Cet Homme Charmant

Buying the land behind the cowshed, apparently to only realise afterwards that developing it will actually cost money we don't have, seems like an avoidable waste of money along the same lines as the electronic turnstiles and roof for the WDE. It's clear that Cappielow is going to need some significant investment sooner rather than later, as the annual lick of paint and 'action days' to get fans to clean seagull shite off the seats is not going to cut the mustard much longer when it comes to getting safety certificates. So for me securing the finances for that should be Dale's No-1 priority over 'minerals' and suchlike. I would hope and assume that actions are ongoing behind the scenes to secure the required funds, but if it has been publicised I obviously missed it. The jury's obviously still out on Dale and I certainly haven't written him off yet, but he's going to have to turn his rhetoric into tangible results pretty soon, or confidence in him will surely start to drain.

Agree. He's clearly got talent but was too lightweight for this league and was too easy to simply brush off the ball, so if he frees up a wage that allows us to bring in an upgrade, it's best all round. I wish him well though.

Find that hard to believe to be honest, Dougie just doesn't seem like the sort of guy who'd sit back and allow the Board to make signing decisions he doesn't agree with.

I'd agree with that. For this style of possession and passing play to work you obviously need players who are comfortable on the ball, can effortlessly make perfectly weighted and directed passes, and can also time runs into spaces to receive these passes. I've got no idea if these skills are being taught to kids in Scotland, but if not, then trying to impose that style of play on players who haven't learned it from an early age is always going to be a challenge.

I should have also mentioned... that isn't a criticism of our squad in particular, I suspect the same would apply to most if not all Championship squads.

All the best CentralTon

Completely agree. Even when we did have a couple of passages of decent possession there was zero end product, and as soon as we lost it we were instantly on the back foot. I think the harsh reality is that the players simply aren't skillful enough to play this type of football, either in terms of keeping possession or in the timing of runs to create the space to use it effectively.

Me too, but I still booed. Make no mistake, the missus and cats were left in no doubt about my feelings.

On tonight's performance I reckon we would do quite well in the Highland League.

When the fuck will I ever learn.

As Strapp amongst others have found to their cost, if you get on the wrong side of Dougie there's only ever going to be one outcome. I personally love his ruthlessness.

If anyone is wondering about the standard of the Finnish league, champions HJK were pumped 3-0 in a Champions League qualifier this evening by Lithuanian giants FK Panevezys. Lewis will be like Ruben Dias in that league.

Of course you're only getting Lewis' side of the story there. I know Dougie doesn't suffer fools gladly, but you'd have to assume that if he was dinging Lewis at the end of last season, there must have been a reason for that. It's a bit disappointing that he has decided to go public on this and disclose details of conversations that should have remained private, I just hope Dougie does not respond and keeps a dignified silence. But irrespective of the rights and wrongs, it's very sad that it's ended this way.

Of course we'll only find out throughout the course of the forthcoming season, but on the face of it I think Dougie's made some very astute signings and overall the squad is stronger than last season. If that's the case, then going one better this time and attaining a play-off spot is not an unrealistic possibility. Against my better judgment based on well over 40 years supporting the Ton, most of which have been downright miserable, I'm actually quite optimistic.

Are you still mixing up Romani and Romanian?