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Am I alone in almost revelling in the common sense of a first round European tie taking place in the middle of September? Oh for the happier, simpler days when European games were not only about increasing the revenue of the already bloated clubs at the top of the game. Is it a bad case of nostalgia which makes me think that the European tournaments of my youth were simply better? Scottish teams with involvement beyond Christmas Were possible and not just the domain of the old firm. I feel real sympathy for the kids of today and more recent years who have been told that, in the current reality of football, that level is not for them or their clubs because “they cannot afford it”. The people responsible for this state of affairs should hang their heads in shame.

No, your not alone. Canny beat big games under the lights when it is actually dark by kick off time! Unfortunately, those that remember those days are now getting long in the tooth and the current status is just now the norm for our younger fans. Everything is skewed in favour of the bigger clubs to the extent that most wee clubs dont even have that "punchers chance" that used to exist in knock out foorball. The likes of Rangers and Celtic, despite there massive budgets compared to us are now diddy clubs when it comes to European football......

Agree 100%. It's almost as if the current format, with all the qualifying rounds so ridiculously early in the season, is designed just to get all of the smaller clubs from the diddy leagues out of the way as soon as possible, to allow the focus to be on the major clubs. Another example of money ruining football.

I dont think Stephen O'Donnell has been anywhere near as poor as you say this season. Playing wingback certainly suits him way better than how he has been asked to play for us in the past and as a result his performances this season have been much improved. Unfortunately for him he has become a bit of a target when things go wrong and the goal on Saturday was not down to him. Blaney and Casey got their positioning totally wrong as both of them were marking no one causing O'Donnell (and Mugabi) to have to come in tight on the men in front of goal, as they presented the biggest risk of scoring. Unfortunately the cross to the back post is inch perfect and Tansers finish is sublime. But its no wonder SODs was going tonto at that point as he knew he had been hung out to dry. On your general point however, I agree. Spencer is very right footed and would be far more effective on the right and Gent would appear to be the one who is likely to come in on the left when he is up to speed. I think that will give us a more balanced look in the wingback areas and provide the dynamism that makes our system more effective (as per last season). I would guess at some point over the next few weeks something will happen to allow SK to make this change naturally rather than just throw SOD on the scrapheap again (remember he is our player and the other 2 are loanees). Thats just good man management. Personally, I would have taken the chance to do it on Saturday with McGinn suspended and push SOD in one and leave Mugabi and Casey where they were. But McGinn will be available again for Ibrox and has been great this season so be interesting to see how SK approaches it. I fancy he will stick with SODs experience to begin with and change it up later in the game to make sure everyone gets time on the pitch. The good thing is you can see the future progression of the team aligning. Once it comes to fruition and we get Wilkinson and Biereth back fit it could be quite exciting times.