HawkeyeTheGnu

Hearts had to nominate two players who wouldn't take part.

If Meekings straight red was for either violent conduct or serious foul play, then he will be banned now. If is was for denying a goal scoring opportunity (or however they word it these days) then he will be banned for the final. But if it is for denying a goal scoring opportunity, that is even more ludicrous given the foul was deep in the Hearts half.

I think you can appeal a straight red - you can't appeal yellow cards. Ironically, as Warren doesn't miss a game until the final, and Meekings should be clear for the final it may be better to just take our medicine.

It depends on why the red card was issued. Yellow cards only apply to the competition they are issued in, so a red for two yellows means that the suspension is for the next however many games in that competition. For denying a goal scoring opportunity, the suspension applies to the competition that the red cars was issued in. For violent conduct, or serious foul play, the suspension applies to the next however many games in any competition. I am guessing that Meekings went for either violent conduct or serious foul play - no way is hacking someone down about 90 yards from goal denying a goal scoring opportunity. So if he gets banned for two games, it will be 1 in the Scottish cup and one in the league.

Go on, we've got time! OK - long time subscribers will remember that pre 1994, Hearts were my big team, it's no big secret. And now they are my wee team, that's no secret either. I was there with a mate who I had previously forced to watch a game at Tynecastle from our end. Saturday was payback. And it was one of the worst experiences I have had at a football match in a very long time. And the really annoying thing? Hearts lost loads of poxy semi-finals when I was there supporting them!

McKay miss - I was in the Hearts end (long story!) and level with the 6 yard line. The ball was fractionally behind him (or he over-ran it, take your pick) which is why he had the extra touch rather than slide it into the empty net. That touch was a bit heavy, which let the defender get to the line. I can't believe that we sprung the offside trap 3 times at that end and didn't score at least once. And those having a go at Roberts - have a word with yourselves. At least he had the nuts to take one. His tactic was to do the stutter, hope that MacDonald went early and aim for the big space. Unfortunately, MacDonald stayed put, and that unnerved him. Ach well, we could have won it, and probably should have won it. A bit more nous and using width at 11 v 10 could have done it, but I guess it was not to be.

You forgot - "they scored two offside goals in the first game"

What's the point of making a team name a squad, and then having a beef when they pick a different set of players from within that squad. Bang out of order.

At first I thought that this referenced Barry Ferguson celebrating last night's win....

True. But it will be replaced by the intolerance of Old Codgerdom.

Are we not confusing Mr Doncaster with Mr Regan?

I think i'm right in saying that the Euros / World Cups usually finish by end of June. So 3 weeks in June or something. The proposal that the press are talking about is the SPL/SFL starting at beginning of July. So a month earlier than usual. Unfortunately winter lasts a lot longer than that!! The cold snap could be in Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb so it will still be tricky to sort. WCF was on 11 July this year. You only though it finished in June because England went out in June. Four of the last 5 have finished in mid to early July. Euros sometime sneak into early July.

fixed it for you

It's a bit of publicity, and in a place that you wouldn't expect our name to appear. Most humour is stereotypically anyway, particularly in a comic-strip. It's not like it is really offensive.

HawkeyeTheGnu do you know anything about football ? The more you post the more I think you aint got a clue what your talking about. Another classic fail . What did I say above that was inaccurate? Would you like a copy of the angling times with that?

The fact they finished the previous season in a higher league seems to have escaped you. Why stop there though, seed by points gained in the previous league campaign. 1. Rangers 2. Celtic 3. Livingston 4. ICT. 5. Stirling 6. Alloa ........etc. That would produce tasty cup ties like Stirling v Falkirk, that's not really fair on Stirling is it? Oh wait..... No, they finished in a non SFL league. ICT are the SFL champions. They are not the champions of Scotland, Britain, Europe or the world. But they are the champions of the Scottish Football League. Go figure.

Do you not realise that the draw would effectively return the same fixtures anyway? With home games instead of away and away games instead of home. At this stage yes, at earlier stages no. And seeding has no effect on whether the tie is home or away. The top seeds go in one pot, the bottom seeds in another, what you are suggesting is effectively swapping the pots so home becomes away and vice versa. Seeding has no effect on the venue of the game. Otherwise Aberdeen wouldn't have been playing at Alloa, or St Mirren wouldn't have gone to Dingwall. At this stage, yes it is pretty much like swapping the pots round, so little would change. In earlier rounds, it would actually mean that the teams fnishing at the top of the SFL could draw SPL opponents. All it really was, was an observation that the SFL seed SPL clubs above their own members. At no point did I think that it either would or should happen. To be honest, all it would be likely to do is eliminate some of the 'top' SFL clubs in ther first round. Its not the SFL cup though , so the SFL have nothing to do with seedings ! The Scottish Football League Cup. Yeah, nothing to do with the SFL.

Do you not realise that the draw would effectively return the same fixtures anyway? With home games instead of away and away games instead of home. At this stage yes, at earlier stages no. And seeding has no effect on whether the tie is home or away. The top seeds go in one pot, the bottom seeds in another, what you are suggesting is effectively swapping the pots so home becomes away and vice versa. Seeding has no effect on the venue of the game. Otherwise Aberdeen wouldn't have been playing at Alloa, or St Mirren wouldn't have gone to Dingwall. At this stage, yes it is pretty much like swapping the pots round, so little would change. In earlier rounds, it would actually mean that the teams fnishing at the top of the SFL could draw SPL opponents. All it really was, was an observation that the SFL seed SPL clubs above their own members. At no point did I think that it either would or should happen. To be honest, all it would be likely to do is eliminate some of the 'top' SFL clubs in ther first round.

It looks right - all the seeds finished above us last season. Although, as it is the SFL cup, maybe they should base the seedings on SFL positions. As the current SFL champions. that would make us No 1 seeds! Can't you just hear the West Coast griping if they pulled that stunt! Classic fail . Whatever. Cos it's very likely that this will happen won't it. Just pointing out that the current SFL champions are seeded lower than some teams who are not even member of the SFL.

Do you not realise that the draw would effectively return the same fixtures anyway? With home games instead of away and away games instead of home. At this stage yes, at earlier stages no. And seeding has no effect on whether the tie is home or away.

Lets hope the talks start soon.

According to the stats on the site here, he has scored 37 from 47 starts and 39 sub appearances. Not a bad strike rate at all.

Johndo? Assistant Player Manager at Elgin? Talk about kicking a team when they are down!

He did a brilliant one at the end of last season!

It looks right - all the seeds finished above us last season. Although, as it is the SFL cup, maybe they should base the seedings on SFL positions. As the current SFL champions. that would make us No 1 seeds! Can't you just hear the West Coast griping if they pulled that stunt!