Diamonds are Forever

Strolled that tournament. Still think he can go up another few levels. Undoubtedly good enough to win Wimbledon, just got to hope it all comes together at the right time.

Someone made the comment a few pages back (can't be arsed checking who) that at times in matches he just falls apart for a few games for no apparent reason, and it happened again today. He needs to cut them out or he will never win a slam, you can't just give your opponents a free set like he did today.

I have no doubt that the main reason he reached the US Open final, (beating a knackered Nadal in the process due to his good run at the Olympics), was because he lost so early at the Olympics. I remember thinking at the time that losing would be good for him. He clearly has his priorities, whether it is right for him to do this is debatable, however I think he is being pretty clever about it. Murray will be judged on the number of Grand Slams he wins at the end of his career, not whether he reaches the later stages of the Olympics or wins a few Davis Cup matches.

So you don't think he would like to come back to Scotland then ? And that example you give is completely irrelevant. Mainly because Alan Hutton is not exceptionally better than any other player we have. And also because in football teams can, and regularly do, beat teams who have far superior players (Scotland do it more than anyone else), this hardly ever happens in Tennis. In Tennis you can't rely on formations or set-pieces to fluke you a win, you need players with skill, other than Murray we do not have any. As I said I don't think he did fake injury, but I wouldn't blame if he did. He will do far more for British tennis by winning a Grand Slam - resulting in thousands of youngsters taking up the sport who wouldn't otherwise, than by playing Davis Cup. If not playing Davis Cup helps him acheive that then I don't see how anyone can criticise him. British tennis would be non existant if it wasn't for Murray atm, for that reason the LTA have already recieved enough pay back from Murray for funding him.

If it is a midweek friendly I have absolutely no problem with them withdrawing, I don't think you should risk an injury in a pointless game. Similar to Murray, he obviously doesn't really care about the Davis Cup, and IMO has every right not to. If we had somehow beaten Ukraine, we would have just got stronger opposition in the next match and got humped. Until we get another capable player in the team then I don't think you can blame Murray for withdrawing. Although I have to say in this instance I don't think he did fake an illness/injury, it was a match in Scotland which would have allowed him to go home a for a few days, and he would have won his 2 matches easily enough. I see no reason why he would bother faking illness. It is not like the last time where he had to travel to Argentina.

Are the implications of going into administration a second time ? Just a 10 point penalty, or something else ?

Other than the Aussie Open, has Murray actually lost a match this season (or whatever it is called in tennis) ?

Just ignore it and it will go away right ?

But Verdasco didn't even have to play well, Murray was dreadful. He looked almost lazy at times and at the end of the first set he was starting to be casual, this carried on into the second set and was trounced. He seemed almost complacent. He was far too cautious, I know that is how he plays but surely not to that extent. Maybe Federer was right when he said he was far too defensive. In truth the whole tournament he has looked pretty poor, never really got going at all. People say he has matured but his attitude and tactics cost him that match, Verdasco is a dangerous player but not in the same class as Murray, but for whatever reason his mind wasn't right. Was going back to his petulant ways for no reason. Ironically I think this defeat is good for him. Will calm some of the hype down about him and make him come back stronger.

I usually do this anyway, but don't bet on English football, the lower leagues anyway. Simply because I know nothing about it. You can study form, check injured players etc but tbh there's no substitute for actually knowing about teams from seeing them play or hearing reports from mates who support teams. Partly because a football teams form is rarely reflected accurately in their results, often teams will be playing well but just not getting the breaks, or playing crap but stealing games. The bookies price up teams on form etc, so if you pick your teams on the same terms as they use to price them up, you will never win in the long term as obviously the prices are in their favour. Tbh most of the money I win is from Airdrie and Ayr games as they are the teams I know most about by a long way, far more than the bookies do. Scottish 2nd Division football is the easiest league to make money out of, for me anyway.

That sounds familier

Down to luck as much as judgement though

Surely the fact that they are going to drop down the leagues to their natural level should be enough 'revenge'? I don't see why you have to go that extra bit and say you would be happy if they went to the wall (not you personally, just all the bitter fans in general).

How did Killie, Rangers, Celtic etc all manage to build up tens of millions of pounds of debt then? Maybe they are now spending within their means, but they didn't in the past (just like Livi), cheating surely? How many Scottish clubs are in the black then? I don't have a clue but would guess you could count them on one/two hands easily. By the looks of that post by the Morton fan, their situation is very similar to ours. We are spending far more than we earn, so where do you draw the line, when is it cheating to spend more than you earn and when is it not?

Why hold that against Livi? They didn't brag about being the way forward for Scottish clubs, as far as I know. Surely it is Kevin McCarra you should have the dislike of, and justifiably, a certain smugness?

Aside from all bickering I'd just like to wish Livi all the best and hope they get things sorted. Livi have been around since I started watching football, more or less, so I have just as many memories of them as St Mirren, Falkirk, Hamilton and most other clubs that have spent plenty time in the lower leagues in the past 10-15 years. It's become a bit of a cliche for Airdrie fans to say 'I know how it feels' etc, but it is still true, and it is a horrible feeling. Maybe they did cheat, spend money they didn't have, and to be honest most folk knew it would end in tears, just like Gretna, but that's still not the fault of the fans. The fans who don't bother supporting them anymore don't deserve a football club but the ones left are obviously loyal passionate fans. I think it's a bit pathetic to want them to lose their team.

How is it cheating? The past few years we have spent more on wages than we have received through turnover, but the Ballantynes have put money into the club to make sure we don't go into debt. So are we cheating too? Almost every club spends more than they earn, which is why virtually every side in Scotland is in debt, so should every club in debt should just be kicked out the league?

I think your question is answered below

Girvan isn't that bad, just full of old people really, more of a retirement town than anything. The worst places have to be anywhere in the east end of Glasgow, Easterhouse etc. Ayrshire varies quite a bit, some places are really nice and some like Cumnock and Auchinleck, are pretty awful. I'm originally from Prestwick which itself has good and bad bits. Places in North Ayrshire like Saltcoats and Stevenston are horrific, now that I've given up playing football I hope to never have to visit these places again. The place I hate the most though is Paisley, it's not the worst looking (although don't get me wrong, it's a s**thole ), but the people there just seem like complete cocks.

The actual score in games in the set doesn't really make a difference. You still only get one set for it, and as HB said, players often just give up at about 4-0 down (when Murray was a lot less fit he used to do quite a bit I think), then they can start to concentrate on the next set. Whereas if you win 7-6 in the first set, it's a huge blow for your opponent and they will still be rattled at the start of the next set. Anyway, disappointing that he lost, but glimpses of his best Tennis, he just needs to be more consistant. If he could get a consistant serve, he would be top 5 no bother IMO.

Yip, and all the coverage made it almost unacceptable to suggest it was the parents (as shown by some comments on this board).

Fantastic post Indeed it is, well I'm not annoyed at them as such as they believe what they are doing will help them, and good luck to them, but I'm annoyed at the Press for giving them so much coverage. I remember thinking after only a few days this had an inproportionate amount of coverage. And, like it or not, it's because it's a glamorous story. For example, there are British soldiers getting killed abroad all the time it seems, but that's now just a wee side issue because we would rather - to quote RB - "flog a dead horse". As people have said here many, many times, if they were black, lower class, unemployed parents who had gone on a cheap package holiday who had lost their child, they would be slaughtered for it. And while I in no way think the parents killed her, what's wrong with questioning their story ? There are no witnesses (as far as I'm aware), and no real suspects, they are 2 of the very few people they know were in that area when she went missing and their stories don't appear to match exactly, so why aren't people allowed to question them ? Seems common sense to me. Infact if you weren't to at the very least question them the police wouldn't be doing their job properly. They have to remove all emotion from the situation, and actually look at the facts. You can't just say "Oh well, they are her Parents, they couldn't possibly have done anything", and just dismiss them. Although anyone who says that they did it for certain, without any proof, is out of order.

Yeah I've said that a few times on this thread, and it is undoubtedly true, but then if you sit and do nothing you aren't going to find her either. So what do you do ? I certainly don't know Exactly, I don't see what they are gaining from staying there. If they are staying there until they find her then they will be there for a very long time. Let's be honest, the chances of Maddy being alive are incredibly tiny, they should try to get over it and concentrate on giving their kids the best life they can have. I understand this is far easier said than done, but they will have to do it sooner or later. I wouldn't have put it so bluntly but I can't disagree with you. What got me angry the other day was when I heard on the news that Maddy's mum, forget her name, said the publicity was getting tiring I mean, WTF. If you don't want publicity don't go on a publibity campaign to the USA, don't give press conferences every few days, and don't bloody visit the Pope !! There will be thousands of parents who have lost children, and the best they probably got was a few lines in the local paper. She gets around a million pounds and people searching the world over for her girl, and she f**king moans !

That's as good a reason as any

Have to say thanks as I only went on those Horses because you seemed pretty sure they would win, and I made a - small - profit. So cheers