Happy Dosser

True, dat 🤣.

Too true, Blue 🤣!

Spoilt for choice today from The Usual Suspects but I thought Priestman did and excellent Elliot Watt impersonation. Even Longelo, who had gone off the boil, seemed to get forward much more today and was a real pest down the left in the second half. Giving it to Priestman, who has a three-year contract with us, I am pleased to say.

Seems like neither he nor our best players are going anywhere this season. 🙏.

The manager speaks:

At half time i went down near the pitch-side in the POD and there seemed to be quite a lot of frost on various sections. It was definitely the worst it's been for a while.

The Borg has landed.....

Just noticed my dad was on the right track with his cerise and French grey comment. Between 1908 and 1913 Accies actually played in these muted colours, which HFK states were the racing colours of the Duke of Hamilton (note, not of Hamilton of Dalzell): https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Scottish_Football_League/Hamilton_Academical/Hamilton_Academical.htm

I might speculate that their winning of the FA Cup in 1911 created quite a splash and their unusual colours (unique, even, in England) might have attracted Motherwell, whose original blue shirt meant quite a lot of changes in a season because it was such a common jersey in Scotland. I have nothing conclusive to back this up, however.

Thanks: I had originally contacted an individual at the jockey club with my enquiry but I got no reply so decided to use their own database, which I subsequently discovered after a few clicks. It's actually very interesting to an old weirdo like me. If Accies' colours are derived from LHoD's racing colours it would explain why (as the only professional British side to evolve from a school team, allegedly) they did not use the academy's blue and green colours (though this has been a change strip on occasion for HA, I believe). Anyone interested in comparing MFC's strips with Bradford City's over the years should consult Historical Football Kits, a fascinating website which I think our own underboyleheating (much missed) contributed valuably to over the years. Ironically, both my father and grandfather were Accies' fans (and the latter was chairman of HAFC for many years). My dear old dad used to say their colours were officially cerise and French grey but i think he was pulling my leg 😂.

To all interested parties in the Lord Hamilton of Dalzell racing colours discussion: I used the Jockey Club database to find his racing colours and they reflect the heraldic colours posted above by dennyc, i.e. red and white. Perhaps it's no surprise that Hamilton Accies play in hoops in these colours but there is clearly no link with our claret and amber. This makes it more likely that our colours were "inspired" by/copied from Bradford City's, particulary since we followed their C&A yoke design with stripes in those colours. It was only from 1928 that the two clubs' strips diverged and we chose our iconic hoop. Hope this helps.....

Whenever I've praised him to Celtic supporters they stare blankly back, as if they can't believe it. I don't understand how they can be so blinkered (even for OF fans). Maybe when O'Neill and Maloney saw him playing in the Hibs game at FP the penny dropped and the interim manager wants him to shore up a weak defence.

If I get a reply from the JC I will let you know.

I actually have an enquiry pending at the Jockey Club regarding Lord Hamilton of Dalzell's racing colours. In my defence, I am retired and don't get out much, apart from my visits to Fir Park and GP 😱. Sometimes on holiday I have encounter Bradford City fans who are convince we nicked their colours, so i would like something categorical about our beautiful c&a.

Yes, I've heard that before and that's what the video also said but other explanations are available, apparently 😂.

I see our our claret and amber are explained as being Lord Hamilton of Dalzell's racing colours. Others claim we simply copied Bradford City's C&A, and this sounds plausible since they played first in yoked shirts and then stripes and so did we after we changed from blue (presumably because the latter was a common jersey in Scotland) in 1913. Anyone know anything definitive on the subject?

The buzzards seem now to be circling Mr Askou following his tactical masterclass against Celtic. The received wisdom, as Tam Cowan has amplified, is that our manager will soon be tempted by a large salary and budget at a bigger club but Jens does not strike me as a man who is very materialistic. He seems more of a visionary with a lot of new ideas and technical/tactical know-how who senses he is free at Fir Park to develop/experiment with them without the instant pressures which moving to a "larger club" might entail, where big-time players' egos and fan expectation might compromise/derail his project. I'm hoping he'll be here for at least this season to see where his experiment takes him, sensing that he has pretty much carte blanche at the club to do what he wants at the moment. Or am I being hopelessly naïve?

And that would leave us still above Rangers on GD.

Very difficult but Welsh was outstanding in defence and looks so comfortable with the ball at his feet.

Yes, amazingly good in the air for a wee guy and pretty fearless: some great memories from my early teens.

Yes, he was a tough and skilful low-centre-of-gravity goalscorer and I was very disappointed to see him leave for Celtic (like Joe McBride before him). Reputedly the last player to score a goal by shouldering the goalie over the goal-line. IIRC it was against Dundee at the Taggart's end.

I meant to write "punditry" 😱. Apologies.

Agree with a lot of the above. I began in 1962, after Ian St John and Pat Quinn had left the club, but there was still the belief in the Bobby Ancell philosophy of quick passing and movement and what might call "pure football". In those days there was a certain pride in supporting such a team, which had famously gubbed Rangers 2-5 in a Scottish Cup replay at Ibrox (the awful 0-1 defeat to Airdrieonians at FP in the next round was claimed by some to be one reason Sinjy agreed to a move to Liverpool). Our manager seems to have a similar philosophy based on more progressive continental ideas and he seems to have annoyed a section of Scottish pundrity by having the temerity to buck the trend for smaller clubs to grind out results, relying on physicality and set-piece routines to avoid the spectre of relegation. I am Sure J-B will stay true to his principles and that he will strengthen the club gradually by shrewd recruitment (no other way for a club of our size). Our midfield is the best I can remember, our defence has been strengthened significantly by Welsh (who was faultless against Hearts and has excellent distribution from the back) and if we can develop a striker in-house or find one in January (unlikely) to score regularly we could cement our top four place. The increase in our attendances shows that fans have an appetite for such creative football as opposed to the usual "hod-carrier" stuff practised by many Scottish clubs. It will be interesting to see how such teams adapt when they play us in the second half of the season. Strap yourselves in for an exciting ride (I hope).

I thought Longelo was quite poor yesterday: hardly won anything in the air and didn't get forward (was this an instruction?). Slattery wasn't so great either and Priestman was impresssive on Tuesday so JBA might pick a new formation against Falkirk.