Kmcalpin

Cup final crowd was 136,000 with several thousands locked out. I think about 280,000 watched the semis against Hearts alone.

Harkins is a good player on his day and when the going is good. However he's not suited to scrapping when the going gets tough and I wouldn't have thought St Mirren was the right club for him but thats not our problem. Not concerned that he didn't sign for us. Maybe he's guaranteed first team football at Paisley. Dundee United and Kilmarnock will both be paying more than us and money does talk. Keith Lasley was offered a decent contract at Rugby Park a few years ago but Jim Jeffries couldn't guarantee him a first team place and so he came to us. Whether its wisely spent by other clubs is another matter entirely.

Vastly overrated player. Very much in the time honoured mould of Hibs + young lad = fantastic player. He'll go the same way as Jason Gardiner, Billy Findlay, Dan Lennon et al. Hibs, who finished in the bottom 6 have freed him for a reason.

Darren Randolph is probably the best keeper I've seen at Fir Park in over 50 years. However in the English Premiership and Championship he'll be only one of many. There are loads of very good keepers in those divisions some first choice, some second and some third. At Birmingham he's been told not to expect an automatic first team place. Why would top English clubs, many of whom are struggling financially, rush to sign him? Nicky Law? When he signed he told the club he'd stay for 2 years and not a day more. That is the crystal clear understanding when he came. The issue for the club then was do we sign him for 2 years or walk away? The question is was his 2 year stint a success or not?

Agreed, but the thing is that on this board quite a few folk are convinced that if we were resolute enough could force other clubs into paying a higher fee. Quite how we would achieve this has yet to be explained.

Of course Henrik did not speak to Lech Poznan and they did not speak to him whilst he was there....

Thanks again Iain for the good work you do in supporting our club. Its gratifying to see that we put our money where our mouths are. Hopefully we can match or better last year's effort although that'll be a tall order. Count me in.

Peter Leven is a big powerful lad, famed for his dead ball prowess but not his work rate. Talented nonetheless. He was the player at the centre of the infamous Maurice Malpas / Jim Jeffries spat.

Agreed. perhaps this needs to be looked at for members living well outwith Lanarkshire.

Sorry for the confusion...I meant £1.00 IN TOTAL. This kind of sum is not uncommon in business although I don't know the exact legalities of it. As far as the MFC TV is concerned I understood from the outset that free subscription for only for 12 months. If free membership was to continue for 12 months or longer then the annual membership renewal would be more than swallowed up and I can quite understand the club's logic on that.

The only problem is that he's just signed a 2 year contract. He's been asking his players to sign new contracts and expects them to stick to them. Why should he be any different to them? We may be being unfair to him of course. Its quite possible that he doesn't want the job and wishes to honour his contract but rather than text "No" or ring Sheffield United he prefers to tell them in person. Who knows?

I'm not aware of any widespread abuse or criticism - some comments yes but not a huge amount. I seem to recall Nicky also got involved in a cyberspat with Rotherham fans when he joined us. Incidentally what is the source of the quote.

Good point. Seemingly they can afford 2 goalies who were playing first team football with other SPL clubs.

Andy, I suspect that this is down to loose use of the word "purchased" or some legal mechanism ie for some reason shares have to be purchased (say for £1.00) rather than given away for nothing. If the shares were being purchased for a substantial sum then it would not be a loan at all. As I understand it the Society funds are ring fenced. I'm sure there's a simple explanation.

I overheard 3 season ticket holders in the POD Stand today say that they'd paid at the gate to help the club and thank it for a great season. I know them by sight but not by name. A nice gesture, although not everyone can afford to do that. Hopefully though, the current goodwill towards the club will translate into some financial support even if only modest.

Seconded. Probably my abiding memory of the game.

Apologies, I should also have mentioned the fans. In our young lads we must have the best travelling support in Scotland, pound for pound. On occasion they may be a little OTT, but thats the enthusiasm of youth. They've added much needed atmosphere both home and away. Take a bow lads!

I can only second that. The management and players have done us proud on a low budget. However the Directors and Chief Executive must also take a lot of credit for appointing the right manager and setting a decent and realistic budget. Folk on here are quick enough to criticise them when small things go awry but we must have one of the best sets of Directors in the country. I wouldn't swap them for their counterparts at Pittodrie, Tannadice, Easter Road or Tynecastle.

Unfortunately we witness several instances of diving week in week out and like foul throws action is very rarely taken. Once in a while, for reasons unknown, a referee will single out one particular incident and take action.

Why is he suspended next week if it wasn't a straight red? Has he breached the points limit?

Was Henrik's red card a straight red?

Firstly, as far as MJW is concerned, my reply was perhaps clumsily worded. I was not suggesting that he/she was attempting to stoke up a "better fan" debate. Unfortunately many discussions like this in the past have wound up as just that. I was simply trying to get across that I was not getting at anyone/was posting in peace however you choose to phrase it. I was trying to avoid falling into this trap. To their credit neither MJW nor Brazilian did so. Now as to the points you make Iain. I agree with the point made by Steelboy to a degree. Fans have made the effort to get to games and I'll freely acknowledge that some on this Board and indeed others bought season tickets in the full knowledge that they would not be able use them. Good on them. My point was more about the club 12 initiative than attendances. As far as I know and was led to believe the Club 12 initiative was a damp squib. Many with a ST said that they'd pay in but in the event this was forgotten about on the day. Before anyone has a go at me yes, there were some who did exactly what they promised to do. But in the main it was a flop. Thats not my opinion its a fact, as I was told by someone who knew. However that is the nature of these things. Some people make pledges for charity appeals, collections whatever, probably in good faith but in the event don't come up with the goods. Again I feel it necessary to state that some folk would have made these pledges but in the event were too ill to do so, lost their jobs, hit financial trouble and the like. As far as I know the Board have not been making negative digs about fans - I've heard perhaps one comment (in a specific context) in the last 11 months about fans not pulling their weight/doing what they'd promised - however you choose to phrase it.

I've no intention of getting embroiled in "we're better fans than you" debate. Its not an accusation its a fact and some of our own fans, who have no time whatever to do with Sevco have said that to me. However, live and let live. If fans wanted to contribute a bit more and could they did and if they didn't or couldn't well they didn't. That said you're right in that the club could have promoted the Steelmen Forever far harder. That I don't understand. Between now and the end of the season I'll take a long hard look at myself and ask what more I can do.

That was always going to be the case. To be fair though some fans did dig a bit deeper or used their cash more effectively for the club's benefit.

The regulation/custom is that home teams pay the expenses (however they are defined) of the visiting teams.