ALSY

Perfect. Killie in the next round too. Does being back in the first division mean we can now have glorious cup runs again? Or have I just jinxed it?

Of course. I'm also going to hire a local misanthrope to sit under a travelling rug and shout "Yer a waste of space, Duncan / Lionel / Imrie / Sanchez" (delete as applicable) every ten minutes.

Clearly it's been too long - I'm excited about this and I'm not even going. Is is very sad to get a carry out for listening to it on the radio?

Assume you're heading to it if it's on? I thought the reference to drinking at lunchtime would have given it away. Nice and early in the Norseman, son... All this referencing of sweaty groins and lunchtime drinking has got me in the mood.....for watching football at Cappielow in January! A repeat performance of our last visit would certainly go down well. Splendid. Snowing again this morning though - hope it doesn't come to much.

Assume you're heading to it if it's on? I thought the reference to drinking at lunchtime would have given it away. Nice and early in the Norseman, son...

Morton supporters on P&B are fairly positive about the chances of it going ahead. It's much milder down here in the sweaty groin of Scotland than it has been for the past few weeks. I really hope it does go ahead - football withdrawal is starting to kick in. Or maybe it's lunchtime drinking withdrawal...

I've never read such shameless bullsh*t in all my life. "The highlanders escaped a thrashing and managed to smuggle a point up the A9". FWIW, I thought it was a very, very poor quality game in the first half but kicked into life in the second, unfortunately with the wrong result for us. Esson did make a couple of cracking saves, but I'd say we probably had more of the possession over the piece and just weren't effective enough at creating chances with it. Naelifts is spot on about the incredible amount of work Rooney got through today and also, sadly, about Eric, who just couldn't get into the game at all. Maybe he'll be more effective in a game where we counter-attack more, but he looked lost sitting in behind Rooney. Thought Duncan had a good game up until the sending off - as Mantis said, he is a much more dominant presence than Cox. Proctor was solid at right back and LDZ didn't do much wrong although there were a couple of choice Lionelisms when he went to clear the ball up the line under very little pressure and sliced it wildly into the stand. The away support was understandably small but created a great atmosphere. Possibly some of the criticism of Barry Wilson after he won the the free kick for the equaliser was a little harsh, but I'd need to see it again. He did seem to go down easily and it didn't look like a bad tackle, but it was from behind. With the suspensions and injuries, next week is going to be interesting now. Proctor should be safe cover at right back. I think I'd prefer to see McBain than LDZ at left back, although I won't be bothered if Lionel is given his chance again. The interesting decisions are to be made in midfield and up front. Surely Sanchez must come back in, but does Eric keep his place despite an anonymous display yesterday? Will Barrowman come in from the cold? Will the Eagle soar once more? Probably not.

This might explain some of his passing, mind you: as a striker he was probably used to being through on goal and thinking, "Right, I've got to put it at least three yards either side of this guy"...

Guess who's changing his mind about a "dry" day at the football... I'm still not certain yet - waiting for Arbroathawayday to make a decision before I make mine. Christmas night out at work tonight, so the prospect of an hour and half of steady beer consumption on the train may not be very appealing tomorrow morning. Or alternatively, it could be just what the doctor ordered...

How about a Pringles tube? Is there ?1.79 spare in the club's medical budget?

Has Stratford played at right back for us in a competitive game yet? He's supposed to be able to play there as far as I remember. Maybe he'd be more effective there than in midfield. Suspect Butcher will go with Proctor, though, and bring Cox back into central midfield alongside Duncan.

...............and so the SatNav trials begin. I might come if you don't take the feckin SatNav. :P Or better still, tamper with it so that it takes a wee detour past north-west Glasgow: I'm not sure I can face that train journey on my tod if Arbroathawayday can't make it...

I'd like the winner of the Cowdenbeath / Alloa tie, away. These were two grounds that I never managed to visit as we made our way up through the leagues.

Take it you've still not had a pie then... :huh: This one's going to haunt you - you're already "the eedjit who couldn't spell" courtesy of TiV on the matchday thread... Re the original topic, I think I'd rather the uncertainty we have for this season, then, if we need to rebuild, do it at the start of summer. Changing things around mid-season is usually the sign of desperation, yet on the other hand, I don't think the current management team has done enough to earn a new contract.

You're wrong. I hope. Airdrie and Ayr in particular are really struggling for form and players, and we have enough experience and talent in the likes of Munro, Foran and Hayes not to get pulled into a relegation battle. Unfortunately, It's probably not enough to have us challenging for the league.

The wisest comment posted here in a while. Yes you are probably right and have said it myself, only thing that hacks me off is that if anyone doubts Butchers managerial abilities it is met with derision like he can do no wrong. Steve, I don't agree. I don't think I can name a single poster on here who is a Butcher "apologist". No-one is particularly satisfied with our start to the season; it's just that some people are taking the long view and thinking it would be better for the club to allow him to see out his contract and then start afresh in summer without any additional financial upheaval for the club.

There's little point in getting too outraged about this. It was a fairly even, fairly poor game between two first division sides. We never really got started despite taking an early lead: I think Partick sat in a little more than Dundee last week, which meant Hayes' pace was less effective. Sanchez was closely marked and seemed to get bullied off the ball a little too easily. Neither team was fully in control at any point in either half, but we seemed to get cut open a little too easily for the goals, although the mist was a bit too thick to see exactly what happened. In terms of individuals, I felt neither full back played well today: Rosscoe in particular was guilty of a lot of poor distribution and both looked laboured trying to track back. Both central midfielders worked hard, Duncan especially, but there was a serious lack of vision in their passing. Foran tired his best but as with Hayes, seemed to struggle to cope with the Partick defence sitting in. Rooney looked isolated for most of the game despite working hard and Eric, when he came on, hinted at a lot of promise when running on to a ball but had a poor first touch. Overall, a draw would have been fair, a defeat was harsh, but as a reminder that promotion is a rare thing for any team relegated to the first division, the game was a good barometer. Best moment of the game? Top Six Next Year forgetting the fundamentals and beginning a chant that went "Give me a C... Give me an A... Give me an E...". Cue the whole away end collapsing in hysterics. What does that spell?

Where are these places of which you speak? Hubbard's is on Great Western Road on the opposite side from Kelvinbridge underground. A decent bar with a few real ales and football on the TV, but maybe 15 minutes' walk from the ground. The Pewter Pot is a little closer, on North Kelvinside Road, which runs between Great Western Road and Maryhill Road - a nice quiet wee place. The Lansdowne is a bar / restaurant on Lansdowne Crescent, also between Great Western Road and Maryhill Road. It's the trendier option. Munn's has the advantage of proximity, mind you - I'll see what Stan et al feel like doing on the day.

Will be there - a few of the lads from Edinburgh are coming through for this one. More likely to be in the Pewter Pot, the Lansdowne or Hubbard's pre-match than Munn's, I think.

That's a fantastic interview. I'd only ever really seen Pele speak in after-match interviews, when it was the usual cagey, dour Scottish manager stuff - I'd never realised the extent of the humour and warmth and modesty the guy has. It kind of gave me a shiver when he talked about wishing he could have finished his career at Inverness, like Guy Roux at Auxerre - realistically, it would probably have gone sour at some point, but I still have this dream of us playing fast, recklessly exciting Pele-style football in the SPL.

No mention of Billy Davies there? He'd be my choice, I think, though he's highly unlikely to take it. He had a good record at Preston on a relatively modest budget and seems to be starting to get it right at Forest. Intelligent guy too, and served a decent apprenticeship as a coach.

Just to clarify my earlier post, I didn't intend to sound like I was getting on Imrie's back - in the last game I saw him in (against Ayr) he played well and like you I thought he could be, and may still be, an important player for us in this division. I just didn't expect us to have such good competition for him in the shape of Hayes. I think they could play on opposing wings, but that might mean dropping either Foran or Sanchez, neither of whom I'd like to lose at the moment, and for me Hayes is the more direct player, especially on the counter-attack.

Don Cowie... oh no, wait, hang on...

Think Hayes has to start in a game where we'll probably be more on the back foot than we have been in most recent matches - his pace could be Dundee's undoing. Imrie sounds like he's been poor the last couple of weeks but he could be an effective sub - if dropped he'll be pissed off and want to prove Butcher wrong if he comes on. I think it would be folly to drop Sanchez, even if he does tend to be quiet during some games: he can still see a pass better than any of our other players. I'm excited to see what Eric can contribute at this level, but I'd still start with Rooney and make an early switch for Eric if that isn't working.

tiv, the 31st December publication date will be the 'official' release date the publisher has allocated to the book, but in practice there should be no problem picking it up today. I worked for Waterstone's for six years and found that the majority of books became available several weeks before the slkated publication date. The only titles that stuck to the official date were the massive sellers, such as Harry Potter, which were strictly embargoed so that all retailers began selling them at exactly the same time. As for having reserved a signed copy, Pele will probably have been asked to sign a certain amount of stock that can be set aside for people who can't make the signing. If you can and want to meet Pele and get the book signed personally, you should just go down at the time, pick a book off the pile and get it signed, then tell the guys in the shop to cancel your reservation. It won't be any problem for them as you'll still be buying a copy of the book from the shop.