CaleyD

Taken from League Cup Competition Rules Link to Rules

Aye...that's the reason Deano ain't been getting a game...the bookies have paid off Brewster in order to keep the lad on the bench.

Aye...Elder Boy and his mates provide some hope that at least the next generation won't all be beer swilling louts who are unable to hold their drink (literally) :015:

They reckon 1 in 5 people in the UK (1 in 2 worldwide) suffer from toxoplasmosis which is caught from cats and results in changes to personality. So if you've your level of personal grooming has dropped and you are turning into a loner who is always seeking fights, have become more suspicious/jealous and are increasingly agitated by the thought of following rules then your screwed and there's no cure as yet. In fact, having looked at the symptoms I reckon half the users on this forum are likely infected...what ya think?

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Paatelainen is a left sided player so I can't agree that Zander is a better player in his position. Saw Paatelainen a couple of times pre-season and he actually stood out above other regular starters with his performances and I hope he makes it back in to the squad. Unfortunately when push comes to shove however, the club will have to weight up the cost of keeping him on, especially if he is slow to make it back from injury. One thing in his favour is that when he gets back to training he'll have Brew in charge of him and there's no better manager in the SPL for driving player fitness.

It was a goat RiG. Was a programme on TV a while back about some woman in France who used to get intimate with guillotines!!! I cannot confirm whether or not she used to be a man.

Yngwie...that reminds me of the story about the guy who was driving along and a cat ran out in front of him. He felt the bump as he ran over it and stopped immediately. When he got out of the car the cat was lying next to a lamp post...it looked to still be alive. Doing the humane thing, the guy goes into the boot of his car and gets his tyre iron, walks over to the cat and beats it over the head to put it out of it's misery. On arriving home, he discovers something stuck in his wheel arch. It was the cat he had run over....the one at the side of the road had simply been sunning itself!!!

With Craig Brewster voicing support for a change to the U21 rule what are other people's views? Brewster believes that the rule is hampering his ability to reward players who have been performing well in training and in the reserves by giving them a place in the first team squad due to the current rule and wants to see it changed. I'm in two minds about the whole thing, I can understand that managers want to have the best players possible available and I also agree to a certain extent that players should be there on merit and not simply because the rules say they have to be given a chance. However, will a reduction in the number of compulsory U21's do damage? For the majority of teams these young lads are doing nothing other than warming the bench for 90 minutes every week and it can't be doing them any good in the long run. I wouldn't want to see the U21's simply forgotten, but their must be a better way of supporting them without it hampering the managers job. Thoughts?

If you base your expectation on the money players are being played then I take it you never expect ICT to win a game because our opponents are on larger salaries? Also, I'm not saying that money doesn't matter...of course it does, but when it comes down to it there are 11 guys out there on the pitch and I don't base my support for them on the wages they are earning. They all get the same support, and they all get judged on a level playing field in terms of performance after the 90 minutes. If Niculae and Wyness perform equally well then they get judged the same. Wyness doesn't get 8/10 and Niculae only 6/10 just because he's on a larger wage...that would be preposterous, IMO, but it seems like that's how many are judging him.

Is this the one on Golf Rd just around the corner from Pittodrie?

Just remember not to tell anyone that TM4TJ p!shed himself on the way home :015:

Still plenty of seats left for the minibus going to Ibrox.

Aye, that Social Club they have there really is a great place and the welcome was equally impressive. Bar prices were good and I actually had to check that they had charged me for everything on the first round I bought because it seemed helluva cheap. Across to the turnstiles and the welcome was just as pleasing. The old fella standing outside the gate entertained us with stories of stands going up in blazes as we stood outside to finish our cigarettes and the lass on the turnstile at least attempted to stifle her laughter as it looked like I may get stuck!!! No hassle with the Stewards either...they did tell us to sit down a couple of times, but they weren't jumping down your throat for it every two seconds and at least allowed you a couple of minutes standing to celebrate the goals. IN fact, I got more hassle from Naelifts (grumpy old buggar) telling me to sit down than I did from the Stewards :015: Thanks also to the Steward sitting next to me for keeping us informed of the scores elsewhere....I bet most people think that earpiece he has in is for security radio and not for listening to the match on the wireless :023:

The shot from Skelton was going safely wide...the only thing Fraser did there was concede the corner :023:

The car comparison was not two different models....it was the same car bought for two different prices. i.e. A Niculae getting paid ?1000/week compared to a Niculae getting paid ?4000/week. Both would perform the same and the argument only arises in terms of "Value for money" Johnboy and others have said that had Niculae been on a lower wage then he would be getting praised for his contribution. I personally don't see why the cost should be brought in to it when commenting on his performance. Of course it's a "beg to differ" scenario. I just want to understand why it is that some people see his performances as acceptable and some don't. I've already shown that for some people it is based on the wage the guy is getting and the high expectations that we were as guilty of creating as fans as anyone else. For me, his wage has no baring whatsoever on how his performance is judged.

Irish fellow is driving along in his car when he is pulled over by the village policeman. Policeman - "Paddy, I've just seen your dog chasing an old woman on a bike" Paddy - "Couldn't have been my dog, he doesn't have a bike" Policeman doesn't like the back chat... Policeman - "Can I see your license" Paddy - "He doesn't drive either" Policeman is getting continually frustrated... Policeman - "I noticed you had a tail light out on the near side" Paddy gets out of the car, goes round the back and gives it a kick - it comes back on. Policeman - "That's great thanks...now do you want to go round the front, kick the windscreen and see if a current tax-disc appears"

2 men buy the exact same car. First guy pays 20,000 for it, and second guy pays ?18,000 for it. Both cars will still perform exactly the same regardless of what was paid for them. Should the first guy be going back to the garage and demanding his car perform better just because he paid more? Performance and Price are two very separate and distinct arguments. I would not say we are getting value for money from Niculae at the moment, but that's not to say that I don't think he is performing on a par with his peers.

The difference between Livi and Gretna is that if/when it all comes to an end, Gretna won't be paying off debts to the tune of 18p in the pound. Their spending will have no impact on anyone but themselves and if Mileson was to walk away he would be leaving them debt free.....plunging fast perhaps....but debt free all the same.

Not suggesting for one second he should be beyond criticism, but it needs to be balanced and some people seem intent on exaggerating the negatives and not balancing their argument by acknowledging the positives, of which there are plenty. All the hype prior to his arrival is half the problem IMO. Many had built him up in their minds as some kind of demi-god before he had even kicked a ball and he is now suffering the backlash of not living up to that. The "Value for money" argument is for the club to worry about and if fans wish to criticise on that front then they should be criticising the club for the manner of their spending. As far as I am concerned it matters not a jot what a player is getting paid when he is out there on the park. When a player comes in for criticism it should be in comparison to his peers and not based on the size of his wage packet. Depends on the comparison your looking for.... - In terms of contribution on the park I think both players are doing a job. - In terms of "Value for Money" then Cowie by a country mile. Which brings up the point...had we signed Niculae on similar wages, would he be coming in for so much criticism for his performance? As is often the case in life, you get two arguments that are at the opposite end of the scale and the truth normally lies somewhere in the middle. Marius put in as much leg work against Gretna as Wyness did, if not more. How many times did Wyness pick up the ball in the middle of the park and make a run at goal? Who was the first player off the mark to chase down the save by Mikey which was pushed wide and in danger of being kept in by Gretna? As I said above, 2 or 3 times Niculae picked up the ball from well out and made a run from goal only to find himself crowded out by defenders with nobody in support. If Niculae is as slow and unfit as people would have us believe then how is he able to make these moves, and why is it that others aren't able to keep up? Not saying he's the fastest of players, but I think his "weakness" in the speed/fitness department is being hugely exaggerated. And when you allow for the fact he's constantly playing between the centre of the pitch and the box then it's no wonder he's being hooked early with tired legs. It's very much the same scenario for Bayne when he starts a game and finds himself being hooked near the end, and it's for the same reasons....they both put in the miles. Perhaps if we started Niculae alongside Bayne and allowed Bayne to do the legwork for Niculae instead of Niculae doing it for others then we'd see more goals from him.

Fair assessment given by Cowie, although I have to say that our back line looked far more confident on Saturday. Hard to tell if that was a result of poor opposition or an improvement on the part of the team, but the signs were good. As I said in the Match Report, I don't think we let Gretna within 25/30 yards of our goal in the final 10/15 minutes of the game. We also did a pretty good job of neutralising Yantorno who seemed like the only one capable of giving us any problems the entire 90 minutes.

Back of 4 at the Innes for a 4.30 Departure at the latest.

I'm with Caley100. Apart from creating 3 or 4 chances from nothing for himself against Gretna he couldn't have done much more for the one that was cleared off the line as he was already at full stretch. A couple of times he picked the ball up on the half way line only to find himself crowded out with no support and having to opt for a shot from 25+ yards out. He reminds me a lot of Bayne and puts in a fair amount of leg work and seems to get very little reward in terms of goals, yet you don't see Bayne coming in for the same stick this season. Niculae has one big plus point over Bayne though, and that is his high level of ball control....not to mention the fact he can jump more than 6 inches off the ground. It seems that some people have dug themselves into such a deep hole when it comes to slating Niculae that it's become an obsession and they go looking for excuses to play down his performance on the pitch. What annoys me even more are those who listen on the radio every week or catch the 2/3 minute highlights and base opinion on that.

I may be tempted to start Wilson ahead of McBain. The only reason I say that is because I think Wilson offers a better link when attacking down the flanks. I don't think Black will be a huge loss at present as I don't think he's been himself the last couple of games. I don't know if that's because he's looking to be more of an attacking midfielder, but he seems to have lost that urge to breakdown and stop things in the middle they way we are used to seeing him do. I might even be half tempted to drop Niculae back into his slot and start with Bayne and Wyness up front.

Fact is he's not getting any younger and regardless of fitness he's going to take longer to recover from the knocks.