Happy Dosser

Mine arrived today, all new and plasticy and to be signed for. Most efficient, thanks, MFC.

Bigi's situation is a strange one. I think he was Robinson's first signing but he seemed to go off him quickly, probably because he didn't perform well enough defensively in the boss's eyes. Didn't he see this supposed weakness in his game before? Surely a midfield is a balance of abilities: strength, pace, skill, vision, etc? We seem to have sufficient of the first two so there's no reason Bigi couldn't slot in there, unless it's a clash of personalities which is the problem. He played well in the final and a funny memory is Bigi harassing McGowan so much in the last home game that he blew a fuse and wanted to start fighting (admittedly not a rare occurrence). The signing of Gorrin seemed to me to represent Bigi's marching orders since the Spaniard seems to relish a tackle. Nevertheless our budget is extremely modest and Robinson's first duty is to keep us up among a lot of similar teams. IIRC, he made a comment (perhaps a dig at Dundee's whinger manager) that playing nice football is fine but you have to win games somehow with the players you've got and DFC came very, very close to relegation. Barton of Partick was also vocal about our "no football" style and look what happened to them. Nevertheless, there should be a place for a player like Bigi, particularly with Tanner still out. As for our youngsters, Robbo has shown with Campbell that they'll play if they're ready IHO, so draw your own conclusions. We have a tough game tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how the player and the manager react.

"…….my enthusiasm for the season ahead will have taken a massive hit before the it even begins in anger!" Milo: "enthusiasm"? You're taking the piss, right? I picture you shivering in your 'Well FC SE pyjamas tonight, hugging a hot water bottle to your head and dreaming of Michael Higdon. Stay loose till Tuesday, then howk out the pitchforks and torches as you wish. With the exception of last year and 2005 (gubbed 5-1 in the final), our LG cup performances have been execrable since I began in 1962.

Was just about to ask you which other clubs had worn this kind of strip. Historical Football Kits is a fascinating website but I'd never looked closely at the Montrose or Peebles Rovers pages. I'm presuming Bradford City's winning the FA Cup in 1911 brought this strip to people's attention and how it would avoid common colour clashes. Going the other way, I never understood why Aberdeen changed from relatively unusual black and yellow stripes to scarlet after WW2 but that's the Mutton Molesters for you.

Thanks, guys.

Why would QoS do such a thing? As you say, claret with an amber yoke was our first in those Bradford C. colours, followed by stripes, before we followed the Righteous Path of The Hoop. Don't get the Dumfries connection.

Is that their change strip?

Sadly, it's not up to you or me, UBH. The club doesn't seem so keen, though.

I agree. I know white shorts are anathema to some but for me, an old dinosaur, they provide great contrast to our glorious colours. I just hope I see the team play in a proper hoop before I fall off my perch.

To his credit Murty said at the time there was no malice in the tackle so it's quite pathetic that Jack is still greeting about it. The fact that I saw this in a discarded copy of The Herald shows how far the paper has fallen. This is a redtop/tabloid style of biased reporting which would never have seen the light of day there in the past .

Was going to say it looks just like the lettering on the first unhooped jersey in 1968 (?). The older you get, everything becomes nicely retro.

Don't worry, ubh, when I win the Euro lottery and take over the club, you'll be given the lifetime strip designer gig (under executive supervision). Other priorities: extend main stand to fullest extent. Remove yella paint splashes on concrete wherever they occur in the stands . Roll and black pudding option in all club catering outlets. It's a funny old game, Saint.

Yes, hard to tell at the mo if it's just the half-hearted (aka pusillanimous) advertising band or an actual hoop but the strip of two years ago had a slight break in the hoop under the oxters. Probs just the "affix sponsor's name here" band though. Don't mind the Roma FC-looking second strip and retro MFC script at all but, being basically C&A, it doesn't really solve a clash, which is why a mainly white strip with claret and amber facings was always a good idea. On the bright side, you could be a Bradford City fan tonight.....

Preaching to the choir, bruvva but I'm getting bad vibes with all this "unique" talk. Have a library, bottle of malt and my army service revolver to hand just in case it all goes Imrie up tomorrow. What would Sailor Hunter have done?

OMG: I can't take another jester's outfit.....

Regarding UBH's retro mock up: just had a multiplied organism I've always found it strange that a club with a unique design, a single hoop, mess about with it so much, sometimes reducing it to a feeble advertising band, or removing it completely. Huge clubs like Boca Juniors of Sellick don't do that. We also have (almost, Bradford City excepting) unique colours. Combining the two makes us pretty special, yet we seem almost ashamed of our history. Even Hearts, with a simple shirt, have rarely strayed from their classic maroon with white facings. They tried an Ajax-style jersey in the 70s from memory but it didn't go down well with the fans. White shorts would be great but are surely negotiable/changeable annually. Those old black socks with ACA turnovers ain't never going to happen, I fear, but hooped ones are pretty acceptable. I dread to think what we're actually going to get.........

Christ, Andy_P, that's much too sensible. Looking at out football, we should never get out of bed if we didn't think we could win the league but we still do, right? I worked with an aged communist who, as a boy, saw us win the title in the 30s. He told me (I haven't checked it in the Motherwell Times or elsewhere yet) that gates were still low even then, despite consistent 2nd places and one title. We all know the dice are loaded within our football and in the MSM generally but do we fold up our tents and throw ourselves in the Clyde? In my lifetime we have never had a realistic chance of the title but I go along every year in hope of victories over the Ugly Sisters, some progression in our style and a cup run. Very few teams in Europe have ever had a realistic chance of a championship in their national leagues but so what? It's all about hope and loyalty in the face of dour reality, really, but I'm a thrawn old bastard and I'm not alone. COYW, forever.

Leave politics out of it. The well has been poisoned already by the Ugly Sisters. Scottish football is the worse for it, and has been so for yonks. For those who have chosen to disparage MFC on here today, I have seen far more talented teams (from 1962 onwards) who have never even sniffed a SCF, so think again, Poindexters. We have a young manager and a young squad who will learn much from today: I've bought my season and am looking forward to next season already, damn my happy-clapper hide. Our trolls can swivel, imho.

1951? I was -3.

What, to deposit Imrie into the east Stand?

With amber-claret-amber turn-overs. "What's that nursie, time for my medication?"

Yes please, with white shorts. I can always dream.

Yup, a Sampdoria-style CAC hoop on a white shirt would float my boat. Won't happen, unfortunately.

Beginning to think you're right. The Mutton Molesters could have had a free kick when the ball hit Tait's arm and Bowman might have been deemed to have pushed the defender at his goal. My only concern is that, against Ra Sellick, the rub of the green (NPA) would not be coming our way. Think we just need to go for it in berserker mode and feck the refereeing situation. COYW!