Skyline Drifter

Really? You quite sure about that?

True. It does have to be said though that deep into injury time an increasingly desperate Dunfermline launched a long ball forward. Ayo Obileye, about 2 feet above everyone else headed back about 30 yards up the pitch from where they launched it again. Gregor Buchanan rose and did exactly the same. They had a third attempt and someone else comfortably won a header before it was volleyed up the park and Mebude was off terrorising the back line again. Obviously it's not inventive from Dunfermline but it's the sort of stuff that three months ago we weren't coping with in that way and at best would have sliced something into the stand or got too deep.

We have 20 points from the 2nd third of the season, not 17. 6 wins, two draws and the loss to Alloa. We've been in the lead in all 9 games, it could have been even better!

Not sure that's entirely true. There were few, if any, signs in December certainly as we lurched from one dreadful performance (Inverness 0-3) to another (Hearts 1-6) and then another (Morton 0-2) and another (Dundee 1-3). I do think prior to that we'd shown signs of being a decent side without really getting the rewards, mainly because the defending wasn't good enough. Maybe we just needed to build up an understanding and wait for Wullie to really understand full back. We'd only won one league game but the Betfred Cup performances were encouraging, we should certainly have got at least a point at Ayr on the opening day, should have won at Arbroath and might even have nicked something at home to Raith if we hadn't sold about 4 goals that day! There were signs of ability in the side. It did all click very suddenly on the back of a dreadful 4 game run though undeniably.

Hey there, how you doing? 😉

"Good". Pfftt. 🙄 To be fair, Dunfermline's best spell was while nobody could see it online unfortunately. It was all Dunfermline for the first half hour and, whilst the penalty award itself was laughable, a lead at the time would have been fully merited. Not a great kick though (he's no Ayo) and Rohan saved us down to his left. Last 10 mins or so we started getting into the game after being very slow out of the blocks. To be fair to him OFW made a great save from Obileye's volley set up by Jones. Second half we were much better and probably deserved the win. Good finish from WG but keeper should have saved it really. Again though we saw our set up works better when the other side come at us. Ayo moves deeper and mops up anything in front of the back four. We've plenty of height for set pieces now and the pace we break at is frightening, especially once Dapo came on. Joseph isn't slow but Dapo's on another level. He had the two centre halves on toast as soon as he got on. Got himself stupidly booked within a few seconds but then got Watson booked and Mayo sent off. He's a brilliant outlet, gives defenders no peace. And Jones is like lightning. Wasn't his most influential game today but he got Whittaker booked, set up the Ayo volley and that tackle near the end was of the goalsaving variety. I don't know if I've ever seen a winger so prepared to sacrifice himself running the wrong way to make defensive challenges. We weren't even that great today and still won with another clean sheet. Irrisistable force and immovable object next week when we lock horns with Arbroath. I imagine Dick will get Manager of the Month for being unbeaten through the month. And he'll deserve it. What a run they are on too.

qos is fine. QoS would be better but we'll cope. Under no circumstances should it be abbreviated to anything involving a "t". Or even worse, a "T".

Quite right. You Dumfermline fans are spot on there.

It would cost far more to put it back to grass than simply renew the playing carpet. Probably twice as much or more. I wouldn't put it back in a month of sundays honestly. I'm unsure where this "one of the best pitches in the country" myth comes from either. Maybe before the turn of the century. It was distinctly ropy for years before we switched away from the grass and regularly criticised. I doubt many clubs make an awful lot of external income out of 3G pitches. Clubs like Stenny certainly did when they first got it but there were half a dozen of them in Scotland back then. There's about half a dozen in Dumfries alone now. Anyway, there isn't an awful lot of opportunity for 3rd party hire when a professional football club with a South of Scotland League tenant are occupying it. By the time three age groups of youths, girls teams and midweek fixtures for both clubs are dealt with. The Arena , indoors, is a far better facility for external hires. Away from semi pro / organised league football, most guys like me want to play indoors, 7 a side or less, out of any serious bad weather and with a wall to bounce errant shots off, not have to climb up 20 rows of a stand to pick up a ball somebody fired 40 feet over the bar! The existing 3G is showing its age now. It went down in 2014 and is reaching end of life. I expect we'll get another year out of it, maybe two at a push, but I'd replace it with a new carpet for sure.

I'm not sure why you would assume it generates a fair amount of money. Other than Heston Rovers as tenants, it's barely rented. Far bigger advantage in normal (non Covid) conditions is the relative certainty games are on and the fact that our reserves and youths can play / train on it with much reduced pitch hire costs elsewhere. It also provided us with a Covid secure training base for almost three months at the start of the season before Hamilton re-opened without the knock on effect of turning our pitch into a quagmire like Morton's is as a result. What would be the alternative to "sticking with it" as a matter of interest?

Unless he's a Dunfermline season ticket holder, in which case he will need to register an account with an email address. Stand corrected.

You don't even need a new user name and password. You can log in with your Pars TV details. Of course we're cheaper, being only £10. (Dunfermline Athletic = Big Team 😉)

It's the same as yours technically. It's your system we piggy back. Obviously our own commentary team and cameraman. It's very good.

The SPFL have no authority to charge any player with anything. They are a League, they aren't responsible for player discipline. Only the SFA are but you're right. Unless and until he's charged with something he's available. He's done his isolation the same as the others involved. Bookings are not "zeroed" at all but the 1st suspension point disappears after 18 games (not 17). None of our players are particularly near it anyway. Wullie has 4 bookings, as does Aidan Fitzpatrick. They are the most and they'd need 12 for a suspension now.

Are we not losing a bit of focus here? I'm pretty sure that "international football fixtures" is not intended to cover participation of Scottish referees in domestic Greek matches (or any other nation). It's clearly meant to cover travel for matches either involving Scottish representative sides or officials officiating at other international games. It's not necessarily an exhaustive list though is it? It doesn't cover training camps in Dubai either (re-opens can of worms that has been parked to the side for a while) yet all parties have already conceded that that whilst potentially ill-advised, was not illegal and didn't break any rules. I imagine following the request from UEFA for a Scottish officiating team either a decision was made at the SFA to ratify that, or, if protocols require, a check was made with the JRG / Scottish Govt as to whether it was permissable. The issue here isn't that they went, it's that it wasn't dealt with correctly when they returned. For what it's worth though, UEFA should be taking a look at themselves here. Countries around the world are to varying degrees in lockdown, playing behind closed doors and limiting unnecessary travel. Why the Hell is it felt appropriate and necessary now to have a referee team from Scotland to do a Greek domestic fixture? That is in itself mental.