Fae_the_'briggs

Maybe a bit harsh but up to now he has been doing a poor impression of a footballer. Not yet showing the player some expected him to be. Can see why Saints put him out on loan but hopefully he will come good.

A bit like Dobbie you could see he was a class above the rest. After an early burst of energy and some decent touches and passes when he came on though, he drifted out of the game in the later stages. Match fitness is obviously not up there yet. The question is will he ever be really fit enough to get longer spells in a game.

Conflicting and speculative posts on the Livingston thread. Some thinking he had a fallout with Hopkin 'cos he wasn't happy at the amount of game time he was getting. Others posting think that it was Celtic who recalled him 'cos he wasn't getting enough game time and it would possibly have got worse with their midfielder Jacobs being back in contention. I doubt if anyone will come out with the real reason such is football.

Today's Standard. Letters page, letter submitted by Mark Jardine with a picture of damaged mural beside it.

You've got me doubting my memory now, but it was just this morning I saw the article.

I would reckon that the group of fans, or some of them at least, who organised and carried out this voluntary maintenance are among those bearing a grudge against the Chairman/Club following the rangers vote so have decided not to offer help in this way. If that is the case, and I'm only going on anecdotal evidence, there is nothing to stop others taking up the baton (or paint brush, etc) I believe that 1 fan, (Colin?) does, or used to do, some tidying up with strimmer, etc, in his spare time.

Sure there is an item in one of today's papers with a pic of groundsman Kevin standing beside the damaged mural. Sure it was in the Standard.

Don't burst some people's bubble SD, facts won't stop them having a pop at the Chairman/BOD at the slightest opportunity. As I said previously we have groundstaff already in place and routine maintenance and cleaning of the entire ground should surely come under their remit, not just work to the playing surface. Obviously in certain situations, for health and safety reasons, specialist work, etc, outside contractors need to be used.

And would you expect him to pay his workmen out of his own pocket or would you expect the client (QoS FC in this instance) to pay as would be the case if it was being done for any other client. He wouldn't be much of a businessman if he took his labour force off jobs that made his company money and which therefore allowed him to pay his men and keep them in employment. Isn't the club already paying an employee/employees to do these things, the groundstaff.

M O N T R O S E., (away) I repeat. M O N T R O S E. (away).

This "joke's" not being overworked at all.

A winnable tie on the face of it and at least not another Championship club. I must admit I would rather visit a Scottish club that we don't play regularly than trips to Norn Ireland, Eire or Wales.

Is that confirmed that we are away to Montrose in the Irn Bru Cup? Very little mention of it on here.

That's a bad move for a start. His lifestyle doesn't come cheap I reckon.

There's a match thread started for this game. Who's "wee Joe" anyway? I'm sure there are some rubbish bins at the front of the terracing at the Portland end, maybe not enough though. I think a part of the problem is that people, not just kids either, deliberately throw away scraps to attract the gulls for a "laugh". I agree that something needs to be done regarding the gulls but they have been an unwanted feature at Palmerston for decades now. I think cleaning off the moss on the main stand roof would be a start as it would get rid of the nesting material. Unfortunately the moss is maybe the only thing holding the old roof together. Some form of netting over the structure on the new stand would also help. Unfortunately any solution comes down to cost and if it is viable to spend money on something that may only be a problem for about 2 months a year ( perhaps the equivalent of 5 or 6 home games).

Still a lot to discuss on strips yet. We haven't even started to discuss which strip manufacturer's goods are better to launder.

A new main stand has been on the agenda for a few seasons now I would imagine. The problem of getting a safety certificate each year for the old one must be getting harder. Of course it all comes down to finance and grants available, etc. I believe it was the sale of Andy Thomson which helped with financing the building of the East Stand. so maybe we need to unearth another gem or two to sell on to help finance a new main stand. At the moment our crowds hardly merit building a new stand and its the same for the numbers who want to use the Hospitality facility. Do we sell out Hospitality on a regular basis or turn large numbers away if we are fully booked? Possibly in the past few seasons when Hearts, Hibs and rangers have been in the division there may have been a greater demand on 3 or 4 occasions each time but not for the majority of games I imagine. If we do build a much needed new Main Stand I doubt if it will be any bigger than what we already have unless there is an indication that crowds are going to increase.

Quite agree about the deadline. I think we've signed all the players on contracts that we will so any additions will probably be loans. Fergusson returning from injury gives us another body for up front as well. We could maybe do with a bit of cover for left back in case Marshall gets injured. It's probably been asked countless times but how many loan players can we have on the books at any one time and what's the maximum we can list/play in a game?

Which raises another point. In the pre-match shoot-in the strikers, and sometimes midfielders too, take shots from about the 18 yard line in line with the centre of goal. Surely it would be a good idea to practice shots from different angles. Also the number of times the target is missed in this practice session is amazing. If you can't hit the target when you are under no pressure it doesn't bode well for doing it during the actual match.

I thought Danny was slightly further up the park than the dugout, maybe midway between dugout and Falkirk 18 yard line is more how I recall it. I'm not inclined to labour the issue of who was where though as the main point stands that varying throw-ins and throwers can often reap dividends and we tend not to do it enough.

You are probably correct in that Gary was shouting for it to be taken quickly, I didn't hear that from my seat in the North Stand, but Dykes' telling Carmichael to take the throw-in quickly was audible enough for me to hear, and he was pointing to where he wanted it delivered. I thought at the time that that is more of the attitude and quick thinking we want to see from Dykes. Given that Dykes doesn't often get praised I am inclined to give him the credit for setting up this goal.

We had an example of a quick throw in paying dividends at Falkirk last season and it was Dykes who, in my opinion, instigated it. Instead of waiting for a defender to come up and take the throw as would normally happen, and thus giving the Falkirk defence time to get back and cover, Dykes shouted to Carmichael to take a quick throw, Dykes squared the ball to Dobbie who scored with a virtual tap-in. If you wait on a defender coming up to take every throw it gives defences time to get back. The way we take free-kicks and corners is often varied so throw-ins should be the same.

I gathered that. Unfortunately I was being serious in wondering where Mercer now fits in the Manager's plans. If he can't even get a cameo appearance in a game like the Airdrie one.

It never seems to bother the manager of the full Scotland team, not just the current incumbent, picking players not holding down regular 1st team positions.

Agree with what others think about Rooney. He did give a silly penalty away V Stenny but you could see he was desperate to get forward and make amends. Also not many full backs in this division will find it easy against McMullan at Dundee Utd. Good to hear Rooney can take a long throw-in, hopefully we will see some evidence of it as it can be a good tactic if used properly. I don't think we vary our throw-ins enough. Jamie Hamill used to take long throw-ins when he first arrived but that seemed to be abandoned and we seem to prefer throwing it to a player about 4 yards away who has little or no time to control it. I think Mercer is still probably getting therapy after the last time he faced Morgan. Besides if he can't get a game at right back against the likes of Airdrie ahead of Fordyce and Rooney, in a game we cantered, it offers little evidence he can/will be trusted against better players. I makes me wonder what kind of games the Manager who signed him thinks he will be able to play in.