RicoS321

A cart horse who's there on merit though.

Christ, we didn't deserve to lose that. A lot to like about the performance, but we can maybe see tonight why Clarke has been playing the back three. Ralston, McLean and Hanley all had decent games, but they just aren't quite good enough at the top level and they can't go 90 minutes without error. Shame.

Great response, we deserve to be level. Could win this

We're all over this shite. Apart from the score of course.

Aye, I dodged a bullet there, I decided not to renew, although I'd probably have panicked tomorrow and signed up. Scotland games should always be on cooncil telly, hopefully we can get an arrangement with ITV, and even better if we can get something better than standard definition.

Haters

I assumed it was a very advanced bot.

It's not just a name though, it's a brand. One that gets put front and foremost in every discussion of our game on every network, and is used by our own administrators as the primary way to sell the game in this country. Celtic and Rangers didn't band together to trademark it for nothing. It's a symbol of everything that's wrong with our game, and anyone who cares what Sky says in a throw away line should ultimately care about the branding of two teams, because Sky's comments are the logical end point. Obviously. Exactly, I'm expanding on your point because Sky is the least of our issues, or the conclusion of them. We sell our rights to Sky on the premise that we're happy for them to only cover two teams for the majority of their output. It's fairly ridiculous to then berate them for their shite output. I only brought up the BBC as an example because they are not beholden to the market rules in the same way. When even they can't provide balanced (impartial was not the right term, biased would have been better) coverage, it's a lot to expect of Sky. Although they could still validly make the case that second in Glasgow is second in Scotland if they so choose, because the Huns currently "hold" second (I think @OrlandoDon's assertion that you're not really second until you finish second is probably quite apt). It's not the most egregious offence from Sky anyway.

But you're not addressing the points totals I'm mentioning. I don't think saying that they'll get to 80 points is overestimating them. I think that's a very poor return for a Hun team, but let's be wild and say they'll get as low as 75. Our squad doesn't look nearly good enough to get to 75, 70 would be a huge achievement in Thelin's first season, and I think we'll probably struggle to get that if we get one or two injuries. I'm completely fine with that, that's what the building process is about. I don't really give a fuck what Hun fans say either, because they - all of them - have zero ability to be objective and just go into melt down after every defeat to the Tims. They'll get their usual dodgy penalty next week on the way to a comfortable win and all will be forgotten. Just as nobody was talking about how shite they were after they pumped county 6-0. The only way I could see them slipping further into the shite is if something happened off the pitch and the financial issues started again. Which would be fantastic.

Not it isn't, it's a collective term used to describe the two teams. I doubt we'd have to traverse the BBC website too far to find a fawning article by some former player saying "when you play for the old firm, you must win games" or some other inane shite. The term transcended the fixture a long time ago, that's what makes it so insidious. Sky didn't claim that Scottish football starts and ends with them, those are your words. It's not irrelevant, because it is a fact. Or certainly sky would argue it is. It's not inaccurate, but I agree with you that it's not a way of phrasing that does us (Scottish football) any favours. Sky is a corporation, who's morals are underwritten by the market and economic system within which they operate. They are well within the boundaries of that system. Our national broadcaster is not bound by that system but does a fairly poor job of maintaining impartiality and, most importantly, Scottish football itself does not pursue any moral standard within its administration and setup. We, collectively, need to get our own house in order before we can dictate to sky. I'd love to see it.

Barron called up. McCowan must be devastated. Edit: Doig also, good to see. These transitions should have been made prior to the Euros.

Bit in bold, you never mentioned in your original post, nor has anyone stated that in response. Nevertheless, for sky TV, Celtic and Rangers (only a BBC panderer would use the term old firm, which in itself places them on a pedestal*) are Scottish football, as is their right. According to you, they said "second in Glasgow is second in Scotland", which could be true depending on your definition of what second is. Celtic are correctly still described as champions, for example, despite the fact that they haven't won the league this season. It's not incorrect, therefore, to call the other scum second, as that's the "title" they currently hold. Anyway, as we've argued, there doesn't appear to be a mechanism for the Huns to so spectacularly fuck up their budget advantage that they'd get less than 80 points this season. *Mods, can you run a script to go through my posting history and quickly delete any posts where I've used the term old firm? Much appreciated.

No. At that point, they'd only been a couple of years in the top flight and were just beginning their big spending with a director of football. Their squad isn't terrible under Clement it's just that they're way off the Tims, which is the only barometer they care about.

It's near impossible to overturn a 4-5x budget deficit in a league season. I think we'll beat them at least once, and hopefully we can get them in the cup before they change manager again, but they'll sort themselves out and spend money in January if they're behind then (which I think is very unlikely, as we haven't been hugely convincing in the final third in most games). The Huns finishing below us is something I see as a longer term project. With the Tims continually expanding the gap between them and their other cheek, I think the Hun support will begin to dwindle and their financial situation suffer more and more. If we can get the budget gap to 2-3x, then we have a great chance in any individual season if they suffer from bad signings and injuries and we get a good season. We would have been there by now if the Tims, in my opinion, hadn't self sabotaged and let the Hun win to prevent the ten in a row. I believe that was a very significant milestone that would have tipped many a Hun over the edge and they'd have thrown in the towel. If the Tims win the next 2-3 titles then I could see the Hun support back down to its 80s levels again. Although, with European football constantly changing, I could see them being thrown a fig leaf of some spurious new European league or some pish that will save them (I'm not saying UEFA want to save the Huns, it'll be coincidental). I always think it's best to look at the points totals to get a good barometer of where we are. The Huns finished on 85 last season, with 7 losses. I don't see them finishing any worse than that this season. Realistically, to get second, you're going to need 85-90. I don't think the current Dons' squad is capable of that. 70 would be an excellent achievement in my opinion. No other club has got more than 76 points we got in 16/17, and I don't see our team doing that this season either. I don't see it as a bad thing. We need to build over a few years.

I suspect that he wouldn't be difficult to spot.

He said his favourite, not the best. If you're under the age of fifty, those two probably aren't going to be on your list.

I'd be devastated to have been dicking about on my phone whilst the game is going on.

Aye, I was being slightly facetious, but you're right. The chance today is the sort of one that Sokler wouldn't get his body round and would lean back and sky it. He's definitely better facing the goal, and I'll go back to my previous Darren Mackie comparisons with him. I expect Nisbet has that position to lose now.

I mean, it's difficult coming on in a game and getting up to the pace with not long to go, but aye, he was absolutely terrible. He genuinely doesn't look like a footballer. I like Thelin's use of the subs, but I think he's just giving Ambrose minutes because he's a new signing. I'm not convinced he's doing anything in training to justify getting on the pitch. If he's getting up to speed, then the international break will do him good. Give him some game time against Spartans.

Great goal, well worked. Sokler would have missed.

The competition winner took 12 minutes to get his first touch.

Some save.

No, although I don't think there was enough evidence to overturn the on field decision.

Some freekick from Vinnie. Probably don't deserve the goal, not convinced it was over the line.

Got one.