DoofersDad

We signed goalkeeper Ryan Esson from Hereford in 2008. He's still with us as a coach. I doubt many at Hereford remember him though. He only played one game for the Bulls at the end of the season before being released.

Judging from Friday's performance, the person he is most likely to have passed it onto is Mason Mount! But terribly bad luck for the young man who must have been relishing the prospect of playing against Modric and co. Let's hope nobody else tests positive and Scotland can make it through to the last 16.

This announcement just one day after they appoint a new manager! Is this Uncle Roy's way of telling Mackay who makes the decisions about playing personnel?

Terrific achievement from the players and coaches. And what an inspiration for the youngsters coming on behind. It has been such a challenging season in so many ways, so this is wonderfully positive news with which to end the season.

Brechin?

Managed to see most of the 2nd half and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some good play from both sides. One or 2 glitches with the stream but overall a better experience that we've had all season and with the potential for this to be an excellent stream.

If true, that's probably a ploy for the Rangers to give him a substantial pay rise. I've heard it said that their success this year is due more to Beale than Gerrard, and they won't want to lose him. Having said that, he is somebody who may well want to have a managerial career. Taking a head coach role at an ambitious smaller club with the support of someone like Robbo may well be the perfect stepping stone for him, even it it means taking a pay cut. I imagine many of the more established managers would not want to work under a sporting director so I would expect a younger, relatively unknown person to be appointed.

Just because a club is bigger and wealthier does not necessarily give it more negotiating power. In fact, being wealthier means the selling club is well aware that the buying club can afford to pay more if they are really keen on securing the player. There are a range of other factors too, for instance, if a number of clubs are interested in the player then the selling club's negotiating position is strengthened. Obviously a big club won't want to pay a fee when a player leaves on a free, but when they initially buy the player they will have the expectation of selling the player on later and not having the player leave as a free agent. It is a bit of a gamble to pay a little less up front for agreeing to pay up in these circumstances, but more often than not they wouldn't be required to pay and so on balance they are quids in. The benefit to the smaller club is that there is a guarantee of a minimum follow on fee if the players moves on and this can help with financial stability. Accepting a smaller initial fee in return for a clause like that is a bit like paying a slightly higher insurance premium for an increased element of cover.

Ryan's situation is a good example. Obviously I don't know what the contract between ICT and Celtic contained, although we have been told there is a sell on clause. It may be that the sell on clause simply says that we receive a set percentage of any fee Celtic get for selling Ryan on. But there is no reason why the contract between ICT and Celtic couldn't have specified that if Ryan moves on without a fee being payed to Celtic from Club 3, a payment would be made by Celtic to ICT. After all, why should ICT lose out just because Celtic fail to get a fee, particularly as sell on clauses will often mean that the initial fee paid is a bit lower?

I'm talking about the contracts negotiated between the clubs. With a decent sell on clause, the original club will still get a payment from the 2nd club if the 2nd club allow the player to leave as a free agent.

A sell on clause could stipulate, say, 10% of the transfer fee but with a minimum to be paid when the player moves on. So, if 10% of the new transfer fee was less than the minimum, or if the player leaves for free at the end of their, contract then that minimum fee would be payable to us. That way, we don't lose out as a result of contract negotiations that we have no part in.

A decent sell on clause might be more important in the long run.

I thought that in the first half we showed a lot of good movement up front giving options for Welsh and Allan They won a lot of possession and rarely wasted it. It was Welsh who played a peach of a pass to MacKay for the opener. When MacKay and Sutherland were subbed we were a lot more static up front and we resorted to balls going square and back too often. Young Lyall looked a talent and it is a shame he hasn't had a bit more game time in his spell here. It was a game we should have won but I guess that with nothing particular at stake, it is inevitable there wasn't quite the edge to the motivation. A draw was a fair result at the end of the day. Just a word on Robbie Deas who put in another excellent performance today. Robbie has been ever present in the team this season. He only turned 21 earlier this year but has put in some mature performances alongside the more experienced Danny Devine. They have formed a solid partnership and it is worth noting that the final table shows that only Champions Hearts have conceded less goals than us. Robbie, as a defender, may not get the accolades that the attacking players get, but he has been a real star for us this season. Well done Robbie!

I’d prefer 5-2

Oh for a stream with replays!

What a great ball to pick MacGregor out!

Whatever happens tonight, we look destined to finish 5th. It is possible we could finish 6th, but for that to happen we would need to lose to Ayr, QOS would need to beat Dundee and there would need to be a change of 16 goals in goal difference. Two 8-0 results would do it. Fair to say that we are safe in 5th. What is more interesting is the range of scenarios about which team will face the agony of the relegation play offs. Ayr are in the thick of the battle after a poor run, whilst Arbroath and Morton could also face the drop, and they play each other tonight. So what are the scenarios? If Arbroath beat Morton, Arbroath stay up and Morton stay in the play-off place. However, there is a remote scenario that if we beat Ayr by 7 goals more than Arbroath beat Morton, Ayr would then slip into the play-off spot on goal difference. I think we'll settle for beating them by 5 or 6 as we enjoy our games against Ayr. If Arbroath and Morton draw, Morton would be in the play-off places if Ayr get anything against us. If we beat Ayr, then Ayr will be in the play-off places. If Morton beat Arbroath then Morton will be safe. Ayr would slip into the play-off place if we beat them, but a draw would be enough for Arbroath to slip 2 places into the play-off slot. So a point tonight will secure survival for Ayr tonight. We can therefore expect Ayr to be looking to keep it tight at the back. Previous meetings between the 2 sides this season have not produced many goals and I don't expect many tonight. But hey. This is the last game of the season and I live in hope. I've gone for 3-2 in Gringo"s NPL!

So is our cup half full or half empty?

Thanks. That worked.

Some great goals there, many of which would be worthy winners. Unfortunately I can't vote for any of them as the voting option boxes were already filled with "Thank you for your vote" when I clicked through. 🙁

Is that the number of other players Josh Meekings has injured?

You can't accuse our lads of not showing commitment but sometimes they show a bit too much. Dundee were very streetwise and drew a good few fouls, often making no attempt to actually play the ball. That leads to frustration. Commitment and frustration is a dangerous mix. The quality of the stream doesn't really allow us a good enough view to make a sensible comment on the game's controversial moments, but there is no doubt that both Allardice and MacKay gave the referee a decision to make. Dundee had a couple of penalty appeals in the first half and I'd like to see those again. In both cases it was Mullen, I think, so probably neither were pens. I expect he got a slight tug at worst and went down far too easily. It is disappointing that our fate is no longer in our own hands but we are far from out of it yet. For instance, if Dunfermline were to lose their last 2 games, all we would need is 1 point from our last 2 games as we have the better goal difference. All the pressure will be on Dunfermline. Arbroath are on a good run of form and Alloa will be playing for pride with absolutely no pressure.

It sounds horrific. But it will only work for these clubs if they can monopolise the TV market and in that sense it is we, the fans, who have the power. We can chose to watch or not. As it stands, UEFA position is that players associated with this scheme would be banned from playing in the Euros. One wonders how England captain Harry Kane thinks about it. Was he even asked for an opinion I wonder. If the best players in the world are prevented from playing for their country, then the clubs involved in the breakaway will no longer be able to attract any but the most money grabbing of players. Without the best players, these teams will not be the best teams so why would people want to watch them rather than the likes of Bayern Munich and PSG? Time will tell whether these proposals are taken further or whether they have been put forward to try to force some change to the current system which would give the top clubs more exposure than they already get. For instance, the creation of a European super league as part of a European wide pyramid structure.

As someone who is a regular user of the site and one who has steadfastly resisted all the invitations to help out with it, can I say a huge "thank you" to all who put in so much work behind the scenes to make CTO such an excellent and informative site. Being involved in other things, I know just how hard it is to get people with the right skills and the motivation to do what is necessary week after week to keep thinks going. All the hard work of volunteers really is very much appreciated. I applaud you all.

It is worrying and it stinks, but it is really encouraging to see such a robust defence of Toddy from the club. "We will robustly defend our player from this allegation. Nikolay’s conduct on the 16th March was entirely exemplary despite the extreme provocation, racist abuse and violence he was subjected to. We are unable at this stage to comment further.”