Dave Barton

He's usually been quite good as a co-presenter. I'd guess his obvious 'flirting' threw him off his game. (In mitigation, I suppose most of us have ' been there.')

Ali: "Em...and em... Ray:" Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... " Almost literally unlistenable.

I'm pretty sure I first heard it from Celtic fans at work in the 1980's. The silly names some fans come up with to describe rivals is primary school level patter.

This is why you should never, ever leave a game before the final whistle. (With one exception for me being a very dreich weather New Year game at Boghead in the 70's against Morton at 4-0 down.

A.K.A. 'Articulated Lawrie.'

There are current 'legends' teams that look younger!

It is indeed. Embarking on his last season as a player.

The squad for season 1972/73 with young Tom McAdam still a reserve, seated next to Kenny Wilson shortly to leave for Carlisle United.

The question is...was that half-time or full-time?

I've seen a lot worse... but that was in the 1970's.

As I remember it he was charged with setting fire to a sports shop he owned - a suspected insurance job - but was found not guilty. Still, "there's no smoke... "

That's the worst 'elf on the shelf' picture this Xmas.

American sports is more about the game than the team - "let's watch the ball game" could almost be any two teams in either foot/base/basket - ball - and doesn't have the fierce geographical/cultural/historical allegiances we have in Scottish football, nor does it have the anomaly of several teams in a limited population catchment area (there is only The Dallas Cowoys, The Denver Broncos.) You might argue that the Bosman ruling has had a bigger impact on our game than economics. I remember a time when transfer money funded Dumbarton - the McAdam bros., Ian Wallace, Murdo McLeod, Graeme Sharpe - and the team was a healthy mixture of old pros on the way down (Charlie Gallacher, Willie Wallace, Davie Wilson) and youngsters (see above) on the way up. On basis of size The Old Firm rightly belong in a British league, but then the Edinburgh clubs, maybe Aberdeen, would assume the dominant roles and hoover up the the bulk of the tv and sponsorship money. It's no' fair, right enough.

Just the other week on Off The Ball Stuart Cosgrove was pontificating about the need for 'financial redistribution' and 'socialist ideals' in a rant that seemed to ignore the fact that even at his club there are unlikely to be many players on the same wages - this in a team sport - and that sport in general is inherently elitist in terms of success granted to the unfairly gifted or privileged. At any level below the elite, I have always been happy to enjoy the success of just winning a game of football, something the fans of bigger clubs will never enjoy.

There have been three 9-0 scorelines in three years in the 'best league in the world' (English Premiership.) With a population more than ten times the size and astronomical budgets, there are only about four clubs with a realistic chance of winning the league. Throughout the world, there are leagues consistently dominated by two or three teams (with the Scandinavian countries an honourable exception.) The harsh financial realities that mean most Scottish teams have little chance of (Premier) league success are echoed throughout football and also ensure that Scotland's Big Two have zero chance of Champions League success. We are too self-critical and introspective at times.