Trogdor

It has been brought to my attention that I have been remiss in my duties and have not updated this thread since week 4. I obviously apologise unreservedly and throw myself onto the goodwill of the P&B faithful. My only excuse is that I got so carried away that Hopkin fucked off and we managed to win an actual league game that I totally forgot that the thread existed. I promise to do better. As a catch up and summary of the first quarter: Week 1 - Ayr (by virtue of a 2 nil defeat to the DKBs) Week 2 - Ayr Week 3 - Ayr Week 4 - Ayr Week 5 - Dunfermline (the post Hopkin bounce as Ayr escape the potato) Week 6 - Dunfermline (draw with ICT) Week 7 - Dunfermline (draw with Hamilton) Week 8 - Dunfermline (loss to QoS) Week 9 - Dunfermline (draw with Killie) Ayr escaped the clutches of the Hot Potato thanks to the appointment of Jim Duffy. For the record had David Hopkin remained Ayr manager we would still have the potato in our possession. It seems that Peter Grant likes his spuds as he's clinging to the hot potato for dear life. In spite of a valiant draw against Kilmarnock deep into stoppage time today the Pars retain their beloved potato. I should say despite being the better team for large parts of the game. Next up for Dunfermline is away to the Jags next Saturday. Will Peter Grant continue his love affair with 10th spot and the hot potato? Or will Ian McCall and his high scoring Jags be bogged down by our favourite carbohydrate? Find out next week. One final thought, what is Peter Grant constantly drawing in his pad? It should be obvious by now...

To settle the thread title - Burns is an honest man. Thank you.

Weirdly content given we started the season with statistically the poorest manager in our history. I'm making that up but 1 league win in 13 games is atrocious. Once Hopkin took the huff and fucked off (after we badgered and berated him for 90 mins on the way to losing at home to Raith Rovers without puting up a fight). We expectantly appointed our very own slaphead dinosaur (Jim Duffy) to turnround the train wreck. How's it going I hear you ask? Well we've won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1. In that time we've stopped the hoppyball long balls and actually tried passing the ball on the deck. Who would have thought that actually thinking about who you pass the ball to rather than launching it the way you are facing would bring such success. Given the binfire of a squad that Hopkin had left us with and our central midfield being soft as shite and our defense always being one brainfart away from defeat I am content with having 11 points from the first quarter. We really need to keep the momentum and try to get to January in 5th/6th with a buffer over the bottom teams. Then we can strengthen and hopefully kick on and settle for midtable mediocrity. I'm currently on the Duffman train and I'm loving it. Let's see how I'm feeling at the end of Q2.

Aye, I'm getting fed up of Salkeld tbqh. I'd like to play a midfield four but our centre midfield is soft as shite, so do we actually need 3 players in there? I'd love to go 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 as you suggest. I expect we may end up with 4-5-1/4-3-3 which is how we finished the game today. With Maxwell and Bradley out wide or up top with Tomi and a midfield 3 of Murdoch, Muirhead & Chalmers?

True, Chalmers did actually tackle someone. I was suitably stunned. Murdoch wasn't great today but has been much better than last season. I really don't think he's far away from hitting that level consistently. He has to if we are to make it to January clear of the relegation spots. We need to do a fair bit of business in January. I expect we'll have to move some on as well. I still wonder if sending Miller out on loan was the right call. He's not the answer either though!

Can I just ask, what is the point of Salkeld? He had one game where he was great playing on the right wing and scored a goal against Dunfermline. However, what position was he even playing today? He just seems to float about and is often where the ball isn't! His first touch is awful, as evidenced when Wullie Gibson just passed him the ball on the edge of Queens box and Salkelds control was so poor he hit it backwards or sideways.

I agree with the bulk of this but relying on Chalmers to consistently put in a performance is a worry for me. He showed exactly the opposite last season. He plays good in spells as a cameo but is so inconsistent. We need a fucking central midfielder! In the interim I guess trying him out isn't a bad thing. Maybe? He doesn't have enough about him for me though and is too pedestrian at times. The problem comes when O'Connor is back does that mean Maxwell is dropped? Bradley is the key for me, he seems to be on the same wavelength as Tomi and needs to start alongside/just behind him from now on. Also McAdams should retain the No 1 jersey. He is such a good shot stopper.

I'd imagine any roof on the north terrace will be linked to a new hospitality suite. I can't imagine you could add a roof without impacting the existing suite. A new fit for purpose hospitality suite which provides a great match day experience will be an earner and bring in extra income and in turn improve our financial sustainability.

No doubt. You were right to call him out as he was playing the victim card in spite of his own disgusting behavior. To your credit you posted an ammendment of the "It didn't happen bit" I doubt Wullie will be fessing up to his disgusting actions any time soon. As for our fans who sing this stuff they need called out at the game. We need to self police this crap and report them to stewards and the club when it crosses the line, as it did today. Its the only way to stamp it out.

Division A Result Dearyme defeats GCarlos9 by resignation. This was shaping up to be quite the slog when Loki put his Bishop on the e file on move 20 ish and my Rook snaffled it for free. It was pretty one sided thereafter. However, the opening was very interesting and is something I need to study up on a little bit. It totally confused me. Good game @Loki until we meet again.

Division A Result Dearyme defeats Board_stupid by resignation. This was an interesting one, we both played a lot of theory out of the gates. 9 moves or so. I then mouseslipped into playing e4 and proceeded to lose 2 pawns which forced me into a pretty big central attack there was no other option. As it happens e4 is a decent move according to the engine. Eventually I won the exchange so I was Rook v Bishop + 2 Pawns. Still materially level but with a positional edge. A couple of slack moves from Board_stupid allowed me to steal the advantage and convert for the victory. Good game @Curmudgeon, I was genuinely panicking a bit when I lost those 2 pawns. It made me play a bit more aggressive than I normally would.

Two wrongs don't make a right. The Ayr fans who chanted that he should die in his sleep are scum. Wullie Gibson is scum simulating sex acts and making jokes about domestic abuse. Most fair-minded people would take that view in my opinion.

Division A Result Eindhovendee defeats Dearyme by resignation after 80+ moves. I was really hanging on in this one for dear life, made about 5/6 only moves in a row to stay in it. I think I relaxed a bit once I had managed to not lose any material then waltzed into an ending where I had Knight + 4 pawns and my opponent had Bishop + 4 pawns. 2 on the kingside and 2 on the queenside. No imbalance. However, it was a very instructive game in how Bishops are that little bit better than Knights. In hindsight, I should have perhaps kept a rook on the board rather than swapping. Even a pawn down I would have probably been able to hold the ending. Who knows? Well played. @eindhovendee

Disappointed you seem to think that simulating a sex act and making a joke about domestic abuse is in anyway acceptable. Shame on you.

Aye would agree with that. I actually didn't think Afolabi was that bad by his low standard he's set previously. Bradley is quite skillful though and direct when he has to be. I think he's proved he should be starting just behind Adeloye.