fat_tony

Just made it myself. It's on my flickr stream if you want it? I've got it set to private but it can still be viewed directly: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7280/7651833558_7aae569cf6.jpg Just a pity the image size limitations on the signatures are so small.

Ridiculously excited for this tomorrow, my first game of the season due to the usual July wedding gauntlet. Expecting a tough game but with a full Fir Park and the fans right behind the team, who knows what could happen? Trying to get away from work early so I can get through in plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere in the Cooper!

Just read a lot of advice online saying that it gets dodgy at night, full of junkies and muggers etc. To be fair, everything I've read says it's fine if there's a group of you, just best not to walk alone there at night.

A lot of the political protests have taken place at Syntagma Square over the past couple of years but there haven't been any in months, so I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue for a meeting place. Omonia Square is supposed to be nice during the day but dodgy as hell at night. Looking at either Arethusa Hotel or the Central Hotel around there I think. Airport bus supposedly drops off there too.

Feck. I'd completely forgotten about that as well. Where are all these teamsheets from? Could be wrong but I was sure that McHugh scored the last goal against Flamurtari? Did he not bump the keeper out the way in the air and pass it into the net?

Nice. Just looking at BA now and there's one to Edinburgh at 7pm so think I'll probably end up on that. Cannot. Frakkin. Wait. It'll be nice to have some fellow pasty looking Well fans to help while away the layover in Crete!

That's the boy! It's Chania. According to the website it has "bars". Will do me just fine! Chania Airport Flying out Tuesday 7th at 06:55 from Prestwick. 4 hours or so in Chania then on to Athens, arriving at around 18:30. On the Thursday have booked onto Aegean to Heathrow at 13:30. Will split up there and make our own separate ways home. So far (not including getting home from London) looking at a total of £293 each. Not too shabby! Throw in 2 nights accommodation and travel back from London though and obviously that'll be a chunk more.

Meet you there! Am booking 2 of us on the exact same flights out just now.

Front page of Uefa.com:

Great post DC'd, not a lot I could argue with there. I think the biggest challenge will be keeping everyone fit and suspension-free. Get through without any major occurrences of either, and I think we do have one of the best first XI's in the league. The lack of depth is concerning, but we all know that there's nothing that can be done about it, and every other club is in the same boat. Really looking forward to the start of the season!

It's hard to get peace and quiet on a Sunday morning

They weren't there when I started writing.

Am I the only one who doesn't see the information from the club as scaremongering? I thought it was a well stated list of reasoning both for and against the Newco with the information they can currently quantify. Going from the figures they can explicitly rely on, it looks like without Newco, we will be operating at a loss year on year. Obviously, in the worst case, this could potentially lead to insolvency. They're not saying it will, just warning that if this was the case, where it could end up, since we no longer have a benefactor to bail us out if need be. Prudent, rather than scaremongering in my view. However, there are other potential revenue streams in there that they mention, but can't quantify as yet, therefore can't rely on for this decision. The bottom line is that "Yes" leaves a mostly known financial situation, with the only unknown being the effect of fans walking away. "No" leads into a largely unknown financial situation, with the only figure that is known at this time being the decreased revenue from Rangers fans attendance. What doesn't help is the knee-jerk reaction stories from the likes of the BBC and frankly ill-informed crap like this. I'm still squarely in the "No" camp, and while not yet a Well Society member (but will join when finances allow), I have contributed to the site membership and passed my vote along to Andy_P. In my view, the unknown, while a risk, holds greater chance of long term improvement. We may just need to tighten our belts for a while and all chip in to help the club take the hit.

On the other side of that, all the 1st division club fans that I know are fuming about this and most have already written to their respective chairmen demanding that they don't entertain this idea. No one wants Rangers, it's not just the SPL clubs that are sick of their shite.

Not seen this posted but that's Fenerbahce cleared to play in the Champions League apparently: Clicky

Yeah, at least I think that's what Lawwell and their board will want to do. I know the Celtic fans are the opposite, but for Celtic to maintain the level they currently have, they need the finances to keep coming in at the same level. Whether their fans like it or not, Celtic are a lot more dependent on the revenue generated by Rangers than the other clubs in the league. You might be right though, and it may be that the board bow to fan pressure.

I think Hibs are a stick on "No", Celtic I'd say will actually be a stick on "Yes". They need Rangers to keep their current levels of income. St Mirren I'd imagine would be a "No", as long as this fan ownership proposal goes through today. As for the rest, I think it depends on whether they listen to their fans or not.

So are you saying that you won't renew if the Well Society vote yes? Even though that decision will have been made by the fans themselves? Would that not make it a bit churlish to withdraw your financial backing, even though the club themselves have done the right thing? Not having a dig like, everyone's entitled to their own decision on this matter, just trying to understand the different viewpoints. EDIT: Also, what's the situation with the Steelmen Online membership? Did that ever get the go ahead? If so, are we running an "official Newco vote" or just using the results of the existing one as the vote?

I always thought I'd do it at some point, but the announcement has just made me even more sure of it. I've been looking into it today but unfortunately I don't think I can justify it at the moment, given there's a Champions League trip coming up in just over a month's time.

Great stuff by the club and a real statement of intent for the way things will be done in future. Whichever way our the vote goes, the club have done all they can and should be applauded for sticking by their model for the Well Society.

Spot on Weeyin. It's not black and white. If it were simply fans vs TV, as many allude to, the club would be stupid to vote yes and it would be the end of them in many eyes. The primary responsibility of the board is to ensure the continued operation of the club, and they have a duty to explore every option. Would people really be forgiving if we voted no, knowing that the potential loss of revenue could drive the club to the wall? Likewise, I'm not suggesting it's that bad, but like you, I'd like to see the projected affect on the future of the club before I support or condemn them. Oh, and I'm firmly in the "No" camp and believe any potential loss of revenue could be mostly offset but I'm fully aware that I don't have all the information. If something comes out that shows otherwise, I too might then reconsider. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and all that.

Could be completely clutching at straws here, but the Express is carrying this article about McCall looking for Saunders to step in and prove he can take Craigan/Clancy's place in the centre. The last line is: Possibly being overly optimistic, but it sounds like a deal is all but done with Lasley perhaps?

From all the matches throughout the season, which one do you think was the most crucial in securing 3rd spot? Was it the way we started the season, thumping ICT, beating Hearts or getting a late winner vs St Mirren? Or was it the continuation of that form before Christmas, or the way we clawed our form back with a series of results in January? Or, was it the way we ended the season, thumping St Johnstone and securing a scrappy but hard fought win vs Hearts? For me, the one that turned our season around was the 3-1 win vs Dunfermline on the 24th Jan. The fans were on the player's backs, Higdon was up against it after his "offensive gesture" the week before, and losing Craigan early, some feared the worst. However, Ojamaa burst onto the scene and inspired both the team and the fans to a superb win, that was followed by other important victories soon after. Had we lost this one though, I'm not sure if we could have recovered. EDIT:Did have a poll, but it's dissapeared. Will re-add later on.

Quite an interesting one that (Lasley), and I could believe it to be true. In saying that, I wouldn't expect Lasley to make the move, unless he was being offered a significant amount more, that would really make a large difference in the last couple of years of his career. As much as I rate Randolph and think he's a great keeper, from what I've seen of Hollis, he's entirely capable, and I'd be happy enough for him to step in should Randolph go.

Sounds good!