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Pleasing…..

Working together for B teams Working together for tours of Australia Working together to hamstring the rest of Scottish football Working together to clamp down on the rancid behaviour of their fanbase

I see the SPFL cares far, far more about a handful of postponements than they do about sectarian and racist chanting. Priorities, eh.

It has been a privilege to be able to compete in the Lowland League and support its development. As the SLFL has become more competitive we have realised it was more a matter of when, rather than if, we were relegated. The University could have done a lot more to give the team a chance to survive in the Lowland League using the model adopted by the University of Stirling and others but playing in the professional game was not their priority. Our 150th anniversary as members of the SFA is just round the corner and we look forward to meeting new and old friends in the EoSFL. Many thanks to Sean and the new management team for a positive approach to a difficult challenge.

TONIGHT, ON ORC WATCH

Had been suffering from depression for too long without my loved ones, friends or the people who I work with knowing. Was my little secret and everything was a show when around people including my wife. In October I listened to a voice in my head (been in my head for a while) and I was going to hang myself from the upstairs banister. Had everything ready my wife was out with my youngest child and my oldest was at nursery so I knew I had time to do what was needed. What saved me that day was my wife forgot to take bottles for my 5 month child with her. Seen the doctor next day who put me on sertraline. Got told I may get worse before I get better with the tablets as it takes roughly 6 weeks for the meds to take effect. Suicide attempt number 2 took place not long after where I took a lot of pills somehow my Mrs was suspicious on what I was doing so came to check on what I was doing and she stuck her fingers down me throat which got what I took out. Seen a new doctor who I took a liking to and felt I could trust her and could come out of this dark hole with her help. For me I didn’t know why I felt so low, depressed, tired and basically so useless. I’ve got a wife, 2 kids, a house, full time job and no money troubles so for me I had no reason to feel how I was feeling. The doctor said you don’t have to have a reason which is true but for me I needed a reason. I asked for my bloods to be took for an under active thyroid as it was borderline a few years back and this came back as underactive. Levels should be 0.5 to 2.0 mine was over 100. One side effect of an underactive thyroid is depression. Everything started to get normal after getting on the right meds and after 4 months off work I returned to work in January. As people do work mates was curious on why I had so much time off work and if everything was fine. I was open and honest to my work colleagues and told everything what had happened. Unfortunately after 4 days after returning the voice in my head came back and wouldn’t leave me alone and I took a drug overdose while my wife and kids slept. The Mrs found me and was rushed to hospital by ambulance where I had my stomach pumped. The voice in my head failed again and told me better luck next time when trying again. Straight away I had the mental health team come and see me in hospital and for a month after my release from hospital. They helped me with routines and things I can do if I ever got back to the dark place which has really helped me. Mrs never fully understood how I could do this especially with having such young children. My children was my motivation to get past this darkness. Walking my daughter down the aisle or seeing my son getting married had always been on my mind and motivation on why I needed to keep going in life. When the voices came into my head them things didn’t matter to me and i was totally numb to it all and I was fine about killing myself and the kids not having a father in both of their life’s. The motivation for me now is still my kids but I’m not thinking about the future and them possibly getting married. They need me in their life’s right now whether that’s playing Barbie’s with my daughter and watching frozen for the millionth time or changing my 9 month old son’s backside while he’s smiling at me. They both need a daddy figure now and forever and I’m no use to them dead. Been back at work for 3 weeks where I’ve told people the story of what’s happened. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed of what I’ve done as I was down a very deep hole and I couldn’t see a way out and the voices in my head told me it was ok to do what I was doing. Luckily I’ve not had any voices since January and I’m on the road to recovery. Take every day as it comes while keeping a positive mindset. Still got a long road ahead of me but I’m feeling good about myself. Also getting tested for autism/ADHD. Unfortunately I’ve got to be 3 months stable before I get a diagnosis but spoke to a specialist who is leaning towards Autism but won’t know until May time when I get my full assessment done. Depression is nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. The hardest part is opening up and admitting it to people about it. Once you’ve done that then get the help and support you need to get you through it. Sorry for rambling on although if one person reads this and feels the same as I have done and makes them want to get the help then thats all that matters.

What about that clearance on the line from I think Tait? Unbelievable. No point being critical of anyone at this time in the season, that team is leaving everything on the pitch every game. Nesbitt was astonishing

I really hope that guy and his wee boy finally made it to the game at the third attempt to end up in tears.

Rovers social media team. Managed to obtain record breaking numbers of total heads gone.

Weird that there’s no Morton players in there. Must be a mistake surely?

Brace yourself for and Eric Nicholson-ing.

Boring, isn't it? Staying in, watching Rangers chuck away a title race with your life. Not for me, I like it.

My middle child has been offered and accepted on to a primary school 8 week footie course. The first 4 weeks is classroom based. Teaching him about sectarianism. The last 4 weeks they get to play football. f**k you rangers and Celtic. Every single old firm fan is, at best, a bigot apologist and at worst a bigot. The old firm are an absolute embarrassment and are holding modern day society back. 2024 ffs. Twenty twenty four.

I've never seen the attraction of wearing football colours/strips outwith match situations. When I see folk on planes wearing football jerseys, tracksuits etc, I don't think "oh look, there's a (insert name of club) supporter.". I think "oh look, there's an ar#ehole."

Straight 10/10 for Friday. Which was nice

They / he should be pleased with themselves. Credit where credit is due .done more in 3 years than any chairman has done in 100 years .

If, for example, you replace Ross Maciver with the guy who takes his place it TOTY, we 100% do not go unbeaten until now. I suspect we still would have had enough to win the league. Its highly debatable how many Burrell scores in our style even with the ballers we have atm. It's an objective fact, that anyone who can't see the immense value and contribution made by Maciver (and this is outside legitimate debate about whether he should score more) ought to find a better way to spend their Saturday, because football isn't their thing.

Good end to the week, Friday 10/10 https://quizoftheday.co.uk/2585

I was being far too kind. Norn Irish poet Tom Paulin was once so disgusted by something he reviewed on the Late Review years ago he called it "a bag of boke". Seems appropriate here. I grew up in Ayrshire, mum is from Belfast and I have extended family in Belfast. My wife is from Armagh. Visit every year (Norn Iron I mean, not my wife. She's already here in Beauly...). Have seen far too much sectarian shite and it just scunners me. It's the scourge of large bits of Scotland too. Granting new licences to invent pretendy sectarian traditions in the Highlands and set precedents is just such a stupid thing to do. Fire all this stuff into the sea.

Super sexy TEN for Monday.

Ten for Monday.

Not even a farcical mis-spelling of "Libya" could prevent me from banging in a 10/10. Lovely stuff.

Starting the week with a bang . 10 for Monday.

This has honestly made my day.

Holy f**k. If you can’t see the job that McIver does for our team then footballs not for you. Dribbling and swerving

I am all for climate change if it sinks Dubai.

After the season we’ve had, it would probably have been quite an easy promise to renege on by saying “it’s been so good and to keep it going, we need to put up prices” and most people would have likely accepted that. The fact they’ve stuck to their promise no matter what is something I and I think other fans will take a great deal of stock and trust in. Sticking to your word means a lot. We’ll make up money by likely adding hundreds of season ticket holders next season anyway, plus merchandise, sponsorships and hospitality have been flying. If you want to pay more for your season ticket, you can. If not, you can support in other ways. Best of both worlds.

10/10 for Tuesday

10 for Monday

10/10 for Mon, could be a few of them today

Nice wee ten to start the week. Didn't even have to guess the year for once.

Dundee can get beat 8 0 tonight and I'll still leave with a sense of pride in my club, it's history and what it means to be a Dee. Most of these Old Firm morons will never know what it's like to be a real supporter, which is a great shame. Sure they will all be riled up following their thicko managers narrative. You went to Dingwall and couldn't win when it mattered -try again next season fudpieces. Hopefully it'll all end in tears tonight live on Sky as I celebrate on my chair across from the away support as they scuttle back to every hovel within Scotland and beyond. Thank you.

Sit on that Ferguson

10/10 for Fri

Guessed the cake for a super sexy TEN for Friday.

1st in a while and great end to the week,

Sevco could do a lot worse than give Neil Lennon a call. He knows how to stop Celtic winning titles.

That Coventry decision is a genuine travesty. Nobody who loves football can want that.

It is. To bring it back to league chat (as was the OP's main target) its almost as bad as the fact a club like St Mirren has never won the top flight title. Like - as in - not even one time. In almost 150 years.

Talking to Coll in elliots tonight and he said 'I'm just glad the Kelty player was ok" and that he was sent off for 'serious foul play' so it's a 2 game ban that the club are not appealing but he did joke that he's going 'full John Terry' on the last game

Ten Thursday

Top Shithousery over the PA at halftime. Why does it always rain on me? followed by Sunshine after the rain.

The SPFL gets to keep half of the ticket revenue (after a deduction to the home side of 15% of aggregate receipts for hosting costs). I'm not sure if the remainder is shared between the two clubs or if the home side simply keeps what's left for each fixture. I think it's the latter. Based on what the ticket prices were for the games in last season's play-off (and assuming a fairly standard mix of adult and concessionary/kids tickets) my best guess would be that there was about £30k of ticket income kept by Thistle for the Queen's Park game (which saw an attendance of 3750 or so) and about £60k or so for each of the Ayr and Ross County games (which saw attendances over 7000). In terms of impact on profitability, you then have to subtract (a) actual hosting costs (b) player and management team bonuses (c) the additional VAT liability on sales, and in the case of the Ross County game (d) installation and operation of VAR costs. My understanding of what this meant for Thistle (though it may not be the case at other Clubs) is that these things roughly cancel out and that being in the playoffs, per se, has no significant impact on profitability. What actually matters for profitability is final league placing, because that directly impacts prize money. The situation is slightly complicated for accounting purposes at Thistle for last season (in terms of getting like-for-like figures on gate receipts) though, because the Ross County games technically fell in our current accounting period (2023-24) not the last one (2022-23). You can thank FIFA for sucking up to dictators for that one. The team that finishes bottom of the SPFL currently gets just under double the amount of the team that wins the Championship. These figures are in the spreadsheet I linked earlier in the thread, and are updated annually depending on the total value of the SPFL prize pot (each position all the way down the pyramid gets an agreed percentage of it). This isn't really the full story though because the economics of running a Premiership club are completely different from running a Championship one in terms of costs (principally but not exclusively playing budgets, see also VAR) and income sources. If a Club gets promoted, either as champions or through the play-offs it's as well completely ripping up its budget and starting again with a completely different set of assumptions around (a) price-point of STs and tickets (b) the volume of sales of STs and tickets (c) the commercial opportunities the Club attracts (d) the price point and profitability of hospitality. Thistle in the top flight, between 2013 and 2018, grew steadily from a business with a turnover of less than £2 million to one at its peak turning over more than £4.5 million. This came crashing down to about £2.5-£3 million when we got relegated back to the Championship and even troughed below £1.5 million the Covid season in the 3rd tier. We're now, broadly speaking, back to being a £2.5-3 million turnover Club again. The too long didn't read is that it's completely pointless to talk about how much "extra" you get for being in the Premiership. It means running a completely different type of business. As for when prize-money is paid out, you're right that it's done in tranches. I think there's either one or two major tranches pre-Christmas, one early in the new year and another at the end of the season. In the Premiership there is one when the split happens because they can tell what the minimum pay-out for Clubs will be by then. If you're a Championship Club and you're budgeting for the play-offs, you can typically expect about half of your prize-money to be paid out at the very end of the season. You know what has a much bigger impact on football clubs' financial performance at our level than almost anything else? Solidarity payments, sell-on fees, and (alas) big away cup draws against the Old Firm (not even Cup progression, especially but the match-day revenue). Thistle made (IIRC) more than £1 million in income from subsequent moves for Liam Lindsay, over and above the original £350k transfer fee Barnsley paid. That sort of money makes a dwarf of most of our sponsorship deals, the prize money differences for finishing positions etc. The away fixture at Rangers in the Cup last season brought in about £280k. That's essentially the difference between finishing 1st and 4th in league prize money terms. tl;dr it's extremely difficult to run a full time football club sustainably in the Scottish Championship for very long without (a) crowds of 4000 (b) a regular supply of transfer/similar income or other major non-footballing sources of revenue and/or (c) drawing Rangers or Celtic in a cup competition on a semi-regular basis.

10 for Tuesday, Churchill was the only one I doubted myself but luckily went with my gut

Some of the absolute leaps in logic over the past couple of pages man Our player is about three inches from nearly decapitating someone and folk are giving it the ol' "man's game" and "back in the day they'd have settled that with a firm handshake" nonsense. It's as clear a red card as you're ever going to see and it remains so regardless of whether there was intent or not.

Eric Nicholson this morning...

6 for the comedy quiz, and 10/10 for Wednesdays quiz