Mackie The Staggie

Well, the news we all feared but hopped would never happen. Mika has officially announced the sabbatical was not a sabbatical, but a retirement after all.......

Might want to change plans again....the Brora vs Brechin game is in Golspie this Sat (Brora doing drainage work on their pitch as somehow it's worse than Dundee's)

It's a lot more fun in the other half of the split. I liked the odd time we got there, no worries.....distant dreams of Europe and all the while being safe watching the carnage and heartache the other 3 or 4 teams were suffering.

That would explain why he wasn't in goals for the cup final against Invergordon.

Tempted to do a photography project and pick a game in the Preliminary round then follow the winners going forward. I think they have, there's a Loch Ness playing in the Inverness leagues and in the first round of the cup (unless is a different team with the same name)

Closed about 5/6 years back I think......

Bold to think anyone at the SPFL will be on the ball enough to post them on Thurs morning.....

It might be a bit unfair on Cowie to judge him..... ....but f**k it, he's utter dug shite and the sooner this horrible season finishes the better. My fear is if somehow we win the playoff (we are finishing 11th unless St Johnstone slip up) we will repeat the same mistake from last season by keeping the same manager on.

Man Utd fans have never really got over Shearer turning them down......

Looks like the Red Bull bosses are ready to swing the axes again, with Danny Ric being given a few races to improve his form before he's dumped for Liam Lawson.

Took the camera with me for the Inverness Atheltic vs Invergordon game. Invergordon settled any nerves with a goal within the first 5 mins, before making it 2-0 in the first half. Second half, Inverness were the better side and with the wind in their favour, but just couldn't get that final bit of magic in front of goal.

The only keeper I know to lose a thumb in a work related accident and for it to actually benefit his abilities in between the sticks. Serious question, if the worst happens and Caley go down, can they remain full-time or is it part-time football to reduce the wage bill as much as possible? I know Falkirk managed to keep it going but they were getting about a 1,000 (on average) more through the gates in League 1 than Caley are getting at the moment

Doubt Horner will get the sack as such, but we are seeing a power play for ownership of the team, hence the comment from Jos about Horner tearing the team apart (either that or Jos was doing his best Tommy Wiseau impression) Horner is apparently working with the Thai billionaire who owns 51% of Red Bull to buy out the team, this has lead him to bump heads against Marko who has the Verstappen's in his corner, hence why we are getting stories about Max leaving Red Bull which Horner previously laughed at but now appears to be willing to accept. https://thejudge13.com/2024/03/05/the-hidden-story-of-the-horner-bid-to-buy-red-bull-f1-racing/#:~:text=Red Bull F1 buyout behind,own only 49% are furious.

Careful now.....you'll be saying we are missing the dead ball corner delivery of Martin Woods next.

Ben Sulayem has been, so far, awful in the role. Just with respect to F1 he has managed to piss off every driver by saying they couldn't make any political statements without prior written permission and pissed off most (if not all F1 team managers) so much that he stepped back from F1 (not far enough it seems). His predecessor, Jean Todt, did nothing.....but at least by doing nothing he didn't screw things up

It appears as if the FIA head boy (Mohammed Ben Sulayem) tried to get stewards to overturn a penalty handed to Alonso last season.... Wouldn't have happened under the good old days of Bernie.....actually Bernie would have just said it outright to the press rather than try and be covert about it.

Not sure if I would be that dismissive, the photos are horrific..............

As funny as it would be to see Aberdeen in 11th....I just can't see County doing anything productive enough put Aberdeen at risk, espically if we stick with having Murray/White/Brophy being on the pitch at the same time. We gave far too much space up in midfield and can see it costing us more if we stick by it. Aberdeen also have (in my view) the better/easier run into the split with playing 3 of the sides around them (Livi/Motherwell/County) and if they can get it together for those games they'll be safe going into the split.

For as bad as St Mirren were....County offered nothing, a very bad game of football and what's worse, it proves Derek Adams right.

Looks like Liberty are interested in purchasing Moto GP in the near future. Ties in with the rumour/stories about hosting a Moto GP/F1 race weakened (most likely in Texas)

Top of the table clash today in the North Caley, Invergordon ran out 3-0 winners over Loch Ness and now have a 6 point lead (Loch Ness with a game in hand). That 3 point penalty from earlier this season could be significant. Went over with the camera to take in the game

Like we did with Kettlewell a few years back, how did that one go again? Going to get pelters for this.....but we need someone to be the stop gap between the chairman and the football team. County have never been better than when we had a director of football who stopped Uncle Roy messing around with the football side of things. The fact Malky was allowed to start this season is beyond criminal, the fact that Adam's meltdown will distract most from this fact makes it worse.

There's a story that a producer (might be the same one) went to Prince and mentioned it's likely to rain during the show and asked if that was going to be an issue. Prince replied by asking if they could make it rain harder....

I know that this board has a huge dislike (verging on almost creepy at times) for Lewis...but the facts just don't back you up here. 2023 head to head between Lewis and George. Lewis finished 3rd in the championship, George 8th Lewis finished ahead of George 15 times in 2023, George only beating Lewis 7 times. Tied in qualifying 11-11 Lewis got a pole position last season, George didn't Lewis finished on the podium 6 times, George's only had 2 visits to the podium Lewis best finish was 2nd (twice) while George only got to the third step (twice) Lewis had 4 fastest laps compared to George's 1 Lewis finished in the points 20 times out of 22 races last season, George finished in the points 17 times last season. The only area George beats Lewis is in the sprint races George beat Lewis 4-2 in head to head during sprint shutout's George beat Lewis 4-2 in head to head during the sprint races Yet Lewis was the only Merc driver to finish on the podium in a sprint race Lewis isn't as good as he used to be, partly down to car, partly down to natural decline as he gets older....but to suggest he was beaten by George last year just doesn't hold any weight. Lewis is still a good driver, more than capable of winning a race (as is George/Sainz/LecLerc etc), the only issue is whether the gap has been closed enough to allow anyone else to have a solid chance of winning a race without having to rely on misfortune to fall upon the Red Bulls.

Mercs nicking a Williams driver is a tired cliché, there's only one option. The true GOAT (those who know....know)