Who really believed

[stomach]

When I saw us play at the beginning of the season I thought we never had a hope of being in the top 3 never mind winning the league!

Then again the team we have on the park now are a totally different team to which started the season. I went to see us play Partick at home and we had a young left back (Shinnie) playing who I had never seen before, a young winger playing (Ross) who I had never seen before. Bulvites, Eagles, Stratford, even Lionel was playing at the start of the season. Yet Duncan couldn't even get a place on the bench!!

If all those guys were still playing I still don't think we would be anywhere near the top, but fair play to Butcher, he has noticed this too (better late than never)and we now have a more settled looking team.

[TopSix]

I didn't believe we would do it. There seemed to be too many things stacked against us: the level of investment in Dundee, the fact that no team has bounced straight back to the SPL after relegatrion for about a decade, and the fact that Butcher tried to overhaul the team quite substantially at the start of the new season. I still don't quite see us as favourites to go up, although that might change if we beat County on Tuesday, but whtaver happens I think the team and management have already exceeded my fairly low expeectations for this season.

I'm going to be ?20 richer at the end of the season Alternative Maryhill! Hopefully you'll be handing me a crisp purple note away at Ayr...

If we win the league at Ayr I'll have the ?20 served to you on a bed of black rose petals in a diamond-encrusted casket, and be happy to do so...

Hahaha!