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I lived in Nijmegen in the Netherlands for 5 years till 2002 and regularly went to watch local team NEC, who spent most seasons mid-table or fighting against relegation. Their local rivals were Vitesse from just up the road in Arnhem, who were bigger and generally more successful than NEC. The 'Gelderland Derby' is one of the most bitter and hate-filled in the Netherlands, and regularly sees violent clashes between fans. Vitesse were one of the 'sub-top' clubs that also included the likes of Utrecht and AZ, who while having occasional success were never quite as big as the the top three of PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord. They got through to the last 16 on the Europa Conference League as recently as 2 years ago, beating the likes of Spurs and Rapid Vienna on the way. That changed dramatically this season however, as while NEC have had for them a very good season and currently sit 7th in the Eredivisie, Vitesse have been consigned to relegation for the first time in 35 years. Even without an astonishing 18 point deduction for repeated breaches of licensing regulations and providing false information to the investigating authorities, they would still be deep in the relegation zone. Not only that, they are so deeply in financial trouble there is a real risk they will even be refused a license to play in the Eeerste Divisie next season. There's every possibility therefore they'll be liquidated and have to start again from scratch in the lower semi-professional and amateur leagues, like Rangers had to do a decade or so ago. Unlike the Rangers fans however, the Vitesse fans are at least trying to do something about it and have set up a survival fund which has already collected 1.5m euros. I've just watched them lose 1-0 at Utrecht and this is their players publicising the fund after the match. Of course their plight is causing much joy and hilarity amongst the NEC fans. As I still have a wee soft spot NEC I should be chuckling away as well, but I can't help but feel a wee bit sad for them, albeit it's entirely of their own making.

Aye, I started to feel it about 2pm yesterday.

I met his dad the other week on the train- he was saying that he thought he might end up focussing more on his coaching now, and didn’t write off Derek moving out to America. Derek Snr wasn’t particularly complimentary of Jim McIntyre, but few of an Arbroath persuasion seem to be.

I’ was thinking the exact same thing when I seen he was off.

Derek Gaston has left Arbroath. Presumably he's looking to be first choice somewhere after McIntyre had him sitting on the bench behind an obviously much poorer goalkeeper in Boruc, but if Mullen's injury record means we'll be looking to continue with an established second choice goalkeeper rather than a youngster, whether that's Murdoch or another Lawton Green type signing, then I could see worse options. He's better and likely cheaper than MacDonald.

Anyone else missing the fitba already

Jon Scullion is the size of a house these days. Playing for Kilbirnie Ladeside, who also have Jamie McGowan and Alan Frizzell in their team.

My "issue" with Muirhead (and Blues) is that they appear undroppable. Dougie simply plays them if they are fit, often in different positions even when they are completely off form. My worry if they both stay is that it will be the exact same next season. If they were used more as squad players, I'd be happy for them both to stay as they are both good players on their day. Not their fault Dougie plays them every week of course , but for me those 2 moving on wouldn't be a bad thing assuming we recruit well. With rumours of a better budget, I'm sure we can do that.

Big George clearing up at the Poty night. He's won players player, mct poty, player of the year and goal of the season. Mullen wins ypoty and Muirhead wins top goalscorer.

Finishes 2-1 to Boston, who now go up to the National League.

Connor Pepper wins Irish cup with Cliftonville. Aidan also wins league with Larne

Couldn't agree more. Anyone suggesting we don't make attempts to re-sign our top goalscorer is just being silly. Anyone but them. However if they are offering a 2/3 year deal and throwing money at the big man then you couldn't hold it against him.

That'd be a serious kick in the nuts.

As far as I hear, he's already signed for the luvvies

I’ll be gutted if Muirhead leaves. We have a dozen players who run about a lot with little in the way of goal threat or creativity and no one else that can offer what he does. He has pish games like everyone else but the amount of decisive moments he comes up with in close games is massive for such a small and limited squad. If we can’t accommodate someone with his goal return and set piece delivery in our team then we are doing it wrong. the idea he doesn’t have a work rate is ridiculous as well. The guy runs himself in to the ground for the team most weeks despite it being a part of his game that he’s clearly not that comfortable doing. I couldn’t care less about how he acts with the fans either, he got absolute (deserved imo) pelters for being awful his first couple of years but has been a key player for us under imrie and he clearly sees right through the fans for singing his name when he bangs in a 30 yard free kick but then is always the first to get slated by the crowd at games or fans online when we are losing despite everything he’s done for us.

I'm more worried that he's going to Partick.

Former loanee Jimmy Knowles starting and scored for Boston Utd v Brackley Town in National League North play off. Currently live on TNT Sports

Agree with this. I think him and Baird are liable to just launch it so Broadfoot kept his place for being better on the ball and a bit of balance. Definitely potential there - actually thought he'd go on to a career like Lamie or something at first.

Napier was awful yesterday. There’s too many incidents to mention, but my favourite was the lengthy lecture he issued to Waters after a perfectly executed slide tackle. I’ve no idea how he had enough content to fill that amount of speaking time, but everybody had to stand and wait for him to get it all off his chest, over something which wasn’t a foul in the first place.

https://x.com/iain_latto/status/1786685580622938139

I think O'Connor has the potential to be our best centre half. In some respects he has the best attributes for the role. But there are also parts of his game that let him down. One being his erratic distribution (we were much better with Broadfoot, or Ambrose last season, in the team in that respect), the other being that he just switches off in the box occasionally. It's frustrating because there's every chance we could let him go and really regret it, but I understand if Imrie isn't convinced.

It's not a dive by Muirhead. Napier might think there's not enough contact to warrant the penalty, but the defender is caught wrong side and puts his hands on his back. Obviously he doesn't give everything to stay on his feet for as long as he can, but there's a big difference between that and a dive. The push on his back makes him lose his balance and he's hitting the deck either way. The reaction is silly - he's done that far too many times this season. It's not going to get you anything. He needs to stop that. I still hope he signs next season; for his faults, he's still a good player at this level. Napier is highly spoken of as a GP down here, and apparently is a nice guy, but he's a really poor referee. It's clear, though, that the standard of refereeing at the moment is terrible. It's a problem that goes pretty deep.

Was just comments I had seen on Twitter.

I know he's a bit of a dick, but fair play to Yogi, that's some performance from a man of his age

I don't disagree, he's obviously playing at our level for a reason, or more likely multiple reasons. Nevertheless, if we let him go, it will be difficult to get a replacement who'll contribute as many goals and assist as he's done in the last two-and-a-half seasons. I can see why some would be indifferent to him leaving as he can be incredibly frustrating at times, last night being yet another example. But he's also brought a lot of positives to the team which I think some overlook or for one reason or other just don't appreciate. I won't be devastated if he leaves, but I think some who'll be happy to see the back of him underestimate just how difficult it will be to find a replacement who'll contribute as much over a full season as he does.