starchief

Hear! Hear! Why would we wish Imrie bad luck? He always did his best, never mouthed off about demanding a transfer, put up with abuse from his own support (get a grip, guys!) and brought in some much needed cash when he could have went on a Bosman. All the best, Dougie!

Thought Caldwell was a bit unlucky (should have been cleared before him and there was little he could do as it bounced off) but I doubt that'll hit the mind of the 'Tic supporters. I'll be very interested to see how McDonald does at Middlesborough. Always thought he was a pretty good player myself. The Celtic supporters do make me laugh though. They're constantly telling the Rangers fans how great they are because Celtic can spend in the transfer window and have a better balance sheet. Weird sense of priorities (and before anyone starts, yes, I'd say exactly the same if it were the other way around).

I see poor old Celtic are losing to Killie (on Kuwait Sport if you can get it). It was bound to be evenly balanced mind you as Celtic got Robbie Keane and a bunch of other multi-million unknowns, but then Killie signed Severin and McGuire, so they're equal. Got to feel sorry for them :D

Mido has joined West Ham for ?1,000 a week. We could have doubled Mido's wages and it would still be less than what we were allegedly paying Barrowboy.

Even if he does play well for County, he was never going to make it here. I've seen him go 50:50 with keepers/defenders and bottle out. I've seen him try to score from distance and fail miserably. I've seen him try tap-ins, only to screw up. I've seen him being woeful whether up front on his own, with a partner or out wide. I have never ever seen him play impressively. Probably rivals Robbie Keane coming and Rothen going as the best piece of transfer dealings this window.

with Rangers supposedly still paying half his salary as part of the deal !!! Short memories some fans have got. Bougherra and Mendes were terrific for Rangers, yet even commentators are saying Mendes wasn't doing enough. Only because he was injured. He was first choice before it and was still coming back. It's like us and Imrie. If he's not at his best straight away, bin him, comes the shout. I've disagreed with almost everything Mowbray's done but if he seals the Keane switch, it'll be a masterstroke. Surprised Hughes has gone with Gow. I would have thought he needed more 'put the boot in' players rather than an extra attacker.

AAAAIIIIWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! Egypt 1-0 Ghana!! We won the Cup!!!!!!

Half an hour to go and Celtic start time-wasting. Now they bring on defender Caddis for McGeady. I cannot remember a poorer Celtic team.

Thought it might be an idea to have a place to discuss other matches. Anyone watching Celtic v Hamilton? Celtic are so average. I still expect them to scrap through but there's not much quality on display there.

Much as I rate Duff (and I do - I rate him a top 6 SPL player), I'd prefer to shove Bully to midfield or have him and Tokely left and right backs, if we could bring in Mihadjuks to central defence.

the man himself? Ssshhh! I don't think we're supposed to guess that.

Took a team without a striker to third last season. Climbing up the table without a striker as we speak. He was my manager of the season last year. I expect Jim Jefferies might fancy a return. After all, his last chairman wasn't exactly easy to work for either.

Looking at all the quotes it seems Bully isn't under contract to Ventspils but the club hold his registration. A bit like the EU clubs before Bosman. Lucky it wasn't Airdriespils. They'd have forced him to retire first.

Egypt won 4-0. Third goal must have been from the tightest angle possible. Algeria with three men sent off: a last man mistimed tackle, a deliberate attempt to leg-break then the keeper (at last) being red-carded for a wild kick at an offside player. Cairo going absolutely radio rental. The Old Firm derbies pale in comparison to this. Egypt now going for their fourth African Cup in a row! Such a shame a couple of poor results mean that arguably the greatest team Africa has ever produced will miss the World Cup in Africa. Noise here is incredible!

I'm looking forward to tonight's Egypt v Algeria derby. The noise is incredible in Cairo when the national team plays. It was loud enough the other night when Ivory Coast scored against Algeria. Insane rivalry (although I keep telling my wife, that's what makes it interesting but to no avail).

I think most of us have a liking for clubs in other countries but supporting Rangers and Inverness really is like supporting Chelsea and Bolton. Only in Scotland...

But they do invest in advertising. That's often why clubs will own sporting holdings, whether that be the name of a stadium, a seat on the Board, hoardings or an ad in a programme.

I stated pretty early on that I didn't rate Mogga. His interest is in developing players and playing flowing football, not winning at any cost, hence all these schoolboy Scandinavians and money-making Orientals. That's what got his considerably better squad at WBA relegated, whilst the likes of Stoke and Hull survived. For a defender as well, WBA shipped a lot of loose goals, whilst at Celtic, last year's player of the season, Gary Caldwell, and their captain, McManus - whose been a rock in their defence for Scotland and against Manchester United - have both looked like amateurs. Plus asking for ?1/2M for a 4-month loan for their unwanted captain? Shoddy treatment for a good servant to their club. By the way Feb2008, who do you support? ICT or Rangers? Isn't it time we left all this big and wee team in the past? Rangers were our direct rivals for years in the SPL. Can you imagine Blackburn fans saying they support Manchester United as their big club?

So glad for Hibs. I've never supported them but the team they've got now is so close to being a title challenging team (and doesn't every supporter outside the OF and Hearts want that?). Keep their players plus very limited investment in the centre of midfield (a little terrier like Ian Black would have been ideal) and maybe a big ugly centre-back (moving Murray out to left-back), then it's probably the best team outside the Old Firm since Jefferies' Hearts. But it's Hibs. Expect Riordan, Stokes, Miller, Murray and Hogg to be shipped out at the first opportunity. What a let down that'll be!

But is investment needed now? That's the problem. It's all pure speculation until someone in authority deigns to speak.

Mixed feelings. Short-term: good. Medium-term: below average. Long-term: good potential. Gave us a tremendous boost when he came in. We looked dead and buried but Butcher gave us a chance of survival. Tokely had been playing very well at centre-back (look at the match reports on here), so it wasn't a surprise to see him continue there. I don't blame Terry at all for relegation. There were far more positives than negatives under his reign and I don't think we would have amassed as many points as we did under Brew. He was left with a mass cull (mostly not of his own doing) in Division One. Of his signings, only Stratford has looked poor throughout. Have a look at pre-season games and Eagle was probably the stand out from them. He's still young so could come good again. That said, results haven't been great. The biggest drawbacks we have had have been centre-back (no money to replace Mihadjuks with a finished article), left-back (Hastings let go too early in favour of Golly and LDZ) and attacking midfield (where Vigurs could have done the Sanchez role). So we could have done better. Over all, there's a young team with potential in there. Give the best of them a contract and get Butcher tied down long-term too and I'll be happy. Otherwise, start talking to CC, Robbo and/or Pele NOW about the future to come up with an alternative long-term plan and I'll be even happier. Both of these scenarios could see a definite return to the good times. Instead... ...the Board backed Brew when the league was all but gone. The manager is being asked to work on a very short time-scale whilst the players are being asked to perform with no job security. This short-termism is immensely damaging. If we're going bust, tell us so we can do something. If not, then get some planning going.

Remember when we used to talk about five-year plans? Now, it's not even six-month plans. Is this because we're in severe money troubles? Who knows, apart from rumours? It's about time there was some semblance of communication from the Board. The silence is deafening.

Absolutely Scotty. How about we do what most clubs do? We offer them a contract for the league we are in with incentives for promotion, plus a clause for relegation. This is the same idiocy we've put up with for years. The one that let all our good players leave for nothing or next to nothing. For the last few years, we've been in the same boat as the rest of the bottom six teams and this year, we're the same as the rest of Division One. I'd love the Board to tell us why exactly we're so different from Queen of the South or Airdrie.

No to Camara, simply because we've already got three left-backs and the money could be better used elsewhere. No (with reservations) to Wyness too. He may well do the Sanchez job but my view is we need to start rebuilding with younger or exceptional players. If we were really challenging for promotion (and I don't think that's realistic), then Wyness would be a decent shout but, with Imrie being able to go into that slot, plus that money being used for another player with more future potential (or keeping Foran/Imrie), it's a reluctant no.

Also, location and timing. Ross County and ICT were already established teams when Elgin came in. Had it been ICT and Elgin, they would have been much further ahead. Likewise, there was no reason why Meadowbank Thistle couldn't have been SPL material, except that Hearts, Hibs and junior teams had been ploughing that furrow for years. Also, what's Elgin's base? It's not the Capital of the Highlands and surrounds, which have two teams already. Whilst footballers from the north-east would probably prefer Aberdeen and, if they're not that level, then Peterhead is a commute away. Elgin? Just a few small towns around the local area. Not very commutable from Aberdeen or Inverness for a part-time player.