Kmcalpin

I've little time for Chic Young Andy, but your statement above could be true of many Scots sports journos. Its simply taboo to upset, in any way, the Old Firm as was. To do so is to risk losing customers. They are still in the pockets of Celtic and Sevco - you only need to read sycophantic media accounts of the latter's latest tax case and financial loss.

Given that the North Sea Oil industry is in decline and laying off many trained and experienced personnel is that wise?

Good post Jacol. Whats as frustrating for me is the nonsense thats spouted on Radio Scotland Sportsound. When I recently heard score updates from La Liga that summed it up for me. All too often its reminiscent of some half cut mates having a laugh and boozy discussion in a pub about their pet subjects, with the listener left feeling like an unwelcome eavesdropper. Poor poor show from the BBC.

A good presentation - well done. I don't pretend to follow everything in it but you've obviously put a lot of thought and effort into it. It deserves serious consideration.

The restructuring seems a bit odd. Our ladies won what is effectively a 3rd tier league very comfortably and therefore you'd expect them to be promoted to the 2nd tier - right? However if there is a new SWPL 1 and SWPL 2 above them then they'll still be in the 3rd tier by my reckoning. It sounds just like a typical SPFL restructuring! A bit unfair I'd say.

I appreciate quite a few folk have concerns and unanswered questions about the Society - I have some myself. If Denny has some unanswered questions then he is quite entitled and indeed right to raise that as an issue. Overall though I agree with Weeyin - its easy to criticise but not so easy to volunteer - I quite appreciate that not everyone has the time or skills to help out. If members are seriously concerned about the running of the Society then they should call for an EGM - I'm sure that they could garner sufficient support for that. I hope though that everyone's questions are addressed at the meeting - the Society's communications have not been great so far and its time they improved.

I get it that you have an axe to grind with the Society; so be it. However, do you have any evidence that the organisers are deliberately trying to stifle and subdue discussion? Its quite possible that in order to make the event more attractive, a Q & A session with Mark McGhee has been added on. To be blunt I don't envy the Chairman's job on the night. There may well be more questions than the time available permits and some may have to lose out. In that event I'd imagine questions that have been submitted/asked by several people may be chosen. In my view, if there is insufficient time to take all questions then questioners should be limited to one question each, with "multiple" questions being ruled out of order. Verbal questions should also be kept short and be real questions and not an opportunity for the more articulate questioner to make a speech and play to the gallery. Again the Chairman runs the risk of being criticised by sceptical fans of ignoring awkward questions. I sincerely hope that there is time for every question to be asked including all of yours, but don't be surprised or offended if there isn't. However, in my experience if someone looks for something they will always find it. I agree though that a fair number of questions need to be asked.

Absolutely. Yes he'll have his preferred way of setting up the team but probably recognises he'll have to gradually introduce that as and when his choice of new players arrive.

Scottish football coverage is abysmal on many levels and Andy covers that well further up. It is however easy to use the off switch, although publicly funded BBC coverage is perhaps a slightly different point. Sky/Virgin/BT coverage - unsubscribe or don't subscribe end of. Very costly and dismissive of the Scottish game.

Absolutely. Ok I would debate Motherwell's population as I'd draw a larger catchment to include the likes of Craigneuk, Wishaw, Netherton etc, but the point remains the same. On a population basis, settlements like York and Gillingham should be capable of supporting teams big enough to be able to rival and perhaps exceed teams like Dundee United and Aberdeen. I know its easy to be brainwashed by wall to wall coverage of the English game but we really need to move on from that. Scotland is what it is.

Which teams are you referring to?

Nothing to compared to Dundee United fans. Watched the highlights on Alba last night. Killie seemed to have a midfield typical of a few Premiership sides based on power, aggression, competitiveness and fitness but little else. Most certainly they lacked creativity. In fact just the kind of midfield that has caused us problems these past few years. There was no way we were going to outfight them and thats an underlying concern. Yes, Killie had their chances but never looked like taking them. Our off the ball play looked poor but despite that the defence held firm and we had the means to hit them on the break. I don't mind playing that kind of game, most often associated in the past with Jim MacLean's Dundee United, as long as the defence remains resolute and we can take a single chance, when offered to us, by the opposition. Interestingly Mark McGhee said post match "It's my job to bring what I see to bear on the squad, to find a way of playing that best suits the players we have. So I'll continue for the moment to give people an opportunity and play about with the shape a little bit and with players in certain positions." So unlike Ian Baraclough, MMcG has admitted that just now we may not be able to play the way he wants but rather that to which the players are best suited. Yes, Andy, our late goal could well have been scored by the likes of Kris Boyd or Colin Nish - we saw that often enough worse luck.

Not at the game today but the result was the important thing and a win and clean sheet on an artificial pitch is no mean achievement. Mark McGhee will also have had an additional game to assess his charges. COYW

In case any of you haven't heard there's a Society/Mark McGhee Q & A evening planned for Monday 16 November. It'll be a perfect opportunity to air your views and ask those so far unanswered questions. This is your chance.

Agreed, but this legislation and especially its selective enforcement renders the statistics totally unreliable and virtually meaningless.

Mark McGhee went on about plastic pitches and rightly so in my view; they are installed for financial reasons. He also said that he'd have to achieve a balance between testing players out to get to know them and getting a result. Its helpful that he's clarified that and it makes perfect sense to me now. Given that, I'd expect he will want to see what both Leitch and Taylor can do. Neither fits the bill, in my view, for different reasons, but he may be able to improve the game(s) of one or both. The exception to that approach would be if he has seen/learnt enough off the park to discount one or both lads. We have to remember that its not our views which count here - he hasn't seen either player in competitive action so far, and there are more in that category.

The plastic pitch will be a big influence on team selection and it wouldn't surprise me to see Johnson sit this one out for example. The teams seem evenly matched but the pitch might just give Killie that edge over us.

Just as I thought - the proportion of culprits from Rangers and Celtic are a lot less than you might expect given the relative size of their crowds. As a few observers said on here a year or two back the Police will home in on easy targets. Its a lot easier and safer to collar 10 fans from a crowd of 500 than it is to collar say 200 from a crowd of 5,000. Police / crime statistics are notoriously unreliable.

A poor article. Does anyone have statistics on the number of fans arrested / found guilty / given banning orders broken down by individual club? That might prove interesting.

Pretty much agree with that. Craig Brown said at an AGM that when he first burst onto the scene he was a relative unknown to opposition managers (didn't say much for them did it?) and they weren't quite sure how to play him. However after the first round of fixtures they got his measure and worked out how to snuff him out.

Congratulations to our Ladies team who won their league title yesterday. Don't think they lost a single league game!

Never a foul in my view. Clangers comes out, hesitates and stops and has to jump from a standing start. At that point big John Jumps for it and yes makes contact with Langfield's body. Clangers knows he's made a mess of it and falls to the deck holding his face, despite being hit on the shoulder.

Yes, very much a grey area. I'd say though that if a player is in an offside position on the opposite side of the field to where play is taking place then he would clearly not be active. However if its within a few metres of the ball or where play is taking place or the goalkeeper, then he should be deemed to be active. On this occasion, as in many previous ones against us the Dons got the rub of the green.

So is a player only deemed to be "inactive" in relation to the ball? What if his sole intention is to deliberately distract the goalkeeper or interfere with his sight of the ball?

No problem personally, I'm happy to change the acronym I use. Does everyone else agree?