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I like Gayfield. One of my favourite grounds. Lets you get close to the action. I stood right on the touch line just inside the Arbroath half for the first; got to see Cammy Kerr in all his impressive glory. You see balls fizzed towards you at what seems 100 miles an hour, and Cammy pulls them down with one touch. Great stuff. Jack Hendry was composed, very vocal, well organised, but clearly off the pace. First 2 touches were disasters, then a bad tackle to give away a stone wall penalty. Hopefully just rust, looks promising. Lacklustre first half all round. No good performances, no sense of urgency, although lots of individual good moments, but no cohesion as a team. Arbroath deservedly ahead at the break, although to be fair no keeper had been worked. Second half far better. Higher intensity of play, loving the aggression of Woulters, even Williams looked good. Highlight of the afternoon was the steak of black pudding pie. Outstanding. Will be back at Arbroath again this season when the Dees are away. Good luck to our Angus neighbours, played well today.

^^^

Willie Collum wouldn't see a foul there.

My daughter turned 9 a couple of weeks ago. A few days later, a card arrived from Scotland. She excitedly ripped the envelope open, shook the card until money fell out and disappeared into her room with the cash without so much as a glance at the card. I was so proud.

Tam Cruise celebrates a Lee Miller header on the "John Pye Auctions" "Best Seat in the House".

Tried.

The Pole, The Pole Dariusz The Pole, He gets the ball, he scores the goal, Dariusz The Pole. Thank you.

It's a formula that works, m9.

Needless to say, we're not a match.

He's Fawkurt daft. Pictured here in the "American Hot Tub".

Peter Grant going for a pint

A year ago I put my messages behind a divider which only had a lemon in front of it. Ten minutes later an old codger turned up with a trolley full to the brim with shopping. "Excuse me, that's my stuff there,," pointing at said lemon. I actually let her in, just because it had me in absolute stitches .

Speroni Carranza Khishanishvilli Adamczyk Nemsadze Rae McSkimming Lovell Grady Annand Caballerro Just thinking of my favourite Dees and thought i'd pay homage to Paul Hartley by utilising them as he would.

I hope his shot isn't very accurate or he'll constantly be requiring treatment for his wounds.

Time to check the passports are still in date for next summer lads

Chris Farlowe - Out Of Time

Not written press but an excerpt from the Nicky Maynard press conference yesterday: Journalist: "Nicky, what was it like playing in that arsenal youth team and who was in it?" Maynard: "I'm going to stop you there, my Wikipedia says I played for arsenal, I haven't, I have never played for arsenal, I started at Crewe as a kid" Good research lads.

The Byrds - I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better

I hate pre-season, people are actually genuinely concerned about friendly matches, f**k me. They have absolutely no bearing on how our team will actually perform, we could be shite in friendlies and win the league, boss friendlies and get relegated etc. If a friendly result worries you then you are a fuckwit.

Kevin Mitchell would thoroughly disagree. Ricky utterly decimated him.

Not as good as David Young's photos, but here is an album from today's match https://www.flickr.com/photos/scotsman_in_hawaii/sets/72157683201811744

FT32

McGowans shite. Getting really sick of it. Thankfully McCann will see this. Thank you.

League, cup & total. Stevie Doris 150(14) 67, 23(1) 3, 173(15) 70. Colin Hamilton 104 4, 14 3, 118 7. Bobby Linn 141 35, 23(2) 4, 164(2) 39. Ricky Little 98(4) 5, 18(1) 1, 116(5) 6. Gavin Swankie 151(35) 48, 12(3) 0, 163(38) 48. Mark Whatley 104(1) 5, 19(1) 1, 123(2) 6. Grand total: 748(54) 164, 109(8) 12, 857(62) 176 Doris, & Swankie could enter top 20 post war league appearances for Arbroath during the course of the season. Doris in 5th, Swankie in 11th & Linn in 22nd= post war Arbroath league goal scorer list.

Allan looks a step above. FEB also dangerous. What a goal by the way he always seems to score a raker here. We done ok considering we only had 12 signed players available with people on their holidays. When the defence/GK changed Dundee getting a goal or 2 was inevitable. Just posting to say a great support through so cheers. Gives us some decent cash considering we had 2000 through the gate just 48 hours ago too. Few boys be burnt the night I think. Hope you enjoyed sunny Gayf.

Hand yourself in for killing the frog or for starting a sentence with the word "so"?

A small selfish part of me (not my cock) would like the second leg to matter but my overriding feeling is that if we can annihilate Linfield that would be class. Also, heard a rumour Ntcham is in town, staying at the Blythswood.

From a 4-0 pumping off Bath City last year, to a draw against Southend this year. We've come a long way.

I was moving a load of wood that I'd piled up in the garden the other week and disturbed a collosal toad. I disturbed it even more when I dropped a huge fucker of a log on it.

Nice of him to take time out from selling 50/50s to post IMO.

Gordon Smith is the biggest moron in Scottish football.

Gives one time to make better use of your time: Wee, sleekit, cowran, tim'rous frog, Oh, why did you stray out fae yer bog, Oh, what's that sound, I hear a roar, It's Romeo, wi' a 'mower! Tae be chopped up wid be quite sore, Wi blood splat'ring gore.

Fleetwood Mac : Hellhound On My Trail

Buchanan settling in nicely with a goal already.

Just had a look on the e-ticketing website for Stevenson's testimonial tomorrow, christ it looks bad. Really think the club have let him down on this, should've been arranged in the couple of months after the high of winning the Scottish Cup. (And a proper testimonial, not just using a warm up against Sunderland and slapping his name on it.)

The criticism of Rankin is pretty unfounded if you ask me. He's been exactly the player I thought he would be.

King certainly has changed his tune since 2012

I thought this was a half decent performance. As mentioned Akinbuine made an impact, and the move where he won the free kick saw him turn and almost completely lose his marker, who had to resort to an unsuccessful tug and an eventual lunge to stop him. Dobbs as ever was lively but it feels like he needs more support, Dykes isn't the answer to anything other than 'who is the tallest player on the club's books?' For all I've heard about our defensive woes I thought they were pretty solid yesterday - the weakness is at right back, Rooney looks like a centre back being played out of position and Mercer visibly lacks pace. Midfield also looks ok to me - the much vilified Rankin picked some fine passes and ran miles - noted the amount of work he did off the ball too, Jacobs got stuck in and the two complemented each other well. I can see why Jacobs gets slotted in at right back though, and if that happens it will leave us short in the middle. With another attacker to maybe alternate with Derek Lyle and a little more defensive cover I think that the team could exceed expectations, but then again I'm basing a lot on a pre-season bounce-up* Shall be at the EK game to see whether my optimism works in a more competitive game, although for a practice match yesterday's was a good watch-obviously a big bonus for me being only four miles up the road. * and an alarming 40 odd years (on and off) watching Queens!

We could make our car park Central Scotland's dogging hotspot.

Spooky Tooth - Better By You Better Than Me

Tommy Wright hasn't helped quell things with his post-match comments but a lot of panicking in the heat of the moment. Everyone was disappointed and gutted on Thursday evening but it wasn't the time to make judgements. My line has always been to judge the summer business come the end of August. Every club wants their signings in as quickly as possible but it's clearly not that simple. There has to be money available. If you remove the young players that Wright is shoehorning into the squad and will be earning a pittance in budgetary terms (three or four probably the equivalent of one older player), you are left with 15/16 senior pros. Passing up the chance to sign Dayton and the lack of trialists generally points to a manager who knows what/who he wants. I'm by no means the biggest fan of Steve Brown but he's acknowledged he's prepared to back Wright this summer so deserves the opportunity to deliver. Wright needs to behave himself. It's fine having the odd moan about budgets but it's becoming far too regular an occurrence.

Oh f**k off Oaksoft you tragic fantasist.

Brilliant read from 5 years ago. Good for a chuckle craig burley's article in 1 of the sunday papers.. this man is beyond stupid. read it if you dare. "Has it really come to this? The future of Scottish football placed in the hands of a few nonentities from the lower divisions. Muppets in charge of clubs that draw embarrassing crowds of 200 people suddenly standing as judge and jury over a decision that could cost the country millions of pounds in lost revenue. Chairmen of part-time teams who are nothing more than afterthoughts in the psyche of our national obsession, yet suddenly they have been handed the most important decision in the history of Scottish football. Does the SFL do the sensible thing and accept the Rangers newco into the First Division or cut off their nose to spite everyone else’s face by condemning them to starting again from the Third Division? That they even have to think twice about this decision chills me to the core because it’s a clear sign that the knuckle-draggers – always the ones who make the most noise – have succeeded in making their voice heard. And I’m not just talking about supporters, there are plenty of backward idiots in board rooms too and their petty witch hunt dressed up as “sporting integrity” could cost us all. What price your integrity if there’s no sport left after you’ve slaughtered its biggest cash cow? Those opposing Rangers being parachuted into the First Division cannot see the wood for the trees. I’ve heard comments from clubs like Cowdenbeath, Peterhead insisting they must start from scratch in the Third – who are these people and how are they qualified to make a decision that will affect clubs 10 times their size? Let’s be honest here, if their clubs were to go missing nobody would bat an eyelid but if they abuse their newfound power to banish Rangers then the whole game is gone. It is THAT serious because without the revenue they generate through TV deals and travelling supporters, many other clubs will shut. I know SFA chief executive Stewart Regan was criticised for warning that Scottish football faces a slow painful death if the Ibrox club are tossed to the bottom, but I agree. There is no point telling people everything’s hunky dory when it is clearly not. People must wake up to Regan’s alarming message before it’s too late. Most of all the SPL because the time is now to take decisive action. You may have read Raith Rovers’ vice chairman Turnbull Hutton accusing the SPL of bullying and railroading the lower league clubs to vote Rangers into the First. There’s long been veiled threats to set up a breakaway SPL 2, including Rangers, if the top flight don’t get what they want, leaving those who defy them well and truly out in the cold. Well my feeling is why rely on a veiled threat when you can turn it into a concrete promise that can be used as a foundation to rebuild our game on a more stable platform? Just do it, guys. This is the time where SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster must stand strong and make the big decisions and grab the power back for the big clubs who know how to handle it. Start the breakaway now, give us a fresh product of two top divisions with promotion and relegation play-offs and sell the package to Sky and ESPN as a fresh exciting new dawn for our game. TV will buy into it, fans will be re-energised and hopefully start clicking through the turnstiles again. Hey, maybe even the punters who blackmailed their clubs to vote Rangers out of the SPL in the first place might actually start attending games – because I don’t believe for a second that they were all loyal season ticket holders. You just need to look at Dunfermline closing a stand last season and matches at Pittodrie resembling a closed-doors friendly any time the Old Firm weren’t visiting as evidence that these fans who protested so loudly must now put their money where their mouths are. So what of the rest you may ask. What about the clubs left behind by the new set-up? No doubt some of them will fold while others continue plodding along as they are just now – part-time community clubs with very little relevance beyond the borders of their town. It might sound brutal but there are too many teams in our senior game who are going nowhere. So better to trim the dead wood than give them the power to kill off one of the two clubs that matters most. In short, it’s better them than Rangers when it comes down to a stark choice of who should go. I can almost hear the outraged screams from Forfar to Annan already but hard nosed as it sounds the alternative, which is football Armageddon, is too much for the rest of us to bear. Maybe the Neanderthals who are only interested in revenge and petty points scoring after decades of Old Firm dominance will stop and think about the consequences before they call for more punishment. The time has come to end this sorry episode and start fresh with a positive new beginning for all of Scottish football. We can’t stand by and allow small clubs with their ridiculous tiny supports to gather on Friday the 13th and chase millions of pounds out of our game. The time for action has come and Doncaster and his SPL member clubs cannot afford to hesitate a moment longer."

Santana : Hope You're Feeling Better

While I agree with your point, we're in fact holding this debate on entirely the wrong terms. It doesn't actually matter whether or not a summer schedule would improve Scottish club performances in Europe. That isn't the benchmark by which we should organise the entire league schedule of our national game. There are 42 national clubs and about 30 more pyramid teams implicated in any such change: the schedule should broadly speaking meet the interests of the majority of those clubs rather than the four sides who qualify for European competition each year. If Scotland had a flourishing, competitive domestic football setup across the board then I for one couldn't give a toss about how its representatives in Europe fared. Improve the domestic league on its own basis and progress in Europe will follow anyway. But the former is by far and away more important. The idea that the Scottish leagues should exist as some sort of training camp for the handful of clubs that compete in Europe for a few weeks a year is as stupid and insulting as Project Brave's premise that the competitive club game should be sabotaged for the sake of the international team. As much as jaunts abroad are no doubt enjoyable, that isn't the financial basis of Scottish football. Screwing over the majority of clubs for either of those purposes is simply wrong.

Grown men standing next to their club's flag with the words 'cancer has no colours' across it. Grown men grieving for a young lad they've never met. Not for me, sorry. Football fans are the biggest grief-junkies and virtue-singnallers in the world. It's just an extension of 'pray4muamba'.

Released by Hearts as a youngster for not being up to scratch.. We've heard that one before.

Is the The Kincardine who is repeatedly insisting that LNS found Rangers guilty the same The Kincardine who responded to the LNS verdict by repeatedly insisting LNS had only found Rangers guilty of "administrative errors"? I'll say this for the "moon howlers": you get the same exaggeration and over-excitement you do on most online forums, but their position has been fairly consistent since the Rangers cheating story broke. The Newco fans though, they've been all over the place for years, desperate flailing. The only consistent position they've held is their utter refusal to look reality in the eye.