DoofersDad

I'm all geared up for an early summer trip to the sand pit

I think this is the key to understanding Thatcher. She wasn't concerned with right or wrong, she was only concerned with power. She embraced Saddam and other dictators because they had power over their people. She branded Mandela a terrorist because he opposed the powerful ruling white elite in South Africa. The Falklands was not about the rights of the people of those Islands it was about the opportunity to play at being Churchill. She needed a war to unite the country behind her and the Argentinian Junta kindly obliged. But most telling of all for this country was the industrial politics of the time. Again this was not really about ideology, it was about power. The unions were powerful and were threatening the interests of the moneyed classes and therefore had to be shown just where the real power lay. Again it was war. Fortunately for her, the majority of the country could see that the Unions were too powerful and were ruining this country by restrictive practises and opposition to the technological change essential to keep our industries competitive in a global market. She took on the Scargills and the Red Robbos of the unions and the grateful middle classes turned a blind eye to her blinkered foreign policy and her mean spirited social policy. In the end she ran out of people to fight and the only people left were the very people who put her in power in the first place - the Tory party. She was finally bludgeoned into submission by Geoffrey Howe's broken cricket bat. She'd had her innings but had finally lost her appeal. The one comment about her that has always stuck in my memory was when the famous stage actress Dame Edith Evans was being interviewed by Michael Parkinson in the early days of her premiership. Parkinson had suggested that Dame Edith must be delighted to have a woman as Prime Minister even if she did behave rather like a man. Dame Edith replied that she didn't really mind her behaving like a man but she just wished she could behave like a nice man!

The 11 - 1 majority for change is the big problem here. The current situation illustrates the folly of those who were short sighted enough to agree to it in the first place. Having such a voting rule cannot be justified by anyone with a shred of decency in them and in my view those who oppose it should band together and put pressure on those who don't. I suppose if we thrashed Celtic 10 - 2 they would claim the 3 points.

Barry Wilson was more my type of Right Winger.

The point that St Johnstone won last Monday against Dundee Utd meant that 5 teams were confirmed in the top 6. The SPL at that point should have been able to work out the fixtures for each of the remaining 4 scenarios and could have asked the TV companies and the police for their views on that. If the TV companies or Police were not prepared to discuss until the 6th team was confirmed then at least the SPL could have got the fixtures to TV and Police by 5pm on Saturday. With no OF derby there should be no major policing issues so it all seems rather shabby to me.

Not easy to lip read, is he.

No it's not the same as playing for Stenhousemuir. At Stenhousemuir he could at least expect to be busy for much of the 90 minutes of each game. At The Rangers all he will be doing on match day is spending the time wondering what to do with his completely unjustified pay packet, If he still has any ambition as a player he would have been better to follow up on interest from struggling Championship sides. At one of those clubs he would still have been paid well but would have more opportunity to prove himself and put himself in the shop window.

Of course, the TCS has hardly been designed to intimidate the opposition with the wrap around wall of sound. One thing I have noticed is that the prevailing generally westerly winds usually take any noise that is generated away from the pitch. With the current unseasonably cold weather, the winds have been coming in from the NE and this has helped the sound penetrate more into the stadium and has helped with the atmosphere. Whilst it may seem sacrilege to some, the club should maybe give serious consideration to making the South Stand the home end so that the wind will normally carry the home fans' noise to the players rather than the other way round.

Let's not get into this "I go to more away matches than you so I am a more loyal fan then you" nonsense. The reasons why people go to particular matches whether it be home or away are matters for them. Some folk wish to and are able to get to most matches. That's great. Other folk for financial, work, or personal reasons (caring for a disabled loved one, for example) only manage to get to a few games. Going to away matches can involve planning and pulling in favours from others and therefore that will tend to be the glamour ties or special occasions rather than Wednesday evening in Kilmarnock. I accept that there are also plenty of folk who don't have the same level of commitment to the team as others and who could but simply don't want to go week in and week out. Of course, it would be great if they went to more matches but they are unlikely to do so if others make them feel that they are not proper supporters. If we get into Europe it would be great if we got good support for away matches (note the optimistic plural). If folk who rarely manage to get to away matches can sort things out in order to be part of that historic chapter in the club's history, then we should all join together in giving the best possible support for the team. Having a small group of regular supporters questioning the right of others to be there really isn't very helpful. CaleyJags Together and all that.

Even my son commented on it....and he knows NOTHING about footie lol North Stand as full as I have seen it for a while apart from Celtic and County games. Friday night and being live on TV is bound to reduce the crowd but I thought the crowd was pretty good.

Relieved not to have lost after that performance. I think those players with offers on the table and who have not signed up should do so now. Having played so poorly on a televised match I can't see better offers coming in for anyone. No movement off the ball, no vision, poor control, poor shooting. Given that we are 5 points clear in 3rd spot I was expecting a confident performance but it must rank as one of the worst of the season. Hopefully the players can take heart from the fact that they didn't lose and can get back to winning ways after the split.

Playing for a 0-0 draw I imagine

I'm all for beating St J by 4 goals or more so that we we move back into 2nd place and 8 points ahead of County on Friday. If that means County make top 6 then so be it. As long as we are above them at the end of the season I couldn't care where they finish.

Disagree. Over the years Rangers and Celtic have dominated Scottish football and they and their supporters have treated other clubs as training fodder from which to poach the best players. In Rangers case it became apparent that not content to be one of the two biggest clubs with levels of income that the rest of Scottish football could only ever dream of having, they were using all sorts of dubious financial means to further their aims. Now they have been found out and are briefly suffering the consequences in the wilderness of the lower reaches of the league structure. Having been mocked and patronised over the years for supporting my no hope North of Scotland team - my local team - I make absolutely no apologies for taking the opportunity for having a dig or two at Rangers and the discomfort of their fans whilst they languish in the lower divisions. Of course we must celebrate our own success, but the fact that this success comes at a time when Rangers are out of the picture makes it so much sweeter because our success has been built around sound financial management. Contrasting our success with their stuttering rehabilitation illustrates a triumph of honest endeavour over the shady wheeling and dealing of big business and the bully mentality. Don't see anything pathetic in that. In any case. let's not forget the age old custom of the bragging rights of the football fan. We certainly have bragging rights over The Rangers at the moment, so let's make good use of them whilst we can. As sure as night follows day, The Rangers will buy their way back to the top of Scottish football in 3 or 4 years and we will again be subjected to the usual patronising disdain. Don't be such a killjoy - enjoy it whilst you can!

If we beat St Johnstone on Friday and if other results go our way, we could be 8 points clear in 3rd at the split. That would put us a fantasticly strong position for clinching a European place or even 2nd in the SPL. Friday now becomes the most important game of the season and a win would put the pressure on the chasing pack. Getting into the top 6 has been a great achivement but maintaining current form could see the team achieve something very special. Let's hope the fans turn out in numbers and get close to creating the kind of atmosphere there was against County a couple of weeks ago.

Well, there was a game in Edinburgh where the result certainly suited County! Of course, Adams has not got the class to refer to it directly. Had the boot been on the other foot you can be sure that our manager would have acknowledged our neighbours had done us a favour.

A good response by CorrieHarrier in post 67. This is the type of constructive response which is required in this important debate. In my previous post I asked both sides to respond to my point. It would be nice to think that a similarly well argued response might come from those wish to maintain the Union. I will just pick up on the reference to poverty and the gap between rich and poor. Presumably these are things which CorrieHarrier feels will improve in an independent Scotland. The problem with emotive statistics around childhood poverty is that the scale of the problem is dependent on the definition of poverty - and the definition is certainly very different now to when I was a child. 25% of children certainly do not live in the kind of economic poverty that existed 50 years ago. Maybe more live in social and emotional poverty but that is very subjective and not something that is easily measured. As for the gap between rich and poor, I wonder if it is much different here than in other developed countries. It could be less than it is but that rather assumes that it should be less. My view is that it perhaps should be less but a significant gap needs to exist to encourage innovation and to reward people for doing more difficult and stressful jobs. To me the problem is that we are too tolerant of those who abuse our economic system. And by that, I don't just mean the twin evils of benefits and tax fraud, I mean the dependency culture which has emerged in the UK whereby people can quite legally receive a range of benefits and live a tolerably comfortable life without making any contributions, or live a very comfortable life by tax evasion. We live in a society where more attention is paid to upholding the rights of citizens than in expecting the citizens to discharge their responsibilities - and the honest taxpayer foots the bill. It's all about what the state can do for me and how I can exploit the system rather than what I can do for the state. Will that change in an independent Scotland? Will independence really change the dependency culture or, if the economy thrives in an independent Scotland, will we simply hand out even more to those who are more concerned with their rights than their responsibilities?

... and Barrowman has joined Dundee! Curses - another missed opportunity

I'd like to see them seal the title by virtue of Queens Park dropping points, on the same day that The Rangers themselves suffer an embarrassing defeat to the likes of Montrose. How flat would that be? Not far off what actually happened. A draw away against mighty Montrose and an Elgin penalty at Queens Park giving them the title. It is also good to see that Queen of the South secured the 2nd Division title before Sevco secured the 3rd. Meanwhile, without one half of the OF we have had one of the most, if not the most exciting SPL season ever.

That is not actually confirmed yet. If they lose to Hearts, Kilmarnock beat St Mirren and Dundee, Dundee Utd. beat St Johnstone and Aberdeen, and we lose to St Johnstone then they end up 7th at the split. So depending on results, we could secure them their top six place on Friday. Aberdeen have 41 points, County 45 points. How can they finish 7th or lower? Don't ever doubt me! Because Dundee Utd can leapfrog both Aberdeen and County

This is an argument that is often rolled out and one which on the face of it sounds convincing. I certainly don't know what countries these all are but I do know that many of these countries were previously under the subjugation of a larger power in a way in which even the most ardent of nationalists could never honestly argue that Scotland is. The countries of the former Soviet bloc spring to mind, for example. I don't underestimate the importance of the fact that none of these countries wants to go back, but let's not overestimate it either. It is important that we compare like with like if this sort of argument is to be used. After all, let's not forget that large numbers of citizens of some of these recently independent countries have chosen to leave their countries and live in Scotland! Citizens of countries like Latvia and Lithuania may be glad to be free from Russian domination but they still feel they are better off in a Scotland which is part of a Union than in their own independent countries. Other countries have separated on clear ethnic or religious divisions which are also not relevant to our situation. Rather than trundle out what are really rather meaningless statistics, it would be more constructive to identify countries which had similar levels of prosperity, freedoms etc as Scotland before gaining independence and to identify how the people have benefited both financially and culturally as a result. If someone in the "yes" camp could provide some evidence of benefit in a country where comparison was meaningful, then that would be a helpful contribution to the debate. Similarly, if someone in the "no" camp could provide evidence to the contrary, that too would be helpful.

We might be away in the Europa League that day! Better set our sights on a Champions League place to leave the Thursday free, then.

This would tend to suggest otherwise. http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/ross-county/218208-derek-adams-happy-at-ross-county-and-plays-down-aberdeen-speculation/

And if he's staying then they are keeping it well under wraps. I am sure there are offers, but he will be hoping that 2 or 3 excellent performances before the end of the season will prompt a better one.

Aaargh, I've got a holiday booked then! Same. Off to the US of A Don't worry - there's always the next round.