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I have to disagree with this. I think the game has captured the imagination of many Scottish football fans - for example myself, who isn't a supporter of either club but is going along for the occasion (and the bridies). The SPFL are absolutely useless at promoting our game. This was a golden opportunity to beam a third tier game with a near sell-out crowd not involving either of the Old Firm on the TV to show a wider audience that - yes - there really are people out there who don't support Celtic and Rangers, but support their local team instead. If the SPFL had any vision they would have been on the blower to the BBC asking if there was any chance that it could be shown on one of their channels. I don't think it matters that it's Scottish League 1, the atmosphere should be great and the title race is an exciting one. I think any proper football fan will appreciate that.

Something I think we can all agree on is there is more chance of Falkirk and Dunfermline amalgamating clubs and building a new stadium on golden pillars over the Forth Estuary than there is of BBC Scotland providing decent coverage of this game

Clyde keeping a close eye.

I think Ange has reached the point that being at Celtic has infiltrated his brain. It seems to happen to all old firm affiliates, the sane ones tend to get out before it takes hold.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/64857297 “VAR doesn’t miss, especially with us” God, it must be so hard being Celtic Its a total miracle they’ve won a million trophies in the last decade despite the relentless adversity Glad I don’t support a team who encounter such horror They are in my thoughts

No that’s PSG but easy mistake to make.

Sunrise at Bow Fiddle Rock.

Apologies for bringing this up again but as some may be aware the chap who allegedly took the "famous" Calvine photo has now been named as a Kevin Russell probably now in his 50s and potentially a Falkirk fan. Does anybody know Kevin? If he so and he wants to be left alone I'll make sure he is from my point of view. By the way your ex player Will Vaulks is doing fantastic for us, Sheffield Wednesday, and an absolute diamond of a bloke. Does a lot for children hospital in Sheffield

I dunno. When you start to say that Humza missed the vote because of unspecified reasons, but ignore his previous support and votes, his continued support and votes for further legislation and that in this case it was a final vote with cross-party and majority support where his vote was not vital. You add in the fact that being absent is not a vote against and it seems the accusation is a bit thin. Not to mention his support, membership and representation for the SNP, the party that has introduced and formulated all this legislation. There is also his challenging the s35 which he is under no obligation to do. As the other two candidates clearly demonstrate. I've been watching the hustings and he explains that his growing up as a minority in Scotland makes him more sensitive to issue of rights and representation. I can believe that. A lot of context has to be removed to make it seem as if there is something mutterful amiss, and it doesn't appear to amount o whole lot more than a manufactured outrage. I watched the Beth Rigby interview and there was f**k all there too. Salmond looked well-fed though. The hustings are lot less confrontational and more conversational than the press would like. So they have to look for dissent and gossip to make into something that the mouth-breathers will latch on to. What 's interesting is that there is no real scandal or corruption.

2 poster @Tynie Bagstock & @gkneil have not been online for over 7 days, I'll proceed. The Final League Tables are brought to you by 50 Cent - In Da Club PFIZER PREMIERSHIP @Helpma powering home for a 14th winners medal. @Arch Stanton shooting his way to a 25th runners up spot. @Insert Amusing Pseudonym & @Salvo Montalbano are in the Europa Cup (playoff for seedings) @The Hologram & @Cardinal Richelieu are in the Mugs Cup @Bodie abandons the top shelf. @Geaky & @Duszek go tandem. @BaSeDG0DSA1NT is in the playoff. WANNABE CHAMPIONSHIP The Adelaide Ace @Eednud jumps back with his 9th second tier title Joining him are @scottsdad & @The DA @Ronaldo Jeremy & @The_Kincardine are in a playoff for a playoff. @Tynie Bagstock gone. @Snobot been salted. @JamesP_81 & @ArmadaleKillie can lube each other for relegation playoff, then a playoff. LAST CHANCE SALOON SHOOT OUT @German Jag streamlines back. @Rugster found the right gears. @Spring Onion spouts some shoots. @SlipperyP will await the lube challenge in the playoff. @Jacksgranda @Eednud maybe you could set the playoff questions, thanks

I'd be perfectly content if we set up the exact same way tbh. Worked absolutely perfectly last time. I'd be perfectly happy to limit Falkirk to one shot in target again. McGlynn can get glossy eyed over corners and the Falkirk fans on here can get erect on possession stats.

Old boy Monty has been having a few senior moments recently, if I leave the room and he hasn't noticed he starts meowing like he's been abandoned and this morning he had a pish behind the piano.

And if we'd dispatched Clyde and Peterhead the times we drew, we'd already be out of sight. But we're not. Fucking moron.

No point boasting about having four stands if some bits aren't usable .

I used to think Rangers fans were way out in front, as regards to the most entitled delusional and paranoid clowns in Scottish football. But after reading through the wall of paranoid Celtic fans on Twitter yesterday and today, it’s clear they both deserve one another. They are 100% two cheeks of the same arse.

I thought we were defending extremely well up until the mistake from Dunne. Having made the mistake he should have rolled the dice and let Kyogo go but in the split second of the moment he's panicked and hauled him down. At 10 vs 11 it was always going to be an enormous ask. Once the 2nd goal went in we obviously changed shape to 4-3-2 and tried to chase it and ultimately that caused us to lose a few more goals. I guess that was probably a bit naive given how tight the race for the top six is. Think Shags has been really unlucky not to feature more recently. I know Taylor is left footed but he's not even close to being as competent at the back as Joe is and he also gives us something in the final third with his aeriel threat and his throw in. Hopefully he gets the nod over Taylor for Tannadice.

Playing players in the position they're meant to play in, and asking guys to do things they're good at, rather than asking players to play in positions that are unfamiliar in and to do things that they're not good at is simple management. We were all in agreement that we didn't have bad players, we had good players being managed badly, which as it turns out is absolutely true. Yes, the addition of Casey and Butcher has also played a significant part of this, because as much as anything else, Sol and Lamie's confidence was absolutely shot to bits from consistently playing six players in front of them who do not offer the protection they needed. But they've also quite clearly been asked to just leather balls away should it become in any way dangerous. Win tackles, clear balls, first and foremost. I realise this is an idiot football fan thing to say, but I'm really not sure it's that hard, or any different to being a good manager in any other job. Know your staff, give them support where they need it, give them a leathering if they need it, give them, fundamentally, what they need to perform. Does Kev need a bit of freedom, in order to gain the best out of him? Probably, but the reward is worth it. Does three safety first central defenders highlight the strengths and hide the deficiencies more than a back 4 does? Yeah. Is it harming us in a possession sense, almost certainly, but again, the reward is worth it.

I thought Inverness' Scott Gardiner was quite pointed and funny- he clearly stated "There's not many sports journalists left in Scotland anymore" and "I know you guys are focused on the Premier League anyway". I get that he's not a popular guy in Inverness but fair play he came on and had the guts to recite a couple of the regular groans on this thread. 30 minutes on which Rangers fringe players to punt was excruciating though. Sportsound needs a total clear out of these time served hacks and ex-pros taking a day off the golf course. I'd bring in Richard Gordon as caretaker for the rest of the season and would only retain Derek Ferguson (his enthusiasm for a dreich 0-0 at New Douglas Park as though it's a later stages Champions League game never fails to amaze me), Rory Loy and Leanne. Get the rest of them to f**k- put £100 behind the bar at Tennents on Byers Road and wave bye-bye. Of course there's no chance whatsoever of awful numpties like Biscuits let alone the loathsome Weegie bluenose "Kenny Mac" being emptied. They really don't give a f**k what the listener thinks.

They got their own section?

Got to say even if we don't make top 6 I have really enjoyed this season. Our home form has been excellent and we have taken points off of the old firm. Robbo has been outstanding and I look forward to seeing how we progress under him.

Another manager of the month award for Imrie. I'm sure @Lex will be along shortly to tell us how we were wrong to sack Gus MacPherson.

Absolutely no nerves from me. I've had the attitude for weeks that we are almost out of it and that tomorrow is more or less a free hit. If we get the first goal then Dunfermline will start to feel the pressure and will need to come at us. If we lose tomorrow then we go into the play-offs as favourites in my eyes and have a cup quarter-final next week to get excited about. Still a exciting end to the season in my eyes compared to the last 3 or 4 years dross.

Yes. There is clearly some other factor at play here. Even taking into account changed plans, switching contractors, supply chain issues, Covid etc., there is no way the programme of works we are seeing should have progressed so slowly. Worse than the delay though is the concept of the Royal Box in the face of a 'new stadium' with a capacity of less than 1,000 at this level.

Fundamentally, it's incredibly difficult to play without a proper defensive midfielder. You only have to look at Dundee United in the division above to see that. If you go through their squad man-by-man and compare it to other teams in the bottom six of the Premiership, they're comfortably better off. But the whole thing is entirely undermined by their failure to bring in a destructive midfielder in the last two windows. They get dragged about all over the place, their defence is constantly being run at and can't cope, and their decent creative midfielders like Dylan Levitt look like shit because they're having to try and cover positions and roles that they're not suited to. It's not a question of changing the formation, in isolation. You can't just load a bunch of attacking midfielders and forwards on the pitch and hope that making them stand in a diamond they'll be fine. If you're playing a midfield two, three or four (with whatever configuration behind and ahead of them), someone needs to be tasked with doing the dirty work. It's not just about tackling, it's about covering runs, marking space, filling in behind full-backs when they leave gaps. I said before kick off on Saturday that Brad Spencer was the only real candidate for that, and he was. You can see from the way he plays normally that he understands the game, and understands which elements of 'midfielding' he usually has responsibility for, and what Scott Brown does. But there's a huge difference between understanding what someone else does, and having the aptitude and ability to do it well. In a bigger squad with more options, you'd also be able to look to senior centre halfs or full backs to see if they can plug the gap, but we don't have any central defenders spare, so the only real alternative is asking Liam Dick to come in and sit, and play Ngwenya at left back. Given he's never played in midfield before (to my knowledge), I'm not convinced. You maybe get more defensive nous and positioning sense than we got from Spencer, but you're not getting anywhere near the capability to move the ball forwards once you've got it. There was some chat in the stand on Saturday about going to a back three, but that presents the same issue. You're still not engaging the opposition midfield, all you've got is an extra defender in the last line trying to hold off 90 minutes of pressure 18 yards from goal. Dundee United have tried that one a fair bit. Look at their GA column for an idea of how it's going. It's obviously nowhere near as drastic, but playing without a natural defensive midfielder is like playing without a goalkeeper. It's a fundamental role, and you can do all the shuffling around with 4-3-3s and 4-4-2s that you want, you've still got a massive glaring issue to contend with. Even a side like Celtic who can blow away most sides they face by just throwing down any random assortment of their midfielders and forwards have Callum McGregor in as an almost ever-present. We've been exceptionally fortunate that, with Matthews' long term injury, this is the first time we've had to do without Brown. It's the risk you take with a small squad. We've only got one senior right back. We've only got two dedicated senior centre halfs. We've got two defensive midfielders, but they're both missing. You try to cover and make do, but if you come up against a decent team who don't have an off day, you'll be up against it.

Was going to post last night but I couldn’t be arsed due to some of the absolute wankers who now post on our thread. I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday. It’s clear to see that our players have a brilliant relationship with themselves and the management team and are loving playing football. Just the little things I noticed in that every players celebrated every goal and Nesbitt’s little interaction with the photographer after he knocked him over - they are playing with smiles on their faces and this is getting through to the fans. Even 6 months ago if we’d been 0-0 with the team at the bottom at half time a lot of the fans would have been frustrated - not yesterday, collectively we knew if we were patient goals would come. The link up play between Morrison/McCann and Rowe/Kennedy is outstanding and great to watch. At times unplayable at this level. We also have competition for places due to having a strong squad. Max was brilliant when he came on and when was the last time we had a substitute who scored a hat-trick who won’t start the next game ? Now onto the hat-trick - well done Craig McGuffie. His first 2 goals were up with the best I’ve seen at TFS and the first in the top 3 I’ve seen from us ever. The penalty was calmness and confidence personified. Also, I noticed when the penalty was awarded, the players as a collective wanted to give the ball to McGuffie - that team spirit again. Finally, thanks to me to John McGlynn and Paul Smith. You’ve given me my team and my pride in my team back. Thank you both.

Jinky's 100% right it wasn't introduced to pick up mistakes that the opposition players and fans miss. it's to stop any dubious decisions made by the Ref involving Celtic and Rangers that could cause them to feel cheated It's called VARC now Verification Aid for Rangers & Celtic

Falkirk close to passing 2500 tickets sold. This crowd is bursting 9000 tomorrow no problems. Tremendous effort by both clubs.

My sources say the death penalty, for using the term 'Wingsy', being considered for various posters. I am pro life and take no pleasure in reporting this.

That picture just asked me what the f**k I'm looking at.

Not the same Craig Napier. Do you really think the referee looks 57 years old?

I’m not sure why managers asking their respective supports not to mock mass tragedies is anything hugely controversial… Unless I am being whooshed of course.

Surprised he only let in the one goal if that's the case.

They've finished third in the top flight once (once) in seven years. They've had two European campaigns in ten years (humiliated in both). They've not won a trophy in eleven years. They've been relegated twice in that period too. What the f**k are you seeing that the rest of us aren't? Recency bias is a hell of a drug.

I take it if he gets out and joins P&B nobody’s gonna dig him up about the jobby flinging bit?

The Boat & Ben. Old wreck at Corpach with Ben Nevis in background.

I've been walking about all day saying this and people have no idea WTF I'm on about. Everytime I watch it I have no idea why but I burst out laughing.

I don't even work in my normal hours

Sweet Tomb Alabama.

Watch it again. One of the arms the Celtic player uses to push O'Hara also happens to stick the ball into the net. VAR - rightly - awarded Saints a penalty after ref gave Celtic benefit of the doubt. VAR - rightly - awarded Celtic a freekick rather than a penalty after ref gave Celtic benefit of the doubt. VAR - rightly - awarded Celtic a penalty after ref gave St Mirren benefit of the doubt. VAR - wrongly - let Celtic's second goal stand when it should have been chopped off for a foul and/or knocking the ball in to the net with his arm. Only wrong decision benefitted Celtic.

The police have far too much say in how football clubs should operate matchdays. They can fucking ram it.

That's more like the opposite of what I'm saying. If you're building a small squad, and Murray has no other choice, two specialist destructive midfielders is broadly fine. Three would be excessive. But if they're both missing, tough totties. You can do all the midfield jangling you want (including a narrow diamond with Easton and Connolly as the transition men which would go... badly) and you'll still likely get overrun by half-decent opposition. If, in training this week, Ross Millen and Adam Masson run into each other and break their legs, we're going to have to pick a name out of a tombola and stick that unlucky sod at right back. And at Ibrox on Sunday, they'll focus on that weakness and repeatedly tear us apart down that side. That's the scenario we're in. Just because we've got other nominal "central midfielders", we don't have someone available who can do what Brown and Matthews do. No amount of contingency planning or formation rotation will entirely address that.

Would absolutely love to see Renfrew get to the Scottish, a fantastic wee set up, that ground is full of community clubs etc, they deserve this chance! Cmon the frew.

^^^^^ Driving a white Fiat Uno

Down in Fürth yesterday for the H96 game. Grüner Bier on offer at the stadium, then a helles in the Sportsbar at Nürnberg main station prior to heading back north.

Quite funny that the club have made this their cover photo on their social media channels whilst also releasing a statement condemning the use of pyrotechnics.

Falkirk pumping some sixth tier village team and a Peterhead team in free fall puts them up there with the early 1990s AC Milan side IMO.

I reckon the Alex Ferguson era of players would have started in November 1978, meaning that every Man United match in the 41 years between 18th November 1978 and 30th October 2019 contained a player who made at least one appearance under Alex Ferguson. The last "pre-Ferguson" game was a 5-1 defeat to Birmingham City on 11th November 1978 - https://www.mufcinfo.com/manupag/match_data/match_sql.php?my_match_date=1978-11-11.