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13/12/2017 'WE CHASED YOU ALL OVER HAMPDEN' 'STAND WITH THE BANNED...'

"Need sum boys tae...tae...tae take it in the dish...." No Yogi, we need a manager who doesn't wait until we're 4-0 down against a St Mirren team away before getting up out the dugout let alone making any subs. The most underwhelmed I've ever been by someone after seeing them at Starks. When he signed I thought we had a solid manager who could turn our season around. After a while it quickly became the Yogi show, and after Hibs away it became clear we had a major problem in that he was only interested in himself. f**k Yogi, and f**k that BBC interview where he threw them under the bus and absolved himself of any blame.

It's incredible reading some of the ignorant 'views' on this from fans who don't give a shit about football at our level. There is a worrying (when I say worrying, I mean worrying for the human race that people are so fucking thick) amount of people arguing about crowds going up etc. Someone is actually trying to argue that a crowd of 389 at Dumbarton v Rangers Colts is good news for teams like Cowden who have an average crowd of less than this as it proves their attendances would go up. It is one of the most absurd comparisons I have ever seen, it's not even clutching at straws, it's just sheer stupidity. This is obviously just one example. I feel for the most part (there are some exceptions) this argument has two sides. On one side, there are people using logic, reason and fact to argue against this while on the other side there are people using ridiculous, bollocks arguments (at best, unproven arguments) like 'well it benefits Spain' and 'aye but crowds would go up and the wee clubs would be happier' etc. I don't like calling people who have different opinions to me thick as it shows a lack of tolerance for others; but frankly with this shite I am intolerant of others. I am intolerant of stupid c***s ignoring the facts and trying to argue for something that there simply isn't a factual argument for.

Just back in from a supporters meeting at Ochilview and I'm pleased to report the Stenhousemuir FC board will reject the proposal for colt teams. While they're broadly in favour of B-teams and trying something new, the current proposals don't make a lick of sense and, other than the £15,000 payment, there is not a single benefit to the club of the rest of the division. We spent most of the evening picking the whole thing apart - when you strip down the proposal, it really is a load of crap.

This. It's one of the best teams I've watched and some of the best times I've had watching us. It more or less co-incided with the start of the 'Well Bois I guess but the atmosphere at away games was fantastic when McCall was here. In players like Higdon, Ojamma, Law, Murphy & Randolph, we had some of my favourite Motherwell players. With some 'Well fans currently agonising about our style of play even when we win - it's worth thinking back to the number of attackers and football players that McCall was prepared to field. This isn't a hagiography as there is plenty in the debit column too - the Albion Rovers game being pretty much the low point of my 'Well watching career (excepting the recent half time interview with Tommy Sheridan) and the Rangers sycophancy drove me mental - but MJC is far better qualified to rhyme them off than I am I totally get the negatives - but I just can't see a situation where a *motherwell manager* leads his team consecutively to 3rd-2nd-2nd league finishes, european qualifications, cup semi's and a final and has a team with the POTY in it for the first time and isn't seen as a success. If I were a supporter of any other club, I'd find it utterly bizarre to argue otherwise..

On Stenny, it's great news for the moment but like others I'm concerned about the long term if they are 'broadly in favour of the idea'. If appreciate that if the per game bribe was to be increased to, for example, a six-figure sum then that's a significant amount of money for a club which is hard to turn down, but personally I don't think there should be red lines being drawn on what League Two clubs want out of a negotiation to allow Colt Teams in; Colt Teams are the red line. There are no circumstances in which their entry to the SPFL is acceptable and any conversation about league reconstruction should only be allowed to proceed with that option explicitly ruled out from the start. If Colt teams in the league are part of the discussion, the discussion shouldn't even begin. With comments from clubs expressing their opposition to the current plan such as 'broadly in favour', it's increases the concern that this is just the initial attempt to test the water and after it fails we'll be back here again within the next couple of years, with a proposal that's far harder for clubs to turn down but will nevertheless have the same end result of destroying lower league football in this country. @Francesc Fabregas I appreciate that the main reaction would have been relief that Stenhousemuir will be opposing the current proposal, but did any fans press the board on why they're broadly in favour of the concept and what changes would be required to the plans as they stand to make them support it?

Is that why you got banned from visiting Argos?

I mentioned elsewhere that I'm getting laid off and am currently just working out my notice. "Working" in the loosest sense of the word. My last day is the 16th. Last Autumn I did a big project for a client which went so well, we wrapped up a couple of days before the end of the contracted time. I told them that I'd make myself available to assist further if needed but otherwise, we wouldn't bill them for those 2 days. Weeks go by and I hear nothing further until about 2 weeks ago when they asked their Account Manager "Is Shotgun still available to put in some time for us?" As I said, I'd finished the original project so wasn't sure what else they could be looking for at this point. At my direction, she replied with "Yes, he says he'll be happy to help but FYI, he's leaving the company and doesn't have a lot of time left. What is it you need?" Another few days go by, and they ask the same question again. And get the same answer. A few more days, and this is repeated. And again. At this point the Account Manager is reminding them quite forcefully, "Look he's only here for a few more days now, what is it you need him to do?" Finally this morning they tell us that they're wanting to give me an utter shed load of data entry work that they'd overlooked. Far, far more than 2 days worth of work and now critical because they'd left it so long. First of all. No, that isn't even close to what I do. Hire a temp. Second of all. You obviously knew about this at least 2 weeks ago AND you knew I was leaving so if it was so critical, why f**k about for another fortnight instead of telling us at the beginning? Third of all. I've worked for this company for 15 years, only to get cast aside so I'm buggered if I'm going to spent my last few days racing round like a mad b*****d doing hours and hours of menial work just because you couldn't get your shit together. And fourth of all. Feck off.

Hughes tutoring on the SFA course is even worse than his application. That's another generation of Scottish managers fucked. Imagine coaching 101 with Yogi Hughes after his disaster here. Still, we'll get some gid oanest loddies wi PASHIN that aren't afraid tae take the baw in the dish and go mano a mano. When it all fails (again) society is to blame.

Little bit. I'm not shedding a tear for him, but I more or less take that view with most folk that leave us. He's not our manager, so I'm not massively arsed. I take both your, and MJC's point about the Cup/European records, but I had stacks of fun during those seasons. We absolutely demolished teams a bunch of times, Dunfermline away, that mental run we had against St Johnstone, beating Hearts with ten men, the cup run (up to the fuckin final, aye), going to Athens, Higdon's overhead kick against Hibs, Omar Daley in general, Ojamaa skinning everyone, twice and turning Neil Lennon's piss to steam when Higdon won POTM, before spending a night in the cells. He was fortunate in the make-up of the league at the time, but he still had us finishing ahead of that Dundee United team that every c**t bangs on about, and like I say, it was fun. I've got a lot of good memories from those seasons. Going out to Albion Rovers was an absolute disaster, and highlighted our flaws massively. Given that we could have very feasibly have won the cup that year, it looks even worse in hindsight. He did manage Rangers when we absolutely battered them though, so that was nice.

Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down

It's table time. Please don't leave Armadalekillie ... every dog has its day. Jacksgranda confided to me that his proudest moment - one which eclipsed both his wedding day and the birth of his children + grandchildren, was the day that he gained promotion to the middle league. I'm sure he won't mind me saying that he's been bottom of the league on many occasions. Anyway, in the leagues, it's the usual sorry tale for the preening primadonnas and their pre-season friendlies. Much healthier set of scores in the SWL, with the only absentee being Dee_62 for Tuesday. And it's a full house from the SWL. They may not get the best scores, but by golly, they're committed.

Gaining first team experience and still maintaining full time training under the watchful eye of their employer? What a fantastic system we have.

Edgar Broughton Band - Drop Out Boogie

We really do have some utter fucking wallopers in our support. We had a pretty grim performance yesterday but this has come after a run of fairly decent performances and results and yet there were some pretty wild shouts aimed at Hartley yesterday as well as the semi literate dross posted on the facebook sites. Its a poor state of affairs when your team is not very good but your supporters piss you off more than the football on show.

Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me

"yer das"

Liverpool had enough of Gallacher already ?

Theresa May calling an election when 20+ points ahead of Labour in the polls then losing her majority is probably the funniest thing I remember in almost 50 years of following politics.

Maybe because it happened in English football.

Alan Stivell _ King Of The Fairies

John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers with Gary Moore : So Many Roads

David Byrne & St Vincent - Road To Nowhere

My views as well Desp. I was never a fan of McCall as our manager and believe he was one of the luckiest managers in our history, not just in that he found himself with the best squad out with Celtic at a time when Rangers went bust, Hearts were in financial turmoil and Aberdeen were basically a bottom six side. Yes he oversaw some of our best finishes in the league but stats don't tell you everything. We only really played good football under him in the second half of 2012/13 and the following season we were dreadful throughout. How we never mind managed top six that season, never mind snatched 2nd in the final few seconds at Pittodrie was unbelievable, if utterly hilarious at the time. He was probably a good man to have at the club in terms of keeping the ship steady and the players loved him, but I suspect slot of that was down to him letting them away with murder in terms of fitness, preparation and tactics. It was no coincidence that whenever we had to step up our game in important Cup ties and Europe that we and McCall fell flat on our faces. His cup record for a side with the resources available to him was a disgrace and hung like a black cloud over his tenure because I firmly believe that that period from 2012 to 2014 was our best chance of winning silverware, but McCall failed us time and again. His attitude to European games and big games was a downright disgrace and in the case of Europe, our efforts under him were pathetic and we never looked like we believed we could get anything, thus completely undoing our previous good work in the league the previous season. The Stjarnan debacle spoke for itself and was the beginning of the end for McCall as his luck finally ran out, but I firmly believe that, rightly or wrongly, McCall lost a significant section of the support the night we rolled over at Ibrox and lost 2-0 to a newly reformed Rangers side full of kids...and he never got them back afterwards. If ever a single match encapsulated everything that was wrong with Stuart McCall's approach to managing big games, that was it. For me personally, he should have walked/been shown the door after the Albion Rovers Cup defeat, that was the cherry on the massive cake of cup failures under his watch. I was not sorry one bit when Stuart McCall left us.

I was also at the Stenny meeting last night and the director said they were broadly in favour of "B" or Colt teams but not in the 2nd Division. They thought, like most people do that there should be a reserve league ( not a development league) . They spent the first half of the meeting ripping the plan to shreds and then listened to us do the same. Not sure if this has been mentioned or not but the club said that they had noticed that no where in the proposal does it say that the Colt team players have to be able to represent Scotland. We all thought that the whole point was that was to help develop home grown talent.

Louis Armstrong : Basin Street Blues

Stefan Grossman - Yazoo Basin Boogie/ I'm So Glad

The Jam : Town Called Malice

Just over three years since Uncle Mike arranged for five Newcastle players to arrive on loan.

He's been training with the team for the past two weeks you fucking roaster. Good to see you're still hurting from that goal though. Pleasing.

Naming the entire league structure in a cringing, second-rate way after the neighbours. When the new names don't even make sense.

Cowdenbeath trying to thaw out their pitch using a few kettles live on Sky

I'm largely on the same page as MJC and Desp re: McCall. Though having said that, I've a degree of sympathy with him as the Bradford job seems to have had a lot of behind the scenes issues. He's left them 6th sitting in the promotion play-off spots and 6 points off 4th. He's also leaving with a 45.8% win rate. Overall I'm completely comfortable saying that I never liked McCall as Motherwell manager which is slightly different to not rating his achievements. I wrote quite extensively about it on here when he took over at Rangers in the play-off season but I've always felt that he was someone who was more a decent coach benefiting from circumstance that he was a good manager. You can point to the mothballing of the youth side of things and the short-termism that was a big part of that era. It's curious to me that Robinson gets a kicking for recruiting from the lower leagues in England when McCall was cutting about signing players from Bradford (League 2), Rotherham (League 2) Tottenham reserves and Alfreton Town (f**k knows what tier they were). Obviously finishing 2nd, 2nd and 3rd is undeniable but rightly or wrongly he's best summed up for me by the build up to the league cup game against the newly formed Rangers. We were sitting top of the league and he's sitting telling the press that Rangers (with a team comprising youth players and the handful of pros they'd cobbled together) are favourites largely because they're Rangers. It's an attitude that still sticks with him as well. He was in the paper the other week and he's still banging on about how they'd have won the play-off if it hadn't been for a daft 20 mins. Equally, he inherited a good core of players and was benefitting from Dempster's top 6, cup run and a player sale budget; Randolph, Hammell, Hutchinson, Law, Hateley, Murphy, Ojamaa, Higdon, Sutton et al are all good players. To me McGhee taking a side that finished 10th the season before under Malpas and qualifying for Europe in 3rd place outstrips anything McCall did as a manager.

That absolutely sums up my view of that period. An absolutely fantastic time to be a 'Well fan, with just enough shitty bits of absolute randomness thrown in to remind you that we're still Motherwell.

There are plenty of other OF morons like him to be fair.

Iggy & the Stooges - Down On The Street

Without biting to the obvious wind-up attempt, I'm also not sure Quitongo's ready for a move yet. If he did get one and was an instant success I wouldn't be surprised, but I still expect him to be here next season. Until he proves he can stay fit for a prolonged period of time clubs aren't likely to take the risk. This goes hand in hand with adding more consistency and goals to his game, as it's obviously a struggle to maintain form when you're missing out through a knock every four or five games. Once he gets up to that level of fitness the performances will follow, but it needs to come next season if he's going to avoid a reputation as an injury prone player.

Seems a bit drastic, I could just severely injure a grandparent so I have to go see them in hospital.

Anyone any sympathy with McCall getting the bullet at Bradford? I've got to be honest and say I don't like him. I never really took to him as Motherwell manager, despite his success, and I wanted him out of our club following the Albion Rovers fiasco. He remained though, followed it up with the Stjarnan shambles and left the club, IMHO, in as much of a mess than McGhee did. For me, he gets far more credit than he deserves. You don't see McLeish getting credit as Motherwell boss when he was just as relatively successful.

Judith Durham - This Is My Song

Dave Mackay is against the idea. He was saying at his Q&A before the game on Saturday. He also ripped the pish out of sevco's youth side

Bee Gees - My Life Has Been A Song

Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel : The Best Years Of Our Life

Here's a better image of the old St Johnstone 'pavilion' at the Recreation Grounds. A boxy little thing, but good value. In 1912, a season ticket to the pavilion during the old second division days cost 10 shillings (just over £50 in today's money). You could slum it in the ground for half that. The picture was taken early in the 1924-25 season during a 0-0 draw with Falkirk in the top league. The match report described the game as 'as robust and devoid of science … as any second league game', so in seven or eight years we'll be celebrating a centenary of shitfesting. For all the limitations of the ground, it's sobering to note that there were more people at this game – 11,000 – than have attended any game at McDiarmid. For the poster who was asking about where the ground was, you can see the trees of the southern end of the South Inch on the right-hand side of the photo. Here's a 1901 map, which shows the ground and the location of the pavilion on the west side. You can view it overlaid on a modern map here. We were to abandon the ground four months after this pic was taken, and the area went, quite literally, to waste. There were complaints about rubbish dumping on the site in the period leading up to the Second World War, though there was a short-lived attempt to resuscitate local rivals Fair City Athletic, who played at least one game at the old ground in 1935. But even by 1931 it was effectively scrubland: this aerial shot from that year shows that everything has been flattened – though you can just make out the lighter strip of land where the pavilion stood.

Away and don't talk rubbish. It's that kind of thinking that bankrupts clubs. I know this is a bit of a hobby for you, but that post betrays a total lack of understanding about football, finances, club potential and general knowledge. Any example of potential that includes Livingston as an aspiration is off to a bad start. You'd be as well throwing St Bernards in to create a healthy rivalry for Edinburgh City.

We still never found out where that ended up.