Cet Homme Charmant

So is Kirkcaldy though, and it's obviously not having a huge impact on Raith. Inverclyde has been relatively deprived as long as I can remember, even when we were pulling in decent crowds in the late 70s/early80s and early 2000s. I think a bigger factor is depopulation. The current population of Inverclyde is around 75000, whereas 30 years ago it was over 100000. That's a huge reduction in the potential fanbase..

It seems obvious that we should be prioritising the resigning now of those players who could potentially make the step-up to Premiership level and whose contracts expire in the summer. This would either improve our chances of survival if we do get promoted, or strengthen our promotion challenge next season. On the face of it, it's a no-brainer. In reality though, actually achieving that's going to be extremely difficult if not impossible. If we were to offer new contracts now it would obviously have to be on our Championship level budget. But why would they sign a Championship budget contract with us now if there's a possibility of getting a better contract offer in the summer, either from us if we do win promotion and increase our budget accordingly, or from another club with a bigger budget? No harm in trying I suppose, but I would be very pleasantly surprised of any of the guys mentioned above resign for us before the end of the season.

I still don't think he's fully match fit either, but on Saturday you could see he was getting there. He did show a very decent burst of pace in the excellent build-up play and cross for the first goal.

Dougie just has class oozing out of him. Unlike just about every manager in the league he can still find some humility and respect for the opponent. Top bloke.

Excellent tribute, well done mate!

Totally agree with the comments about his co-commentary during the covid live streams. He was entertaining, brutally honest, informative, and very often LOL funny, his 'he's like a drunk man chasing a balloon' comment in one of the games being a classic example. Gerry, his co-commentator, mentioned something about a dinner being organised for him later in the year, which I'm sure will be a sell-out. I'm one of those old codgers who were lucky enough to witness the man when he was in his prime, and he was by some considerable margin the most naturally gifted footballer to have graced the hoops in the almost 50 years I've been a fan. It's a really pity that for whatever reason he never really fulfilled the huge potential he undoubtedly had.

On a Friday night though most folk don't have work the next day, so it's less likely to deter those who have to travel some distance

Will probably have some affect on the Ton support e.g., on those who have to travel some distance, or for those who have to work in the evenings. It will, however, have a much bigger effect on the number of Hearts fans making the trip, which is of course a positive, in a sporting sense if not a financial one.

I think you've nailed it. Why has this all of a sudden become an issue? It's not as if rain in Greenock is a new thing. And who made the decision.... did the club make it unilaterally, or was it imposed on us? If it's the latter, by whom?

Agree. He comes over as a decent and enthusiastic guy, full of fresh ideas. I'm sure he'll be a great asset going forward. However.... it has to be said that the very late communication of the drastically reduced capacity for the Motherwell game, when they must have been already aware of it days or even weeks before, was undoubtedly a PR disaster. Maybe I missed it, but for me at least it's also not clear who made the decision to deduct the capacity of the Sinclair Street end from the total Cowshed capacity, just in case it rains. Was that a decision of the club, the police, the SFA, the HSE, the stadium licensing authorities? When a stadium gets it's operating license, I assume the capacity is calculated and stated. Was the Sinclair Street end capacity also deducted from this certificate? Whoever made it, it will cast us a lot of potential income for the Hearts game if it's not overturned, because I think it's fair to assume the at least as many who were at the Motherwell game, and probably some more, will want to get a ticket for the Hearts game.

At the end of the day, it's 11 men against 11 men

Fair point mate, you're right.

It's a real pity they've fucked this up so late in the day, as they've played a blinder in building up the game all week on social media

Agree. Anyone using that as an excuse for not going probably wasn't going to go anyway

Yup, showing a bit of respect and humility that some Championship managers would do well to copy

If it's the 3-1 win you're referring to, it was 2007

According to the BBC forecast, looks OK at the minute

The clubs use of social media to hype up the game has been exceptional. Kudos to all involved.

What a guy! Love him to bits.

The reason for saying 'if true' is because of course you need to hear all sides of the argument before you can make a balanced judgement. It's not clear from the video if Newcastle and the Premier League had been asked to comment and give their side of the story as to why this lady has been banned. If they hadn't been asked, then of course that's an obvious omission and leaves the open question as to why they didn't do so. If, on the other hand, they had been asked and they refused to give an explanation, then that casts even more doubt and suspicion on them. Obviously, the Premier League cannot be monitoring the social media output of every fan who attends the games. Even if they wanted to, the resources required to do that would be enormous. If we can assume that they're not, then it's also logical to assume this lady was specifically investigated for a reason. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean she's done anything wrong, it could easily have been a malicious or vacuous complaint that led to her being investigated. But, unfortunately, they did not show us the social media posts that led to her ban. If they're as innocuous as they claim, then of course it's outrageous that she has been banned. But the fact they they didn't show them could perhaps suggest there was a bit more to them than they're letting on. And Toby Young does have a bit of form when it comes to spreading misinformation. But, like I said, if what's claimed in the video is true, then this lady has undoubtedly been treated abysmally, and almost certainly illegally, in which case, she'd probably have a very strong case if she decided to take Newcastle and the Premier League to court for damages. I'm sure there would be plenty of lawyers out there willing to take it on in a pro bono no-win, no-fee basis.

Anyway, back to the original post, if what's claimed in the video is true, it's of course an outrage

This is what you said.... It's insidious and alarming to me, for example, that virtually every advertisement and every TV show now seemingly has to feature the obligatory token Asian person, the obligatory token gay couple, the obligatory token black person, the obligatory token mixed-race couple, the obligatory token disabled person - the list is endless. So you did say it. It's there in black and white. How do you decide when any of the people you are so alarmed by are there for tokenism, rather than simply because of normal and natural inclusiveness to reflect the diversity of society as a whole? You can look at it both ways. In dramas set in London or many other of the major cities in the UK, of course you're going to have many of the people you describe, for no other reason than a large percentage of the population there include these minorities. Similarly, in dramas like Shetland and Happy Valley, set either in remote or (semi) rural locations, the cast are obviously going to be predominantly white, to reflect the realities of these societies. Bear in mind also that the industry that you are accusing of tokenism by including the people you mentioned, is still overwhelmingly ran by white males. I've got absolutely nothing against you personally, and I'm genuinely sorry to hear you have health issues, and for these I wish you all the best. But that doesn't give you the right to write stuff like that and not be challenged.

Still absolutely gutted from the time they beat us on penalties in the QF replay at Cappielow in 1991. After 33 years it's finally payback time!

Well I didn't actually call him that, but people can draw that own conclusions on someone when they say they're 'alarmed' when they see an Asian, black, gay, mixed-race or disable person on the telly.

Well indeed. Any able-bodied white heterosexual who's genuinely 'alarmed' by the portrayal of disabled, black, Asian and mixed-race people on the telly really should be confined to the dark ages where they belong. The people they're so alarmed about are every bit as much a part of society are they are, and have an equal right of representation.