weeyin

I think the tabloids have a template for this story and every time a team outside of Hearts/Hibs climbs into 3rd (or 2nd), they just cut and paste a few names and run the 'exclusive'. At least it means we are doing OK though.

I love tabloid headline writers: "Motherwell players fear losing Stuart McCall to English side, admits Steven Hammell " I doubt many of the players are walking about in a state of fear about losing McCall. I also doubt that Hammell has been bottling up this fear, telling no one (even in his close circle of of friends) until a Rancid reporter makes him crack under the pressure of severe interrogation and he eventually 'admits' that he does feel scared about it.

I saw Suarez miss a sitter for Liverpool on Saturday too. Dodged a bullet when we missed out on signing him.

I hear this morning that Faddy is likely to turn down the chance to train at Celtic and Everton and Wolves are still favourites to capture his signature.

It's unusual for a player with his type of injuries to ever reach the same level again. However, he does have the advantage that he never had to rely on speed for his success, so if he stays clear of more problems, I don't see why he couldn't do a job for a team like Everton. Having watched them yesterday, they are crying out for a player with a bit of craft and imagination.

Pretty much everything bottom feeding agents say is OTT, and this was no exception.

McClair, Walker, Skippy etc going directly to Celtic from us were much more upsetting. While Faddy might come good again, his (alleged) moved to that mob has done nothing to weaken our squad.

Exactly. It would be one thing if Celtic nicked him from us during a transfer window, but if he does end up there (and it's a big *if*) 8 years later, I think we should just about manage to cope.

I thought Wolves were still wanting to sign him.

That's the one. Hibs recent teams always seem to have attacking players that cause us problems. Riordan and Stokes gave me the fear every time they got the ball, and O'Connor is another one in that mould. For all his ass-hattery off the field, he is a quality striker. Having said that, we should be capable of scoring a couple as well, so I'm going for a 2 - 2 in this one.

Aye, according to Soccerbase head-to-head stats, in the last 3 seasons' SPL games at Easter Road we have played 4, won one, drawn one and lost two.

Especially if they are Prime Minister

73rd, but you should be expecting a visit from plod later.

Pretty much sums it up for me. I'll support him until the final verdict is in. If he is innocent, then great. If he is guilty, then get him out the door. Until then, I'll just sit back and wait for the facts. Our recent track record for dealing with criminal behaviour isn't too good, though. We signed Bob Malcolm soon after he had received his 20 month drink driving ban (for being so drunk he parked in the middle lane of the M1). And we kept hold of (our captain) Quinn even after he was found guilty of beating a guy unconscious. If the SFA tries to ban him, I'd be fighting it all the way, as I doubt it is legal.

In the case of gambling investigations, there is often smoke without fire. Even the spokesman for the ABB said at the time of the case: "It is important to point out that something that is unusual is not necessarily suspicious and something that is suspicious is not necessarily fraudulent."

The statement doesn't say it's only the Hearts game involved. It says "...it is important to stress that the evidence gathered throughout this thorough period of investigation has involved only one Scottish match." That doesn't exclude the possibility of one or more English matches. It was just the SFA talking head pointing out that, from a Scottish perspective, there is only one related game.

Kind of the same here. Been following since the 70/71 season, so seen plenty of ups and downs. For me, in a 12 team league, 10th or better is a success. Not that I don't think we can do better - just that I know how easy it is to slip into the first division once things start to go wrong. Definitely been spoiled with recent high league placings, Europa runs and Cup runs, so it wouldn't surprise to go a few seasons without any more of those.

And again, if the police had reason to believe you were intoxicated, they wouldn't have recommended letting you guys in. I think that's the biggest point in your favour in this whole debacle.

As I recall, TheLip didn't want McCall from day 1. So it was nothing to do with the OF losses.

Not if the police had already indicated that they approved of their entry. I imagine if they had any misgivings about disturbances or smoke-bombs etc. they would have supported the security guard's position.

What if it's not the same people? And if there was concern about law breakers, then surely the police were in a better position to deal with that aspect?

Any business has the right to refuse to deal with a customer, so technically, she does have that power. Crazy turning away paying that many customers, but perfectly legal.

I can imagine him partying. No doubt sitting in a hotel lobby somewhere entertaining the locals with "you know, contrary to popular opinion, a weekend in largs is actually a better holiday than a week in ibiza and the clubs are better too. i will be proved correct about this as soon as my aspirin wears off (which is actually more effective mdma for a true dance experience)"

I like the idea someone posted earlier about writing to Stephen Thompson. If it was me, I'd keep it nice and civil, telling him how much the fans have enjoyed out visits over the years. Then give him the details of the arrangements that were made with the club for banners, flags etc. Then express disappointment about how after all the organisation was in place, how you were treated and ended up not entering the ground. Finally point out how, in the current climate, alienating supporters and missing out on the gate money etc. is not a great idea. Thompson seems like a solid footballing man and a smart business man, so he might well take the reasoned criticism on board. I'm sure someone from the group has already thought of this, so feel free to ignore

I think the team is set up to play better away from home, but not because of the abuse levels. It's more to do with the fact that our personnel is more suited to counter-attacking football. When we have to press against a stuffy defence (as we often do at home), we aren't as effective.