Monkey Tennis

Yes, I'm glad they've done away with the different prices for 12-16 year olds. That was a PR problem last year, but the biggest one concerned the 67% increase in the charge for OAPs. A goodwill reduction on that one might have been nice, but I don't suppose it's easy to set them at an appropriate level when crowd sizes can fluctuate and are at the mercy of a lot of variables. £17 for adults is, in itself, ridiculous for what we get to see, but in the context of the division, a relatively small increase last year, followed by a freeze this, is pretty reasonable. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I find this " the club will carry the cost" stuff a bit irksome, given how much the fans have recently carried the cost of the club's mismanagement.

"It has been decided to retain prices at the same levels as last Season. Since January of this year VAT has been set at 20% an increase of 2.5%. This additional cost is being carried by the Club. As explained above the Club will carry the increased VAT charge which is effectively a reduction in the price of admission for both pay at the gate and Season Tickets." Does anyone else think they protest too much with this stuff?

Yes, you're right. Despite the glory of the cup run, which just served to accelerate the overspending, we never, over the period, mounted any serious title challenge, even before we consider what any stadium implications would have been. It was ridiculous that people good enough at football to attract barely a couple of thousand people, could walk away with wages like those suggested. I know that none of us - SD apart - really know what individuals earned. Simple calculations based on our outgoings, which wages dominate, would however strongly suggest that our higher earners probably were indeed making £50-60,000 per year. Crazy and unsustainable. The defence that other teams were doing it too, is not a good one.

I've got vague recollections of him running riot, out wide in a game on a Saturday night Sportscene. I'd imagine it's that cup-tie I'm thinking of. I take it from subsequent career developments that such performances were rare?

He looked an exciting player a few seasons ago. It's funny how it seems to desert some guys. Maybe Gus can get it back for him.

According to Gus: "We`ve sorted it all out today to train at Glasgow Green again. Everything`s in place and we`re itching to get started." How's this possible? KB was goin to exercise all his power in banishing us from Glasgow Green's Milk and Honey. I simply don't understand how we can still be allowed to train there.

Was his dad not his agent or something? He had an utterly delusional idea of his son's worth. That game against St Mirren was a sore one. We'd been top and had the chance to go back there as we neared December. Our failure in that match sent us backwards.

Ah right. Could be worse I suppose.

What's it of then? You're going to have to confess - you might find it cathartic.

The Corr situation was odd. I thought he was a cracking 'keeper for Stranraer and was delighted when we signed him. He started badly and was really not helped by McCall's attitude thereafter in criticising him publicly and dropping him. In that Dundee game I was really pleased for him. He was the hero of the shoot-out, but showed how stressed he'd been by reacting angrily at the end. Even in that game he got lucky. In extra time, he missed an easy cross, but got away with it as it eluded attackers. I was sad that it never happened for him with us. He was on the verge of being very good in his career, before it all got away from him. I suppose it shows how important confidence is in football generally, and goalkeeping particulaly.

My meaning was unclear. What I meant was that when fit, he didn't offer enough to justify signing him. I was referring entirely here to his performances on the field, which while not dreadful, were not in my view that good.

I remember the game you're talking about, but I don't think I'm merely being selective in failing to recall him doing anything that notable. My memories of him involve his failing to dive for anything near the corners. He could still command his box well, make good decisions and position himself, but he no longer made great saves. I'm not saying he performed disastrously - he didn't. However, he was no better than what we had (Scott), much more expensive and the sort of guy I'd rather not see my club employing.

A totally separate and I suppose irrelevant discussion, but I wish we'd never had anything to do with Goram. Some have reservations about a new director who once supported Rangers, yet here we employed a guy who was photographed among terrorist trappings and wore an armband in memory of a bigoted brute. Back to the football argument, he was way past it and pretty uninterested on the field, apparently reluctant to get his kit dirty. He was clearly signed as some statement of intent on the back of our promotion, but he exploited the club's goodwill in playing no part off the field once injured and he'd offered little when fit. I know others see it differently, but I wish we'd never gone near him.

As regards the 'keepers, I'd prefer Hutton to MacKenzie on balance, but not by miles. Whilst Hutton is younger and in many ways more capable, there's no doubt that he has flaws too. I don't see us as being massively disadvantaged by having MacKenzie next season. While the guy from Albion Rovers will need tp prove himself at this level, I like the sound of a defender who can put together a run of appearances by avoiding injury and suspension. I suppose it's the type of signing we need Gus to be making. Of course, there's an element of gamble about it, but I'm fairly confident that he knows what he's doing. For now.

During Simmons' first spell with us, he didn't do much to inspire, but I don't really understand the ferocity of the antipathy towards him. If he can be a decent passer on his day, I'm happy enough to see him here. It's possibly hopelessly naive, but for now, I'm content to see what Gus does and then start moaning like hell in August. As for Bowey, anyone who watched him could see what his limitations were. That however, doesn't prevent him from being one of our most important players over the last decade. I don't think we've had another midfielder that I'd swap for his 2003/04 vintage.

Not even in jest.

And what's the latest on Weatherston? It looked like he'd be coming back a la McKenna, but I think I'm right in saying nothing's been confirmed. I heard today that McPherson thinks the money earmarked for Weatherston could be better spent, but I've no idea whether or not there's any truth in that at all. Anybody heard anything on the player front?

Well kinda, but it was more the allegation that he put dozens of people out of work without batting an eye. Personally, I have no idea who this bloke is, which is why I'm reserving judgement.

He does seem nice, doesn't he? In fairness, if he made such a decision, I don't suppose we've any way of knowing how troubled or otherwise he was about it. It just seems funny that suddenly this guy's 'tell it like it is' style is being hailed, in the wake of Brannigan's welcome departure. More rigour of the type our new director seems famed for is perhaps needed, but everything about him we hear seems designed to make him sound monstrous. I suppose judgement should properly be reserved though.

Jesus, a self made Rangers fan who graduated from the University of Life. I'm starting to pine for inept farmers already.

You're right. That would be crazy. No club's that daft.

Yes, I thought the plan was for us to become more sustainable, rather than to find some new bloke willing to plough money into a bottomless pit. Didn't some club up in Tayside try that model? Not sure how that turned out for them.

You're right of course. It just puts me off a bit, which I can't change, despite the fact that it's also irrelevant.

Well obviously he hasn't, but I don't understand what point you're trying to make; unless you're suggesting that our new guy's planning to spend a few hundred million on the team. I'd already acknowledged that his expertise mattered more than any allegiance. I'd just prefer it if he didn't identify strongly with one of the two sides that do more damage to the game, the country and the likes of Queens, than all the others put together.

You reckon you know who this is. Give us a clue, because I've really not got one.