David

Meanwhile Cowan will be chuckling like fuck at the fact it's become "a thing"

With no income maybe football clubs should park paying taxes for a while as well? The same goes for businesses being crippled by this.

I'd be very surprised if there was. Usually a great deal of self-belief is part of what gets a footballer to the level they're at. If Tony Watt were to be offered a great deal by Everton, for example (and we know he won't but let's say for the sake of discussion they come in for him) he'll most likely think he's good enough if given the opportunity at that level. If anything most footballers are somewhat delusional when it comes to how good they really are.

Exactly. Footballers, especially like Watt who have seen the highs and the lows the game has to offer, will be all too aware that while he may be a star for us this season, he could very easily see a drop in form next season. His next contract, considering the form he's in just now, could very well be the most important in his career. While some fans may see a move to a Barnsley, Luton, or Millwall as one that isn't offering much from a footballing point of view it will see him earn a good deal more than we can offer, and spread over a 3 or 4 year contract that's a decent bit of coin. Of course, there's no player in the professional game who doesn't think they can make the cut at a higher level than they're currently at. If they thought that way they likely wouldn't have made it this far to begin with.

Well, not quite the 5-0 pumping that some had it marked down as. We played well I think and deserved something from the game. Bring on St Johnstone.

If I was Tony Watt I'd be looking to wait until the summer before making any decisions. See who comes in for him, look at the money, the circumstances, the league, the location and so on, then make a choice. As long as we're not left hanging on for a ridiculous amount of time waiting on his decision I'm fine with him weighing up his options.

Was hoping we'd get to half time on level terms, but it's not to be. How we come out in the next 15 minutes will determine how this goes, but I fear we'll do not too badly before losing another goal midway through the second half and possibly another late on.

It's not about being scared, and more about the sheer gulf in finances, which leads to a severe gulf in quality. The increase you mention over the past twenty years coincides with both old firm sides, but mainly Celtic in recent years increasing the chasm between themselves and the other clubs financially. I'm sure there was a report or two in the media that highlighted that the gap between Celtic and most other premier league clubs is larger than the gap between Celtic and PSG. That should give us a little perspective. Funnily enough, when Celtic themselves have to play against a side such as PSG where the financial and quality gap is reversed they've been beaten by scores of 4-0, 7-1, and 5-0 in recent games.

No, I don't think so. Anything from this game is a bonus.

Make your choice...

That idea may be applicable if we win the world cup. As it is? I don't think so.

If it's sarcasm, you'll know.

He certainly hasn't been at his best for us of late, I'll give you that. But is he "utter shite"? I'd say no. And thankfully Steve Clarke and Graham Alexander seem to think the same.

That aged well.

Like Jacob Brown has over the past two seasons? On last night's performance, O'Donnell was superb. The only thing that really prevents him playing at a level above us is consistency at club level.

Barring injury, I think we all know the answer to that. And it ain't Mugabi.

I do think there's maybe something to that. I know we tend to think that it's as easy as just getting rid of players we don't want, but when managers have to work with limited transfer time due to the windows, and we have players under contract that aren't wanting to move on or haven't been offered anything suitable, it can be a difficult process. I have heard it said that a manager really needs three windows, two of which should be summer windows, to really sort out a team, which obviously isn't always an option, but I think if we can maintain a decent league position Alexander will be given the time needed to put his own team together.

We only need to come out on top more often than four to six other clubs over the course of the season. Would I be right in saying that Graham Alexander teams have a history of playing football that isn't easy on the eye? Salford City fans were grumbling about the same thing it seems. Coincidentally, when Alexander was sacked Salford were 5th in League 2 and unbeaten in their first five games. Now they're 19th with four wins out of 15 this season. I read they're a lot nicer to watch now though, so there is that (legit what I've read, not sarcasm for those who are interested )

5th in the table after beating Aberdeen 2-0 away from home? Not bad considering our manager apparently hasn't got a clue what he's doing, eh?

Make your choice...

I apologise for my lack of smiley usage, and will make sure to include one in future.

That'll be a bit of a whoosh then? It was a sarcastic post, I'm not actually saying no one should post unless they have hard stats to back up their information! The stats in question are very telling, mind you.

Stats? Pffft! No place for that kind of chat round these parts! who needs stats when you have under-qualified opinions and rants?

A better fan? Not at all, and I never said I was. I'm just not losing the heid because we've lost a few games of football and haven't looked good of late. We've been down this road before, and it's on the manager and his staff to get us out of it. If he doesn't, then there'll be questions to answer. But when we're sitting 7th (on equal points with the team in 5th) I'm not going to cry too much. I know certain people on this forum seem to thrive on the negative, and that's their choice, but I'm not there quite yet!

The thing is, we've been down this road before, haven't we? Fans loved a good moan about the way Robinson set out his stall as well, and it was only when things got really bad and he decided he'd had enough that we switched things up as far as the manager goes. If I was given the option of playing as we are and being where we are in the league table, or playing nice football but being where Ross County are, I know which I would choose. Unless he decides to quit, or we fall into the relegation places, the manager is going nowhere, so it's pointless even looking at that scenario. Especially when he has us sitting 7th in the league and just picked up a manager of the month award. Not to mention he's been allowed to bring in players on long-term deals. This is clearly a project from both his and the clubs viewpoint. Arrogant or not, he's here for the long haul. And for the record, I'd disagree. I think a good percentage of our fans are entirely unrealistic about their expectations from our club. Be that because they've been spoiled of late with top half finishes or whatever, but like most lower league clubs in leagues around the world, playing attractive football comes a distant second to our league position. If we can get points on the board and look decent while doing so, then great, but we all know what the priority is.