ThankCrunchie

They're just as seethetastic in the flesh. I went to the recent Carlisle v Bradford match and found myself having to direct a Bradford fan to the ground. When the conversation inevitably came to Scottish football, once we had cleared all the usual clichéd pish about how it's a worthless product, one horse race, how "sad" it is to see the demise of Rangers, I got asked the question I feared : "Do you support a Scottish side?" When I meekly answered Falkirk it unleashed a ten minute tirade of abuse of how our club are "robbing b*****ds" and how whiter than white Bradford have done nothing wrong. Pointing out that FFC had nothing to do with setting the fee did nothing to aleviate the seethe. I think my favourite misnomer in the analysis was when he tried to claim that because Bradford released Stewart, he hardly got a game and was rubbish the fee should be around £1,000 max. Aye, 'cos that's how tribunals set fees mate. Thus it was very very pleasing when Lee Miller rammed in this goal to win the game.

He could easily do a job in the Second Division. You can tell that he used to be a good defender in his prime - the head wants to do what the legs cannot. His positional sense is good and he wins most headers, which turns him into a formidable goal threat at set pieces. But as all his pace is gone, he's been late on a few challenges and I remember in one game against Livingston, Iain Russell had roasted him for pace, so he just bear hugged him to stop him getting past. Deservedly got a second yellow. His organisational skills are good and you can always hear him barking orders at his team mates. Good captain material. I heard a rumour that Holt wants to assess Smith in pre-season I think the amount of flak that he got was undeserved compared to the comparatively little for Johnny Flynn. Now that Smith's gone it's exposed Flynn a lot more as being the useless sod he is. Smith is a competent enough player for lower league football, his aerial presence is exceptional and he's got a knack for just getting rid of the ball, something our other players aren't too great at. But if we truly have title ambitions for next season, we must be able to be better, surely.

And this is what I think we'll miss most about Higgins. He was really the only player who could spot Taylor's runs and find him with a pass. Many times an attempted pass would fail to clear the defensive line and I'd hear tirades of abuse aimed at Higgins for being "clueless" and being victime to the timeless "Who wis that tae?" but Taylor was making darting runs from behind the defence, it was just unfortunate that the passes sometimes didn't find their man. Of course, if Taylor leaves the case for keeping Higgins based on the strength of his link up play with Taylor is rendered null and void. I still think he'd provide the same type of service for any other striker, as he did for Leahy in the last half hour against Cowdenbeath a few weeks back.. I'm a bit disappointed to see Flannigan away, as he was really coming on to a game. His long passing was probably the best in the squad (which further highlights how shite our midfield truly was this season) and he liked to get stuck in a bit and won more tackles than a midfielder of his type really should. Weatherston is a useful squad member, but we've got plenty of attacking midfielders in the academy, so it's probably wise to let him move on.

A tour of the Valencian Community would do me But it'll probably be the same as the last two seasons, Highland tour, two games against Binos/Shire/Warriors/Alloa (delete as appropriate) and an English team at home

I meant stage presence, I guess. It's a bit difficult to explain, but Gamma Ray looked quite lethargic compared to Helloween. I never noticed any sound issues with Helloween. I was standing right at the back mind you and many's the time I've spoke to someone standing in a different place from me who complains about awful sound, or heard a better mix than I. Gamma Ray should really do a decent setlist sometime, without Helloween covers, and preferably in Scotland.

I missed Shadowside due to being a lazy arsehole. I had one of their albums about five years ago and it was somewhere between poor and average. Good to hear I didn't miss much. Disagree about the Rays. This was the first time I'd seen them so maybe I was just setting expectations too high, but I thought they were plagued with sound issues and were just a bit of a damp squib overall. No idea why they included three songs from To the Metal and only one from No World Order. Helloween were awesome. Their stage craft really put the Rays to shame, it was just a lot more professional. Good setlist that I have no complaints about. But of course, seeing Helloween with Kai Hansen was probably the only reason any of us were there and fortunately it didn't disappoint. I would have preferred to have heard Future World done as the Gammaween combo, but beggars cannae be choosers.

Do you sit near the back of the south stand perchance? I remember some guy going a bit mental because that same coupon was bust. It was the highlight of the game, tbh.

He swerves to the left, He swerves to the right, Graham Bowman Can't handle his car What a little tube. Darren Hill mark II.

Not quite, but watch this space Senko was a solid team player, and I'm disappointed to see him go, but I'm told the ends justify the means. What a week for the Caps. Impressive road wins against top sides and a credible performance if not result against another top team. Really hope this run continues.

Avantasia deserve better than an hour before Lamb of God (who play here often enough), mainly because limiting their show to an hour will prompt Tobi to play all the "hits". If we were promised The Metal Operas in full, or even a Metal Opera select with absolutely nothing from The Scarecrow et al. I would be dropping my plans to be here and making every effort to be at BOA. I really hope they do a proper full length set sometime in the UK.

Definitely. It's been a marked improvement over the last couple of weeks, and long may it continue. Leinweber has been extremely impressive, and is racking up an amazing number of points. Patry has brought another dimension to the second line. The three man revolving defence-attack unit of Holecko, Benedik and Patry worked extremely well against Hull. Hell, Benedik actually looks competent now with Patry beside him. I'd love to see the damage Dobron and Patry could cause on the powerplay, but I understand the decision to separate them. A lot of effort against Belfast, but still deservedly lost. Belfast defended extremely well, always closed down the space and took away passing lanes.

Thank Christ Haworth is away. Interesting time to release him though, is it to avoid him being cup tied? The chief scout leaving is also pleasing, as this season's signings have been largely shite. But ultimately Pressley has to take responsibility for those signings. Hopefully he'll be off next

Zemlak getting pulled on Saturday was fantastic . Although clearly not very popular amongst Edinburgh fans, I think he's actually better than a lot of people give him credit for. Even when he was shipping goals like a sieve he was still making some outstanding saves, the one from Hartmann being almost superhuman. I've never been particularly impressed by Chaumont, and barely noticed Campbell's existence in the Braehead games I've seen. Seems like a good decision to bin them.

Honestly, I don't understand why people do it. The first and hopefully only mosh pit that I was involuntarily involved in was at Sabaton in 2008, when some w****r shoved me from behind and I hit the guy in front, who shoved me out the way and rammed into the guy behind me. I was stuck in the middle and had to "mosh" my way out. I Didn't enjoy it at all. I've been standing on the periphery of mosh pits twice since (coincidentally both Sabaton, in 2011 and on Sunday just past) and still don't understand why people do it, especially when some six foot six monster of a guy entered the pit. I also remember standing maybe 20 feet from the mosh pit when I saw Lamb of God support Heaven and Hell, when some dreadlocked w**k burst from the pit hitting people on his merry journey. One of his targets included my dad, whos glasses went flying across the hall. If he hadn't disappeared before the specs were found I would have hated to seen the damage my dad would have inflicted. He's still seething about it five years on. Having seen a few horrific injuries resulting from mosh pits, I don't know why people voluntarily wade into the pit.

Not Edinburgh. That's probably what I like most about the Caps, it's the closest to a football atmosphere and a departure from the watered down NHL chants you get at other teams. The "chant on command" stuff Braehead did was even more boking than that "wooo" song mentioned above

True that! Lepine alone looked frightning, but the other massive D-man the Panthers have, Tuma, was even worse! I'd hate to imagine the damage they could have done to the lightweight Caps if they'd played together. Miller displayed some real quality in flashes, but didn't really stand out. The Nottingham and Coventry NHL-ers looked average at best. They wouldn't be in the NHL if they weren't quality players, but I expected a lot more from them given how bad the Elite League is supposed to be.

Yes. Watching the Caps has ranged from decent to utter, utter shite. The wins against Fife and Hull were the only good performances I've seen so far. Last night's effort against Nottingham Panthers was risible. Not sure if the Panthers are just really, really good or if we are really, really bad. I suspect the latter. Michal Dobron is head and shoulders above everyone else on the team. Hiadlovsky, Jarolin and Portwood all get pass marks. Everyone else just hasn't cut it. Zembergs and Hartmann show flashes of competence, but just don't seem to be consistent. Benadik has been hilariously bad at times. I've been most impressed by the Panthers and the Clan. Clan's performance at Murrayfield (second time around) was very impressive, but they didn't look too great when we visited the Braehead Arena. Drew Miller didn't look that great either, tbh. None of the NHL-ers have when I've seen them.

I'm planning to go to PPM Fest instead. Helloween, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius and Avantasia. Everything else that gets added now is just a bonus. When I worked out costs, it was only ~£40 more expensive, but chances are flights will be a bit more expensive now.

Ach, let us enjoy it. The thought of Pressley buggering off, no matter how unrealistic the situation, is a very pleasing one.

Good memories Brilliant assist from Pressley for goal four, who was also integral in goals two and three.

Fixed that for you. The similarities are greater than they first appear. Our tactics are identical (4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1 depending on which way you look at it, pushing up the fullbacks etc.) and both are good at putting on substitutes far too late to make an impact (see Rhodes and Mackie today for Scotland and White vs Sevco for Falkirk) Watching Scotland today was just like watching Falkirk. There was little urgency, no real desire to chase and close down opponents and the post match interviews from the manager had me questioning if I'd attended another game by accident. Just like last week vs. Livi.

Whilst I 100% agree, I'm a little apprehensive of joining the Pressly GTF brigade. Given our board's track record of managerial appointments since 2003, we will most likely be promoting from within, so one of Alex Smith, Neil McFarlane or Stevie Crawford would be appointed. I feel that if I called for Pressley's head I'd ve sanctioning their appointment. I think I'd rather have Pishy Broon Shoes over any of that lot.

Can't say I was listening to Open All Mics last night. Thanks for the info. Looks certain to be Sean Higgins now.

I can't think of many players that fit the criteria : - SPL Experienced - Striker/Forward - Loan Signing looking at the squad lists for SPL teams, apart from maybe Sean Higgins I can't identify any players who match the criteria and who would likely be heading out on loan. Even then, to call Sean Higgins SPL Experienced is dubious at best. Unless of course, the player is just to be SPL based and experienced. If we remove the loan signing aspect then it opens up more possibilities, but even then I can only think of Darren Mackie and Damian Casalinuovo who are free agents and meet the above criteria. But I'd trust Dennis Bergkamp's insider info, he seems to get most of this stuff right.

I'm thinking of it as more of a case of trying to walk before we can run. A couple of solid defensive displays, at the expense of exciting football, could instill some confidence in the whole team, and especially the defence, and thus allow us to push on from there. I agree that it would render Haworth innefective, but Sibbald has demonstrated against Hamilton in the Ramsdens that he's capable of playing a deeper and central role effectively. This will seem a ridiculous comparison, but the Shire played a 5-4-1 against Airdrie, with attacking fullbacks but played a passing game rather than an aerial one and totally dominated the game, so it can work and be effective in a passing team. At the moment I'd choose Murdo over Jay Fulton to play any midfield role, as Jay seems to be completely off the pace at the moment. Tbh, that's probably what accounts for Murdo's recent more advanced role