Durnford

Not sure where you got the £40k a year figure as most of those doing the training were actually volunteers or people normally involved in the first team. For each of the (four?) teams kit cost about less than £1000 (the kids use to pay for their own boots however). The under 18's was the expensive one as this was where some of the boys started being offered contract. Other than that oftI get that Project Brave (the youth development project not the wife beaters one) is a self serving organisation only interested in funnelling money to those clubs that need it and with Malky Mackay in charge is that entirely a surprise; but was this really necessary?en the boys families would chip in with some of the costs. Agreed the youth team hasn't generated many Snodgrass/Dorran/Griffiths of late but the impact o the community was equally important. I new a boy from a Celtic supporting family who use to insist on attending the Livi Senior games and his dad came along as well. The family didn't convert overnight but it did give some hope for the future. Surrendering the ground to the old firm and the Edinburgh clubs isn't going to start generating the kind of crowds we need to maintain a club at the highest level. I remember the club used to run a variety of fund raising opportunities for the youth teams but I cant recall even a can rattle at the turnstiles of late. I am normally supportive of the board but I think this decision is basically flawed. I get that Project Brave (the youth development project not the wife-beaters one) is a self-serving organisation only interested in funnelling money to those clubs that need it and with Malky Mackay in charge is that entirely a surprise; but was this really necessary? I know the criteria of top tier Project Brave is particularly onerous (the demand to have six-full-time coaches focusing solely on development) but dozens of local youth teams manage without their assistance.

Not sure Cadden is ready or even suitable for premiership football actually. I believe Mackin has another year on his contract plus last season quite often we weren't even able to fill a subs bench so why pay him off early?

I think its the scrawny beard that does it - pretty much like the first one I grew when I was 17.

At 28 i wouldn't really call him young in a footballing sense. Actually I thought he was very good laying in an experienced defence. It was the form of the rest of the CBs that limited his time rather than any real frailties. I'd like to keep him but appreciate at his age he needs to be assured a starting position.

I was a bit mystified about the Ryder hype; as far as I can see he's done moderately well in a country with less than half the population of Edinburgh which has 76 clubs in four divisions and his last team is sitting third in the second tier. Seriously he may end up being great but I'm not sure his current pedigree would indicate anything more than a mid table 1st division side.

And Dundee

You forgot to mention that the £700k debt was effectively directors loans mostly from the previous board i.e. not operational or trading shortfall.

If he knuckles down he could probably still make it but he'd likely need to shine if he was put out on loan again.

Wont go to Falkirk; not with that hairstyle

I believe Knox will be 19 in December. Griffiths was a regular when he was 17; kept winning MOTM champagne when he was under age.

For those senior games where he was involved he seemed to always involve some showboating which invariably didn't end well; either losing the ball cheaply (ans unnecessarily putting the rest of team under pressure) or simply falling on his ar5e. Unfortunately it did seem sometimes that he felt he was a whole lot better than the opposition. That being said for a couple of games at the beginning of the season he appeared to have grown up a bit and developed a bit of a battling edge. Unfortunately for him his appearances were subsequently limited by the arrival of Penrice on loan. His father apparently being a one man publicity campaign and keep leaking stories to the press that one EPL side or other was looking at him certainly never helped his profile and people ended up getting fed up with all the hype.

Hopkins was Birchill's assistant for a year before he took over himself so he got to know the team pretty well. Then taking over a failing side for a few weeks we lest in the play-offs and got demoted. It then wasn't until several weeks into the next season that we started to click and eventually the side started to pull away from the rest of the pack. He's performed miracles and managed to maintain a winning ethos amongst the team but obviously it wasn't achieved over night and he really knew each member of the team well before getting them to move forward and up their game. Would he be allowed that length of time at Morton; without Brechin and Dumbarton in the league I would suggest the Championship is going to be a lot more challenging this year with some sides prepared to splash the cash for success.

There was apparently a wage cap of about £250 - £300 pw although I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some on-loan players were on significantly above that. The two sevco players were apparently being funded by their parent company but I'm unsure if we were expected to make a contribution (probably). Remember this was based on the assumption that we would probably end up in seventh or eighth position with the prize money being significantly less than that of 2nd. Also not taken into account is the variable such as win bonus etc. Next season I would understand if players were looking to double or even treble their income; after all a footballer's career is short.

Its a wind up; and a pretty poor one at that. Sean has already indicated in an interview that he is waiting to see if Hopkins renews his contract with Livi. I think a number of his team mates are in the same situation.

And Steven Boyd. Nice enough lad by all accounts but too greedy and not really positionally aware

As far as I recall the a modern artificial pitch does require a significant amount of effort to maintain if used on a regular basis; it's not a free solution but, of course, the benefit of having less matches called off etc. could hopefully out-weigh that.

So long as (a soon to be available) Lambert doesn't come back - that would push me over the edge.

Its a personal choice but by all accounts he has a pretty impressive property portfolio - unlike a lot of his peers he didn't invest it into pubs and nightclubs.

Actually Halkett isn't 23 until 29th May so you may be right at the moment

Pretty much nailed it to be honest. I don't think its a case of probably but certainly the lowest paid full time side in the league. A lot were really worried at the end of last season when we lost a number of key players including our leading goalscorer Buchannan who left to join Raith but fortunately, rather than break the payment structure, Hopkins when for players who, for whatever reason, weren't getting a chance to break through in their former/current club but still had the potential to deliver. If we can keep hold of most for next season (irrespective of what division that is) I'll be happy else I'm confident that Hopkins will find suitable replacements (provided he's still at the club that is). My concern at the moment is the lack of talent coming through our youth system; we have some good prospects up front and attacking midfield but nothing defence wise. I notice a number of other clubs have been reigning back their youth system which is a shame but just recently we've been more successful getting players from lower or non-league clubs who already have some form or history.

Why on earth would you ask that question particularly at this time of the season with the play-off's coming up?

Boyd was immature but nowhere near the level of shiteness of some that have come in on short term deals prior to Hopkins taking charge. Most only appeared in a few friendlies accompanied by a couple of appearances off the bench but one who got a reasonable run despite being consistently shite in my book was Michael McKenna. His ability to run up the wing and give the ball away at the end or pass it to the opposition so that they could counter attack really put Boyd into the shade. Least-ways Boyd showed some skill even if his footballing brain wasn't there yet (although at 20 years old you would have hoped it should have been).

Nice coverage - thanks

Wow - I was sure he came from Airdire; that makes it even worse.

Are you forgetting Sinclair and Watt ? Okay they haven't done anything (apart from putting on weight in Watt's case) bur Sinclair's become the best thing in an otherwise poor Brechin side.