David

That's more down to how they're being run behind the scenes. All of those clubs I mentioned have much bigger budgets than we do for players, and they have more money to spend. I know no one wants to hear the old "punching above our weight" line, but the reason why it gets bandied about so often is because there's something to it. With our budget, support and overall finances we should be competing for the top six every season at best. A fourth place finish should be considered an accomplishment, never mind finishing 3rd and 2nd.

How long do I want to live off finishing second for? At least until the season immediately after starts.

Finishing second when you're competing with teams like Hearts, Hibs, Dundee United & Aberdeen is always a great achievement.

Finishing second means nothing to you, no?

Yeah, but much like our players who are often described as not having the full package, if McCall managed to get us to 2nd and 3rd in the table ahead of bigger spending clubs as well as doing relatively well in the cups and in Europe I doubt he'd be with us, would he?

I just think it's maybe a better idea to judge our performances once we've got a few more competitive games under our belt. If these issues are still prevalent at that point then I'll start to worry.

As I said, you can't replicate competitive games with friendlies. That mob had a decent number of domestic games under their belt, they were doing well in those games, plus we lost three fucking penalties in two games! It's happened to better Scottish clubs than us (including celtic) in the past.

Away you go! A change of gaffer?!? If it wasn't for that gaffer there's a good chance we wouldn't even have had a crack at Europe! We'll do what we always do, we'll get back down to business and get ready for the domestic season starting.

As soon as last nights game finished I made sure not to log in on this forum as I knew the kind of reaction I'd see. Just read through most of it with my morning coffee, and fucking hell, it's even worse than I thought. I've seen the manager who has taken us to 2nd in the league twice and 3rd once in the complete seasons he's had with us called "a poor manager", and our side described as "small-time with a losers mentality". Sorry, but that's absolute fucking nonsense. Aye, we got caught with our pants down in Europe this season. We dropped two penalties at home, and another away. At least one of them was dubious to say the least in my opinion. We were beaten in extra-time by a side who are more match fit than we are. We can talk about friendly matches all we want, but there's no substitute for competitive games, which Stjarnan had more of than us. That's not an excuse, by the way, it's just a fact. If we played this mob six or seven games into our domestic season I doubt the results would be the same. It's certainly not a tie that I'll remember fondly, but at the same time it's not the end of the fucking world. Get a fucking grip man! We've got a new season to look forward to! I seriously don't even want to think what the reaction would be like if we finish 5th or 6th this season coming. If the guy who led us to 2nd and 3rd in recent times is a "poor manager" and such accomplishments are examples of a team with a "losers mentality" what will people think if we're eventually overtaken by the likes of Aberdeen & Dundee United (two clubs with more resources than us). I also notice that we're seeing players contracts questioned. The same players who everyone was anxious to see re-signed in the summer! Both McManus and Lasley signing on again with us was met with widespread approval, yet now we're questioning those decisions despite us not even having played a single league game? Seriously?

Unfortunately I doubt that Ojamaa would even be in the conversation (assuming he is at the moment, of course) if we'd given Faddy a new contract. I know who I'd rather have if it were a choice between both of them.

Yeah, they'd be better off telling current subscribers. Cheers for the info.

Maybe, but surely then they would still have the content on the actual MFCTV platform, but just offer it for free during the close season? I don't know, it just doesn't make any sense.

Who's in charge of the clubs Youtube channel? There's been around 13 new videos uploaded onto that, Portugal trip, interviews with McCall, new stadium sign going up etc. In fact, McCall's pre-game interview, and a pre-game interview with Ramsden have been added to Youtube today. I'm not complaining that the videos are available free, but it's a bit of a kick in the baws for those who are paying for the subscription, is it not?

Aye, I'd kind of hoped we'd have gotten something like Celtic's internet TV channel, maybe showing games in their entirety after midnight on the day of the game, more interviews and behind the scenes type stuff, maybe even youth games in their entirety and so on. That would easily be worth double the price.

Is anyone here currently subscribed to this? I'll probably need it for commentary tomorrow, but I just had a quick look and there's been nothing new added in ages. None of the pre-season Portugal stuff that was on Youtube, no Fulham stuff, nothing. Is it still actually in service?

Ah, fair enough.

I don't suppose anyone's been using this lately? Looking for a way to get the programme for tomorrows game.

That's pretty much how I see it.

I hope McCall is just waiting on the 2nd round of world cup games to finish before finalising the deal to sign someone to fill our number 10 jersey.

Yeah, I was kinda joking. I'm fairly certain they'll bring someone in from another club who has experience of the environment.

I may apply. Does anyone know if you actually have to live in Scotland to do the job?

I don't grudge Hutch his move, but if Ainsworth is smart he'll sign here for a year at least and get some stability into his game. He's had something like 13 different clubs in 8 years? The lad needs to settle down and get some game time I reckon. Another move for a bit more cash may seem more attractive, but what are the chances he'll find somewhere and settle in like he did with us?

I don't think I ever remember us being in such good shape this early in the summer. Excellent.

In English footballing terms that's a pittance though, which is what he's worth in the English game I guess. He'd be a fool not to see that contract out unless someone is stupid enough to offer him something similar.

Has there been any word on Hutch yet? His contract expires shortly, doesn't it? Or has it expired already?