weeyin

It was seen as a personal attack on Phil O'Donnell by some. I actually understood the point he was making, albeit he didn't express it very well. While I found the tributes paid to Phil around the grounds to be quite moving, in general I'm not a big fan of public outpourings of emotion and find it completely arbitrary as to who the population at large decides who is worthy and who is not. How many fans and players in the SPL paid their respects to Anton Reid or Matt Gadsby? Or does the fact they were just 'boys from England' mean their deaths were somehow less relevant? Having said all that, I wouldn't want Calderwood at Fir Park - but purely for footballing reasons.

Is the collar as big as it looked on Crags photie, or is it a bit more fitted than that?

Until the 1940s, pink was considered masculine. Boring, but true.

Of course fans aren't rational and this is another example of a double standard. If someone dares to take a contrary opinion about Phil then they are demonised. If it's a player in a different country that dies tragically we get threads like this. You can imagine the moral outrage if jokes like that were being made on the Uncle Phil threads. Personally, I hope when I pop my clogs, nobody takes it too seriously and feels free to slag me off to the same extent as when I was alive.

You make that sound like a bad thing.

Heathen. Olbermann's show is the only reason I ever watch MSNBC.

You're no Keith Olbermann with that patter.

ESPN would be a great choice for me, as they already stream (free) live games from other countries and would likely to the same for the SPL. And as you say, with the might of the Disney corporation behind them, they are going to be financially secure long-term.

They aren't twiddling their thumbs. They are already in negotiations with ESPN and Sky. Details in the Herald today.

I think that about sums it up for me too. He would be decent enough, I think, and there is a reasonable chance he could do well.

There isn't a manger on the planet who hasn't bought a duffer.

Sanchez came in to Fulham and did exactly what was asked to do. There was a month of the season left and his job was to keep them in the EPL. Something Shearer couldn't do with Newcastle, and something the new Celtic manager failed to do with WBA. He did the same with Wycombe when he took over there (i.e. saved them from relegation) and got them to the FA Cup semis. So he appears to have some skills. He did a decent job with Norn Iron too.

When McGhee got the job, nobody really new he was in the frame. With all the unsourced rumours doing the rounds this week, it sounds like he is doing another good job at keeping things quiet. While I wouldn't be surprised if one of the quoted names ends up with the post, I also wouldn't be surprised if he fills it with a name that hasn't been mentioned to date.

None of players have left yet. I expect we will have a new manager end before the end of the month which is typically when most players contracts expire and the horse trading starts. Thanks to the joys of the transfer window, most players hold out until closer to the start of the new season to assess what their best offer is likely to be. I always said the Europa games will be, in effect, our pre-season. While it's more than likely we won't have our final squad in place by then, I'll only be worried if we haven't beefed up the team by the time the SPL kicks off.

Then we'll end up with Nick Griffin as the new boss.

Wiki, for what it's worth, has him pegged as a 'versatile defender' so he might be able to slot into other positions in the back 4.

The same John Robertson that was texting people the news that Staunton had been appointed?

I did read what you wrote. I guess "...has disaster written all over it" has changed it's meaning since I was last in the 'shire.

Bill Clinton charges more for a one hour speech than we would pay the new boss in a year.

Got to love this place. The knives are out already for a rumoured appointment.

I don't doubt that you got the text, but how would the source know? Did JB decide to call up fat ex-Hearts players with the news after he had decided?

True, but most of the managers we gave a start to were crap, and they improved after they left. Maybe Stan has improved since his stint with Ireland (and working with Gary Mac at Leeds).

So how many did you order, Lip?

While it might not be Staunton himself, he is the type of appointment that wouldn't surprise me. Out of work, but with some decent experience at manager and assistant manager level would be an ideal target for us I imagine. European experience is a bonus too.

There is no doubt that on his day McFadden is a genius. It took him a long time to establish even a semi-regular place at Everton, though, because Moyes reckoned he needed to contribute more to the team. It wasn't just the injuries that held him back.