Isn't it great how you can prove that the player you don't like has the wrong attitude, whatever his actions are?

    And it gets extrapolated. Social media and online forums are filled with complaints that Polworth doesn't get back into position, or goes missing, for no apparent reason other than that these traits would fit the ongoing narrative. I have urged other fans to actually watch him, not where the ball is, for 5 minutes at a time; then they would see a player constantly on the move both when Caley Thistle have the ball and when they don't, a guy who does a really impressive shift compared to some of his teammates. But they don't - either because the rest of the match is too distracting or, more likely because it's far easier and more reassuring to have a convenient scapegoat to blame for the fugue that has enveloped the club in the last couple of years.

    Polworth got the same criticisms last season, a campaign which finished with him credited a whopping 25 assists, 15 of which were in the league. When the SPFL Twitter account declared that statistic, it was met with scepticism because the number was more than double that of the next best. Whatever you think of 'assist' as a stat, the bottom line is you must be a pretty decent player to set up that many goals.

    And yet the consensus view then was much the same as it is now. After all, it's only four months since he was 'punished' with abusive chants about his family from the home end during a clash with Ayr United - all because he missed a penalty. Some so-called fans were banned as a result, but depressingly it seems the respite for the player was only temporary.

    In the final moments of the Dundee United match, Polworth was announced as the sponsors' Man Of The Match. It was a slightly bemusing decision, given that Walsh and Mark Ridgers had clearly been Caley Thistle's best two players, but usually an odd MOTM pick is met with shrugged shoulders and a collective "you what?" In this case, it was met with more boos.

    For what it's worth, the same fans who largely ignored Polworth's corner flag nutmeg, berated his lousy cross and booed the decision to make him MOTM reserved much of their applause and acclaim during the game for midfielders slide-tackling the ball out of play, or defenders heading the ball really hard. It is a peculiar thing, perhaps a British thing. That sort of stuff doesn't get a cheer at the Camp Nou. A nutmeg by your own corner flag might, though.

    Ultimately, Polworth will have to leave Inverness to get the acclaim he deserves, and he will; his contract is up at the end of the season and it is common knowledge that it won't be renewed unless he takes a pay cut. One suspects he won't have to go as far as Spain to find someone who appreciates him though, as most coaches and scouts are surely more insightful than the football neanderthals that populate Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. As for said neanderthals, their views on his attitude and body language probably say a lot more about them than it does about him.


    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.

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  19. Scotty
    Ladies and gentleman, the James Forrest Show
    Few players are more frustrating to watch than nippy wingers who are playing badly. Conversely, few excite quite as much as nippy wingers who are in top form and oozing confidence. Step forward James Forrest, who has now scored five goals in two Scotland games - and 11 in 11 games for club and country. There was more than just the hat-trick to savour; his decision-making, so often erratic at best, was perfect again and again as he weaved in and out of traffic and left more than one Israeli with twisted blood. But his calm, emphatic finishing, like in Tirana, was the sort of stuff you associate with world-class centre-forwards. Even if this turns out to be temporary form rather than permanent class, it was exhilarating and the Tartan Army won't forget it for a while.


    We can't play like this in every game
    Whether it was the pressure of hanging onto a single goal lead, or the fact that Israel were throwing everything forward, the players looked knackered in the latter stages. That wasn't a huge surprise given that in both this week's matches Scotland pressed high up the pitch. Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie were both substituted mainly because they were gassed; the former in particular ran himself into the ground and the introduction of the energetic Graeme Shinnie was a sensible move in the circumstances. Obviously though a different style will have to be adopted when the opposition is stronger and more technically able than this; the trouble is that in friendlies against better teams a more passive approach has resulted in Scotland being ripped to shreds. That's something for big Eck to ponder going forward, but he has bought himself several months to find a solution to that.


    Relief for the SFA
    The SFA can now confidently throw their weight behind McLeish for the Euro 2020 qualifiers, which is just as well because having to dismiss him would have reflected as badly on the Hampden suits as it would have on the manager. The hope obviously is that this week has been some sort of turning point, and we now have some momentum to take forward (and an insurance policy as well in the form of the Nations League playoffs). The fear is that the efforts of Forrest and his teammates have masked the problems at the SFA for a little bit longer.


    Connotations for Euro 2020
    Not only did Scotland win their group, but they actually ended up ranked as the top team in League C - that thumping win over Albania helped them finish ahead of Norway on goal difference. So if it turns out that they need this fallback to try and qualify for Euro 2020, they'll have to win a home semi-final in March 2020 - against Finland, as it stands - and then another game after that - against Norway or Serbia, as it stands - to make it. Let's hope it doesn't come to that though: one of the other bonuses of winning the group is that Scotland go into pot 3 for the qualifiers draw instead of pot 4.

    That said, Germany are in pot 2. If we get them, I think we can just start focussing on those March 2020 playoffs straight away...


    More needs to be done to encourage fans
    21000 is a dreadful attendance for such an important game. But until Saturday night there was very little reason for supporters to attend other than a sense of duty. And sadly there were plenty of reports of difficulties in buying and collecting tickets on the day. £25 a ticket for a midweek match against a middle-of-the-road opponent is foolish as well. The powers that be need to decide what national team matches are meant to achieve - is the top priority just to make as much money as possible, by milking loyal Tartan Army members for all they're worth to make money? Or should the focus be on filling Hampden at all costs, thus providing a better atmosphere and more support to the team as well as promoting them to as many fans (particularly children) as possible? Given that topping the group means another €750,000 in prize money, I do hope Ian Maxwell might be more generous in the future.

    But a little success does no harm. It might only be one group in the third tier of the Nations League, but Scotland have actually won something, and the post-match lap of honour was justified in the circumstances not only to make the players feel good but the supporters as well. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of something special.


    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.
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  20. Scotty

    Thoughts from Tirana

    By Scotty,

    Fraser was the spark
    Ryan Fraser started the match like a man with something to prove - and maybe he did, given that injuries have prevented him from repeating his outstanding Bournemouth performances for the national team. Within seconds of kickoff he had nicked the ball and raced into the box; whilst that didn't lead to anything it was a taste of things to come. In addition to a fine goal he set up the fourth for James Forrest and was not so much a winger as a blur of energy throughout. And his enthusiasm, along with the quality of his play, set the tone for his teammates.


    The players care
    There remains a healthy dose of scepticism about many of the calloffs that have plagued the squad for this game. But those who played in Tirana very much gave the impression that they were playing for the manager and the shirt. Even when the match was over as a contest the midfield and forwards continued to press high up the pitch, not least because they could sniff a chance to fill their boots. Subs Matt Phillips and Johnny Russell continued the theme when they came on for the latter stages. After such a disjointed and lethargic effort in Israel this was very welcome.


    Is this Callum McGregor's best position?
    Last night I couldn't help remembering how Andrea Pirlo started his career as an attacking midfielder whose technique and ability didn't really come to the fore until he dropped into a more deeper role. Obviously Callum McGregor isn't in the same league as the great Italian, but it was striking how comfortable he looked sitting at the base of the midfield, taking the ball off his centre-backs and spraying it all over the park. Obviously he won't play many international opponents as accomodating as ten-man Albania, but in light of his outstanding showings in that position for Celtic recently is it possible that this could turn out to be his strongest position?  Regardless, you can't buy the level of versatility and reliability that he offers.


    The case for the defence
    I'd rather not play stronger opposition with that back four - particularly since Neil Warnock deleted the file marked 'how to play at right-back' from Callum Paterson's database when he converted him to a forward - but if you've prevented the home side managing a shot on target, you can certainly claim to have had a good game. Scott McKenna doesn't seem to do nerves anyway - he's what you'd get if Skynet designed central defenders instead of Terminators - and whilst David Bates always looks on edge he never actually looked under pressure. I'd rather we didn't play anyone good with those two in front of Allan MacGregor in the near future, but I'd like to think I'd be up for it in two or three years. Surely it's not too much to ask that two of McKenna, Bates and John Souttar can go on to be international class?


    Let's not get carried away
    Albania were cack, and they played with ten men for three quarters of the game, and the referee awarded us an outrageous penalty. And if we don't beat Israel on Tuesday then it's all for nothing really. But a result and performance as good - and as enjoyable - as that doesn't come around too often for the Scotland national team and even if we shouldn't savour it too much we should give credit where it is due to the players and the manager.


    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.
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  21. Scotty
    AJ under pressure at Dunfermline?
    So many of Dunfermline's home games this season have ended with the sound of booing, so Allan Johnston may be immune to it now. But a derby defeat to Falkirk was the lowest ebb of the Pars' season so far, one in which they've managed just one win and two goals in seven league matches at East End Park. No wonder the fans are revolting (no, not in that sense).

    This one might have turned out differently had Andy Ryan not missed the mother of all sitters for the home side in the first half, and what can any manager do when all his forwards seem to have suffered a collective slump in form? However, the bottom line is that Dunfermline have promotion playoff aspirations. And too often at East End Park the script has been familiar - plenty of possession but a lack of end product, a few decent chances spurned, and a sucker punch at the other end.

    Whether the board feel the same way as the fans is unclear. After all, this is only the club's third year back in the second tier after AJ got them out of their League One nightmare. And in such a competitive league, it could be a lot worse - just look at Falkirk or Partick Thistle. He may not be on borrowed time yet, but with the support at least he has used up all previous goodwill.




    Ross County and Dundee United are the two best teams in this league
    In years to come, Dundee United fans may thank their lucky stars that Ross County thumped them 5-1 last month and brought about the end of Csaba Laszlo. The transformation under Robbie Neilson has been stark and United have four wins and a draw under his leadership, including something of a statement win in Dingwall.

    That's not to say they overwhelmingly deserved the victory - far from it, in fact. But having scrambled their way in front through Paul Watson the visitors defended without panic and refused to buckle under pressure, an outcome that would have been unthinkable a short time ago.

    There seems little question that United will compete strongly for that automatic promotion slot. But on the evidence of this encounter so will Ross County.  When the two sides play each other here again on 6 April 2019, it could well be something of a title decider.




    Not for the first time, Mark Ridgers rescues ICT
    Mark Ridgers deserves most of the plaudits for ending Caley Thistle's crazy run of seven consecutive draws; the goalkeeper's penalty save from Blair Spittal meant that Tom Walsh's goal proved decisive. It was Ridgers' second save from the spot this season, with the first coming against the same opponents in Inverness. This comes just a week after a wonder save from Billy Mckay in the Highland derby.

    It was Ridgers' seventh league clean sheet of the season and his fourteenth in the twenty-four league games ICT have been unbeaten. Whilst his backline aren't too shabby either, Ridgers has been outstanding for the whole of 2018 - not bad going for a journeyman goalie who, at 28, is at his tenth club. An Inverness native, it seems that he has found that there is no place like home.




    Do Alloa stick or twist in January?
    As the only part-timers in this league, weren't Alloa supposed to finish bottom by some way? Clearly they didn't get the memo as they now find themselves out of the bottom two after winning at Cappielow. Far from being punchbags or even simply being overpowered by stronger opponents, they show no signs of being out of their depth at all. It is increasingly conceivable that they could survive.

    That said, the sides below them - Falkirk and Partick Thistle - are certain to bring in significant reinforcements in January to save their season. Should Alloa try to do the same? Can they afford to (or not to)? And, if some of their best players keep performing like this - Iain Flannigan is the obvious standout - will they be able to keep them, or will full-time clubs sweep in?

    Ach, one gets the feeling that Jim Goodwin and co aren't going to concern themselves with those sort of worries. They#re just going to enjoy this while it lasts.




    Connor Murray shows up Frizzell's failings
    Kudos to Connor Murray for coming off the bench at Ayr to grab a late equalizer for Queen of the South. The winger's opportunities have been few and far between but the club obviously see something in him, given that he'll be 22 in March but they've still kept him around. But a penny for the thoughts of Adam Frizzell, left sitting on the bench yet again. The little Kilmarnock loanee would seem on paper to be a better option as an impact sub and yet he's played only 85 minutes of football, all as a replacement, since moving south temporarily. That's pretty unimpressive for a guy who had 24 Premiership starts to his name when still a teenager. Frizzell also had a lousy (and injury-hit, to be fair) loan spell at Livingston last season but it looks increasingly like the 20 year old, previously considered such a prospect at Rugby Park, is stagnating.



    Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007.  He has a life outside this blog.  Honestly.
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  22. Scotty
    TFC fans have been down in the dumps for the last few months. We missed the playoffs, then we lost Victor Vazquez and Seba Giovinco to nice, fat, tax-free paychecks in the middle east. After that we had to cut ties with Gregory van der Wiel when a training camp bust-up with Vanney saw him sent home from California during pre-season training, and the off-season signings were functional and workmanlike rather than inspiring. Bill Manning and new GM Ali Curtis definitely had to pull a rabbit out of the hat somewhere as the season had not started and it already looked like it was falling apart.
    We were told that the club had a plan to address the unexpected departures of VV and Seba, and the rumour mill got into full swing with suggestions that the overall plan was to ‘go cheap’ in terms of DPs and to get rid of the existing high earners. Bill Manning rode the storm at a supporters meeting and although he admitted he may not have an unlimited budget, he wasnt about to ‘go cheap’. It had already emerged that one of the targets was Spanish midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo who had been plying his trade in Belgium for Genk. TFC had met his release clause value but the club wanted to keep him to the end of the Belgian season. TFC stayed focused on him and eventually agreed to wait until the Belgian season wrapped up in late March before getting their man. They also – somewhat unexpectedly – announced that Jozy had signed a new three-year deal. Many had expected to see Jozy made available to other sides but after (hopefully) putting last season’s injuries behind him, the popular striker looked fit and ready for action. All that remained to be seen was how the team and Pozuelo would link up … Could the wait be worth it? Could he begin to replace either VV or Seba ?
    We didnt have to wait long! The article title may give it away, but from the very first minute of the game it was clear that the front office had done their homework and that waiting for Pozuelo was a great move. He seemed to link up easily with Jozy, with Oso, with Bradley, with everyone. He oozed quality every time he touched the ball and – much like Seba and VV had done – he put the ball in spaces where good players, players who could read the game, would position themselves … and in this case, they often found their mark. If his debut form continues, then TFC may well have stuck gold with ‘Pozo’.
    TFC had the ball in the net twice before the first goal was awarded and numerous close chances peppered either side of them …. In 7 minutes Pozuelo threaded a ball through to Jozy who had his shot saved by Sean Johnson. Then followed two ‘goals’ that were chalked off, both for offside. First it was Justin Morrow in 9 minutes then Pozuelo himself scored shortly after. Whilst the first went to VAR, the second was less controversial. The breakthrough came in 29 minutes. A move that spanned the entire pitch and was a real team-effort. A headed clearance from Mavinga in the penalty area found DeLeon and then Auro who passed to Bradley. Bradley laid it off to Pozuelo near halfway who played a nice pass to Osorio. Osorio made some ground then passed back to Pozuelo who saw the opportunity to play a defence splitting pass back to Oso. Osorio gave him the ball back in a neat 1-2 and Pozuelo headed for the penalty area and played it across the box to a waiting Altidore who had – for him – a simple tap-in. Given the two chances already chalked off, and that this looked like a close call too, with NYC claiming for offside, there was only a muted celebration as the Reds and the supporters waited to see if referee Chris Penso would make his own hat-trick. Only when the restart happened could everyone relax and enjoy the goal.
    This kind of neat passing was a feature of the night. They didnt always end in goals, but it sure looked and felt good. TFC were passing the ball around with ease and Pozuelo was showing lots of class. There’s an old cliche in football about ‘covering every blade of grass’ but thats what he seemed to do. If you look at the gallery, you will see him photobombing lots of pictures from all over the pitch. He was at the heart of most offensive moves and also tracked back well. While Jozy and Pozo will undoubtedly get the plaudits, one player who may have gone somewhat unheralded since the start of the season is Michael Bradley. He is in a contract year and has said he wants to keep things private but he is certainly letting his feet do the talking on the pitch. Whether its the hurt from last year, or the incentive of making sure he gets a good contract – or a bit of both – he has gone about his business solidly and with a laser focused determination since the start of the season. He has been the beating heart of this team since he arrived and his two goals already this season are his first since 2016.
    Despite lots of great passing play and a clear domination of the opposition, TFC could not translate that into goals and the first half ended 1-0. The second half however would see a few more goals. In 58 minutes, after more magic from the reds, Jozy was upended in the box. Referee Penso was not keen to give anything but after video review he finally awarded a penalty. A confident looking Pozuelo stepped up ready to take it and what he did was outrageous in a good way ! In post match interviews he has mentioned that he had said if he got to take one he would ‘do a panenka’ and that’s exactly what he did. If it works, it looks great, but if it doesnt, you look foolish – just ask Canadian international Simeon Jackson who fluffed his one in the Scottish Premiership last week (see here) and was widely ridiculed !
    If the Panenka was good, he surpassed it 20 minutes later and blew the collective minds of the crowd (and Jozy) with a sweet chip that would have had Newton re-thinking the theory of gravity. With Johnson on the correct side of the goal he chipped up (way up) and over the keeper and into the net for his second and Toronto’s third. He didnt have his chance to grab a hat-trick as he was subbed a minute later for Jay Chapman, but perhaps his magic rubbed off as it took Chapman only six minutes to get on the scoresheet himself with a nice goal setup by Auro Jr.
    Considering that Pozuelo has only had a few days of training it must scare coaches in the rest of MLS about what he may be able to do once he has had a chance to gel more fully with his new team-mates. For TFC fans, I have a feeling its the start of another beautiful friendship ….
    Videos & Gallery from the game :
    Jozy’s Goal:  1-0

     
    Pozuelo’s penalty : 2-0

    Pozuelo’s Chip : 3-0

    Chapman’s goal : 4-0

    The Pozuelo Show !

    Full Match Highlights

    Pozuelo leads the viking clap (as seen from 113)

     
    Gallery for this game can be found here :  https://viewfromthesouthstands.com/gallery/2019-gallery/collections/72157677510990477/
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  23. Scotty
    TFC are the only unbeaten side in the Eastern Conference but this 2-2 draw felt a bit like a loss. Coming off a high from Pozuelo’s debut last week, this was a more subdued affair and although the reds dominated the first half and had chance after chance, they were not converted into goals.  Ousted had a few good saves but there are some days where you just know its not going to click. This was one of those days.
    The opening goal came in 31 minutes when Altidore got on the end of a Pozuelo cross to head home. The relief in the stands was palpable but it was short lived. Almost on the stroke of half-time, Drew Moor lost the ball high up the field and it was sent long by Katai to CJ Sapong who barrelled down the sideline. The angle from the edge of the box looked impossible but with ‘Bombscare’ Bono showing up this week and making a trek to the edge of the box he was able to chip it over him and into the net from an acute angle.
    Into the second half and the Fire came more into the game and went ahead in 62 minutes. That man Katai was again involved and he made the run down the flanks before cutting back to Nikolic who had an easy tap-in. 17 minutes later and it was another cross into the box that led to a goal, fortunately for TFC it was a red goal … Jozy turned from scorer to provider and hard down the wing to engineer a cross to an unmarked Osorio at the back post who powered a header into the net. 2-2 and blushes spared.
    A few notes from this game
    Aleksander Katai is a bit of a dick !  He had a pop at Bono, Moor, Laryea and Altidore all in the same incident. Lucky to get away with just a yellow Richie Laryea looks good. Made his debut for TFC and put some good work in. Alex Bono needs some serious competition. No idea how good Westberg is as we havent seen him but someone needs to push Bono for the #1 spot as he is going backwards. CJ Sapong took his goal well. Alejandro Pozuelo had a quiet week … just the 1 assist and a hand in starting quite a few moves.  
    Gallery for this game can be found here :  https://viewfromthesouthstands.com/gallery/2019-gallery/collections/72157708053013884/
    Jozy Altidore Goal

    Jonathan Osorio Goal

    Full Match Highlights

     
     
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  24. Scotty
    For the second home game in a row TFC went down 2-1, this time to the Philadelphia Union, albeit with a little help from rookie referee Ramy Touchan. Despite having the better of the opening 25 minutes, TFC found themselves 1-0 down when Chris Mavinga got the last touch on a Fabrice-Jean Picault effort.  The reds equalised early in the second half with another audacious chipped free-kick from Alejandro Pozuelo which Carlos Coronel got a hand to but couldn’t stop. That’s his 5th of the season.
    Jamiro Monteiro would go on to score the winner in 68 minutes when TFC were temporarily down to 10 men after Auro suffered an injury and was making his way to the touchline to be subbed. A further cynical foul saw Ciman having to be replaced and the ref then seemed to lose control of the match towards the end, booking 4 players as things got heated with TFC seeking an equaliser and Philly falling over at every opportunity. The most bizarre of the 4 bookings was the one dished out to Philly’s Przybylko who was carded on the bench after being subbed. Why he was not carded on the 2 or 3 occasions he wasted valuable time trying to re-enter the field of play without permission after one of his miraculous recoveries beggars belief but that is the oxymoron that is “PRO” referees here in MLS.
    All in all a frustrating day where our lack of a credible second striker to deputise for Jozy cost us dearly. Boyd is not the answer. Hamilton is not the answer. Akinola may become an option but he is not the answer right now.
    Gallery for this game can be found here :  https://viewfromthesouthstands.com/gallery/2019-gallery/collections/72157678247494367/
     
    Match Highlights

     
    Alejandro Pozuelo goal

     
     
    View the full article
     
  25. Scotty
    TFC went down 2-1 at home to the Portland Timbers in our first home defeat of the season. Jonathan Osorio had put the reds ahead with a scrambled goal after a corner in the 20th minute, but the Timbers drew level with a sweet strike from Bill Tuiloma just a couple of minutes later.  Jeremy Ebobisse wrapped it up in the 70th minute for the visitors with another good goal.
    Gallery for this game can be found here :  https://viewfromthesouthstands.com/gallery/2019-gallery/collections/72157708581866394/
     
    Match Highlights

     
    Jonathan Osorio Goal

     
     
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