starchief

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.

Besides DZ, the same team I chose. It'll be very interesting to see how Cox and Proctor perform. I think they could do well.

We'd have a better chance if we started with 11 players mind you.

Sweet moderation - heart of this nation...

I'd like to see the Scottish contingent furthered at Birmingham City - just makes it more interesting to have club with loads of Scots (the reason I picked up on Everton but also watched results from the likes of Plymouth). I rate Boyd and would like to see him prove himself with a manager who also rates him too. He also seems the type of player City lack - a poacher.

Evolution, string theory, climate change, relativity, gravity, quantum mechanics - just some examples of scientific discovery of a non-making money nature. Is China really capitalist? A one-party state that employs virtual and real slaves to make gains for the country, whilst cracking down on free speech. Just because they trade on the world market doesn't mean they are capitalists at heart. Sounds to me closer to national socialism. Will capitalism drive the next superpower? Or could it be climate change, investing in cyber-crime, state terrorism on a mass scale, a drive by fundamentalists in America and the Middle East, either engulfing the world or leaving it open to a new power, collapse of the building blocks of capitalism, such as banks, even democracy meaning the super-rich are slimmed down and consumerism ceasing? Only the past fifty years have seen an economic empire. Prior to that, it was usually military invasion, religious persuasion or/and natural disasters. We can't always assume the same thing will happen. Whoever thought slavery would be abolished by the UK 50 years before it was?

Nah, disagree with that. What the poor want is control over their own destiny. Free market capitalism is ok for the developed nations (to an extent) but hugely damaging to most of the world. Thinking that one dogma has all the answers is something most people thankfully grow out of. The same economic structure for China, Canada, Chad, Venezuela and Switzerland would be a disaster (even more than it currently is). There's also the definition of socialism. In the US, that's just another word for hardline communism, whereas for most of Europe, it's the kind of government that's been around for most of the time in post-war Germany and France, plus the UK for a large part of the time. Redistribution of wealth is a nice phrase but what does it mean? Everyone gets an equal share? Nah, most democratic socialists would probably go along the lines of 'a fair day's wage for a fair day's work', plus certain things like education, health and the law being equal, rather than money-based. I wouldn't say capitalism has proven anything yet. Still a pretty young theory that really only took off post-WWII. Almost collapsed overnight recently too. What has improved the West has been military conflict (including with each other - necessity being the mother of invention), scientific advancement, exploitation of other countries (who do you think set the exchange rates?), democracy and climate. And what people always forget is, it wasn't always this way and it won't be forever this way either. It wouldn't be that much of a surprise to see, in 100 years time, that the West had collapsed and India, China or Brazil was the great power. After all, the biggest power for the last thousand years was probably Turkey (Ottoman Empire) - who remembers that? As for the anti-gay rights: mind your own business, rather than the continual obsession with what other people get up to. What the hell's it got to do with you? Oh and almost forgot: capitalism (uncontrolled that is) = overconsumption. Unsustainable in the short, medium and long-term, depending on where and how you live. The rich cause it, the poor suffer and have to pay. Most of the world make almost zero contribution to climate change, yet it's consistently peddled out that reducing population is the solution, rather than reducing consumption of the few, which is the real problem.

What a player the boy Proctor is. He was all over the park so much, you'd think there was two of him (copyright Only An Excuse - Denis Law on de Boer)

Esson Tokely Munro Bulvitis Shinnie Cox Proctor Imrie Sanchez Foran Rooney ---------------------------------- Allison; Golabek; Ross; Hayes/Eagle; Odhiambo Imrie stays in for taking his chance. Shinnie gets to show what he can do. Cox and Proctor can be a long-term midfield partnership, so it builds from now.

Why would Hibs sit back? They might not have been good enough to win but I doubt they'd play for a 1-0 loss.

Yeah, flak from the COUNTY fans, not from his current club. Abuse from the Rangers fans whilst at Celtic and vice versa. I despair :(

Vinyl is a work of beauty. MP3's are wonderfully convenient (and I can't hear any difference in sound quality). CD's are just these little silver discs that killed vinyl. No emotion attached to them whatsoever.

If he gets the job, I certainly don't expect Robbo to do as well as previous. I'd expect it to be a five-year plan, looking at stabilising the club, bringing through younger players alongside seasoned professionals, maybe in a couple of years time being promotion prospects that have a chance of staying in the SPL. Back then, we were an optimistic club on the up. Not now.

If you think we're bad, just looked at our American cousins. What do they get for their taxes? No free health care, very limited social security, little to zero tertiary education (unfortunately, now we're in the same boat but no so bad) and almost no social housing. Really, they get a weapons program and Israel. Doesn't seem a great return.

The mighty Egypt go marching on

If true, I can only think we are incredibly close to closure, i.e. accept this or we go to the wall and you get nowt.

Hey, what is this? Make up your own ending? What happened on those misty nights?

At 36, not involved in coaching and usually, at best, an unused substitute, do you think McBain's got a future at ICT under Butcher, Alex? It is in the Rumour Mill but it seems a pretty decent shout to me.

Real democracy though. Not one where 98% of the wealth are held by around 2% of the people. And those 2% do everything in their very substantial power to keep it that way (those are figures quoted for the USA but I bet they're not too different in most countries). I'd go for federalism myself, where decisions are taken at the most appropriate level, rather than nominally centralised in Edinburgh, London, Brussels or New York.

Bradford were already in the relegation zone of the Premiership when JJ arrived. He got them battling but couldn't halt the slide. He sold players for millions (through necessity - the club was near bust) and was only allowed to sign one player for money (and not that much either). When JJ left he said that he didn't think it was possible for Bradford to do much better in those circumstances. Not so long after relegation followed relegation.

The strangest thing is why McBain was offered a new contract. Butcher must have known if he was or wasn't going to use him by then, so why keep on a player that, by all accounts, was interesting other clubs?

What?! One of the biggest problems with Christie is that he felt every defeat too much precisely because his heart was in the job. I don't think we should be discounting our most successful manager too readily, especially when it seemed to be there were more than the normal pressures persuading him to pick a certain someone or stand-aside for a certain someone else. I also don't think we should discount the man who basically built the club in Pele. Yep, he had problems that he's now trying (successfully it would appear) to conquer. He was in the midst of those troubles right through our rebuilding mind you and it never stopped him then. I do think this is quite typical of ICT in that something will happen in a few months time but there appears to be nothing happening in advance of it, whether that's Rankin, Black, Dods or Butcher. START TALKING NOW! Give the club a chance. What is there to lose?

Yallah, Misr, Yallah!!! (= go, Egypt, go!)

Advertise widely the names of anyone who's ever done it. That would serve as a deterrent.... ...and even if it doesn't, it gives us all a good laugh anyway :006:

I felt a bit sorry for Killen. Seemed to do well whenever he got the chance but those were few and far between.