LongTimeLurker

Dyce definitely seem to tick quite a few of the boxes though: cover for spectators and a fence spectators can't see through as well as the devil's lanterns. That's not your typical north region juniors ground at this point.

Russia has really lost the plot now. Bald & Bankrupt kicked out and banned from reentry:

Maybe not anything like as bad but it still wasn't a fun place to live if there was any sort of protest against the government: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novocherkassk_massacre

If twitter commentary is to be believed (dubious at best obviously) there is some talk of that kind of thing happening on a small scale onthe Ukrainian side yesterday south of Davydiv Brid in Kherson oblast where they already had a smzll bridgehead across the Inhulets river:

Probably true in some ways but did you not have to be in very close with a panzerfaust and hence highly likely to get mown down in the immediate aftermath? Not quite as risky to take out a tank nowadays when you can be two miles away and it's a case of fire and forget.

Given how vulnerable tanks, fighter planes and helicopters appear to be to shoulder-fired missiles I doubt we'll be seeing any rapid WWII style advances any time soon now the element of surprise has completely gone. A rapid attack is probably as likely to go as well for the Ukrainians right now as the Battle of the Somme did for the 36th Ulster Division with tanks and aircraft largely out of the picture and the Russians still not running out of armaments or willing manpower yet. The Ukrainians do appear to be taking some villages and that's probably as good as it gets for them until the problem of supplying across the Dniepr more severely imits what the Russians are able to do. Post stuff like this not because I'm sure I'm right about it but to see if anyone can tell me why I'm wrong.

Water supply to Crimea is on the line at Nova Kakhovka. Don't think they will leave as quickly and easily as they did from around Kyiv because of how important that is for Putin to be able to claim some form of victory. It was just a feint would be more difficult to sell in this context because people know Putin was serious about wanting "Novorossiya" to return to his reich back in 2014 after Yanukovych fled.

Will be interesting to see what this amount to: given how long it has been hyped up as being imminent for.

The slow Russian advance of the past few months finally seems to have ground to a standstill in the Donbas. Despite all the recent propaganda claims the Ukrainians apparently do still hold part of Pisky. The EU has taken the economically painful steps needed to make it through the winter if Putin turns off the gas which he likely wouldn't be able to sustain because he needs that revenue to keep his state apparatus afloat. There are reasons why the Ukrainians are sounding bullish about their future prospects because the $40 billion worth of lend lease weaponry hasn't even started arriving yet.

Seeing as the EoS website ignores these due to lunatic blazer politics: Rothie Rovers 4-2 Armadale Thistle Arthurlie 10-1 Harthill Royal Royal Albert 1-4 West Calder Livingston 1-1 Yoker (Livingston win on pens) Longside 1-3 Stoneyburn

Elsewhere:

Is that not the main Scottish Cup?

Bayern have won 9 on the bounce in Germany, while PSG have won 8 of the last 10 in France, and you have to go back 19 seasons for a winner in Spain who wasn't Barca, Real or Atletico. The trend unfortunately tends to be towards the Old Firm scenario and Champions League money is a big part of it.

Wrote "from memory" for a reason. Don't have time to track that down right now but odds on there will be posts on here that will still be accessible through the search function with a bit of effort. My recollection is that the tightening up to playoffs for champions only happened before 2015/16. The reelection angle was what I was mentioning in the context of Threave because they failed to reapply after that season. Think that was tightened up to simply being reprieved after the season Selkirk folded midseason when there was the whole fiasco over what was meant by bottom club.

Neither would I but being ice-free year round is the key consideration on this. The Kola peninsula benefits from the tail end of the Gulf Stream.

Vladivostok, Murmansk, Baltiysk and Novorossiysk all provide that, so that's not what makes Sevastopol so strategic. More to do with offshore natural gas discoveries being a threat to Gazprom and making sure NATO is never based there. Crimea being Ukrainian thanks to a drunken whim (legend has it anyway) of Khruschev wasn't a problem when Ukraine was still voting in relatively pro-Russian presidents and the east/south of the country dominated in the rada politically.

If the part-time L1 and L2 clubs were to look at this rationally it's a reasonable assumption that around half of them will be relegated at some point over the next generation, so if they were sensible about it they would look at this from both angles and come to the conclusion that an easier route back into the SPFL could be in their long term interests.

Think you'll find that the rule has been tightened up from time to time rather than opened up as it should have been. From memory there was initially no need to be the champion of either the EoS or SoS to be in the promotion playoff only to be the top-placed licensed club, and there was also a reelection process for any club finishing bottom that would not otherwise be relegated. Threave Rovers left the LL at the end of 2015-16 when they failed to reapply.

Worth bearing in mind that the $40 billion lend lease programme from the United States hasn't even really started yet.

Cowden five times Stenny nane would probably work better as a mantra to be repeated to some rhythmic music and burning incense. Bo'ness FC (one of the two clubs that became United) won the second division in 1926-27 so it's kind of pathetic that Stenny have never managed something like that given how many more opportunities they have had over the years.

The south sub thing would have long since happened by now if it made any sense but if both Labour and the SNP are supportive as the article suggests sounds like more of the original tram plan is probably happening: