davie

Ross - phoned ya. I'm just in from footie, sorry I couldn't get you sooner. You are on the list of interested players, fear not. we are up to 10 on definitely interested parties now, so anyone else GET IN THERE NOW! This is going to be a great day for those involved. For the avoidance of doubt, I'm off to loopalu tomorrow, so you won't get a reply on mail or calls until monday, after a prologed gin/ dad dancing/ embarrasing the family fest. Thanks for getting back to me, sorry I couldn't answer; I was in the middle of a pub quiz where mobile phone use is frowned upon! Give me a ring tomorrow anytime if you've recovered from Loopalu and I'll sort out my payment if required. Ta Serious pub quiz that. I've probably recovered quicker than Maimie or LG, and no we don't require payment until nearer the event (we're very obliging)

Be really careful, this guy's lawyers have already put a gagging order on P&B

Ross - phoned ya. I'm just in from footie, sorry I couldn't get you sooner. You are on the list of interested players, fear not. we are up to 10 on definitely interested parties now, so anyone else GET IN THERE NOW! This is going to be a great day for those involved. For the avoidance of doubt, I'm off to loopalu tomorrow, so you won't get a reply on mail or calls until monday, after a prologed gin/ dad dancing/ embarrasing the family fest.

Right, I'm off the fence here. I think what's happening is that there is something of a seige mentality about this team, fostered by the "nobody likes us, they wish we weren't here" belief that the Manager and others put forward. Let's be fair, I think that's obvious from the central belters and this year it's just reinforced by the apathy from the stands.It's a great philosophy, in that it gets people together and makes sure that the team works as a team. That's much more evident this year than last. But there is a downside to this and it was evident on saturday. If one of the team is unlucky enough to be singled out (OTJ) and punished, the rest will pursue justice based on their idea of no one being on their side and that's why Richie could easily have joined OTJ on a red. It's a great mentality to have, it's a great team togetherness - it just needs applied more carefully and only the manager can do that.

That's one thing we can both agree on! Dunno about your footie though.......and you don't have hair like that anymore! edited through noticing IHE's wee picture

Does that mean you're playing then? I'll speak to Caley D but I'm sure we could give you a pensioner's discount!

TSNY, it was a bad challenge, don't think there's any dispute but career ending? a wee bit of perspective, aye?

Sorry Smee- touched a nerve? I never once said you had no right to comment, I merely mentioned that you don't go to games (something that you mention yourself in around 90% of your posts) and the crowing tone of your post (which I may have misinterpreted) So no, not having a go.

From what I understand, traffic on the site is as busy as ever, but as for the post before that I'll not ridicule you Smee, just query what kind of supporter (who doesn't go to games but still comments about terrible standards, players etc.) crows about their club's falling attendances and financial troubles simply because "I told you so"? I've no doubt you'll tell me that's not what you meant but that's how it reads. Yes, the crowd was abject yesterday. Poor numbers, no voice, no heart, no "support" - even Aberdeen players commented on it.

Hayes - how many games did he have for us when he was totally anonymous? Glad he repeated that trick today. Agree with everyone else that the 1st half was scrappy in the extreme, but the 2nd made up for it. Blackman had a really promising debut, and I don't think that Raven was as bad as some on here insist - his distribution was generally good, and he was pacy enough to keep up with Hayes. OTJ's tackle didn't look like a straight red (on first viewing anyway) He was late, but it didn't look malicious. I think that was why Raven & Foran both went for the boy Fraser, the old revenge thing. Still we could have ended up with nine on the park after Richie's tackle and it's a relief that we didn't. Penalty was correct, but if was a penalty so was the one where Doran was taken out as he was about to shoot. However, we are never going to get two penalties in one game in the SPL. The goal we lost looked as if the defence had gone to sleep, it should never have happened. Still, it's a point and I would have taken that if offered before the game.

I reckon he's got until after the Wales/ Belgium sequence and there's a big gap in fixtures after that. I can see him getting punted, although the SFA are notoriously reluctant to do that sort of thing.

I feel curdled

I remember that study, where it expressed average crowd size as a percentage of local population - if I can find a URL, i'll post it.. We were on a par with most non OF sides. In 2010-11, we averaged 4526 (9th), 2011-12 4023 (12th) and this year so far 4556 (11th) so we are actually sliding around a similar area year on year. What that does mean is that we barely scrape by and there is nothing in the kitty for the investment that will improve matters on the pitch to where people will come back. It's a chicken and egg thing really. What it does indicate is that, as has been widely rumoured, Uncle Roy's investment across the bridge is not sustainable. We are seeing an initial surge in a new product that everyone (including away fans) want a llok at. Once they see that it's nothing special - and it's not - they will tail off and the crowds shared between the two sdes in the catchment area will stabilise.

I read in a really patronising article in the daily retard that he reckons Inverness is "really cold" God knows what he'll think at Christmas!

He did have some of the best chemists in the world. He also had UCI in his back pocket and was able to effectively intimidate cycling for years. But he cheated in an era when all riders in the pro peleton cheated. Take away his titles and who do you give them to? Let Armstrong go away and place the rock back carefully. There's nothing to see under there that's any good to anyone.

Are you referring to Roger Riach ? Davie say mibees aye, mibees naw....

Is that funny? His name is pistorius BTW

At least with the Polis (who were involved with the OP) you get a bit of consistency, in that the Law is an equal ass to everyone. Stewards are much less predictable and amenable to reason, but they probably will listen to said Polis when they are told to pipe down. The thing here is, though, that smoking in public places has been banned for yonks (and not just in football grounds - would you light up in a pub and expect to be allowed to smoke away 'cause it's your local?) It's the law, and makes no allowance for the fact that you are a ST holder or an away neanderthal on day release from darkest Govan. The club can do nothing about this either, because if they make provisions for permitting smoking they get fined. I sympathise, but you're on a shoogly peg here.

Dunno mate, you would have to change the fundamental rules of the game for this. FIFA would have kittens. I actually don't think the SPL is that bad, and before I get slaughtered, I'll explain. We are only a couple of games into the season, have had no disasterous results (although saturday wasn't the best) and Celtic are not running away with this league. None of our games have been 0-0 borefests. I'll call the SPL crap if it's bad in december. edited - red wine spelling

In my opinion, Shane is limited as a player and I can see why he plays where he does. he provides a useful "out" for Esson in the wide areas and has won about 60% of the balls knocked out to him in that area. It's what he does with them that is the problem. He doesn't appear to have the game intelligence to look a move or two ahead, which he has to in that role, especially in trying to provide the link to McKay. Where else do you play him? Central mid is probably his natural position (his scoring record would suggest his striking capabilities are average at best) but would he get a game ahead of Foran or OTJ or Draper? Probably not. I can see a day when Butcher plays two wide players in Doran and AN Other, and that will be that for Shane. As for McAllister, it's no surprise that a few SPL clubs have sniffed around him and quietly dropped their interest after a while. I wonder why? I suspect the answer is that he plain ain't good enough.

What have the club vetoed in terms of matchday improvements?

I disagree. The youngsters will get their chance but I think the manager needs to pick what he thinks is his strongest attack minded team available for this one. There are 3 reasons. We have yet to have a win in the league this season and there is a need for more time for the players to gel and particularly for the defence to gel. We are creating chances and scoring but are shipping too many. Get that right and we could win a lot of matches this season. Now is not the time to mess around with the side. There is also no point in giving players a "rest" because there is a weeks international beak after the Motherwell match. Linked to that is the need for team to get the confidence of a good win to get some momentum going. We need our best players playing well to acheive that. We should not under-estimate Arbroath - note that the Rangers were held by Berwick today and after 3 games are only 4th. Getting a win and hopefully by 2 or 3 goals or more should do wonders for morale. And as many have been saying on this forum, we need a decent cup run, both to ignite some momentum of support but also to help with our difficult financial situation. It may only be Arbroath but this is an important game for the club and we need to approach it with as much seriousness as if it was a crunch league game. Having scored goals in every game this season yet conceded loads its the defence I'm more worried about so I'd go with our strongest back 4 and then experiment going forward, I'd put OTJ in the middle of the park for his experience to help the younger attacking players and to leave a nasty challenge on money grabbing Kerr Absolutely no need for that.

I thought this was a matchday thread about the Celtic game, not another rehash of how/ why Munro and Tokely (funny how Russel Duncan never gets a mention now) departed. We were really poor throughout most of the first half. It was clear that our central defence had never played opposition of the quality that they faced on Saturday. Warren maintained that he had never played in a televised game before so it shows the level they have come from and what they need to adapt to. I think that TB plays David Raven from the start because he is a better and faster option in an attacking sense than Meekings. He certainly was in the game at Hearts, which might cover his reasons for being what I could only see as being mildly unchuffed at being subbed. Meekings then comes on to defend a lead/ limit damage. To be fair, in most games this season that's not a bad way to operate. On Saturday, however he was up against wing backs who are both full internationals and he suffered for it. OK we got our two goals when Celtic had fallen into torpor, but we still got them. As a comparison, Celtic's squad is worth at least ten times the value of ours. Their income is in excess of fifty times ours if you include Champions League, which they are certain to qualify for now. In fact, I have heard it said that Wednesday's match against Helsingborgs will earn them more than we will earn in a season. One match! How do we compete with that? The fact that they are not better is illustration that ex-players sometimes don't make good managers, and we will see what happens to Celtic when they face one of the teams who are 5-6 times richer than them (say a Dortmund, or a Lyon or a Valencia - never mind Real, Barca or the Manchester clubs) They will find themselves in exactly the same position as ICT on Saturday. There was no lack of application, effort or heart on Saturday, just a team steamrollered by an opposition they had only ever seen on telly, and the noise that reverberated round the ground to the near silence of the home support? That was the sound of money, nothing else.

Christ am I getting sick of you. It's a shame watching someone who was respected around here act like a childish ****. Coming up for the game?

I've heard there is (sadly) still availability in the home end for Celtic's visit on Saturday. It's a game that we can win if we display the same guts and skill that we did against Hearts and have the same 100% support. To do that, we really need you there. Forget the gardening, forget the shopping, forget the long lie. Get to TCS and make as much noise as you you can, for as long as you can and inspire your team. If you do, there's a great chance that you will be rewarded with a victory against Lennon's side. This is an acid test of how well this club is supported - if we can't rise to the occasion on Saturday, chances are we won't. Watching it on ESPN doesn't count. So get there. She (he) will still speak to you if the lawn's not mowed. Mon the Caley Jags