Ludo*1

Perhaps easier if the hub idea comes to fruition.

Hope you're right. Your post certainly eases my fears at least.

More the fact that the club are still in talks with the insurance company and as such clearly haven't been cleared to approve refunds is what worries me.

Even England don't have that. Germany do, but we'll never see a system like that in Scotland. They're far too progressive and have always been of higher quality.

Salkeld was wanted by us in the summer, but apparently Hopkins went all out to get him and desperately wanted him. This is just going by Dundonian gossip and local media reports. Doesn't necessarily mean he's on a high wage but at the very least he was whispered sweet nothings. Tried to keep a keen eye ever since but not got on my radar much. Then again, neither has Cadden the past season. Send him to Dens please based on your description alone.

I know it's an absolute token gesture but Sky done us a few solids when we were in financial fuckedness last time. They allowed Neil McCann to play for us on trial - I realise this isn't anything special, but he was contracted to Sky at the time and was their main Scottish football pundit that season. They also picked our game in the cup against Motherwell to be the TV pick when the OF games could've and are normally picked in such a situation in order to give us some much needed cash. Their treatment of the Scottish game is absolutely abhorrent and the SPFL needs to negotiate a deal that's not reliant on 4 OF games a year, but just because their coverage has been pish doesn't mean they're complete scumbags either. They were willing to pay more than BT were on the basis that we accept we're just cannon fodder time filler. BT were maybe willing to make us a major player on their network with the coverage they'd give Scottish football, but weren't willing to pay near what Sky were. It's a shite state of affairs that we will be treated like time fillers but that's on Neil Doncaster's negotiation skills and BT's greed, not Sky.

I disagree. I think saying you'd love to sign up the players that are out of contract then name checking 2 of the 3 players that are in that boat is a clear indication of one's future plans. He provided cover for a position that needed cover and whilst he never got on the pitch much, that doesn't necessarily mean he was a bad signing. Cheap punt for emergencies only always get classed as a poor signing, but are often needed in a squad. I never said he slated him, I said McPake was savage towards him meaning his chances of being kept on were heavily implied to be zero. Think you've read more into my comment than what I read into McPake's!

I mentioned our insurance a few posts back and in theory that should be solid but Tweets likes this, as harmless as they are (I mean, what else could the club realistically say?) still give me the absolute fear: Insurers are going to look for every single possible loophole they can to not pay out. We seem to have more solid cover than most due to us having the additions of 'Notifiable Diseases and Prevention of Access to our Commercial Combined' that many companies who have Business Interruption insurance don't have but it's still a scary time.

Your best bet for a question like that would be to SuperTommy on Twitter or someone like @Skyline Drifter. That's a figure that would vary massively from club to club and I'm not sure if QotS even produce such a service?

Going back to the Dundee insurance point - I'm more than likely reading far too much into it, but stuff like this still instills a wee bit of panic:

That sounds a bit shit. Dunno how they'd work it, but it'd surely be better using the home club's service and then splitting proceeds or the home team keeps all proceeds like they do at the moment from cash at the gate. Using two separate streams is good when fans have the ability to attend the game and it's only technically for fans abroad, but it'd make more sense to focus on a singular feed especially if they'd just be 'leeching' off the home club's stream anyway.

Typing this up without reading any other Dee postings so that I can't be influenced and then can compare rankings! Josh McPake - 2/10 - He's clearly a talented lad and looked promising in his debut off the bench, but after that he never made an impact. Still very young, but nowhere near the potential say someone like Finlay Robertson has shown at a younger age. Bit of a waste of money if truth be told. Rightfully never got his loan extended. Sean Mackie - 3.5/10 - Loan signings from Hibs don't tend to work out. (Maybe they do, but the only other loanee off the top of my head was Patrick Noubissie) Until the very last couple of games he played, he was a contender for inclusion in a worst ever Dundee 11. Genuinely couldn't control, looked overweight, couldn't pass - just shouldn't have been out on a football pitch. Can't believe he looked like he could play football - some turnaround for the boy. Very worrying that Hibs and James McPake rate him. Jamie Ness - 2/10 - At the start of the season I was so confident he'd stroll this division and be the best player in it and even put him as number 1 midfielder in the league. How wrong I was. When he's been on the pitch, he's been alright. He's influenced a few games and scored a good goal against Morton. His injury problems has meant he's played a total of 8 league games this season starting 3. The 3 he started was a 1-0 home win over Ayr, the 6-2 derby in which McPake has said his biggest regret this season was dropping Finlay Robertson for it and a 1-2 defeat by QotS in which he came off injured at HT. Hope he doesn't have these issues next season as a midfield partnership of him and Dorrans is stuff dreams are made of at this level (On paper), but his injury record suggests it'll be more of the same unfortunately. Declan McDaid - 6/10 - Bit of a shitebag. Blew hot and cold on the wing. Gave 2 penalties away in 2 Derby games. Really talented and when he's on it, he's destroying teams but not enough for every 5 or so games. Typical winger at this level. So why the high mark? Really came into his own playing at LWB for us and was an underappreciated component of our upswing in form. Really seemed to have knuckled down when playing in that role. I'd go as far to say I wouldn't be signing LWB cover for Marshall in the coming season as McDaid performed admirably. Graham Dorrans - 6.5/10 - Was he playing as good as he should be or as expected? No. Was he a contender for TotS? Not a chance. He improved us immeasurably just by his presence though. He has the best passing rate in the entire division apparently. Reckon he'll be massive for us next season. Jordan McGhee - 8.5/10 - Lost out on our PotY on a split decision technicality. Absolutely strolled it at CH. Only worry has been that Forster has looked like a competent CH when not paired with McGhee, but looked like he'd never played football when paired with him. Jordan Marshall - 8/10 - We've generally had pretty good LBs over the years and Marshall is the latest. More athletic, bombastic and threatening than Kevin Holt even if he lacks a little of Holt's physicality. Not the best defensively, but in this league we need a LB to swing a ball in and he can deliver some cracking balls into the box. Tailed off a bit as he needed an operation and held off for a few weeks and then just as he was due to come back, the season ended. Jordon Forster - 5/10 - He's had a miraculous second half of the season to end up with a 5. He was a total bombscare for the first half of the season. It was starting to turn ugly and he was having little niggles at fans as he was being constantly berated for absolute clangers. The worst was probably in a game against QotS at home. We'd just equalised very late into the game IIRC and were pushing for a winner. QotS took kick off, punted up the park and he slipped and fell whilst on the ball allowing Dobbie clear through on goal. Berra has made a huge difference. Conor Hazard - 4/10 - Pish and made some clangers that have resulted in goals. Some fans rate him because he's not Jack Hamilton which is a valid point. He'd kept 6 clean sheets in a row, but that was more down to the defence than any heroics from him. Indeed, the last goal we conceded was a complete howler from him. I'd take him for next season because he's not Jack Hamilton and because we've the makings of a strong defence but I'd like to hope we can do better. Christophe Berra - 7/10 - He would be in team of the year if he'd played for us for the season. Our defence has improved massively since he's came in and he's the reason we became so tight at the back. We've conceded once in the 7 games he played. I was 100% against him coming in on loan as he's looked absolutely finished on TV. A bloody rock at this level and if we can steal him from Hearts permanently we'd be in a title hunt against them IMO. Can't rate higher due to length of time at club. Ross Callachan - 3/10 - Rating purely due to circumstances. Loaned in, played 3 games, looked great at being a shitfester for us in 2 of those then out for the season with us picking up the tab. Would be very happy if he signs permanently with us as seems likely. Kane Hemmings - 7.5/10 - Knocks his pan in every week. At the start of the season it wasn't a big deal to say Hemmings was the best striker in the league. It's much harder to justifiably say that now as the likes of Nisbet and Shankland have made the headlines this year and rightly so. I don't think that's Hemmings' fault though, it's largely our inability to create anything worth of note for him. He's made his own chances by and large this season and that's not the style of player he is. 10 goals in 23 starts with pretty much zero service is still quite impressive. I've no doubt he'd bang them in prolifically again should he get the service. Shaun Byrne - 4.5/10 - If he'd done his job as expected this season we wouldn't have brought in Ross Callachan. Goes anonymous far too often. Started to prove his worth as we switched back to a 3-5-2 towards the latter half of the season, but still have my doubts. Reckon McPake has signed more consistent players for his position on less money. Danny Johnson - 4.5/10 - Looked like we had a player and was rivaling Hemmings early on in the season. Didn't like being second fiddle, had a pretty shocking attitude apparently and was rightly punted in January even if it did leave us a bit short. Christie Elliot - 6/10 - Looks very much a steady eddie type. Won't hide and won't let us down but won't exactly be outstanding either. Finally some competition for Cammy Kerr who will have to either realise his promise from many a year ago or say goodbye to his Dundee career. Ollie Crankshaw - N/A - Looked pacy and direct and probably played the same amount of times as Callachan but still didn't show enough for me to determine whether he'd be a cracking player for us or like another McPake who showed initial promise. Tom Field - N/A - Think he played once for us at a game I didn't attend.

Don't think I've ever liked a yellow kit. The classic Brazil one is alright, but much prefer their neighbours and not just for the obvious Dundee related reasons. Absolutely hated the Scotland effort:

Downfield is the closest to my parents house so could swing by a game there and visit the maw beforehand before heading to Docs (Not been there in years - any good these days?) I'd probably do a wee tour of the lot as well. Lochee United's park seems a quagmire. Always had a wee soft spot for Dundee Violet purely based on the fact I used to drive past the ground every day.

Queen of the South have put up their designs. The style of design picture leaves them looking tinpot and cheap as f**k but reckon the home one could be a cracker in the flesh as it were.

What's the slogan on the shirt? I think a lot let him off with shameful stuff like that as, 'It's not nazi, it's just biker stuff' craziness.

Typical DABs picking the wrong team. Downfield Derry Rhumba.

I wouldn't see why not - Although no doubt the insurers will have some loop hole to ensure they can get out of paying whatever they can. Hmm, not so sure on that one! DeeTV regularly can't film in places like Dingwall due to the Wifi being chronic but appreciate that's far and few between. Think QotS are a bit shit that way as well? Might be wrong though! The one time they benefit from having no fans!

It is viable for us as in we could cope and have the equipment and infrastructure to run games and use a subscription model. Our insurance would also cover the losses made during this process. Don't know for sure about the others mind you. Allan Maitland confirmed Hamilton could do it for a year as well albeit they are in the Prem.

No, he's been busy arguing with Div today.

Deserve credit for asking for a hand out? (I'm not saying that's right or wrong)

Blair Alston? Think we were after him before he signed for Hamilton.

Starting to worry that due to the range of size of club's that no solution other than playing in front of crowds will be feasible. Whilst playing behind closed doors may work for the bigger clubs such as Hearts, Dundee & Dunfermline or clubs that have a good amount in the bank this obviously won't be the case for the smaller clubs as QotS' chairman has pointed out. Can see the previously mooted 2 division set-up becoming a reality on a voluntary basis with some clubs effectively going into hibernation until next season. What that'd mean for clubs across Scottish football is a major worry and I include my own in that. It's looking fucking grim.

This isn't the case for all Championship clubs.

Really like what AEW are doing with Arn Anderson & Jake the Snake. Keeping them relevant, using their strengths (Which is massively lacking in a lot of a modern stars) and whilst teasing they'll fight it out for the audience pop - not following through with it WWE style to ruin their legacies.