Kmcalpin

I don't think we'll get anything like a full house. We'd struggle at the best of times but with the game being slap bang in the middle of the holiday period I'd be delighted with a 9,000 crowd. Hope I'm wrong though.

We were discussing this very point in our office today Andy. The feeling was that BBC/STV would be lukewarm at best but that Greek TV monies will make us a very happy club indeed. How accurate is that? I don't know but no doubt someone on these boards will have good knowledge of Greek TV.

Yes he does. Probably his last chance. The forgotten man of the pre season preparation - presumably due to injury?

I know its a limited basis from which to draw conclusions but I think we'll struggle this season with a mid table finish at best. Central defence is a huge concern to me. On the evidence so far we have 1 good centre back (Shaun Hutchinson) and potentially good one in Steven Saunders. The others are either not good enough or too inexperienced. Central midfield is also a huge concern. Keith Lasley is getting on now and he'll need a mobile ball winner beside him - who? Central defence and central midfield are two critical areas of the team. We could also lose one or two of our best lads later in the window. On the evidence of first two friendlies there are no young lads ready or able to step up. Currently the squad is just too thin - last year we had a very good starting 11 with 1 or 2 reasonable back up players - this year we have maybe 9/10 good first players. Some rivals like Aberdeen and perhaps Hibs will have gotten stronger. Dundee United will finish 2nd as their fans are saying, and I don't think St Johnstone are much weaker. Hearts will finish in the top 6. Of the others Kilmarnock will not be any weaker. Don't be fooled by Dundee - they were tipped off 2 months ago that they could be playing SPL football this season and have announced plans to sign 6 players.

Agreed Iain. Tomorrow night's game against Arbroath will be the same again. However I'm concerned about central defence. I just don't think that we've enough muscle there without Hutch. Tend to agree about Jamie Murphy - he looked to be in the mood tonight but like much of last season didn't seem to know where he was meant to be playing. He was just as likely to pop up at full back as he was to support Michael Higdon. It made life difficult for his colleagues who found it almost impossible to play with him.

Couldn't really take much from the game tonight apart from a chance to improve match fitness and sharpness. As expected an experienced Raith side put themselves about a bit to prove they were SPL standard. Hopefully the Everton game will show us our strongest defensive and midfield line ups. Certainly its not clear to me at the moment. Don't want to read too much into the game but I'd have thought that some of the young lads and fringe players would have sniffed a CL place going abegging and would have taken the golden opportunity to prove themselves but that wasn't the case.

I'm sure you'll hear pretty soon. To date the admin has been reasonably good.

Any word yet on who might line up for us? Is Shaun Hutchinson fit enough to play for 45 minutes? Has Harry Ramsden now left the club, given that we cannot sign anyone?

Think its on Wednesday evening Max.

Society funds are purely a temporary cash float and do not reperesent permanent expenditure.

I'd avoid handing over an extra fiver at the gates and I doubt if the club would like it. Best if the club arranges something separately like a bucket collection outside / inside the gates.

Just a bounce game and the run out will do the lads good. Add to that, Ayr had a point to prove and we didn't. Only points of concern to me, as it has been for some weeks now, is our central defence and central midfield. If Hutch is going to be sidelined we'll ship goals. Tuesday evening will be another bounce game but I don't think its unreasonable to expect an improvement. Presumably Adam Cummins is still injured?

Agree with that. Next Saturday will be about Stevie Hammell and rightly so but I hope that the club takes the opportunity to raise some additional cash through some scheme or other.

Not necesarily. We've always competed with and sometimes bettered them. We were beating Hearts, Aberdeen, Dundee and Hibs 70 or more years ago. No reason why that should stop.

Well done Iain. This year will be more important than ever. Count me in.

I don't think playing Nicky Law in central midfield is an option except when we're really short. He's a bit lightweight and has struggled there in the hurly burly of SPL games. As things stand its a contest between Tom Hately and Stuart Carswell for a starting slot there. Cover at RB will determine where the former plays. Hopefully we can pick up a player or perhaps two.

I think a lot is going to depend on whether Hutchy requires a long lay off & / or surgery. If he does then I can see Steven Saunders & Jon Page being our central defensive partnership for some weeks/months to come. There would also be lack of cover if Adam Cummins has not fully recovered either. Tom Hately would then resume duties at RB without question. All this assumes that we don't sign anyone of course...which is unlikely.

What does our money stand at now? Are we close to the £1,000 mark yet?

I've just read over the article on the Official website again and realised that I'd missed the call for volunteers. We all know that the club is actively looking to raise money through a variety of ways but this takes time and effort. Apart from the actual financial contribution we should also be looking to volunteer whether it be for a regular commitment or simply a one off. Not everyone has the time to do this of course or lives close to FP. From past experience I know that our fans volunteer when asked. The Well Worth Saving campaign proved to me though just how much we need supporters' time too. It might just be to help out with a bucket collection for 30 minutes or so on matchday or it might be to help organise a concert or quiz. Worth thinking about though.

100% agree FC. Strike while the iron is hot. The other clubs will never have a better chance of reform for the good of the Scottish game. I'd start with voting rights to kick start change.

Thats the key Flow. As others have said the club needs to let us know the most effective ways to donate. We also need to try to get support and money from the wider community - maybe some kind of raffle with non football prizes? We need to offer a wide variety of schemes from voluntary ones to more formal ones; from ones involving a large amount of cash to ones involving only a pound or two. In short schemes to suit everyone and every pocket. As Jay says don't overlook the simple bucket collection - it has its place.

I'm pleased and proud our club has done the right thing and listened to the fans. Now we must stand up and be counted and I've been very encouraged by the posts so far from everyone. As a start I'm going to hand back my early bird ST discount and make a small donation to the Society to cover the costs of the ballot. Just athought though about ST holders paying in at the gate to the odd games. A very commendable idea but is there not another way of handing over the gate money. If we physically pay at the gate then part of the monies will go to the Government in VAT - but if we say make a "donation" of the same amount or even slightly less then the club will make more from that as no VAT would be involved.

I can only echo the thoughts of others and remember the fallen. It was only recently that I really learned of the absolute horrors of WW1. Sadly much of thew message has been lost, understandably, through sanitisation of events. Traditional poetry, films and written records never really portrayed life in the trenches as it actually was.

Media reports say that the Joint Statement issued to SFL clubs was drawn up jointly by Messrs Doncaster, Regan, Longmuir and Rod Petrie. This corroborates the relevant part of Flow's statement. No mention of Ralph Topping but surely as CEO of the SPL its inconceivable that he wasn't aware of it.

Thanks for the statement Flow. I'm happy to admit that I've changed my view a few times recently as different developments have occurred and more information has become available. Its clear to me now that Rangers should start life afresh in the 3rd division, not in the 1st. To date I've been more than happy with the way in which our own club has conducted itself. I'm not at all happy with the way certain parties within the SFA and SPL have behaved. IF Rangers are "accepted" in the 3rd division then I'll pull out all the stops to help MFC. IF that scenario occurs then its time for we fans to put our money where our mouth is. With power comes responsibility.