DoingThe42

Hoping to get down at some point this season. Anyone know if the two dugs are still running the show in the Caledonian?

Blyth Spartans 2-1 Hereford, National League North, 19/08/23. Decided I deserved a day off Clyde, so first time at Blyth for me today. Top marks to the 'Blyth Smartens' hairdresser across the road from the ground. Very well-named. I was actually going to go in for a quick Smarten, but they'd shut by the time I made my mind up and walked back up. Hereford quite unlucky here. They looked the better side for a lot of the game. Ex-Clyde superstar Adam Livingstone had a good game, and I was surprised to see him get hooked in the second half as he was well involved and looking dangerous. Adam Rooney up front for the Bulls, who are managed by Paul Caddis. Livingstone was actually involved in one of those fun wee bits of play you get that stick out. He very cleverly won a corner off the Blyth right back in the first half. But the ref's angle means that he missed it and gave a goal kick. Livingstone was (rightly!) scandalised by the award of a goal kick as he'd done well to the nick off the defender's foot. But you can see how the ref missed it. I was right in front of the incident and clearly saw it come off the defender. Even the Blyth fans behind me were chuckling to themselves and saying it was "obviously a goal kick" and were surprised at Livingstone's strong reaction. The angle I had meant I was maybe the only person in the whole ground who appreciated that Livingstone had done really well and it should have been a corner. Hard lines, son. A great wee ground. Really liked it, and Blyth was a decent enough day out for an ice cream etc.

I appreciate your time taken to respond to my query, but have I just been taken for an Aberdeen supporter? Where did it all go wrong?

Just saw the highlights on Sportscene. Was Duk carrying that weight last season? Looks like he's had a good summer.

Spartans 1-1 Clyde, League Two, 05/08/23. Topped up my Lifetime 42 by getting to the new boys to see the BW kick off the league season. And just like when I came to Edinburgh to see Clyde play Spartans 24 years ago, it's a 1-1 draw. A really good first half from Clyde, and the BW deservedly led at half-time through Rennie's header midway through the half. Clyde hadn't made loads of chances, but controlled the game for the most part and looked like a functioning fitba team. Anyone who has watched Clyde for the last year or so will know what high praise that is. Second half Clyde invited pressure, which was disappointing. After Spartans equalised through Dishington Clyde came back to life a bit and could have nicked it, but a draw was probably fair overall. Got to be honest, I'd expected more from Spartans. Didn't think they showed much. With Clyde about to start throwing THE BIG BUCKS around, I'm relatively positive after seeing that today.

In the same way as fans love saying you know nothing about our team to other fans, comments like this show that you're not exactly clued-up on how Hearts play away from home, or on the weaknesses Hearts have in their team at the moment. Hearts aren't sure to beat anyone away from home and have a defence that anybody can get at without Halkett, a midfield still well short of its best, and a forward line missing players and with new players not bedded in. Hearts should be favourites for this one, but the idea it's a sure thing is well off the mark.

Not really sure what I think of Hearts just now. I'd fancy an away win for sure if Halkett and Baningime were back up to speed and in the side, but that's still a bit away. Hearts are flimsy without those two, as has shown for pretty much a year now. I'd fancy maybe a narrow Hearts win. For all their struggles, St Johnstone are four games in and will surely see a reaction to the League Cup, so they should improve on last week. Hearts are away from home and still a bit weak down the spine, but you need to be aiming to beat a team just cuffed 4-0 by Stirling Albion. Won't be easy though. Big game for Hearts. It's a favourable early run on paper, and three points here sets it up nicely. 2-1 Saints then.

Agree in general that ideally winning should be the priority, but lower down the pyramid these things make a massive difference. Money is very tight and the chances of making an impact anyway are very slim. Six figures for one day is a huge deal. Why hope for a draw at Motherwell when you will probably still get beat and won't make loads of dosh? Thinking of Clyde, for example, a draw away to one of the OF in a cup tie would secure the club's short-term future and make a huge difference to the outlook for the next few years. It's hard to over-state how big a deal it would be. Well worth taking an 8 or 9-0 battering and missing out on a winnable tie you might lose anyway. Premiership clubs can take the view that you just want the winnable tie, but for those lower down it's a really big deal. There's not a lot of money sloshing around.

Arbroath 3-0 Montrose, League Cup29/8/23. Went along with a Montrose-supporting mate to this one, as any excuse to go to Gayfield should be seized upon. A great day out, but disappointing for Montrose. I thought they were the better side first-half, but then poor second. Two weeks running I've seen Montrose now. Far from convinced by the McAllister - Hester combo. We'll see.

Ferguson at Aberdeen these days would get them a third place and a decent cup run, then be off to Huddersfield or Norwich. It's a different world.

I don't think missing out on the League Cup group stages is helpful to the teams in Europe. We often see Scottish teams come a cropper in these summer games, and it's often the first competitive game they play. I think a lot of these results wouldn't happen later in our season. Would Hibs have been better prepared by playing three competitive games before today? I think maybe. Hearts beat RFS home and away last autumn. They may well have lost to them in July. Some of the cause is obviously our teams being rubbish. But it certainly doesn't help to be going into these games miles off fully match fit. And if you're not playing the early qualifiers, you start the league season at a bit of a disadvantage. Hearts and Aberdeen will be going in cold against teams with four competitive(ish) games in the tank.

No, I think Hibs have got a chance.

Queen's Park 5-0 Elgin City, League Cup, 25/07/23 Queen's Park are really starting to annoy me. With all their fucking about last season making my 42 more complicated than it had to be, now a temporary residence at Lesser forcing me (due to my sense of completeness) to come and see them play here. It's shite, it's been well documented that it's shite, and QP should be embarrassed by it. Three quid for a coffee? f**k off. I've gone from having, like most people, I imagine, a fairly positive view of Queen's Park to starting to feel a bit of a dislike for them. It's just this constant chipping away. Still, quite enjoyed watching this one. Four goals for Paton in what was a pretty one-sided affair. Queen's Park fans all look like they listen to (or are perhaps even in) Crowded House.

Crusaders or Rosenborg in Europe, I think away first. Best draw on the table, I think.

Not really. While UK policy towards refugees is poor, the UK doesn't criminalise being a refugee. It took in over 16,000 in 2022. We may agree that the UK's policy is very bad, but it's not comparable with cutting up journalists (and not even really trying to seriously deny it), while having a society structured on medieval grounds denying a lot of people basic rights. There are no perfect countries. But there are some that are much worse than others.

This is an example of the damage shite like Twitter has done to discussion in our society. People who want to defend the indefensible only have to play the whataboutery card. This is a piss-poor defence of a dreadful part of the world. You want to feel ok about (at least defending others, but I'm assuming you also did yourself) making money living in a place that built its ability to offer you wealth on slavery and the utter misery of the people who existed to serve you. And to do that, you try to argue that there's no moral black hole in that because other places aren't perfect either. I understand where the need for the moral and mental gymnastics comes from, but it's just not a credible point to make. You basically took a bribe (assuming you took the ME $$$, you haven't said where) to put moral considerations to one side. I don't know your financial circumstances or why you did it, but that's what you did. These footballers are doing the same. They have no need to do so and I am happy to call them dicks for doing so. I was offered the bribe. I'm fucking skint, but I said no. I remain fucking skint, but I still wouldn't change my answer. I have absolutely no doubt that if you respond it'll be with another "But what about". If you like.

Is this supposed to be a good argument?

Towler was definitely on the left hand side, Quinn in the centre. Didn't notice where Williamson played. As I said, looked 442, Towler was too deep to be a wing back. More a traditional left-back, but getting forward when he could. Hester and McAllister just seemed to drift about up front. I was surprised at how ineffective they seemed as a two. Seems like a great potential partnership, but not there yet at all.

Last season they were a really weird team. Seemed to play well most weeks but lose narrowly, then occasionally absolutely shoe someone 4 or 5-1. I didn't believe they'd go down until it was officially confirmed. They just never seemed bad enough. They've lost Charlie Reilly, who was probably the best player in the division, to Dundee. So, a challenge to rebuild.

Looked like a 4 4 2 to me. What do Montrose normally play?

Butterworth has a loan at Clyde. Sadly, timed it at a stage when I couldn't get to games so I didn't recognise him. Looked good today.

A smashing venue. My first trip there was for this fixture but in the league. Annan won 4-1 back in 2010/11. Pleased to see Rovers seeming in fine fettle. Probably the best team to finish bottom of the 42 so far (damning with faint praise, I know) and I'll be keeping an eye on them this season. Where's next?

Yeah, I thought Cowden could have been a couple up early on. Was texting my Montrose-positive mate that they were in bother. And I reckon with an extra ten minutes they'd have won it in normal play. Walker does a great job getting the team up the park on the right hand side. Maybe lacked a bit physically up front, but other than that Cowdenbeath looked a good side. Who was the winger on the right? Had a really good first half I thought.

Nobody wants to see scenes like these. This is exactly what we want to hear about. I saw VoC play EK Thistle last season and thought they seemed like a team of bellends, so am excited to hear more about this incident. Videos?

First time in a few years seeing Cowdenbeath for me today. Quite impressed. Are Cowden fans optimistic in general this season? I thought McNab and Walker played really well and Cowden looked a decent side in general.