Marten

It's still a bit early obviously, but especially 2 poor draws harmed them, against Excelsior & Fortuna Sittard. Losing away at Twente isn't anything to be ashamed of as that's one of the harder games. They lost a few players but normally you'd expect Ajax to be able to get adequate replacements, as they have a decent record of doing so. Maybe they will gel later on, but this seems to be a poor team for their standards.

Last weekend, Ajax dropped points again. This time they lost 3-1 against FC Twente which saw them drop to the 12th place in the table. It's still very early on obviously but it's still remarkable. On Sunday is the perfect game for them to try to climb out of it when they host arch rivals Feyenoord in "De Klassieker" (The Classic). But if they lose that one, there can be early pressure on their manager Maurice Steijn. Just like Twente, the other teams on 100% won again: PSV beat NEC 4-0 and AZ beat Sparta 2-0. Feyenoord remain unbeaten and are in 4th after spanking Heerenveen 6-1. At the bottom of the table, RKC & FC Utrecht both won while Almere got a draw, leaving Volendam as the only remaining team still on 0 points.

Did they strengthen much during pre-season? They looked awfully weak when we beat them 6-1 in a PSF and according to some of the Formartine people I spoke to that day, they were playing their strongest XI. Obviously, a PSF doesn't necessarily say much. We lost 2-0 to Hermes and are unbeaten top of the league. But I was just wondering.

Yeah, he is normally a great finisher but from what I've heard (I couldn't make the game myself), he just had a bad day and got frustrated. He is still quite young so these things happen. Saturday was one of those games we'd have dropped points last season. We missed a few players due to injuries & holidays, but with us having a bigger squad now, we had enough cover. Some of the younger lads got a start as a result which can only be good for them!

Tickets from The Netherlands to Germany are often cheaper (or at worst the same price) via the German railways: bahn.de

Spot on, this would all have been over in an instant if he just held his hands up and said "in my over-enthusiasm, I went too far, I shouldn't have done this and I apologise". Good riddance to him, his position has become untenable after that behaviour.

First Round draw: Clachnacuddin v Inverurie Loco Works Formartine United v Threave Rovers Gala Fairydean Rovers v Strathspey Thistle Wick Academy v Jeanfield Swifts Lossiemouth v Beith Caledonian Braves v Fraserburgh Banks o' Dee v Dalbeattie Star Turriff United v Sauchie Golspie Sutherland v Forres Mechanics Culter v Deveronvale Tayport v Buckie Thistle Brechin City v Rothes East Stirlingshire v Huntly Keith v Luncarty Broxburn Athletic v Nairn County Brora Rangers v Berwick Rangers Already 5 northern clubs guaranteed to make it through, 3 all HL-ties with Forres Mechanics & Buckie Thistle visiting tier 6 opposition. You'd expect Formartine & Banks o'Dee to make it through, but some tough draws for other clubs.

I didn't post after the third round of league games but it was a truncated weekend as all clubs in European qualifiers have been given the weekend off. Not that it did them much good tbh, only PSV won on the night and they played against a very poor side (Ajax and AZ did go through though). Therefore the only one of the "big" clubs to play were champions Feyenoord, who got their first win on the board after 2 draws by beating newbies Almere 6-1. This weekend Ajax again dropped points in a poor 0-0 draw away at Fortuna Sittard. Feyenoord (5-1 at Utrecht) and PSV (4-0 at RKC Waalwijk) both had convincing away wins, AZ also won away, 2-0 at Vitesse, while Twente won 2-0 at Volendam. This makes AZ, PSV & Twente the remaining teams on a 100% record, all with 9 points from 3 games. Volendam, Utrecht, Almere and RKC Waalwijk are all still on 0 points.

I mean strong in comparison to their northern opposition. I'd personally say that the standard in the EOS First Division is generally higher than the North Premiership.

Yeah, I've been to their ground, it wouldn't look out of place in our league IMO. Good facilities.

You could at least have said hi to me...

I just realised I never put the results of the extra preliminary round in here. So here are all "northern" results so far, both northern clubs lost in the first preliminary round. First preliminary round:Carnoustie Panmure 1-2 BeithLuncarty 3-1 Loch Ness Second preliminary round: Broxburn Athletic 3-0 Lochee UnitedCulter 3-2 Blackburn UnitedFort William 1-10 ClydebankHawick Royal Albert 1-2 Golspie SutherlandHill of Beath Hawthorn 0-1 Tayport A mixed bag of results, Lochee United had the toughest draw and didn't manage to beat a strong Broxburn side. Culter & Tayport both had good wins against strong EOS sides, Golspie's long journey didn't harm them as they managed to beat hosts Hawick. Fort William meanwhile didn't carry their good league form into the cup and got a hammering form Clydebank. Culter, Golspie & Tayport will join the 18 Highland League clubs in the first round.

Broxburn Athletic 3-0 Lochee United Unfortunately, our poorest game of the season so far. The first half was a cagey affair with nothing much between the teams, but 2 quick-fire goals just after HT meant we were up against it, we never really recovered form that. There are always "what ifs" like what if we got a penalty just before they scored the 3-0, but these things happen in football. It's too easy to just blame it on that moment as we didn't create enough. In fairness, credit is due to Broxburn as they've easily been the strongest team we've played this season. We'd have to be at our best to have a chance to beat them and we simply weren't, so the better team on the day won and we can't have complaints about that. It's a shame from our point of view but as much as I'd have loved a cup run, promotion is something we all really want so if we have an off-day I'd rather have it in the cup than in an important league game. We just learn from this and move on. Thanks to Buchan Bowling Club who were great hosts to us before the game and the Broxburn committee who made us feel welcome. I had some good chats with very friendly people. As often with away days, a great day out despite the result!

I think it's a combination of the 2, I spoke to some of the players before departure and they are glad the period of 2 games a week is over now as they have been really feeling it. Unfortunately, our poorest game so far. There are always "what ifs" like what if we got a penalty just before you scored the 3-0, but these things happen in football. But it's too easy to just blame it on that moment as we didn't create enough. In fairness, credit is due to Broxburn as you've easily been the strongest team we've played this season. We'd have to be at our best to have a chance to beat you and we simply weren't, so the better team on the day won and we can't have complaints about that. It's a shame from our point of view but as much as I'd have loved a cup run, promotion is something we all really want so if we have an off-day I'd rather have it in the cup than in an important league game. We just learn from this and move on. Good luck to you for the next round and the rest of the season. Also thanks to Buchan Bowling Club who were great hosts to us before the game and the Broxburn committee who made us feel welcome. I had some good chats with very friendly people. As often with away days, a great day out despite the result!

To be fair, the Midlands League is still organised by the SJFA East Region.

The recent embarrassment of ... Celtic??? Yes, I know you immediately put a caveat down that you expect them to be thrashed. I'm usually not one to defend either half of the OF, but you can hardly slate them for their European performances this season when they haven't played a single game yet. And for that matter, summer football wouldn't change a thing for them as by the time they start in the CL, they are far enough in the domestic season anyway for that not to be an excuse. So far the only clubs that lost a 2 legged tie against a team ranked lower than them were Aberdeen & Rangers, with the latter coming up against a really strong PSV side so other than the scoreline I wouldn't say getting knocked out by them is an embarrassment either. On the other hand, Hearts & Hibs were both unseeded in ECL QR3 and won their ties with good performances. Both simply faced a stronger team in the PO, with Hibs drawing arguably the strongest side in that entire competition so I wouldn't call it an embarrassment from them either, not even with that scoreline. I'm not against discussions about league restructuring or even summer football, but these are rubbish "arguments".

Ah, I didn't realise that, they must have strenghtened in that case as I thought last season wasn't the greatest for them?

Cupar Hearts is outside our area, not sure if Breadalbane are currently interested as they aren't exactly flying high in the Perthshire AFA.

Yeah, that's the problem now. Our games at Arbroath Vics and home against Forfar United were both far too one-sided and both finished 9-1 to us. These games aren't fun for either side. Especially the Forfar United game, we actually played very poor for our standards the first 40 minutes, turned up a gear for the last 5 minutes of the first half and were 4-1 up at HT, then took some of our best players off as we had Tayport a few days later and still scored another 5 in the second half. Occasionally a big win is nice for a fan, but when there is no form of excitement for too many games it's not interesting for us as fans, while it's demoralising for the opposition. Such games benefit neither side.

I get your point, but teams also don't fancy 2 leagues of 10, 20 is a bit of an awkward number. In an ideal world, there would be a few new entrants from the amateurs so we could go to 2 x 12 or so.

Last night was weird... a Wednesday without going to watch Lochee United. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms! In reality, I'm sure many local players are quite happy to have a break from constantly playing 2 games a week. It makes sense as it's a 20 team league that needs to finish on time, but it's a lot for part-time players. Several teams were starting to get a fair amount of injuries. By the end of August already 11 league games played, quite something!

The biggest Champions League victory of PSV (qualifiers included obviously) ever!

My stepbrother who supports PSV is enjoying his time in the Philips Stadion now.

I'd second the Jewellery Quarter over the Arcadian. I used to live in Derby and been to Birmingham a fair few times, the best pubs are definitely in the Jewellery Quarter.

As long as you keep posting about the SoSFL. I don't often reply as it's the tier 6 league I know the least about (and the only one I've never seen a game in but I have plans to change that), but I do read it regularly as I'd like to stay informed about the other leagues.