Cet Homme Charmant

I actually thought Kirk was very solid today. But yeah, another season in the Championship at his age is probably a bridge too far.

It's been the metaphorical roller coaster, but the mid-season run when we were firing on all cylinders was magnificent and thoroughly enjoyable. And we've still got every chance of finishing 5th, the same as last season which was generally considered a good one. A very mixed season for sure, but to call it really disappointing is a bit unfair, IMO. As with all close-seasons, who we let go and acquire will be critical.

The Arbroath commentator is far more entertaining that the game

Great summary as ever Russell, many thanks for that! I was a bit surprised however that upgrading Cappielow wasn't one of the main agenda items, as this will require significant investment in the near future. Would have been interesting to know what the plans are for this, and perhaps more importantly, how it will be financed.

Airdrie 2 up at Kirkcaldy, not a good night so far

Garrity pulls one back

Also true, but even taking into account the scale of the collapse in the previous few months, a 5-2 (?) humping at home to a team that had been relegated weeks earlier took it to a whole new level.

Indeed, in the last home game of the now infamous League 1 season when we completely imploded and chucked away a massive (15 point?) lead, we played Stenhousemuir when we were still in with a shout of at least 2nd placed promotion, and they humped us (5-2?), despite being already relegated weeks earlier. I had booked the trip over for the game months earlier when to all intents and purposes it was going to be presentation of the League trophy. D'oh! I don't have a lot of luck with making trips over for matches, the last one was the ICT game that was postponed in October despite it being a beautiful autumn day that was perfect for football.

I'm also struggling to understand why Muirhead gets so much stick on here (and going by the comments, also from some in the shed). Without his 11 league goals so far this season we'd be deep in a relegation battle right now, rather than pushing for a play-off place.

Yeah, Stella Artois, Jupiler and Maes are the three most popular cheap-and-cheerful 'everyday' beers. The relative popularity of them is very regional, here it's very much Stella Artois followed by Jupiler. You'll actually find it quite hard to get Maes on draught here. Jupiler I can take or leave, it's not unpleasant, but I just find it quite bland. Since you were in Belgium they changed the Maes recipe and made it slightly stronger, like Stella Artois and Jupiler it's now 5.2% abv. It also has a slightly more malty taste. Like you I prefer Maes to Jupiler, but of the three of them, my favourite is Stella Artois.

Aye, that was very harsh.

Happy with that, but on chances created it could and perhaps should have been more comfortable than 2-0.

Brew of choice for the 1st half

Here's the beer selection from my local liquor store, or 'offy' as I still call it https://www.prikentik.be/bier As well as enjoying Belgian beer, I'm also an avid collector of the gasses. Drinking a beer in the wrong glass is a hanging offence here. Edit to add: The Heverlee glass in the centre was actually purloined from Greenock Cricket Club, the beer is only sold in Scotland and Ireland. It used to be brewed here in Leuven, but I believe it's now brewed under license by Tennants.

Yeah, the very strong Belgian beers are most definitely for sipping, at most I'll have two bottles in an evening. Surprised you find them sweet though. There are some sweet beers of course, Leffe is probably the most famous, but I find most of them to be quite balanced or tending towards slightly bitter. Everyone's palate is different of course. The real art in brewing strong beer is preventing the alcohol from overpowering the flavours. The strongest beer that I've still found drinkable is Kerel Kaishaku at 15% abv. The claim they achieve the strength while retaining the taste by using a mixture of traditional Belgian beer yeast and Japanese saki yeast (hence the Japanese sounding name that's just made up). Definitely not a beer for the traditionalists (the tag line of the brewery is 'untouched by monks', ha!) but I really like it. No idea if it's exported to the US, but if you do come across it I suggest you give it a try, it's pretty unique. I'd be curious to hear what you think of it. https://vbdck.be/

Also bear in mind, this is on-draught bar prices, not supermarket bottle prices. If you're talking about the UK brewed Stella Artois, the reason you're not overly fussed about it is perhaps explained in the video above. Even Belgian brewed Stella Artois is nothing special, here it's a cheap 'everyday' beer, but it's pleasant enough. But there are a plethora of much nicer beers that are stronger and more expensive. This is one of my favourites... https://www.sintbernardus.be/en/brewery/our-beers/stbernardus-abt-12-en I've never seen it in the UK, but it might be available in specialist shops. If you do come across it, I highly recommend it, it's really nice.

Just spent a very enjoyable few hours after work having some Stella Artois. Myself and a colleague had 5 330ml Stella Artois each for the princely sum of 20 Euros. So 2 euros for a third of a liter (although this was in a jakey pub in the suburbs, it the city centre it's probably double that). And that's for the proper big boy 5.2% abv stuff. Everything in Belgium is ridiculously expensive, except beer which is obscenely cheap.

Stella Artois brewed here in sunny Leuven is still 5.2% abv, it's the Stella Artois brewed in the UK and maybe also elsewhere that's watered down. Here's a wee video highlighting the difference between the two... Edit to add: Never a week goes by without at least one person asking why it's called 'wifebeater' in the UK

Was he not charged a wee while ago for alleged untoward shenanigans up a close? Did it ever go to court?

The ironic thing is, the less they have to do, the better they're doing their job. Weird that they don't seem to see it that way,

150th anniversary merchandise collection https://www.smithsofgreenock.co.uk/product-category/greenock-morton-fc/greenock-morton-fc-greenock-morton-150th-anniversary/?fbclid=IwAR1anY84MSOCkT4lpwnsmVUrOxmmAP-OERXbUkOTEhKRfqAg3A8MKwr9OH4

Alas, it was not to be.

This pic just turned up on my Facebook page. Not only was Rob Rensenbrink (second from left) a great player for both Anderlecht and the Netherlands, he also had a keen eye for spotting and coaching 37 year old talent from works leagues. What a guy!

Yeah, the comment about Cappielow rang alarm bells for me too. It's clear that giving the old place a lick of paint every couple of years is not going to be sustainable for much longer, and at some point in the not-too-distant future it's going to need significant investment for upgrades. It's hard to see right now where the money for that is going to come from.