TRVMP

While I rate Oakley highly, DU signed Grimmy after they came down. I don't think they'd sign Oakley, at least not as a starting XI player, now that they're going back up.

Declan McManus ends the league season with made-up "The New Saints" on 13 goals from 17 appearances (7 starts, 10 as a substitute), or one every 55 minutes. TNS ended the "Welshman's League" (note to sub: check name) unbeaten on 92 points from a possible 96. They now face Connah's Quay in the final of the Welsh Cup next Sunday. That will be the last game for in whatever colors Connah's Quay wear for Jordan Davies, who arrives at Scottish giants Greenock Morton in the summer transfer window. (Davies managed 19 league goals in 31 league games, all as a starter, for a goal every 145 minutes. Connah's Quay of course don't have the firepower of TNS; they finished second, but a distant second, 33 points behind TNS.)

Yeah, it's a tough one. Maybe they've talked about it and O'Connor now has a path to the first team as Kirk's older, or maybe Imrie feels Kirk has another year in him, or maybe he just doesn't rate O'Connor, or maybe O'Connor doesn't want to risk another year on the bench. No idea what the situation is.

That's a regen name.

No reason we shouldn't be aiming for 5th in the interim. Difference between 8th and 5th is about fifty grand, give or take.

He's out of contract if that's what you mean. No word on any renewals yet.

Seems a fair comment from Ferguson, frankly. When you're already relegated your mental state simply will change, you can't help it. "Downed tools" is maybe a little harsh because these guys are still professionals and will want a contract at Arbroath or elsewhere, but they're not going to have the fire that they would if survival was still possible.

Totally forgot about that. Bullet dodged. I assume he got some kind of payoff but nothing close to the entirety of his contract.

Wilson POTY, difference between him in the team and out of it is striking. Mullen, Oakley, Strapp, Muirhead making up the rest. If we have a young player of the year (23 and under) it's Mullen (22 years old) by a mile. McGrattan and Garrity are the only other real contenders and neither comes close. Goal of the season the obvious Goatley strike. Best signing, Wilson but only because he's been here all season. Strapp otherwise. I could see the case for both. Boyd worst signing by a country mile. French has been a disappointment and should not be retained (if he's even available) but he's not even the player most directly responsible for sloppy goals conceded. Boyd on the other hand didn't fit in from day one and was a waste of a wage completely.

If it's any consolation, visiting hours are quite generous in Scotland.

Power is a release for me. Obviously a class player, full of vision, can spray a lovely pass, you can see his movement makes a hell of a lot of sense. But we're shipping goals due to his lack of mobility, which is an inevitable aspect of his age. We can't count on a preseason to turn back the clock; it's just too much of a risk. So with all well wishes and admiration, and the hope that he won't be a stranger and that he'll remember his time here fondly, it's time to have an amicable parting of ways.

Maybe anatomy is a bit different in Ayrshire but they're still going on about Cammy Blues' "headbutt" - that'd be an interesting thing to pull off given that he only moved his shoulder.

That's been coming. Pretty dire stuff really. These fucking Ayr bumpkins showing the non-incident in the box 12 times on replay like it's the Zapruder footage.

We're absolutely penned in here.

Nicely done. Ayr tentative defending those far post crosses and we took full advantage.

GMFC (not MCT) AGM set for Thursday 18th April, 2024. Shareholders should have received an invitation to either attend online or in person.

Same.

It'll all depend on what's available and what wages they want but a lot will depend on where the new guy from Wales fits into the plans, too.

Watching Universidad César Vallejo against Universitario in the Peruvian league. Scrappy game, still 0-0 with six minutes to go, La U on top but not creating too much. But it's striking that UCV, despite playing at home, have a small ultras section but are otherwise completely outnumbered by Universitario fans. La U are one of Peru's big three, along with fellow capital clubs Alianza Lima and Sporting Cristal. But even in Trujillo, a coastal city nine hour's drive from Lima, they're a much bigger deal than the hosts. Even the most popular club in the city, Carlos A. Mannucci*, would be outnumbered by fans of La U or Alianza (maybe not Cristal) in much the same way that Rangers and Celtic do. Just goes to show that it's not just the likes of Scotland and Portugal with this issue, it happens all over. Happens in Mexico, too, come to think of it. My Mexican team is Cruz Azul - they're currently groundsharing at the Azteca and when I asked questions about them on the stadium tour the guy laughed and said nobody cared, and this is probably the fifth-most popular team in the country. The gap is just that big between Club América, Chivas, and everyone else. *I once found a near-mint condition jersey of theirs from the early 2010s for $5 at a thrift store, but I neglected to properly wrap it and store it like I do my other kits, so my wife has appropriated it as a pajama top.

When I saw the replay side-on I thought Ferrie got unlucky with a bounce, but no, he's just a fucking oaf who thinks he's playing volleyball. What a fucking breast. Setup: And the punchline:

When he first got injured Dougie said he was out for the season. If there's been a change since then I missed it.

We are so back.

That's another difference. You don't get "halves" here on draught (draft.) You get 16oz (473ml), or very occasionally for a very strong beer (like a Quadruppel) you get a 12oz (355ml.) Anything below that is served exclusively as part of a 'flight' or tasting menu. If you asked for a small (330-355ml) Bud or something they'd give you a bottle because they don't pour glasses that size. The liquor store round the corner from me has a decent selection of Belgian beers but for obvious reasons specializes in local stuff in the few shelves it gives over to beer*. *This is another issue: spirits have to be sold in liquor stores, which close at 9pm and all day Sunday. Beer and wine can be sold anywhere, all day (not quite 24 hours, I think it's 1am it stops now but I'm never up that late to check.) So for really obscure beers you need to order it specially or go to a specialist store, of which there aren't many because even Walmart now has an excellent selection. My local supermarket has a decent selection of imports and every style you can think of - including tripel - brewed locally here in Texas. I don't mind a Belgian-style ale a few times a year but on the whole I find them very sweet and heavy, definitely something for sipping, preferably with food. The rough American equivalent in terms of strength and craftsmanship is IPA; American tastes tend heavily towards hops and resin. I've grown to really enjoy these.

It was 20 euros for the pair of them, so 10 bottles total, 2 euros apiece. That's not far off retail price here. With tax, it's $1.42 per 330ml* bottle. *Stella is almost unique in being sold in 330ml here as it is in Europe. A regular beer here is 12fl oz, which is 355ml, and virtually all cans and bottles are that size, even of imported European brands.

The Stella we get in the US was brewed in Leuven until 2021 but I am almost certain it was 5%, so different from the stuff sold locally. It's now brewed in four regional ABInBev breweries in the US, including the main location in St. Louis. Meanwhile Foster's, which is a 3.7% lager in the UK and 4% in Australia, has a variant brewed here in DFW which is 5% and value-priced. There is also, inexplicably, a 5.5% "Foster's Premium Ale" also brewed here, which seems to be an entirely American invention. The global state of lager is controlled by a tiny number of companies which tend to be in each others' businesses in different parts of the world. For example Fosters in the US is MolsonCoors-owned, in Europe it's Heinken-owned, and in its own country of origin it's Carlton-owned, which is in turn a property of Asahi of Japan.