Durnford

Bl00dy hell. Get the house on the market "Stretch".

I actually like Rugby park but that might be coloured by how generous they've been to us by kindly gifting us some goals and the pies are the best in the league. That's got me reminiscing; I dont know when was the last time I had a decent pie; supermarket pies are generally sh1te IMHO. Edit - would have voted for Victoria park except for their habit of running out of pies just before kick-off (there's a theme here - possibly why I'm a tad overweight)

Intelligent Finance stayed with us for a couple of years after admin; unfortunately that was during the time the Pearse Flynn took over and then the downward spiral really happened. Remember the "City Finance" sponsorship - a slight amendment to the first word and I think you'd really have something.

I may be missing something but wasn't that what Project "Braveheart" was meant to achieve?

100% with you on that; brother. Also the untold cost to my sanity with Mrs D keep finding little jobs around the house which are "little" in her head but no so in reality - e.g. "can we move that apple tree from that fence over on the the opposite boundary?"... its been there for the best part of 15 years FFS.

One thing I like about summer games is midweek fixtures become a joy rather than an absolute trial. Not only would midweek games mean that the potential fixture build up could be far better managed but also should result in significantly larger gates. Years ago I didn't mind winter games where you were allowed to stand up in groups on terracing but winter football in all-seater stadiums is a bl00dy nightmare.

Unlikely - the current lock-down isn't to cure the disease but to slow down that rate of infection thereby giving the NHS a chance to regain control; at least for the time being. In a couple of month's time there will be a slight loosening of restrictions which will slowly give rise to an increase in infections; but not in the out-of-control levels we saw previously. If infections start to spiral again then a second lock-down will need to be applied. If heard immunity is really a strategy then you really need to have about 70% of the population having previously been infected by about October (i.e. before the cold weather starts to cut in and the flu season starts to further complicate things). If however your strategy is to delay things until an effective treatment or immunisation drug becomes available then the lock-down could be considerably extended. The lack of effective testing is really something that is making the choice of the strategy a complete guessing game. Unless you know how many people have previously been infected; how can you gauge how many are potentially at risk? A couple of weeks back I came down with a virus; I had a bad headache and my throat felt like someone had punched it. Within 24 hours I started to experience shortage of breath; that was so bad that each time I started to fall asleep I would wake up suddenly as my body realised I was short of breath. This went on for hours which tired me out more and more. Eventually I got up; went and watch some rubbish on television and had a couple of Laphroaig's. This had the effect of calming me down so that, eventually I could fall asleep naturally. The next day I felt fine but for a cough - but not a dry cough as in Covid-19. I think this was one of the other viruses that were going around and not THE virus but without testing how can I be sure. My point is that without definite data how can we possibly decide what is right; if we have a brief window when things are relaxed is it worth trying to play the remaining games before the split but what are you going to do if half of a side are still under self isolation? Sorry for all those that just put up with my rant but ultimately without wide-scale testing we just don't know.

I also found it strange that some people thought there was even the slightest possibility of football restarting in June let alone April. Current strategy appears to be cut the level of infection right down and give the NHS some breathing space, then a short relaxing of the controls to allow a small number to get infected but well within the numbers that the NHS can properly handle, and then lock down again. It will be October at the earliest that proper spectator sport can restart. There has been some talk about televised behind-closed-doors games but is t hat really feasible? Personally I think the current season needs to be completed before any thought can be given to the next but then there's the problem of so many players being out of contract in June. The SFA/SPFL could feasibly provide an automatic extension of contracts until the current season ends, and block any transfers (registration) until everything is sorted, but would they likely have the balls to take such a difficult and potentially controversial step? I see they're talking about a world cup type tournament in England to blitz the remaining 90 + premier league games with some teams playing a game every two or three days. That may work for the super rich sides who have an enormous squad but, for those that can just about make up a first team side plus substitutes its going to be a real nightmare.

Not sure what will happen with regard to the current season; particularly if current predictions are that public sport cannot restart until October. Least-ways with next season we have a couple of options; one where we only play each other a couple of times (imagine that) rather than the current 3 / 4 times a season. The other is that we look at potentially kicking off a summer football season maybe starting in February which would give us a chance of resolving the current malaise. Spare a thought though for the English Premiership - with three clubs on the same points third from bottom only separated by goal difference can they really close the season at the current placings and relegate Bournemouth. Likewise how would you work out a shortened season for them - each team playing each other once? As far as I am aware there is no appetite for summer football in England particularly as it conflicts with other sports.

Sorry but for any club to go into administration within the next few months would likely have very little to do with financial mismanagement. I'm not sure anyone could have seen this coming at the start of the season so how could you plan against it. There are also quite a few clubs that supplement their income from other revenue streams who will be getting hit twice

Perhaps not

Another scenario might be that club football wont restart until September - about half the Premiership players are probably out of contract from June - who will pay their wages? I cant see many clubs volunteering to extend contracts with no income coming in.

Bo##ox - Of course its the BT sports thing isn't it. I hate playing on Sunday; it messes up the entire weekend

Actually looking at the other teams' fixtures I believe 3 points will probably be enough for top six. That being said calling this game a "must win" is probably a bit of an over-reaction given that St. Mirren v Hearts is still to be played - if ever there was a "must win" surely that's it - hopefully it wont be turned around to a "mustn't lose". Slightly off thread but only a couple of weeks ago I though Hamilton and Hearts were bankers for the bottom two places - now I suspect it will be one of them and St. Mirren. Having watch football for over 50 years I still havent learned the cardinal Scottish rule of "never take anything for granted" Hopefully that's a lesson our boys will take on to the pitch with them on Saturday.

Actually I found it quite amusing; particularly the Father Ted reference but I feel he could have increased the list to include the Mighty Spartans - okay; they're not in the SPFL league per se but we've played them in the cup before.

To be honest all I saw was Ballieston Brigade and that's because it was covering an emergency exit; but i get the point.

Statistically he's probably right. In the last two seasons at Livingston; Celtic have scored twice and taken away 2 points. At the last two seasons at pittrodrie Celtic have scored 14 times and taken 12 points in the league. If your talking travelling wise though then Pittordrie is probably more challenging to get to than Livingston for the majority of Celtic fans.

Entertaining game despite Collum's best efforts to ruin it. Disappointed with a draw but, to be honest, most of our players looked almost dead on their feet from about the hour mark. You cant defend against a team like Celtic for half an hour without riding your luck.

Actually I don't have a stance. I did however find some amusement in the boys assertion that they would play Livi four times a season. With our budget even the most committed Livi supporter it likely to see our top six place as little more than a rarity.

Ignoring the fact that you used "Effect" when I think you meant "Affect" and you put a superfluous "E" on Livingston... Thanks for confirming that Livingston and Celtic will end up in the same half every season after the split.

Changing the subject again I see we've signed an American goalkeeper. I'd heard he was arounf in December/January but had assumed he'd gone home - maybe international clearance hold-up?:

Actually there's an incentive to me in that I retain the same seat that I've had for many moons

I'm not having a go at you but I do think that such details didn't need to be added into the article. You have to remember that this isn't a post into a friendly environment with limited readership but a submission to the national press. Rickie will undoubtedly read what you wrote about him but also will his family; friends, neighbours, colleagues; team mates and that bloke down the pub. Unfortunately, in the national press, positive stuff gets glossed over whilst negatives get blown up out of all proportion. Personally if asked for comments on a player, that were going to be published, I'd recommend focusing on the positives and leave the negatives unsaid although your "what he lack in pace he more than makes up in strength" is an excellent way around it. However "When he has played recently he’s been prone to the odd loose ball or error of judgement, perhaps due to lack of confidence or more down to the on-going speculation regarding his future" really is conjecture. Only one person knows for certain whether he's suffering from a lack of confidence or whatever. It certainly wont be pleasant for his family to read. It may seem like I'm nit-picking but I personally made a huge mistake more than 45 years ago ; when I made some unguarded comments to someone who turned out to be a journalist. Within 48 hours those comments had appeared in the Daily Mirror and not burred on page 30 but ON THE FRONT PAGE. My comments were taken completely out of context but were worded in a particular way so that they caused maximum hurt to people that had looked after me and to a very fine organisation. As such I would strongly recommend reading and rereading anything that is sent to the vultures. Remember its a hostile environment and not social media. Anyway I'll say no more on the matter.

Basically it was my reading of the statement:

Sorry but I'm actually a little concerned that some of this reads like the player has already been approached by Motherwell and decided to leave. Surely statements like "he can easily be replaced" and there are "many in front of him in the pecking order", whether accurate or not, can hardly help with the player confidence. As far as I am concerned Rickie is still a Livi player until I hear something more concrete to the contrary. Maybe he will decide to leave although, currently, we really don't know who we'll have in the team come the summer. McMillan has consistently been in this positing for the past three seasons (I think) but still manages to get a start even if its not guaranteed every game.