Ivo den Bieman

Honestly its a shame to see Hamilton’s support fall away in the last 20-25 years. I can also remember Old Douglas Park & it was always a very partisan and decent support there. The Stepek-era Hamilton were always decent sides to watch. Last time I saw Accies was up at Pittodrie at the fag end of 2019, just before Covid. Awful game which Aberdeen scraped through…I think Dumbarton brought more to Pittodrie for their cup tie a few months later. Used to really enjoy the seethe as Hamilton scraped by in the top flight season after season playing comically negative football yet still bringing through decent young players. Hope you find a way to turn it around, the club just seems done in from afar & the glory days a fever dream.

Been a great game so far-really entertaining. Been impressed with Airdrie not letting their heads drop & keeping pressing. Hearts just better quality- absolutely lethal on the break.

I wasn’t at a game yesterday as I’m ill, but for the first time in a while I thought the show was ok. Or maybe it was just my high fever. Did a double take as the Stenny chairman was interviewed at length about whatever this administrative protest and ‘open letter’ is about, must admit it passed me by. Leaving aside the Rangers sycophancy as the Ayr tie kicked off, at least listening to a game is better than the normal ‘and now we give you, the fans…’ and a cavalcade of the kind of uncritical mouthbeathers who can be bothered calling Radio Scotland thirty minutes after full time. I just turn over to 5 Live at that point normally for their late commentary. Someone was spot on up thread when they said 5 Live’s coverage is in a different universe. Sportsound’s crew needs totally emptied, “Kenny Mac” is an aural haemorrhoid. The only ones I’d keep are Leanne, Deek Ferguson & it would feel like putting down an old pet to get rid of wee Chic ( I know many want to, but Chic’s enthusiasm for whatever Championship or L1 game they send him too, and his comedy mishaps, are good value). When wee Chic seems good value it really says it all about the ‘quality’ of the rest of them.

Decent appointment for East Fife and the club looks as though it has a chance to turn the corner after a few seasons in the doldrums. If the off-field ownership stuff can be sorted then a few good seasons lie ahead. In fairness the couple of times I've seen them this campaign East Fife haven't been that bad, certainly I never saw them as relegation candidates. There's a few good players there but confidence and consistency have clearly been issues for them.

I don't think Clyde are doomed just yet. Looking back at Montrose's near-exit from league football in 2015, we only began to really become detached in mid-late March after a brief upturn when Hegarty and Holt came in. Results were patchy in February and then we beat Arbroath 3-0 at home in early March. However unfortunately things just fell away after that and by the end of the month we were preparing for the play-off already. Indeed, we collected only four points from our last nine games before the play-offs. Two things: McCall will not have gone there to finish last. His signings have 2-3 weeks to come good yet and perhaps put a run of form together. But it needs to be before the end of February for things to turn around meaningfully. Forfar are also eye-bleedingly bad and run very complacently. Most other clubs would have emptied Ray McKinnon before Christmas. Secondly, even if you finish last, it's really good to have such an expereinced manager in charge. I am convinced that a mixture of Hegarty and Holt's accumulated know-how in very big games, and their player's sheer terror of their collective 10,000-degrees centigrade Jim McLean hairdryer, got them through those two legs. McCall similarly knows how to win big games. Well, good luck. A few weeks yet before you bow to the inevitable I think. I know it is extremely tedious watching underfunded pish season after season after season, run by a succession of clownshoes managers putting out farragos of lower league jobbers who couldn't give a f**k either way. Somehow I think it can turn yet though.

After the equalising goal goes in… IT’S BEEN COMING YA FUCKING BALLOON

Alloa have been with Pendle for quarter of a century I remember the late 80s Umbro kits and the Matchwinner ones being quite smart. But they must have a big discount now wiuth Pendle having stayed with them so long.

Quite the trip down Memory Lane here & some long forgotten faces from my early days watching league football. My first ever Montrose game was in December 1990 at Boghead- a 4-1 Scottish Cup win. The home support was seething and calling for poor old Billy Lamont's head at the end. Montrose were streets better that night against a poor Dumbarton side. Hard to believe they'd been in the Premier League four or five season before that.

Clearly angling for a move back to Morecambe. Derek is a good manager but his interviews make the late Jim McLean look like a warm-hearted diplomat. He’ll be off soon I think. Suspect Roy McGregor will not be amused.

Yep clutching at straws. Aldershot have money to spend (a rare occurrence) after a good FA Cup run and are an attacking attractive side. Southend are recovering quickly after years as a basket case club and it might be a good move to there. Oldham and are a well run club under a new chairman- just they don't seem to have found the right coach yet. All three clubs good moves on no doubt many times the money he's on at Cove. Scoring so often in our League One probably means he'll do well at that level. The top five or six clubs in the NL would be fine in the Scottish Championship I think- most of the rest about League One standard,

Agree that the half hour furious tugging over VAR problems yesterday when there was a great day of Championship football ahead was galling to say the least. Would have been better to have had a detailed look at the Championship title race and to hear from the different managers and personalities involved. It's sad to hear how much Sportsound has degenrated. It's an Old Firm fanzine these days.

I am thinking of doing a blog called The Old Fashioned Neutral next season!

As Spartans have no fans and I don't blame the home team support for not commenting on this dreadful game, a quick report. Consolation: it was a beautiful day and given the tendency of Peterhead to tip even the most well manicured beard with frost at this time of year, it wasn't so cold. However, I did pay to watch a game of football and am currently cossetted with some ambulance-chasing lawyers wondering whether to sue the Balmoor authorities under the Trades Description Act. I'm not sure what this was- a cross between a lower level rugby league match and a wrestling bout where the antagonists are blindfolded. Two stags with no antlers rutting over a mouldy orange. I'm no fan of B-team-rimming, amoral Spartans who seem to have had no qualms about franchising impoverished neighbours to buy their way into the league in the past. Unfortunately they are just as awful on the park. Their no. 7 was a comically bad footballer, whose best suit appeared to be falling over when well-placed, and bearing a good resemblance to the b*****d child of Steven Pressley and the Jack of Clubs. Their number nine screamed like a rooster having its neck wrung whenever he felt a challenge near him and threw himself theatrically to the ground. Spartans were full of greasy-haired tatty nonetities, all sharp elbows, lung power and "agonised" sqwauks whenever an opposition player challenged for the ball. Manager Samuel, a man with a beard so extensive that the Duke of Kent probably hunts small birds in there during shooting season, has fashioned one of of the most eye-bleedingly dull sides ever to 'grace' the Scottish League, certainly since the days when Terry Christie was a malign offside-trap abcess in the yawning concrete whalemouth of old Meadowbank. Well, anyway, Peterhead's confidence is totally shot. All passes are now sideways and backwards. They're still okay-ish and combative in the middle of the park- giving as good as they got. The defence is alright. But since autumn when I last saw them sweep aside Clachnacuddin, East Fife and an abysmal Elgin City at Balmoor, something's gone badly wrong. Yes Rory Mac is supsended but they really need to find a way to play without him otherwise the poor man will be cryogenically frozen when he passes and then brought back to life to lead the line in the Blue Toons' League Two promotion push for the 2189/2190 season. The attacking play was laboured and disjointed and really lacked a spark or cutting edge. Yes Samuel's serried ranks of whooping / fist pumping droids at the back made life very difficult. But you never had the confidence that Peterhead had someone who could provide that bit of creativity or guile to break through. The Spartans goalkeeper, a low slung fellow with long arms and no neck, made a terrific save low to his left early in the second half to thwart a header from Shanks (? I think). But other than that it was all shadow boxing and discordant fucked-accordion inconsequence from the home team as they desperately tried to find a tune. The first half was appalling, really, for two promotion chasing teams, with only one clear chance at either end- a header that sneaked past McKenzie's left hand post, and a goalmouth scramble at the other end when the ball just would not fall kindly for a Peterhead player. After the break, as Peterhead monotonously tried and failed to guess Spartans' pin number at one end, a break away, a couple of passes and boom- 1-0 past a helpless McKenzie. Once Spartans went ahead there was no real belief that Peterhead could come back into it, despite working hard enough. Ugh, It will be a long time before I'm persuaded to pay to watch Spartans again. As For the Curbishley and Gritt of Buchan, Ryan and Jordon, they are facing their first really bad spell and they looked a bit lost at full time today. I'm sure Peterhead will come good again but they really need to arrest this alarming slump as soon as possible, perhaps adding one or two more creative players to the squad. From strong title challengers to needing to shoire up the play off place in a few short weeks gives you an idea of the tailspin they are in, which surprised me. However the person most to be pitied presently at Balmoor is the media guy who has to sit down and watch all that again, in a desperate attempt to find anything resembling "highlights" for youtube. Of course the real winners here were Stenhousemuir. I'm sure Gary Naysmith and his staff will have a good laugh when they sit down to watch this pish on a quiet evening at Ochilview. Bar a monumental collapse the Larbert side seem set fair for a first ever title as they are simply not likely to be troubled by the dung on show today. I must make a point of going to watch them sometime soon.

The last four are 50 mins - 1 hr 10 drive from Aberdeen. Formartine is 25 mins from the city centre, Inverurie slightly longer.

To be fair only Buckie are really lukewarm about promotion- otherwise the current top 5/6 would take it without hesitation if offered. Brechin would of course be the most enthusiastic but the likes of Rothes, Formartine also really keen. Unfortunately, the standards really have dropped in the HFL in the last two decades and now that Cove have been promoted a Highland contender versus club 42 will be a rare thing. There's just too much money in the LL, and I think for now Brechin missed their shot. An 18-team league 2 isn't happening; a 14 or 16 team league would be large enough to allow for champions top go up automatically and the play off between the side finishing third bottom in SPFL2 and the runners up in HL / LL.. Ceretainly the pyramid needs much more "ventilation" in promotion and relegation not just at the interface between SPFL2 and the top senior non-leagues, but also between LL / HFL and the leagues below them. IMO the bottom four should go down from the LL to clear out comse of the accidental dross from its formation and bring in more of the Polloks, Clydebanks, Auchinlecks and Linlithgows.

Game was in 95/96, 1-1 at Cappielow on 27 Jan followed by 3-2 win at Links Park. Can’t find date of replay unfortunately. As you say we were shot down in flames by 2nd tier St. Johnstone in the following round, a 0-3 defeat.

Come back John Brogan, all is forgiven!

He did an outstanding job at Morecambe which is a potless club with dubious ownership presently, and an uncertain future. Having them just outside the play offs in that league with zero cash is pretty remarkable as his successor is likely to find out. He did pretty well for a time at Plymouth and only really failed at Bradford which currently is a squabbling, badly run bin fire of a club. So there was mitigation. Tbh quite surprised he came back to Dingwall but certainly think it's an appointment which will see Ross County more than safe come the end of the season. Clearly not a likeable guy but the results speak for themselves. I'm not suggesting he's in anything like the same managerial bracket, but there is something of Jim McLean's intensity / dourness about him.

A few season's ago Goole's captain entered the terraces for some shadow dancing and embarrassing windmilling fists with a fan. Was sacked immediately afterwards. No one comes out of this outside-the-chippy-scrap looking good. The footage is completely ludicrous but the back story, revealed later, pretty sad- the player concerned was addicted to gambling and clearly extremely depressed at that time.

Maurice Ross wouild be a deranged shout- he was terrible at Cowdenbeath. The Price / Weir combo a better bet for me.

This one looks more like a Stabilo Boss fluorescent marker, a limited edition Turkish Delight, or a ham-fistedly discreet business card for a "gentlemans' club". Still somehwat less saturated that the Fife genetically modified crustacean.

Think that's a decent appointment. I get that Levein was a disaster as Scotland manager but he's a very good club coach. He's also a pleasant and friendly guy, having met him once or twice. He's a skilled wind up merchant which must be why so many mouth breathers hate him. Andy Kirk's done a good job at Brechin City and it will be interesting to see them working in a more formal manner at St. Johnstone- Levein being an unpaid director of football at Glebe Park but the actual boss here is a changed dynamic. Kirk turned Brechin around from an unwatchable shambles to being a really good attacking side, with some good players. Levein was absolutely behind Max Kucheriavyi coming to Brechin and he's a gem of a wee player. Will be dour and functional football for a while at McDiarmid but I am sure these two will steer the Saints clear of bother for the rest of this campaign. Sensible appointment IMO.

Thanks for explaining that, I was standing on the opposite side of the park so other than registering the long stoppage couldn’t really see what was happening. I did think McCarthy quiet by his normal standards, that would explain it…fair play to him for carrying on. Come on now, our top was more diluted pomegranate juice or a fading old snooker ball compared to the Fifers’ marine distress flare. Your top is ‘shocking’ in every sense! Thanks for kind comments about my report. One year I’ll do a book covering a game from all 42 league grounds but just don’t have time presently.

Took this in as trachling down the road to watch Montrose play on a council-owned "leisure facility" in Edinburgh didn't really appeal today. For all the moaning and groaning I've seen recently about this being the worst Methilite farrago of cloggers, makeweights and never-quite-weres since the days of Jim "The Relegator" Moffat, I was expecting this to be far more comfortable for Peterhead. In fact, East Fife will have gone in at half time wondering how they were a goal behind, which was harsh on them. Then again, their flamingo-pink away top was harsh on the rest of us. It's a genuinely hideous retina-stinger of a garment, an oddball cross between at novelty 1970s bathroom mat, and the flyer for a lobster-themed happy hardcore party. Visible from Alpha Centauri without a telescope, the shirt is so luminous that it was actually reflected in the sky at sunset, three fingers of pink lingering behind the main stand at Balmoor. By then, however, the Fifers were done and dusted. Their standout player for me was their on-loan winger Kieran Mitchell, wearing no. 16. Mitchell gave home right back Danny Strachan a torrid time in the first half, although in fairness Strachan gave as good as he got. He was not to blame for two moments of terrible carelessness at the back that a better side would have punished. First co-manager Ryan Strachan gave the ball away terribly which sent Mitchell scampering away, without result. In the second incident, Strachan had hurt himself and Mitchell got away from him. Bounding like a demented squirrel after a bouncing acorn, the wee man streaked into the box, but took too heavy a touch at precisely the wrong moment- allowing McKenzie in the home goal to gather more comfortably than he might have expected. These two incidents were the worst of a pretty flat first half from the league leaders, who seemed a yard too slow and lacking in creative ideas to break down an obdurate and well organised East Fife. However- that moment came. Whilst East Fife passed and moved much more nicely than I'd been expecting, Peterhead can mix things up between patient build up and the long ball. A blooter from McKenzie found McAliister whose finely judged ball sent Shanks bursting clear of his opponent. Keeping half a yard ahead of the visiting defence, from about fifteen yards, just to the left of the penalty spot, he fired a powerful shot across Fleming and into the bottom right hand corner. 1-0. Peterhead came out of what was no doubt a tetchy and shouty half-time de-brief and quickly imposed themselves on what was to prove a much more comfortable second half. Connor O'Keefe came into his own here. He's a fine player, really quick down the Peterhead left and must be a nightmare to play against when coming at you at full pelt. He'll either leave you flailing as he passes you in a streak of blue or, if you touch him, he'll crash to the ground and take a free kick. McAliister and Shanks might get the headlines but for me he's easily Peterhead's most dangerous player. On two or three occasions in the second half he simply left the East Fife defence for dead, or got clogged. If McKenzie, making a few smart saves, was the busier of the keepers in the first half, he was a virtual spectator after the break as the ageing Allan Fleming found himself beseiged. Fleming made a few good stops and indulged in a bit of trademark cross-flapping but was finally beaten- and the game finished- when one of young substitute Ward's runs finally paid off. His deep cross from the left found Jordan Brown whose first effort was blocked by Fleming- the rebound was turned past the keeper who at that stage was collapsing, wrong footed, on the goal-line, like a Primark card table. By then Peterhead were ringing the changes and bringing on youngsters as East Fife struggled to make an impact. The old cliché is that if you grind out the win whilst not playing very well you're likely to have a good season. On this evidence Peterhead will take a bit of shifting. Ryan Strachan and Jordon Brown, Buchan's Alan Curbishley & Steve Gritt, will hope for much more of the second half performance today, than the first half, in the weeks ahead. Peterhead started the game sluggish and complacent and were lucky that the opponent was a team low in confidence and missing many key players. If they start like that in the forthcoming fixtures against Dumbarton and Stenny then they'll pay a heavy price. As for East Fife, I can see why the fans are frustrated. For this neutral your team looked much better than I'd been expecting. Fleming can still do a turn at this level although I'm guessing this will be his last senior season; the makeshift defence looked okay; Trouten is slowing down but can still dictate a game if the mood takes him (he faded in influence as he got frustrated in the second half); Mitchell is a handful, but is hampered by the lack of any genuine striking options. Not much point creating chances if there's nobody there to put them away. However, this is a team that could finish anywhere between 4th and 8th but genuinely don't think East Fife need fear the drop this season. Not a bad game all told.

Yeah, Clyde to send a private helicopter to Tyneside to end Jack Ross' Newcastle hell