Superstar Tradesman

Good. Coz I don't think it's going to caaaaauuuugggghhuuuuutttttpppting! on.

So let me get this right..... We're now called the "Rock Scones" and we play at "Todders". Great.

Aye: Robbie Winters.

Do you think King Joey or Deano would be (have been) any better if they hadn't enjoyed a few pints? Our current squad are lacking in ability because Scottish football is shit and that goes from grass roots all the way to the shambles last weekend where some no-mark couldn’t stick a ball in an empty net. With the exception of Seve I can’t remember seeing many of our team huffing and puffing their way through games so it’s clearly not affecting their fitness. Or at least not affecting it that we can see a difference between the likes of Caley who's manager promotes a better lifestyle or any other team in the league. Not being able to kill a ball dead isn’t because you was propping up the bar at liquid last Wednesday, it’s just that you’re not very good. You could of course argue that more time on the training ground and less in the pub might help though.

Back on topic: You could argue that getting slaughtered isn’t going to help professional athletes but then that would be more poignant if they were playing in a better league. But then again you could argue if they want to better themselves or go on to play in a better league then they should treat their bodies the way professionals do in better leagues. But I think that most if not all of our squad along with most players in other teams across Scotland know that they’re not going to be head hunted by some foreign outfit in the Bundas or La Liga. That they’ve reached their peak and that a few drinks here and there aren’t going to make that much difference to their game. As with any other job, as long as it’s not affecting your working day – coming in pished, crippled with a hangover, turning up late, sleeping on the job, etc – then I don’t think it’s really that big an issue as I’m sure it does help a group of lads gel together better. As long as it doesn’t turn into a drinking culture and it does actually help them achieve something in some sort of capacity then I don’t really care what they chuck down their throats, stick up their noses or shove up their bums. Just as long as it gets the job done on the park!

Not to mention him only being about 3 points better off than us this season and already dumped out of Europe having had a decent season last year. No need to tell you what kind of response that would have invoked towards JC.

Why do you think folk were willing to buy our players then even though they'd been at the club for years and nobody had came in with offers that we'd accepted before? Before then we were quick enough to call Clark, Anderson and Hart shite during lengthy points in their AFC careers. Who's to say we won't do the same with the current batch? Mulgrew looking the most likely at the moment. Since Miller's been on board we've been better off and on the park in terms of results. I'd say that's money well spent.

No use crying over spilt milk. (Dry your eyes, petal) Back to the present day and the Miller bashing: I keep hearing about his wage being a waste, blah, blah, blah..... I'm not too sure of this but have we not recorded slightly better financial figures each year he's been here too? Last season we definitely recorded a profit didn't we? Therefore I still don't get the Miller bashing!

Just down from the Toby? [quote author= link=topic=6278.msg92744#msg92744 date=1223491816] I'd be surprised if the folk that slag him about Harry Ramsdes actually know what happened there, and why it went tits up They made chips and obvisually didn't get the Minijc seal of approval.

I really don't get the Miller bashing? We were shit, he was asking questions of the club, they employed him, he came in, got rid of Paterson, took in JC and we've been arguably a lot better since. Yet folk still piss, moan and ask what he's doing. Perhaps he's not the missing part of the puzzle but he's definitely one of the key pieces if you ask me. I really don't get the Miller bashing?

Yeah I would actually. I feel a lot of his signings wouldn't have been made if he wasn't forced to beef the squad up with numbers. The Mixu Bros et al were brought in with the scraps of what was left in the kitty and never saw the light of day as a 'break glass in case of emergency' contingency. He built the squad that got us 3rd place, cup semis and the last 32 in Europe and if the team wasn't continually having to start from fresh each season then I'm sure he could press on from that. We all laugh and joke about multi-millionaire chairmen who go out and buy the top players without consulting their managers first, like they’re playing a real life version of football manager. But we’re at the other end of the scale where our manager is trying to build a squad, manages to take us to a point where we have a chance to better ourselves (chance of a final or build on a 3rd place finish) and is told some of his key players are on their way and he has peanuts to spend to replace them. It’s mission impossible and if he wasn’t such a stubborn, headstrong, determined character then I’d wager he’d have walked by now.

Which fuckwit said anything of the sort coz it certainly wasn't me? I was merely highlighting the fact that the league is fucking bollocks and anyone with half an ounce of grit and determination could rise to that challenge. Full marks for our board (yeah that's right, I'm praising the fuckers) for cutting costs a lot sooner than the rest of the league. We copped a lot of stick regarding league positions and toasters to get some sort of wage structure and cost cutting strategy underway. But they've done fuck all to capitalise on that and we're still having to suffer for it. Now before the chants of "we've got no money" starts up, I'll explain that I don't think it would have taken much to build on our 3rd place finish and last 32 in Europe. It was rumoured that it would only have cost a few hundred quid to keep Hart at the club. We let him go along with Clark just before the Semi with QoTS. We take in our highest lump sum in years for our team captain and still haven't spent anything to replace him. We rake in TV money and gate receipts for all our European exploits and can't wave a few quid to keep a team together. Had we established ourselves as 3rd place regulars then and there, then we could have been taking a slice (albeit a small one) out of that debt each season. Which is going nowhere fast even after all the cost cutting, wage structuring and shocking football we've had to endure. The board and club are yet again treading water and I'm convinced they're pinning their hopes on building a decent youth set up to sell our way out of this mess. Which means more years of this yo-yo league shite.

Out of that whole piece earlier, I think the end part speaks volumes: Unless you're a miracle worker then you’re not going to take the team any further than the very occasional semi, final or trip into Europe. Look at any other team in the league other than the OF and you’ll see they’ve all roughly had the same amount of half-arsed success as us. Sure a few of them have lifted one piece of silverware over the years of the SPL, but where are they the season after? You can of course argue that we’ve not had a final or any silverware but we’ve been a lot further in Europe than most and ask anyone about the 4-0 tanking of Copenhagen or the 2-2 draw with Bayern and I’m sure they’ll admit it was better than any trip to Hampden to see Robbie Winters pull on the goalie gloves. The problem is nobody is building a team or has built a team to slot nicely into 3rd spot each season behind the OF to then mount a serious challenge against them. Look at Motherwell for instance who were flying last season. Dumped out of Europe already and playing mediocre pish with only 3 points more than us who apparently all running round pushing the panic button asking for the manager’s head on a silver tea tray. If Dingus was in charge of us lot at this moment in time, would we be happy about that position after finishing 3rd?

Genius......

The word 'bewildered' springs to mind.

Seeing as Mulgrew was planted on the line and the boy who took the touch was directly in front of him (Langfield having gone walkies due to an earlier attempt at saving the ball) I'd be surprised if anyone but McCurry didn't notice it.

I'm away back for another read. I must have missed the part where he named names.

Hemmin Bjorky, this thread needs you: http://www.thedandies.co.uk/messageboard/index.php?topic=64.240

No idea. Do we still have a sponsor on the shorts?

If there was any then it wouldn't have been given.

Well there's more than one sponsor on both of those shirts. If it means money for the club then I don't care if they run around looking like F1 pit crew.

Well the Norwegian teams who are sharing the same stretch of water/oil/gas as us seem to manage to pull money out of those companies: Why can't we?

I bought this in City Lights Bookstore in San Fran and left the fucking thing on a bus about 10 minutes later. Returned the next day to buy another copy and managed to leave it on the plane, unopened, later that day. I've never got round to testing the 'third time lucky' theory. Recently I read a Johnny Cash biography which was quite nicely written. I think he's written one before so this one he writes whilst on the road and only skips through his history from time to time focusing more on the main characters in his life. I really enjoyed it as it was him, as an old man looking back, reflecting on his life and he sort of knew there wasn't much left in the tank but he wasn't regretting any of it. He'd found peace with himself (man). At the moment I'm reading Hannibal Rising by the Silence of the Lambs author Thomas Harris. It tracks his up-bringing and goes a fair way to explaining why he became the serial killer with a taste for human flesh. Think I read Silence years ago but I'll probably go back and read these in order now as this has been a good read. Also bought a book called Elephants on Acid whilst passing through the airport yesterday. My brain was a little fried after the weekend so I thought I'd best pick up something that was easy to read. It's a catalogue of all the weird, strange and amusing experiments that scientists have done.

Granted. But the £200k went towards replacing 1st team members who were worth far more than that amount.

Sacked for being less than 8 points off of 3rd place? Dinna be silly.