Radford

Why do you like him? Think I'm far from alone in needing convincing that this signing has any merit at all. McInnes has been going on all summer about looking for that bit of quality in attack, so I think most fans were expecting slightly more than a guy not only released by Falkirk but who the majority didn't seem to rate.

On local radio up here this morning that Adam Strachan has turned down a new deal with Arbroath and is joining Queens. Doesn't seem to have been mention of it yet on this thread.

Very good appointments for Queen of the South. Amazing how the sudden appointment of a decent managerial team creates so much more optimism around the club. The only thing to be wary of is the last time I remember Pie & Bovril being so unanimous in the praise of a new manager was when Mixu Paatelainen joined Hibs! That probably says more about us on here than Gus MacPherson though!

I know Accies don't give players long but less than a week would be pushing a record!

Thought Anderson was a bit fortunate to be at 3-3 as Lewis had been the better player and felt he showed that over the next three sets, coupled with Anderson just collapsing. What a turnaround in the last twenty minutes or so though. Great entertainment again though.

Saints have been linked with Enoch Showumni. He seems to be a bit of a joke figure. Is he that bad?

The following comments were made by Geoff Brown in June 2001. Folk like to knock him but he was proved right about Gretna and he has now been proved right (twice) about Livingston. Dominic Keane threatened to sue him IIRC for the statements made. "I thought I detected a sea change last season among chairman, with John Boyle at Motherwell setting the ball in motion with his cuts at Fir Park. I thought we would see a bit more common sense this time round. But I've been amazed by what's happening. I had hoped clubs would be more sensible about wages but it's not happening. It's really quite astounding. Livingston, in particular, are throwing money about and I don't believe it will pay. In fact, I can assure them it won't pay! If it does, it will be the first time it's paid to throw money down a drain! That's what it boils down to, I'm afraid. How many clubs have tried this in the past? Did no one read John Boyle's press statement when he decided to cut his losses at Motherwell? I'd say Livingston and Motherwell are in a similar situation. They are based in well populated areas but many locals head to Glasgow for their football. There's no chance of them becoming the third or fourth club in the country. They can be as ambitious as they like but the money will simply line the pockets of players and their agents. "I'm not miffed because they are taking two of our players. One (Gary Bollan) had burned his boats around Christmas when he turned down a very good offer and the other has been given a deal at Livingston which was £40,000 a year more than our offer. I can't blame the player for accepting it but remember we have Kiegan Parker and in my opinion he would have started a lot more games than Nathan (Lowndes). Now that money will be available as we try to bring two or three new players to Perth. Clubs like Livingston are cutting their squad but paying daft money for players coming in. I'm concerned for Scottish football, not Livingston. Dominic Keane comes from a financial background but he's gone football crazy. There's no way this makes financial sense. There's no way a bank manager would give them cash for what they're doing because he regarded it as a sound investment. "Maybe I'll be accused again of being tight with the money but I'd rather St Johnstone had that reputation and remained solvent, than went bust by spending money we simply don't have."

Having missed it at the flicks, I bought Slumdog when it came out on DVD at the start of the week. You are always wary when a film has been built up that much and if it hadn't been and was some little known film, I'd probably be raving about it. Thought it was really good though. An eight or nine, I think.

Livingston's official website down for anyone else?

Massone has come out with a corker today. The man is totally clueless... "Dunfermline, St Johnstone and Clyde all have debt much greater than ours." Livingston FC are "heading for administration"

I too have never heard of Andrew Richardson and I have a good memory for duff British tennis players! Part of the problem is obviously the lack of incentive for these guys to play but not just in financial terms but in terms of pride. The Americans or Spanish for instance, will see it as more of an honour to be picked ahead of fellow top class players but Murray and Henman and Rusedski knew they'd be picked and it takes away the edge. If we had three top class players, you can bet Murray would have made more of an effort to be available.

Having missed Hunger when it was out at the cinema, I finally got around to watching it last night after it's release on DVD in the past week or so. Story covers the hunger strikes in The Maze in 1981, focusing on Bobby Sands in particular. Really powerful film that is broken down well and introduces Sands at the right time. Only real dialogue comes in the form of an extensive scene between Sands and a priest, that is fantastic. It then moves onto the last part of the movie which is basically the physical effects of the strike on Sands himself. The first part of the movie focuses on the treatment received by the prisoners. Some pretty graphic stuff and it's hard not to feel sick when you see the shit stained cell walls. Plenty of time to think during the film as well at some scenes that seem overly long though! The film gives a pretty good insight into life inside the prison and certainly makes you think. 9/10

Ha! Just been reading his stuff, what a steamer! Never seen anything like it!

Scotland in with Argentina and England for the 2011 World Cup. Impossible to predict what England will be like by then but Argentina are definitely the best of the top seeds to draw. New Zealand await the runners-up of our group you'd guess, although they are paired with France and Tonga. Ireland in with Australia and Italy, Wales with South Africa, Fiji and likely Samoa.

Just as with the players' wages, is this £100,000 going to come from Mr Massone's personal account?

Considering Massone is a lawyer (I think?), he's making a bit of a bottom (ⓒ Fast Action) of himself here. To claim he knows nothing about Alex Todd is verging on the hilarious. What did he expect for his princely pound coin?

Daily Record Fan's court action threatens Livingston with financial nightmare Oct 24 2008 By Gary Ralston LIVINGSTON are facing financial turmoil after a fan threatened to freeze their bank account in a row over unpaid bills. Livi supporter Alex Todd claims he has been left with no other option but to apply for an arrestment order after a row stretching back almost 18 months. Todd is owed around £1600 by the Almondvale outfit for work he undertook as official club photographer and website administrator. But the First Division outfit are blanking his appeals for payment, even after the courts ordered the club to stump up in July. Livi's new Italian owners argue the bills were run up under Pearse Flynn's regime and should be settled by him. Flynn declined to comment but it's understood all liabilities were disclosed by him - which is why the Italian consortium, led by Angelo Massone, picked up the club at the end of last season for £1. It's believed there may be up to 100 creditors,most of them small, local businesses, in a similar position to Todd. He argues his deal was with Livingston, not Flynn, and the new owners should honour the debts they inherited. Todd said: "Livingston started to fall behind with payments in June last year and by Christmas I stopped working for them as the bill hadn't been settled. "I raised an action against the club in May for nonpayment and the case was called at Linlithgow Sheriff Court in July. "I informed the new owners but no one turned up in court and I was awarded a decree. I've sent in sheriff officers to the club twice in recent weeks in an attempt to enforce the court order but still nothing has been done. "I'm examining my options and it looks as if I will have to apply for an arrestment order and freeze the club's bank accounts. "I'm a Livingston fan and it hurts to do this but the new owners have told me to chase Pearse. The money is owed by Livingston and I'm surprised lawyers appear not to have performed due diligence on outstanding debts before they took over the club." If the club's bank accounts are frozen it will cause chaos as player and staff wages are unlikely to be processed and it could even raise concerns about their long-term survival. Consortium boss Massone and partner Tommaso Angelini failed to return calls to Record Sport.

Are you copying everything I say?

If Massone is paying the players with his own money then surely it's similar to the situation at Gretna? If Massone decides he wants out, are there finances in place to ensure the players are paid?

Caught Sweet Sixteen again last night. Fantastic film that thankfully wasn't ruined by the subtitles this time! Seems BBC2 are doing, or have done, a series of British films this summer. Shane Meadows' TwentyFourSeven is on tonight, another quality film.

Am I the only one that now sees the irony in The Ger's rant about Liverpool fans all being scum! You support Leeds United mate!

Watched Tickets on Thursday night, directed in part by Ken Loach and starring Martin Compston of Morton fame. First two thirds are pretty much sub-titled as they are in Italian. It was ok by hardly big budget. Enjoyable enough though. Watched another Loach effort, Ae Fond Kiss, on Friday night and it was funny in parts with your basic Romeo and Juliet storyline of a second generation Glasweigan Pakistani and an Irish Catholic girl. Enjoyable enough too. Both 6/10.

Gonzalez was tenth seed. Murray is still working his way up the rankings. If he's recovered physically from last night's match, there's nothing to stop him winning this one either. I actually think he's a lot better than even his ranking at number 19 suggests. I don't think there are nearly as many good players as there was when Henman was top ten in the world. Guys like Blake and Stepanek are pretty ordinary IMHO!

Just watched the trailer for the new Rocky film! It looks fantastic!

Watched Kidulthood last night, anyone else seen it? All these films have the same type of ending.