Bainsfordbairn

Hence why I'm surprised at your hints that you know which of the MSG are behaving disgracefully (I think those were your exact words) - and yet you won't name them. Yes, I can probably find out who they are, but I'm not in a position to go on the offensive. And if some of our owners are putting self-interest before their duty of care to the club, then that story needs to be told. It should be shouted out from the rooftops. The restrictions on me don't apply to your good self. What have you got to lose by coming out and naming names?

I always believed he was coming, because that was what I was hearing from people at the club. One of our players told me at the last game of the season that he was definitely signing for us. Having said that, three hours ago I walked into the Scotland press conference at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. As soon as I got in the door, someone I know - who's a diehard Morton fan and knows a lot of what goes on at Cappielow - commented on the transfer and said that that Tidser was meant to be meeting with Dundee this week. It's possible the move wasn't quite as clear-cut as we all thought. No matter. It's over the line now and the bragging rights, for the moment, are back with us Bairns. I just hope our ownership issues don't hand them back to you on a plate.

I didn't hint about it. I'm fortunate enough to know in advance who's coming and the club wouldn't take kindly to me doing that. Buchanan's name has been bandied about here for a couple of weeks now. And there was certainly a lot of excitement on the Morton thread when Hopkin was appointed and news got out that he was talking to Tidser about a contract.

No, I didn't miss it. Sputnik's subsequent post answered you. If all the foreign stuff goes pear-shaped it would put the fans in a far stronger negotiating position. I'm still hoping that's what we end up with.

It's been an open secret for quite some time that those two were coming. The only folk who didn't know were the Morton fans. They thought that because Tidser listened to Hopkin he was going to re-sign for them.

The signing has nothing to do with the board, other than they fact that some of their activities have delayed it happening. This one has been a long time in the making. I still don't see any way the existing power structure can remain, even if all the bidders pulled out and only the fans were left. Too much water under the bridge now.

After all the shite from some of their fans over the last nine months I've been waiting for this moment for a long, long time.

It must hurt. Knowing that anything you want, anything you value, anything you think is good..... can be taken be taken away by Falkirk in the blink of an eye. With no more effort than a seductress winking at a husband who has an ugly wife. You just can't compete. And of course there's the continual "but Falkirk are massive" statements that all your ex's come out with when they join us. Because what they really mean, but can't say, is that " and Morton are tiny. They're not big enough for us".

So what physical abuse has Martin Ritchie been subjected to?

We used to have a lady - a volunteer of course - who was quite heavily involved in the PR side at one time. It was her day job and she'd been doing it for some time at high level in a number of companies. I remember pulling her up when Chairman Brexit was doing his bull in a china shop impersonation. Her defence was the she could only advise, not dictate, and that some people in the boardroom always felt they knew better.

I do have a life outwith sitting in front of the PC reading messageboards, you know. I was out most of yesterday and posted after I got home in the evening. As far as I know, we've never timed a signing to coincide with selling tickets or anything else. The stories are normally released within minutes of the player signing on the dotted line. The only exceptions are usually loans, where we need permission from the parent club to make an announcement. (they have to run the story on the their own website at the same time as us) Despite somebody posting the other day about us having signed two players, it's simply not true. Nothing has happened yet.

I like it. Anywhere that doesn't have Morton fans in it is cool with me.

Give it up MT. You're coming across as being almost as obsessed as some of the notorious Morton posters. Do you really want to be seen as the Doonhamer equivalent of the virgin? Besides which, you know perfectly well that what goes around, comes around. To quote the exact words of General MacArthur, when he left the Phillipines in 1942:- We'll be back, cuntos. And when we return we're going to kick some ass. Starting with yours.

I thought that yesterday but I was wrong. There is now money available for recruitment. Undoubtedly it's not as much as the manager would like, and it'll be topped up when the new owners are in place, but at least we're finally in a position to offer contracts. The exact timings will depend on when an agent says "we accept" but I think you'll probably see some player announcements this week. Feckin hope so. I'm away with Scotland the following week and I'll be pure dead ragin if we do nothing for five week and then everything happens when I'm in Belgium.

Probably very accurate, which is why it would be nice to know, once all this is over, who the bad guys were. BPM - are you ready to spill yet?

You won't get any argument from me. I'm speculating here, but it's possible that they've taken a "batten down the hatches and say nothing" approach until the boardroom issues are sorted. Which would kind of make sense, given that anything else they release in the interim is going to get slaughtered. Apart from season ticket sales, we haven't had a single new Commercial story in over a month. And even that was very, very low key. A mutual acquaintance of ours must be absolutely tearing his hair out.

No signings are scheduled and unless a budget was agreed last night I wouldn’t expect to see any until the takeover deal is done.

You and I know that, but it's not the perception of most fans. Two people are taking all the hate while others rarely get a mention. Perhaps "figurehead" would have been a better term.

No argument with 90% of that, and I agree his that time is up. And I say that from the perspective of liking him as a person. It's impossible to be a leader when those you're trying to sway have lost confidence In you. There's a lot of staff at the club who rate him but the fans don't and ultimately they're the ones that matter, hence why change must happen. And surely will. I think the more important question is what will the next lot be like?

I think it's an absolute given there will be a change of ownership, and if / when that happens the old guard of the MSG and BOD will be gone. It's inconceivable that with the level of fans unrest the current setup could still be in place when the season begins. As for CC, my gut feeling is that he'll still have a role within the Foundation if he wants it. He transformed their business and delivered the likes of Woodlands, the South stand refurbishment and I think the new pitches currently being built on the East side of the ground. History won't record his tenure of CEO at FFC as being successful but he did a very good job for the Foundation.

He rejected a lengthy loan move to us in the January window. I met him by chance a few months afterwards in Falkirk and asked him about it; he said he wanted to go back to England at the end of the season.

No idea. I think the BOD have a decision to make on Thursday, but what they'll do and how quickly they communicate it remains to be seen.

No-one has signed. Yet. The rumours as to why are fairly accurate. There are people waiting to sign who might even give verbal commitments, but that's not necessarily the same thing. Just ask Airdrie. Sorry.

Strip sponsors would have been in place as far back as October / November last year, as that's roughly when they get ordered and the sponsor name goes on at the point of manufacture. Given that the club were helping with promotional stuff for Central Demo as recently as April I think it's a safe bet to say they'll remain our main sponsor.

I wouldn't have thought you were on any of their Christmas Card lists so what have you got to lose?