weeyin

Tony Watt scored 3 league goals in his first full season with us. Glad we didn't punt him that summer.

Not so much - at least in earlier years. Partly because they started pre-season earlier because their league kicked off earlier - so they were ahead in prep. And partly because they often didn't have a squad of 22 or 24 first team players that all needed game time. I'm not saying it's unfair on Premiership teams. I am saying that anyone who has watched the group games in the past few years hasn't exactly been exposed to fast-flowing, high tempo football from match sharp players. That is largely down to the timing of the games while teams are still half-way through preparing for the league. That doesn't excuse Premiership teams not qualifying from their group. As a paying punter, though, I don't think the league group games deliver as much value for money as the prior formats did where we had one-leg, straight knock-out rounds every round.

Should get a few games out of him then after he sits out his suspensions for all of 2023. (Just joking - would be delighted if we can tie him down for a new contract).

He has a point about the difficulty of trying to get full squad of players some quality pre-season minutes. The pressure is on to win the group, so managers have to stick with their fittest 11 every game and need to cut into pre-season training hours to prep for matches. It's also true, however, that his team were rank after he took control last season and have continued to be rank.

I can't see Griffiths doing a job for anyone until he sorts out his head out - and unfortunately his track record suggests that isn't going to happen any time soon.

There aren't many "easy" ties in the last 16 of the League Cup. Best you can hope for is a home tie against lower league (but always decent by this stage) teams.

That's the strategy that worked so well for Aberdeen, Dundee and Hibs last season.

Excellent work - brings back some good (and bad) memories. Seeing Raith Rovers on there is also a stark (no pun intended) reminder of how things can change when you drop out of the top league and never make it back. A long list of casualties from Clydebank to Dumbarton.

That's the downside of being a defender. When you make a mistake there's a good chance you concede a goal and everyone thinks you're useless. Up the other end meanwhile, van Veen and Morris combine to miss a huge sitter (ironically also created by a defensive mistake) and it barely warrants a mention - despite also costing us a goal.

Do Not Pass Sligo Do not collect €200(k). (grizzly doesn't have a Monopoly on bad jokes). Thoughts and votes before next week's comeback.

Good job we're focusing on keeping more clean sheets this season.

Instant red card for any knee sliders.

Never in doubt.

I see the live stream being listed on the MFC TV site as well as the PPV site, so hopefully that means it will be part of our regular sub. I expect to see KVV at some point.

I'd admire your optimism that tickets bought off the internet are genuine I see the official stream is confirmed for £12 PPV. I assume it won't be covered by our MFC TV sub, but I'll be checking tomorrow just to make sure.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that a manager who has spent his entire adult life in the professional game is probably aware of positions he needs to fill in the team whose results he depends on to make a living. Also - window doesn't close until 1st September, and free agents are available after that. Given that we picked up Watt, as well as Faddy and Skippy for their 2nd spells, when they were free agents, it's not always a bad option.

It will certainly be the end of him at St Mirren, but the way the footballing community seems to work, it won't be the end of his career. The leagues are full of regularly failing managers. Jim Goodwin had a worse record at St Mirren than Robinson did at Fir Park and he was poached by Aberdeen.

No early red card in this cup tie please Big Man.

I think there are 2 different things in play. First of all, there is no doubt that there is a mental health problem with addiction of all kinds and the health service is ill-equipped to deal with it. The second thing is that betting firms and online gambling companies have been intentionally targeting problem gamblers and vulnerable punters. And that's not just the traditional bookies and casinos. In the software world many companies are developing gaming apps that are designed with all the psychological tricks to keep you playing for another hit and fork out on high priced "treasure" packs etc. in order to progress to a higher level. If the motivation was there, plenty could be done to address the health service and the aggressive advertising issues.. However, as always, those in the position to do it are too busy being wined, dined and entertained by the same company's execs and lobbyists.

As this is our first competitive outing of the season, I expect us to be strong and fit but not necessarily up to match speed (unlike Sligo, who are fully match fit). I expect we'll actually be a bit sharper and better in the 2nd leg, so any win in the 1st leg will be a good result.

That's a good question. Last time The Euro game at Fir Park was available, but if I'm remembering correctly, we had to pay for it. It wasn't part of our overseas sub. However, that was covid times when all the streaming rules were different. I don't see it listed on MFC TV or the PPV site yet, but I hope it's available on one of them.

I'd rather be playing the teams we have the best chance of beating than the ones that are closest. If there are places people really want to visit, just book a wee holiday later

And yet, every season, they are dissected on here as if they were a competitive must-win match in the middle of a league campaign.

My legal team has advised me to say nothing about these historical accusations.

Would be nice to think Cedric chose the 18th team from last season's Championship over Rangers, but I suspect that's not the case. The origin of the Rangers story seems to be a local paper in the Midlands that had him linked to Rangers and Metz - of course with no sources or quotes.