Tubilay

I don't think it was a case of entirely wild speculation. There was a vacuum of information for a week, and that inevitably makes for speculation, but it wasn't as if it was one or two rogue newspapers claiming he was on the radar at Rangers. Everyone had it. The bookies had him down to 7/4. There was *something* going there, but it was likely blown up because there was bugger all else in the sports news. My own personal, slightly educated hunch is that they definitely wanted him, they couldn't afford compensation, McInnes was nonchalant about the speculation, their other targets got impatient, and Milne probably added a wee sweetener to a contract that was already on the table in some form or other, making it much easier to sign.

Going to sign for Leeds, apparently.

It remains to be seen if this is a "maximise the value" contract, or a commitment to see out a title-challenging year, but both are preferable to the status quo. Excellent news.

One for the "worth a look" file. Stephen Dobbie being released by Crystal Palace. Pros: Experienced, and at a good level. A "winner" (read, competitive, a bit niggly) A very good technical footballer. Plays in behind the striker, a position we've struggled with. Good with set-pieces. Another veteran who can pass on good habits and tales to the younger kids. Cons: 32 years old. Has been on loan at Fleetwood. Almost certainly on the downward curve in his career trajectory. Won't get (or by worth) anything like what he's being paid by Crystal Palace.

For a goalkeeper, I'm not sure it's quite so much to do with proving his worth at that level, but more an issue of simply getting more minutes on the pitch. Experience is more important for a goalkeeper than almost every other position, and figuring things out in real game situations is invaluable. A different club in the same division will pose different challenges. If we could get him out on loan to another Premiership team, brilliant. I think that's unlikely though. It's all about minutes on the pitch as far as I'm concerned.

I'm amazed that folk have a strong reaction one way or another.

I'd think McNaughton would be a more than adequate replacement in the centre of the defence if Anderson is retiring.

The problem is that Doncaster is accountable to the clubs. They're his employer, not the SFA or some anonymous suits. The SPFL board of directors are his bosses. The fact they've deemed his tenure so far to be acceptable absolutely reeks. There's been no leadership from the top at all, with the board of directors having Doncaster as their public face, and him being unwilling to make anything like a forceful statement on anything. A sponsor would be a start, but there needs to be a serious shake up at the top regardless.

Ultimately, I think it'll depend what happens in the next two seasons or so. He's still young enough to make a real impact on the top flight or the Championship. We might have to reassess some of the guys who left. If Fraser is even on the fringes of a Premier League side, I think we'd have to say that he's made the right move for his career. After a very slow start, I think Grimmer probably feels he's made the right move as well, given he's been much closer to the first-team under Symons at Fulham. Obviously, it's still the bottom of the Championship rather than Europe, and it's a few lost years, but they're a team who are a Premier League side behind the scenes. I just hope we've got some good add-ons for these guys, whether they make it to the big time or not.

What he's got in his favour is that he's the only realistic "other" candidate. Celtic's votes will be split a number of ways, Stewart has had a good season, but I don't think he'll get many votes that Rooney wouldn't. A couple of years ago (last year?) when Celtic had no nominees, it was because they had seven or eight players who'd all got just below the required threshold. Rather than it being the slap in the face they said it was, it was actually a backhanded compliment. I suspect there'll be a few votes going each way to the Celtic pair, so he might have a chance.

I'd say that last season will be more memorable in five, six, ten years' time. In that sense, it was better. But we, as a team, are miles and miles better than we were last season.

Very interesting to see what we do with him. He's been far too good for League 1 this season, but he's going to have a hell of a time trying to force his way into the first team. Another year contract, like Low got last year, sending him out on loan for six months to the Championship?

There are scale problems in Scottish football with regards pricing. The reason that clubs in, for example, Germany can afford to offer football at £150 for a season ticket is because their TV deal is so massive that the day-to-day support is a fraction of their overall income. Clubs in England could/should be able to do exactly this as well, but choose not to. Every club in the English Premier league could drop their prices by £20 next year, and still make the same margins as they did this, given the massive increase in TV money. International golf, rugby, tennis, etc, all have huge sponsorship deals, which means they can be a bit more flexible on pricing. In Scotland, we don't have that luxury. Almost all of a club's income comes from gate receipts. As a result, they're more expensive, and they're pushed to the absolute limit of what people will pay. Because the league has no sponsor, because our TV deal is horrendous and because there's minimal "other" revenue streams, clubs have to put up prices. For example, if we dropped the average ticket by £5, it could cost us something in the region of £1 million in lost revenue. That's something like 15% of our total turnover, and that's us. For a club like Motherwell or St Johnstone, that's an enormous portion of their income in a given year. The only way to make it more affordable without cutting back on the budget of the clubs is to open up more TV money, more sponsorship and more revenue opportunities for the clubs.

It certainly seems that way. Rather than simply bringing through local kids, we're looking at teenagers from all of Europe. There's obviously a long way to go before we see if this approach bears any fruit, but you can see from the development squad that it seems to be in very good hands. Even as an afterthought, having a more cosmopolitan squad has to have additional benefits, as players hopefully learn good habits from players brought up outside Scotland.

It's definitely a step in the right direction. I've no doubt that it'll be seen with a degree of scepticism and mistrust, and I certainly don't think it's fixed all the issues, but it's absolutely a small step in the right direction.

We've got 18-year-old Man City striker Joe Nuttall on trial at the moment.

It'll be interesting to see if we decide to appeal. Given how much credence is given by the appeals "court" to what is shown on TV, the nearly unanimous "not proven" verdict on Sportscene would probably give us a decent chance of winning that appeal. I'd agree that Robson probably did make it a bit easy for the referee to send him off, but I'd disagree that it was actually merited. It's not violent conduct if an arm makes contact with another player, it's reckless play, which is a booking.

If they take full points off Dundee this wek, I think that's it. An eight point lead with five games to go is huge, and they'd have to make some massive great balls-ups to fritter that away. The optimist in me says that it's a free hit for Dundee. They've made the top six, they're a decent team, they'll have an outside chance of finishing in 4th and maybe getting a Europa League spot, and they might as well go for it. I've got very little faith in United getting their act together, or in Inverness going all guns blazing when they've got a cup final to look forward to. Caley Thistle are safe in third, and their season comes down to that one game at the end of the year, it's the games with Dundee and St Johnstone which I think will shape any possible turnaround. A five/six point lead is quite fragile, especially if we've got a head-to-head to go. That can turn into a two or a three point lead very quickly indeed, and the weight of pressure suddenly shifts back onto them. At the very least, it becomes a talking point. Deila starts getting questions about handling pressure, the players start getting criticised for not winning the treble, the support starts getting frustrated because they thought they'd coast to all three trophies...

It'd be a fine idea if we held off on any positive Jack news (if there is any) until we need to start renewing season tickets. I'd imagine that'd go down rather nicely. It certainly would be one less problem to fix. That'd leave us with a few small holes to fill in the summer, rather than one big one. We'd still be after a winger, we'd still be after cover at centre-back, and there'd have to be a decision on Robson or a replacement. Obviously, a goalkeeper would be fantastic, but that's a bigger question mark, given we'll have two under contract, and one highly-rated youngster looking for a new one.

I don't think there's much point debating a straight share of prize money. It might be the best idea in the world, but there's no way in hell that it'd be adopted by the clubs and the people who vote on these matters. That won't matter if it's an 11/1 majority needed or a 7/5, there'll always be enough clubs who feel that making more than a straight pool share is worthwhile. There are a number of issues that need remedied as a matter of urgency. We need to stop bickering about how the league actually divides up, how many teams there are, the split, the playoffs, etc. The layout of the leagues. Every single year this comes up, and it's hardly to the benefit of the game. Were our glorious league leaders to take some responsibility here, then we'd be far more likely to win sponsorship and attract interest from outside Scotland. We've got the most competitive league in years, some good football, 10 different cup winners in seven years, and a national team that's slowly but surely finding their feet. When do you ever hear a story about Scottish football on UK-wide broadcast? When there's some bungle or mistake or crisis. We need to change the record there, and get people talking positively. The "product" has improved markedly in the last five or six years. The governance is worse than the Highland League. To move forward with any kind of vision, that's got to change first.

I agree. I don't think there's a referee left in Scotland that I think "he can control a game". There's hardly been a game recently where it's not been the main topic of conversation, and to be fair, not always in our favour.

It was routine until the red card, and even then, they offered very little at all. I think we'll switch things around quite a bit between now and the end of the season. I thought Robson was excellent today, and I'd certainly be appealing that red card.

Low's problem is that he's 23, he's not a green-about-the-gills youngster. At 23 he's played 30-odd games in six years. He's a month older than Ryan Jack, who is a kick in the arse off making his 200th appearance. Had McInnes been our manager a couple of years earlier, I suspect he'd have had more of a fighting chance, because he's obviously got talent, he just needed to get physically stronger, put in the hours on the weights when he was younger, and learn a particular role in the team. He was thrown on the wing, in the centre, even at full-back, at different points, and it's tough to force your way into a team when you get a few minutes here and there. I've no doubt he's good enough for the top flight though.

If League reconstruction was done with some foresight, I'd be all for it. If it was pitched suddenly to make sure that we get more of "the big teams" in the top division, that'd be wrong for any number of reasons. However, I would say that our top flight is too small, and if the right people planned ahead, then a 16-team top-flight should be the aim. Let the forward thinking clubs in the second tier in to the top flight, expand the geographic boundaries of the division, and get back to playing each other twice, once home and once away. The last few years have proved that clubs need not survive on the cash of an Old Firm away day, and that there are plenty of teams who can remain competitive against the supposed bigger boys of Scottish football. What we need to stop right now, is the short-termism of the game, which Doncaster seems to represent. This idea-of-the-week nonsense makes us an absolute laughing stock. Someone needs to have a clear vision of what we want from our top flight, and then go about making that happen. Personally, I'd like to see us negotiating towards a 16 team league in time for the next TV deal, when everything will be up in the air. Cost out SPFL TV effectively, so we've got a better idea of what our game is worth and the revenues it could generate, properly investigate summer football (with no vested interests) so we can at least have the debate with some facts and figures to inform it, and separate out the business interests and sponsorship side of the League (no laughing) from the administration and fixtures side.

Robertson won't be around. Neither will Shaughnessy or Low. I'd expect Masson will be on his way out too.