Raith Against The Machine

"San Shitto" is amazing. Genuine "lol" business there. I look forward to the return games at the Nou Tramp.

Lynyrd Skynyrd just tweeted me. The internet is fucking brilliant.

I'm delighted that Allan Walker has re-signed. I was really quite afraid that we were going to lose the "heart and soul" of the squad, and that John McGlynn would have to work at teaching a whole new bunch of players "his way" of thinking, but there's a real continuity coming on from last season. When you think that everyone was almost certainly offered reduced terms, it's excellent to see so many opting to carry on. As much as there are less and less jobs going on decent wages in Scottish football, a lot of our guys could've easily found another club in this division to at least match last season's wages, and while I wouldn't dream of criticising those who have chosen to move on, those who have stayed deserve a lot of recognition. Unless we concede early on in a pre-season friendly, in which case they can f**k off.

There is an underlying logic behind it. Probability suggests that the majority of players running at the defence will be right footed and it's much harder to tackle someone who's stronger on their right if you're stronger on your left. It doesn't make a massive amount of difference, but given the choice between an all right-footed back four and an all left-footed back four, you'd be daft not to take the righties.

I think it's the end of the month. I thought Willie Dyer had tweeted that he was officially a Morton player on either the first of June or the first of July, but I must've read that somewhere else. PCA's are barely worth the paper they're written on, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise. Baird seems pretty pleased with Dundee though.

List of players offered new contracts Baird's on the list, so there's obviously no guarantee we'll actually see any of them next season, but they are the ones we're trying to keep. Casa's away though. I'll need a new avatar. Bollocks.

I think we'll see less of this now that McGlynn is youth director as well as manager. Either the promoted players will feature more, or there'll be less contracts handed out. Probably take at least a year to really take effect though.

"Weirdo!"

Mark Ferry's signed a new contract at Stirling Albion, in the Third Division.

I can see why people might not rate Davidson, but I think he's definitely in the "unsung hero" category, does a lot of work so that others don't have to. I would take exception to the "headless chicken" thing, because while he does do an awful lot of running around, and sometimes does leave a gap behind, it's rarely, if ever, without reason. He always has a purpose with whatever he's doing. I'd definitely have him second or third in my "keep" list, behind McGurn and possibly Baird.

I would've thought that Dunfermline needed a right-back who could defend, and we needed one who could attack, and that's the main difference.

I ventured out to Club Tropicana last night. The drinks aren't free, but thanks to thick barstaff, they are three for the price of one! It's actually not as bad as you'd think, although there are some horrific puddles of mess wandering around the place. I was pretty pleased with the music on offer, much better than your usual Saturday night fare. One of the barmaids had "Daddy's Little Girl" tattooed on her forearm. Definitely no issues there... I was also snapped by a photographer, so I'm pretty worried.

I'm going to buy a used car in the next couple of weeks, for the first time. It's almost certainly going to be a Focus, maybe 5 years old. Might be through a dealer or private, I'm not too bothered. What I'm really looking for is a list of the unofficial "rules". If it's listed at £3490, how much will I actually pay for it? What's the best way to go about haggling, etc? Also, anyone got any experience of the Mazda3?

Nothing should come before sporting integrity. Football is a sport, not a business. People will argue against that point, but it's not a business, not really. Football clubs don't try to make as much money as possible, they try to be as successful as possible whilst breaking even (or at least, they should...) The whole reason clubs need the levels of commercial income that they do is to maintain and improve the squads they already have, in an attempt to achieve sporting success. Foregoing sporting integrity to receive more money to try and achieve sporting success is shambolic. The Kilmarnock chairman, and those who in power who share similar views, really need to take a close look at themselves. Killing the "sport", and by that I mean the sporting aspect of football, will kill the game, and in turn, the clubs. Sporting integrity must be maintained above everything else, because without it, it's just not cricket. Erm, football.

Far too awkward, get a new job.

The outcry would be fantastic if the SFA disrupted a bid for Rangers citing "fit and proper" concerns.

A paycut, and a larger workload Top banana.

Apparently there's a statement coming very shortly, but Matt Elder's on Twitter reporting that John McGlynn has taken a pay-cut and signed a new one year contract. What a bloke.

The Pope's looking well.

Yeah, this. Certainly the step up from second year to third year at Uni is the biggest I've experienced in any education, including going from sixth year at school into first year at Uni.

I reckon we'll get to keep Casa. I'll be delighted if we do.

Can you imagine Neil Lennon trying to "handle" the situation if the clubs' roles were reversed. He'd be conducting his press conferences from a secret bunker, via webcam, hammering his fist on his desk roaring about how the SFA shot JFK because of his Irish roots.

It seems to happen quite a lot. Two companies were closed down last week, "Celtic Football Club Limited" and "Glasgow Celtic FC Limited", both of which were registered to a three bedroom semi in Coatbridge. Chancers.

Willie "Subtle" Dyer on Twitter this morning: I wonder if yesterdays game was my last game at starks park...... My bet is that it wasn't! I'd guess that contract talks haven't even started yet, and when the budgets are agreed, John McGlynn will do what he can to keep his left back. Has he missed any games this season?

I think you'd have to go back to pre-Anelka to find someone other than Davidson, Murray and Craig Wilson who's won Player's Player of the Year. Except possibly last year, I can't remember who won it...