Kmcalpin

I thought Chris Graham deserved a post all by himself today. He had no major decisions to make, fortunately, but had a very poor game. He was conned by an intelligent and streetwise Falkirk outfit managed well by John McGlynn. So many inconsistencies and I was just glad we escaped with no red cards. How he did not book the Falkirk player for strong arming Paulsen, I'll never know. The foul awarded to Krauhaus (I think) after his shirt pulling with Lowry was totally off the scale. He was weak throughout and allowed Falkirk players to stand in front of the ball at free kicks, even after Yeats was carded. Simple solution - keep carding the culprits and they'll soon get the message. First home game of the new league season and we're already talking about referees! John McGlynn for the Scotland job? No thank you but I wouldn't put it past the blazers at the SFA.

Well, I spent less on tickets today than I normally would and see the draw as being a donation to the Academy. It'll be interesting to see if overall takings decrease.

Likewise. Given the circumstances, I was hoping for a draw at 3pm and we achieved that. A better result than either of our 2 home games against them last season. Credit to Falkirk their good fortune didn't desert them.

I'm beginning to suspect he has a real problem unfortunately.

Williams out. However, RCC & Lowry may make it. Said back and Thor pushing for a place (on bench?)

As a digital dinosaur, I'm sticking with the old style card too until forced to change and yes, I know its coming.

So it turns out that Willy Vogt was first targeted by JBA but his departure delayed his signing. Not surprising I suppose.

Said will be back and Koutroumbis might get more minutes. Maybe an opportunity to give Knight - Lebel some gametime? That alone could freshen things up. A suggestion that Lowry went off with cramp but no idea about RCC. I wouldn't expect to see Williams on Sunday. Does anyone know whats wrong with Thor? He picked up an injury late last season and I had the impression that it was relatively "minor" but then got injured a few weeks ago. Is it connected? From AJ's comments I expected him to appear on the bench by now. Falkirk will be a tough nut to crack and last season they continually benefitted from that invaluable quality - good fortune. We'll see if their luck holds on Sunday.

A great result that should ensure a bumper crowd next week. Pleased for those who made the trip.

I find it strange that Said was not able to obtain a visa in time for this tie (and also Moses for our tie at Fir Park). Taken on its own it doesn't seem extraordinary. However, I've never heard of this problem before now with footballers taking part in cross border ties. Its never seem to have affected bigger clubs before, or we most certainly would have heard about it. So, either its a new problem, just recently cropped up, or its not, but never been reported by the media before. Apparently visas for entry to Finland can take months.

GR can play midfield and KL comes into central defence.

Williams very doubtful.

Its now being played on Sunday.

Although we don't know the terms of any agreement or lease with the Memorial Trust, there are various legal and financial risks. Its quite possible, that at the expiry of any agreement, that ownership of the buildings would revert to the Trust. Could we acquire a mortgage or loan to finance the building assuming we don't pay for it outright? Could the Trust at any point require the demolition, at the club's cost? Are we paying ongoing ground rent or lease fees? Do we require the permission of the Trust for any future phases of the development? Who comes good for the maintenance of the surrounding infrastructure eg access roads? A lot of the devil could be in the detail, to which we will never have access. Now the Trust seems an honourable organisation and I'm sure that it is. However what if ownership changes at some point during the lease? Would the next landowner be so understanding and co-operative? Now many of these concerns may be totally unfounded, I just don't know. However the above potential concerns can be summarised as having no control, over the land on which the facility is to be built. Thats my concern.

I've only seen Vogt once but I was very impressed. Once he's fully match fit I think we'll have a cracking player on our hands.

Where did you see this?

That had crossed my mind. As far as I know, GR is a midfielder first and foremost.

I see that Hearts have used Oscar Priestman's yellow card as justification for appealing Stuart Findlay's red card. Going by their past record, I could just imagine the SFA retaining Findlay's red one and upgrading Priestman's yellow.

I didn't know that. Thanks. I always thought that part of the ball had to touch the arc.

Irrespective of whether it was a penalty or not Boyle should have been carded for simulation. Hibs also like to cheat at corner kicks by placing the ball beyond the arc - for what? To gain a couple of inches.

An important win although a tight one. AJ has done a sterling job so far, in difficult circumstances, with mass injuries and players departing for pastures new. Performance wise, a mixed bag with some dodgy defending and powder puff attack. The players dug in though and showed character (Big Jock would have been proud). Still we won at a difficult venue and competed well with Hibs. Our winning goal was a team effort and a thing of beauty. More of that please. On the plus side, more minutes in legs and the new lads got more gametime together under AJ. Our performance was a bit clunky but that should improve as the new players bed in and gel. We do need to add a bit of experience in the midfield and firepower up front. I'm confident JA and ND will bring in a couple of new faces to bolster our options. .

To be fair, he is not and never will be a wing back. He's playing there to help us in an emergency.

We may already have one in the shape of Jake Girdwood-Reich.

No change from last season then.

No, you're not alone G & F. I agree 100% that the club should give interested fans the first bite to undertake work for the club irrespective whether its for payment or volunteering. Looking after your local community is a 2 way process. Well done to the club on that score. The club should however, have involved the supporters at a far earlier stage, as you rightly point out. The club submitted plans to the Council on 13 March and it was almost a month later that one of our own spotted, by accident I may add, the application on the planning website. Not a good look for a fan owned club. Now I'm not advocating that fans should have been consulted on the design, number of rooms, or the colour of the roof or anything so mundane. However given the substantial cost, scale of strategic investment, and the fact that the club does not even own the land on which the facility is to be erected I would have thought that the membership would have been informed, at the very least. A bit more transparency and accountability would have been sensible and justified. Thats before the issue of a POD replacement/stadium relocation is taken into account. I quite get that the need for a new training facility is pressing and won't wait 10 or 15 years or whatever. However, it would have made sense to consider this development as part of the wider issue. Maybe it has but we just haven't been told? The Society has generally improved consultation with members over minor issues, but this should also extend to major ones too.