Salvo Montalbano

That stand at Pittodrie looks like the bit in the corner is a separate building? Perhaps like a pavilion than many old grounds had as changing facilities and executive seats? The last one in Scotland was at Broomfield of course and the last in England is at Fulham.

Cheers. I hadn't remembered the stand having such a deep enclosure but as soon as you see the photos it's obvious. Back in the day my old man used to always want to sit in the stand so I've been in there many a time (not the best place for a Pars fan in a derby game!) but didn't appreciate the huge height difference between now and then.

What do you mean about the pitch height? I love it that you can't actually watch the match from the half way line at Stark's Park, but didn't realise there was some technical reason for it, rather than just that those sections are closed?

What did you make of Portland Road, Rab? I went to see Town v Birmingham a few seasons back. It had a nice old-school feel about it I thought, although the seats were a bit short on leg room due to the age of the stand (I was in the same stand as you but in the upper section).

While athleticism and conditioning have improved immeasurably since Maradona's day, to suggest that defenders were poor, we're sinking pints the night before, had no tactical awareness and the like is clearly nonsense. He wasn't playing against cloggers in England, he was playing in Spain and Italy where the level of professionalism and defensive awareness (in Serie A at least) was far beyond anything England had to offer for decades. Maradona was quick, strong, agile, had incredible ball control and dragged two middling teams to Championships they've never managed to win since with both Napoli and Argentina. While Messi is similar he is fortunate enough to play with arguably the best team in the history of football. There's no way he'd be able to drag a mid table side to the title or inspire Argentina to win the World Cup. Not than I'm arguing that Messi isn't the greatest - but to discount Maradona with some of the comments on this thread is just bizarre.

I remember sitting in the wee uncovered seating next to the Main Stand at Love Street when visiting with Dunfermline. Is that the same bit? I'm not sure why we were in there but I think we were there two or three times? My dad used to always go into the stand and I'd go in beside him unless I had mates in the terracing and I remember Love Street as one of the grounds he'd often be able to blag a complimentary for.

Marc Wilmots? Do you have a much of fantastic players and want them to underachieve and have no tactical plan?

Re the Cowshed at Morton - a few seasons back they had us Pars fans in the covered terracing/seats rather than in the Main Stand. It seemed a lot better (despite a typically dreadful performance by us) with the fans being close and with not having to dislocate out knees to see the game. I've often wondered why they didn't do that more often.

So did that used to be the home end? When and why did they make the switch?

Moving back to football for a moment, our game at Easter Road at the end of February has been moved to a 5.15 kick off for broadcasting by BBC Alba.

Unless it's a season ticket seat and the seller knows they can't make it.

There was chat earlier about viagogo. You'll pay more than face value and it might be possible to get tickets through the club anyway. I used them to go to Ajax a few years ago. My first purchase didn't come through in time but I was given a full refund. My second attempt was an e-ticket and it came through within half an hour of buying it. No bother getting in and it was certainly legit.

The Fiornetina v Sassuolo game was pretty decent. Currently in the Olimpico it's Roma 0, Milan 0 but Milan have missed a penalty (Sczesny saved it from Niang). Both sides have had some chances but you get the impression that this will be a one goal in it type of affair.

He either thinks it's the late 1980s or the early 2020s.

What? Morata scored. Joselu equalised. Joselu scored again. Diaz equalised for Real. Ramos scored the winner.

Forbes looked like the sort of player we were all hoping for in that East Fife game. Using the wind to swing in some vicious corners, pinging balls over over the park and was man of the match despite missing a penalty. He was then pretty bobbins before seemingly finding his form again at Morton. For whom he'll probably run the game tomorrow.

Didn't Willie Miller once say something along the lines of "Why should I research the opposition? When have I got time to do that?" when doing summary duties on an Aberdeen European game? Jim Spence on the other hand is usually very good. It was a sad day when the BBC bowed to Sevconian pressure to get rid of him for regular appearances.

Hope so, Hopkins was the best thing about this series (although to be fair Newton and Wright were excellent too). I wasn't that enamoured with the ending - it seemed a bit of a cheat with the big reveal (that many had guessed previously but which I didn't want to be right - it's some amount of time to have passed and leaves a lot of questions about the brother) and the park security guards were so inept that the big fight sequence was just a bit silly. Hopefully we see more of Maeve, Clementine, Bernard and Ford in series 2 although the wee bit after the credits suggest the tattooed lady is going to be a major character next time out. An excellent series overall though, one of the best things on the box since The Wire ended.

Was wondering why there were even bigger gaps than normal in the Olimpico. The only talking point so far was the awarding then non-awarding of the penalty in the first half. Italy persists with the additional officials behind the goal (even though I think they have goal line technology now?) and between the ref, the linesman and the extra official they still contrived to give not one but two wrong decisions!

Said this several times but surely it's only called Sports Personality of the Year since it wouldn't be able to get called Sportsman or the Year or Sportsman or Woman of the Year since that just sounds wrong? Personality has nowt to do with it or years with great sporting success wouldn't be any harder to win than lean years where there were slim pickings. Plus Niger Mansell, Steve Davis and Damon Hill are all previous winners aren't they? Personality has never been included as a criteria for determining the winner.

While it's true that there would have been little change in previous results with the new system, the problem with that is that the individual match results might not have been the same had the new system been in place. For instance, if Scotland scored three tries v Italy on a win under the old system, they might have kicked a penalty to extend their lead or solidify their position. If the new format was in place, we might have went for the corner to get the bonus point. Clearly that isn't going to change overall standings but how many times have the bigger countries taken 3 points near the death or maybe taken their foot off the gas if they had already scored two tries and a penalty or two before half time?

Chick "Hasn't he retired?" Young doing his usual today, describing a mazy dribble past four players and a clipped finish past the keeper as a "tap in" in the Buckie Thistle v Dunfermline game. He was probably raging he was sent to report on a cup game at this early stage.

I'm glad they pointed that out tbf There are so many Lescotts out there that I may have thought it was the former Everton defender, the ex-England internationalist or the former Aston Villa captain that they were talking about.

I take it the ground is pretty hemmed in. Is MTK one of those Budapest clubs that are closer to another than Dundee and Dundee Utd?

That will be the corner between the old covered end and the old Main Stand maybe? The roof didn't cover the whole terrace and was there not a time when the roof got replaced?