Kingsmills

Unfortunately the SPL is not an attractive proposition to broadcasters as it has liitle wordwide interest. An equal split of TV revenue, the net effect of which would leave each of the Old Firm about ?800,000 worse off and everybody else just under ?200,000 better off on average, would certainly help a bit.

It seems that Mileson left hospital yesterday so, it appears that the crisis is over for just now. He still seems to have less interest in his pet football club than in previous seasons but at least relegation in the normal course of events at the end of the season followed by a rapid slide down he divisions is not as big a disaster as what might have been.

Clydebank who are revived as a junior club and who now seem much more sound financially than they were in their latter years as a senior club. If not them, then a club from the borders who would be the last large geographical area without a club in the senior league system.

I fully understand why the club took a risk with Niculae. A club of our size seldom gets an opportunity to sign a player with so many international caps and indeed goals for a Country of reasonble standing in European football when he's at an age when most players haven't yet entered their prime. There was an obvious thought that although he hadn't done much, if anything, during the two years or so immediately before we signed him he must once have been an outstanding talent who had had no career threatening injury and who was still relatively young even for a forward. What potential if it could only be recaptured ! There was always a risk that his salary, relative to others, would have a negative impact on team spirit and a knock on effect when others came to discuss renewing their contracts but if he recaptured his old form then all would benifit from more regular win bonuses and a share of end of season prize money. In any event the financial element of the risk was being partly underwritten by the chaiman. The sad fact,however, is that it's becoming increasingly obvious that the risk hasn't paid off. While he's shown the occasional glimpse of outstanding talent he is not consistantly good far less consistantly brilliant. From a personal viewpoint I can hardly believe that a player who achieved so much on the international ane European stage not so long ago is so lacking in pace. There may at the outset have been problems with lack of match fitness and unfamiliarity with team-mates but that should have ceased to be an issue months ago. All in all it seems to me the the Niculae experiment has been a failure which has had much more of a negative impact on the club than a positive one. That doesn't mean that I think the club were wrong to take the bold step of signing him at the time it's just a shame that that bold strategy hasn't paid off.

That would indeed be an interesting scenario.

Remedy

That's true but to take an absolutely brutal commercial approach, Caley D is right all these contracts are likely to be personally underwritten or guranteed by Mr Mileson so any creditors will be able to claim against him or his estate for any debts accruing up to the date of his death but if he doesn't regain capacity they may have to wait long enough for payment out of his estate. What happens threafter depends on whether he has made any provision for ongoing payment of the club's obligations on the basis of a trust but since he hasn't apparently even made provision for the signing of cheques if he's too ill to do so then that's perhaps unlikely.

Robert Watson Watt spent his declining years as a long term patient at Craig Dunain Hospital. As well as being credited for inventing radar he has a strong claim to being the true inventor of television as he was sending imagas through the ether in the mid twenties before either John Logie Baird or Marconi.

Overdo

Nor do I, we should be fielding the best eleven avaiable for each game.

Motherwell might not press the matter of outstanding rent but would the players continue to play until the end of the season if they're not receiving any income ?

Unfortunately, I think that existing SPL rules state that all their results will simply be disregarded. Then again, ICT have successfully managed to pursuade the SPL to change their rules in the past.

Another unfortunate consequence, if their results are expunged, is that we will, for records purposes at least, fall back below 1000 competitive goals unless we can bang in a few over the next few games.

The thought had certainly occurred to me. That scenario wouldn't do us any favours as far as either points or goal difference is concerned given that we've thumped them twice. There must be a genuine dount about whether Gretna will see out the remainder of the season.

Immoderate

The lazer eye surgery's worked a treat though.

Pretty much.

They're never going to be paid anything like Niculae. Then again, nor should he.

Castration

Must have been a friendly. I don't ever recall us playing Hibs in the cup. I do, however remember a friendly against them about that time. As I recall Jags were leading 1-0 until quite late on until the legs run out and we went on to lose 2 or 3 late goals.

We all know, only too well, at the start of each season that our top domestic leauge is going to be won by one of two clubs which rather takes much of the fun out of it for everyone else as well as almost certainly reducing crowds, sponsorship income and TV revenue. That's unfortunately been the case for twenty years now since the brief dominance of the " New Firm" of Aberden and Dundee United in the early to mid eighties when these north east clubs could still aspire to entice the odd player from the top league in England and when Aberdeen's budget for players was about 70% of Rangers or Celtic's instead of about 25% as it is now. All in all it's difficult to see how clubs are ever going to compete on anything like a level playing field again. So why not contrive to make the playing field at least a little less uneven ? American sports try to prevent long term domination by one or two teams by the draft system whereby the poorest team from the season before have first picks on promising new players, Rugby League have the salary cap which was introduced partly to stop Wigan winning everything in sight and has been successful in that regard. For various reasons it would probably not be possible or even desirable for either of these systems to be applied to the SPL but why not a handicap system effectively giving the poorer or previously less successful clubs a bt of a start ? Horse racing, golf and a number of other sports have long since operated handicap systems with great success. One simple, probably too simple, system would be to give the tean promoted from the first division 12 points before a ball was kicked with the team that finished 11th the season before starting on 11 pointa and so on with last sasons runners up stating on 1 and the reigning champions starting out with zero points. That way teams might just be tempted to have a real go at the Old Firm thus improving their competitive edge and every supporter of every team would have an interest in the league for much longer into the season.

That was only because Brewster had already decided that he wouldn't feature tonight.

Support

****,I was confident we'd take something from this one. Can't see that happening now. A gig dent in any top six aspirations.

I think Sharleen Spiteri had a throat infection.