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My wife tweeted me saying "3 girls in the office got Valentine's bouquets - they're absolutely gorgeous." I replied " That's probably why they got bouquets I've to get my own tea tonight.

By the hour it would seem.

While I agree it's great to have a younger squad (I think we were far too loyal to a fair number of the last few seasons), it's a test of the fanbase too. With younger players comes greater inconsistencies. As I said earlier in the thread, there was a "Robinson Out" thread on SO after we went seven or eight games without a win. There's folk out there who were going ballistic at us resigning a number of players in our 30s a season or so ago, arguing for youth to be given a chance. Nowadays, they wanted Kipré benched after a small dip in form and want the manager bulleted after his young team are knackered and lose a few on the spin. To summarise, there's a fair percentage of Motherwell fans who are absolute morons.

That's nice, good for you. Unfortunately we can't say the same for every Celtic supporter. Unfortunately many Celtic supporters probably haven't set foot inside Parkhead. Unfortunately these people aren't supporting their local team. Unfortunately that means smaller clubs remain small whilst Celtic coin in money on merchandise/TV subscriptions. Unfortunately that leads to Celtic being so dominant because they have all the resources and prize money. Unfortunately that leads to pompous c***s like yourself telling the rest of Scottish football that they need to get better to challenge Celtic. Unfortunately you're too fucking thick to understand why there is such a gap in quality and why closing that gap becomes increasingly more difficult. So, kindly take your utter bullshit about the rest of Scottish football not being good enough and f**k yourself with it.

I want Ross to go simply because Buddist Monk

Still can't get away with last night's performance you know. I was lying awake in bed still absolutely buzzing at about 1am. When you think of the shit that the club's been through in the last five years, the fact that we're now sitting level with sixth with a couple of games in hand, we've got the best manager in Scotland, one of the best players in Scotland, the top scorer in the Premiership, we've beaten Rangers, beaten Celtic, won 7 at home on the spin, we're in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup, and last night won probably the most dramatic game you'll find in Scotland this season. It's fucking cinematic. After the Ross County game, as ancientnoise was saying above, I really thought it was curtains this year. We'd become "mainstays of the relegation dogfight" (Michael Stewart) and it looked for all the world that this was the year we'd do a St Mirren and finally succumb. That was only five months ago, and from that to this. Amazing. And everyone has played their part! We've got an ambitious and innovative chairman, the manager and Alex Dyer have the players playing fantastically well - all of whom have so clearly bought into the manager's vision that results like last night are coming out of absolutely nowhere, and the fans (that are going) have been vociferous and supportive in equal measure. I've said this on here before though - we NEED more people to get out and watch them. I can't imagine the number of people that are sitting at home, absolutely delighted at the results the team are collecting...but how do we get them through the turnstiles?...

That's a very simplistic view but then again, you are a simpleton so it's to be expected.

Barnsley.

You appear to be having your cake and eating it here. You're saying it's highly unlikely that Barnsley will go for Ross because he doesn't have enough experience while there are experienced Championship managers available, but you're also saying the move wouldn't make sense for Ross either because he could get a far better Championship club than Barnsley in the near future. If he doesn't have the required pedigree for a relegation threatened English Championship side just now, when he has established a 14-point lead at the top of the division with a club who were clear favourites to go down 12 months previously, is the formality of wrapping the title up over the next couple of months really going to enhance his reputation so much that a bigger club in the same division is going to take a look at him in a few months time? You can't have it both ways: if he's already good enough for Barnsley he can turn them down in the hope of a better offer in the summer, but if he's beneath the Barnsley job at the moment he's hardly going to be a top candidate for a club the stature of Ipswich or Sheffield Wednesday surely? Obviously there's no reason for St. Mirren fans to panic that he's definitely going to go. As you've said, Barnsley may well decide a manager with Championship experience is a safer option at the moment, and even if they do approach Ross might genuinely feel it's not worth the risk with having less time to turn Barnsley round than he had taking St. Mirren over last season. You can see why waiting until the summer after he's won the title then either having a shot at the top flight here or moving to England when he's in a position to build his own squad would be more appealing to any manager. There's only one person lashing out at anyone who disagrees on this thread though, and it's not any of those saying there's a chance he might go. It's feasible that Barnsley will decide against him and it's also feasible that Ross will be linked with bigger clubs than Barnsley in the not too distant future, but it is not "wetting your pants" or "melodrama", two terms you've used, to suggest there's the slightest possibility he'd take it. It'd be ridiculous to suggest he's definitely going, but it's equally ridiculous to entirely dismiss the possibility.

Muffy still on a buzz from whatever he dropped last night:

I’m not a gynaecologist but I know a c**t when I see one.

Might also be completely made up, like every other Alert Mongoose post.

Don't know if all Hearts fans are racist, but I meet loads through my work and I can confirm I've never met one who wasn't a c unt. I hope this clears up the situation.

It is generally believed to have died out on Foula in Shetland about the 1780s and had been undergoing replacement by Scots (which in turn is now being replaced by Scottish Standard English especially in Lerwick) since the late 1460s albeit with a strange pronunciation compared to the Scottish mainland. Even after Norn had died out elsewhere the patronymic -son and -daugher Norse surname system was still very much on the go amongst descendants of the Norse until around 1800 or so when the Church of Scotland started insisting that the surname used by the father of a family was also used by his children and then passed down the subsequent generations like a Scottish surname. For centuries after the Scottish takeover of Shetland there were distinct Scottish and Norse populations living in Shetland basically, but over time they eventually merged into modern Shetlanders with a largely Scottish culture but a strong emotional idea of still being Norse in some way rather than Scottish.

Romeo. Kindly stop spreading diarrhoea all over this topic you lunatic. No the club never swept it under the carpet because Goncalves himself admits he never told anyone. And no one has said it was his fault because he was frustrating. In fact the poster said him being frustrating but getting an OTT reaction was probably an example of inherent racism. No one is trying to downplay this so your point scoring attempts are nonsense.

You could address it in a proper manner then if you want a serious discussion surely? I have never heard anything specifically racist aimed at Goncalves, but I've heard plenty other racist stuff over the years so I have no doubts whatsoever that he's been subject to some unpleasant stuff, which is incredibly sad and shameful. He says himself it's a minority, but it's a minority that badly need to be stamped out. Racism is still a blight on our society and unfortunately there seems to be a number of Hearts fans already dismissing it as sour grapes from Isma and accusing him of lying or being confused with abuse for not playing well. But for me that doesn't ring true, he already separately raises the issue of the general abuse he took in the interview, and what would he have to gain by lying? He's already away. There needs to be a zero tolerance approach to this type of abuse, the problem is it'll rely on fans reporting it which for numerous reasons I think people are reluctant to do. I myself have challenged numerous comments over the years and rather than being embarrassed or shamed by it the culprits tend to act even more aggressively back to anyone saying anything. I'd also like to say I doubt this is just a Hearts problem, every set of supporters have idiots in it and it needs to start being eradicated properly once and for all.

I hear you’re a racist now, Hearts

I keep thinking that it's all going to stop and we'll go back to the normality of being completely and utterly dross. But just when I start to think that they go and do something like this. Yes, there will be disappointing moments along the way. Yes, defeats will happen. But since the Partick Thistle game at Firhill the highs have by far outnumbered the almost constant lows of the previous four seasons. Who knows what depths we'd currently be plummeting to without the man in charge and the board who pushed the boat out to get him? I absolutely love Kilmarnock F.C. and I never ever want this to end.

Wouldn't be too unhappy if Davo or Vaughan pick up a booking so they're not getting themselves out of the game against Ayr. I know we don't want to miss either as they're both excellent, but it'd be brutal if they missed that game down at Somerset.

Behave FFS. You honestly think players of a team who are potentially half a dozen games from winning the championship will down tools and chuck it because the manager has left?

If anyone is wondering where they can read Romeo's withering criticism of Aleksandar Tonev, here it is: Sweep sweep.

Nic Jones - Rose Of Allendale

My mate sits in section G and it is quite common for players to be racially abused. Do I think there is a deep rooted racist/sectarian/homophobic culture within the football club is another question altogether. Of which the answer is yes. GGTTH

Lycra Clad Perma Ranger happy to oblige ! Peel and slice potatoes into discs approx half a centimetre thick. Brown off 8 steak slice sausage,drain on kitchen paper to absorb excess fat,then cut into pieces about one inch square. Fry one and a half onions gently until golden in colour. Get a pint of beef stock. A cube will do ,but fresh made or supermarket pre made is better. In bottom of SC arrange a layer of potato,then add ground black pepper (no salt as you'll get this from stock) Then add layer of sausage and onion. Another layer of potato and season,then another of sausage and so on. Once all layers are complete,pour in stock and cook on low heat for approx 6 hours. When ready,if all stock hasnt been absorbed,I would drain some off then mash. Dont mash too much as I think it best if you still have some chunks of tattie. Serve with buttered oat cakes, or buttered plain bread ..brown sauce optional Enjoy

Yas, a photography thread. I always wondered if other folk on here were as keen as myself and judging some of the cracking pics they are. I've been at it about a year and a half now and spend about 90% of my spare time out and about with the camera. Here are a couple of my efforts... Unfortunately these are the only two I have on my phone that seem to meet the max file size requirements on here. I'll try and resize a few others and fire them up.

Got a 20 last night at the camera club. Instead of all the kingfishers, woodpeckers etc stoating about I decided to enter this one which I modestly titled 'just a starling'

I absolutely love this shit. Football fans are mad.

Kind of agree with McCann blaming the players to an extent. I think he's shouldered the blame in a few games but there's only so much he can do when they players on the park don't follow instruction. I actually didn't disagree with any of his tactical changes in the second half yesterday - the Deacon/Kerr sub sounds like it was an attempt to protect a freshly recovered player from potential re-injury. O'Dea was to blame for both of the goals in my opinion. First goal he's chasing the ball to the halfway line when there's midfielders dealing with the situation - leaving him miles out of position ( which I think McCann alluded to in his interview). The second goal he dives into a tackle and without making a tackle or a foul, let's Wilson run straight past him. They players have to take some of the blame in that regard. There's only so much a manager can do mid-game and intelligent in-game decision making isn't one of them. There's no glossing over how bad a result last night was - even at 2-2 I wouldn't have been massively disheartened given the form Killie have been in.

Accrington Lincoln Cardiff Rotherham Plymouth Mansfield 10 into 467.40

Blackburn Plymouth Notts County Kilmarnock 22/1 with Skybet £2 Stake BTTS fourfold let down by Barnet.

Nah, wouldn't blame all MPs and certainly not "our" in the Scottish sense. It's all the fault of FPTP and the commons system of government. To ward off the possibility of a hung parliament, the cons subsumed the views of a minority extremist party and promised a plebiscite on whether we should revoke gravity. As it turns out you can't expect Joe Public to vote for something you've spent the last six years blaming for your own tight-fisted poory-murdering policies and devoid of any other means of voicing their anger the maligned, oppressed and ridiculously misinformed people of Englandshire voted to cut off their genitalia as a protest against austerity. Then in GE2017 they fucked it by conducting the most anodyne, sterile and information free campaign in history, arrogantly assuming they could increase their majority and get a free five year run at the calamity they created. Instead, the crushingly stupid, cartwheeling, flailingly inept thundercunts achieved the almost impossible against a lettuce waving allotment dwelling marxist. The very situation they were desperately trying to avoid with the referendum in the first place, a hung parliament. And to round off the fuckwittery and as an exemplar of the systemic disaster that is UK politics, instead of seeking consensus which would probably end up with a BINO brexit (in SM&CU) which I doubt really anyone could have successfully moaned about. They bribed some other fucking racist, homophobic, corrupt religious zealots and doubled down on their folly. The whole thing has been a breathtaking humiliation for the UK. Once considered the absolute gold standard of stable politics, rational decision making and international diplomacy, the UK has utterly debased itself on the world stage and its reputation will never recover. And to be fair, that reputation has been on borrowed time for a while.

Racism from the stands has been heard from time to time ever since I can remember going to games. Unfortunately, it's no surprise at all. Hearts should do everything possible to root out as much of it as we can, obviously, but it's a wider societal issue, regardless of football club.

The Flaming Lips - Silver Trembling Hands

I'm starting to.

Dr Hook - Queen Of The Silver Dollar

Still shat it. I'd have had money on one of the Clyde board offering Doncaster a square go.

I did think about being clearer on this. As I appeared to somehow pre-empt playing 2 leagues at once by indicating my score was was out of 20, I considered adding that the real mistake was that 6 should have been 12. But then I decided that was an attempt at being too smart, which is out of place in this realm of peace, tranquility & intelligence in comparison to the raging inferno the rest of the forum is. Though your attempts to clear things up regarding my score have not led you to the correct outcome, other attempts have been successful to correct errors elsewhere. So a name change may be called for. I propose 'HelpyouCardinal(s)', depending on him considering my other earlier suggestion. 5/10 for Wednesday

Humble Pie - I Don't Need No Doctor

Texas - I Don't Want A Lover

Dusty Springfield - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

Regarding the mindless rhetoric that folk lap up; completely agree, and may I put forward one of, if not the, main offenders, 'safe' standing. That this phrase has been accepted is bad enough (its absurd as it states that standing is somehow unsafe) but that the concept is being accepted is worse. Nothing wrong with terracing, as the crowds at hundreds of grounds across the UK alone each weekend can testify to.

Statement from Clyde.

Awesome post again

Have we had this tin-pottery yet?: Difficult to imagine that in another league....

It's an undoubted thread winner. It's hard to imagine a situation where that would ever be possible anywhere else. Absolutely tinpot, absolute minter and utterly shameful.

A team having another teams club shop at their own stadium is probably unusual. Can't believe the St Mirren fans were ok with it.