AlexJones

Haven't seen enough of Kink to form a strong opinion. When he came on against Raith he looked absolutely class. Hughes said as much in the post match interview, lauding his 'dip of the shoulder' technique to Jim Spence. I think he's worth taking a chance on.

Could it also be the case that English lower league players are harder working and more professional than Scottish lower league players?

Think he'd struggle to break into the Brora first team, can't see him displacing Brittain, Kettlewell or Morrison. Nairn County might be a good shout though.

Can see us going with a starting lineup along the lines of... Esson Meekings Warren Devine Williams Draper Tansey Vincent Christie Ross Doran Think we could get a lot of goals with a fluid Barcelona style 'trident' front 3 of false 9s all drifting and dropping into pockets of space, then pressing back when we lose the ball. SPL defenders aren't used to coping with that kind of movement. Christie and Doran have shown how much damage they can do cutting in from the flanks. Surging runs from Meekings, Williams and Vincent will create overloads. Draper and Tansey sitting deep will keep the back door closed.

Winning the Europa League will secure us automatic qualification into the 2016 Champions League group stages. Not that bothered about the European Super Cup to be honest, but would be a nice bonus, a bit like the North of Scotland Cup.

I loved his "I can't lie..." comment during his post match interview. Of course you can't Marley. You're one of Yogi's 'guid, honest laddies."

Bingham

Not the first time big Drapes has gone for the old Nayim from the halfway line. The old man who sits behind me at TCS normally loses his rag whenever he does it.

There was a time when even the likes of Livi and Ayr United were poaching our best players, and we still managed to keep moving forward. As long as we recruit well, and get the best out of players, we'll continue to prosper.

Funny to hear English pundits calling for all Uefa teams to boycott the World Cup. Easy for England, considering they probably wouldn't even get through the group stage. This could actually turn out pretty well for Scotland. If all the major countries boycott big tournaments, we might even manage to qualify!

Nobody has mentioned one of the unsung heroes from Saturday. Just after Falkirk scored a pitchside photographer wearing an ICT jumper (quite far away, could be wrong) stood up, turned around towards the crowd with a big smile on his face, and started rallying the fans in front of him to stand up and cheer, starting a chain reaction that lead to the whole ICT support getting on their feet to rally the players. A small contribution, but perhaps a telling one. Well done that man. A wave of positive energy when it was badly needed!

I concur with the OP. Perhaps a bit early to write-off Tremarco, players can often grow into a role when given the opportunity. But I would prefer to go with Williams. Recall him playing there against Dundee United late on last season and having a great game. A back 4 of... Meekings Warren Devine Williams ...would probably be our strongest, both offensively and defensively. Raven has been class for us and will no doubt reclaim the position at some point, but I would be inclined to give Meekings a run based upon how well he's done there recently. Our form turned around at roughly the same time he was switched to right back, and Devine introduced at centre half.

Brittain is still highly rated by County fans, his release could be a case of McIntyre wanting to mould his own team rather than a reflection of his footballing capabilities. Would be surprised if he isn't picked up by another SPL team. He'd be a typical Paul Hartley signing IMO. County have now poached a St Johnstone player and a Partick Thistle player through offering higher wages. It's always an unedifying spectacle seeing a club simply try to buy success, particularly a wee club. They should be trying to develop young talent, or scouting players from the lower levels, i.e. emulating the successful models of clubs like ICT or Hamilton. Unfortunately, it looks like they're on course to emulate Gretna or Livi.

James Vincent, what an absolutely world class run that was for the winner. Take a bow son. Not a particularly good team performance overall, but who cares! The better team won.

I think the nerves come from being favourites. Always more fun being underdogs.

I reckon we should do a Leeds at the 1975 European Cup Final. Have our former manager lead the team out to the pitch, and let him pick a team of his favourite former players for old times sake. Never mind actually winning the match.

Doncaster set to announce plans for a 14 team top flight next season.

Impressive that he's now ranked above Michael Sprott and Matt Skelton. It'll be tough for him to push on into the top 5, some big names there, all potential World Championship contenders once the Klitschkos retire. Particularly if the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF belts aren't unified. I reckon Cornish could sell out Hampden Park if you put him up against an English World Champion.

This should lead to a lengthy ban. Suarez got 4 months. A Dagenham and Redbridge player recently received a 6 month ban from the FA for the same offence. It's a health and safety matter as much as anything else. The authorities have a duty to protect players from this kind of thing.

I would rest the entire starting 11 for next weekend, bar Raven (assuming he gets his place back). This is a completely meaningless game. As others have said, it's easy to get a red card at Celtic park with the play acting and crowd reactions. Simply not worth the risk. And obviously, you don't want players picking up knocks. Sometimes when a player is afraid of injuries, and not fully committing themselves in challenges, they end up actually being more vulnerable to injury. On the other hand, match sharpness could be an advantage for us come the final. So giving a few players a 'run out' as a training exercises might not be a bad idea. I would be more prepared to 'risk' the likes of Watkins, Christie and Williams, safe in the knowledge that we have similar players in Doran, Vincent and Ross ready to step in and replace them. Probably sounds a bit harsh! Esson, Shinnie and Ofere aren't currently so replaceable. And our only other obvious shout if one of our centre halves get shelved would be Draper, who hasn't spent much time there this season. It's also a good chance to give our reserve players a 'cup final' of their own. Celtic Park is the biggest stage in the league. Polworth, Tremarco, Horner, Kink etc deserve a chance to show what they can do after waiting patiently on the bench for most of the season. There's no guarantee that we'd get hammered, on the contrary, I think a fully committed, hungry team desperate to prove a point, and wanting to produce a big performance to earn a place in the final, would be more likely to get a result against Celtic than a nervy, anxious, distracted first 11.

County surely on course to break into the top 10 next season... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32815544

Can't fault his record as Scotland manager, but truly abysmal to keep omitting Shinnie who has been arguably the best Scottish player (if not the best player, period) in the SPFL this season. Andy Robertson has missed half the season through injuries, and he's only played one game in the last couple of months. It's an absolute joke that even under these circumstances Shinnie still doesn't get a look in. One silver lining, at least he can focus 100% on the Scottish Cup Final without the added distraction of an international 6 days later. Hopefully a man of the match performance in that showpiece game will push him over the line, and get him into the next squad.

I don't see anything wrong with it. If they're producing products that people want to buy, fair play I say. Wish I'd bought one of the Ronny Delia Treble scarves on sale outside Hampden from one of said entrepreneurs. It would probably be quite valuable now.