Kris Boyd, who is still in his 20s, has re-signed for Kilmarnock until the end of the season.

Rangers got what they have wanted for years, they have played a competitive league game in England.

AB2 wrote:


I know it didn't work out in Turkey with Eskişehirspor but thought that Portland and MSL would have done.

Erskine Bridges wrote:


Possil YM? I played for Trinty Possil in the late 80s/early 90s, it was an adult side and we'd a good few Possil YM old boys playing for us. Stuart Girvan, Mick and Jim McGill and Ronnie Dunn off the top of my head.

Antepli Ejderha wrote:


Now that might have been funny on the 26th of August when we first played them this season. C'mon, try harder.

AMMS wrote:


Sorry, must have missed that one.

AB2 wrote:


It's amazing what a promise of unlimited Monster Munch will get you.

A short-term signing no doubt but could work out well for all concerned.

If ICT did manage to qualify for Europe, presumably they'd have to play at Pittodrie?

Reply to Jefe,

Driver was a great prospect when he broke through a few years ago 2006/7 and there was some discussion about his international status as he was English but had been in the Edinburgh area for most of his schooling. He declared for Scotland but has never played (due to injury?).

He was talked about in the £1-2 million values but got injured and he has only been playing in odd games for the last 2 years. Hearts will have been desperate to offload him because he will be a top earner and they are (nearly) bankrupt.

Whilst Clydebank is not in Glasgow, neither were Partick or Govan when Thistle and Rangers first played there. I don't know where Govan stopped and Glasgow began so can't say if Ibrox was in Govan or Glasgow at the time.

As for Clydebank, it's quite hard to tell when you cross the border especially with Drumry and Yoker confusingly used in both.

Celtic are wrapping up a comfortable 5-0 win over Dundee, whose new manager, Bomber Brown, has looked throughout like a man in the throes of a deeply painful shite. Joe Ledley has had a fantastic game.

The attendance is, it must be said, very low. Don't think Lawwell will be able to get away with counting the absent season-ticket holders in today's official crowd figure.

A decade ago, Rab Douglas was helping to get Celtic to the UEFA Cup final. Today, aged almost 41, he is between the sticks for Dundee. He fucked up for one of the goals, inviting a string of rather uncomplimentary (and unfair) comments on Twitter.

We've not got any Dundee fans on here, have we?

It's been interesting following the managerial story there this week. Most neutrals felt sacking Barry Smith was harsh. Dundee had about a week to get ready for the SPL and so no time to prepare a squad seems to be the narrative being followed. Unfortunately it isn't entirely accurate. They didn't know which league they'd be in officially, that's true, but they signed 13 players in the summer. If those players were signed to win Div 1 then it still doesn't explain why they have performed quite as badly as they have this season. Ross County, who also came up last season, signed only 7 players in the summer and currently sit in 5th place although victory tonight will see them jump to second, a remarkable achievement. The gap between the top of Div 1 and the bottom of the SPL isn't that wide.

Smith is an inexperienced manager, he got the job almost be default when Dundee went into administration a couple of seasons ago. To his credit he kept them up following a 25 point deduction and last season took them to 2nd top of the league. This season has gone badly but from the outside it looks like they could have been more understanding. None of us know what was going on in the background though.

Then late last week the club announced they were appointing John Brown as interim manager until the end of the season. Brown was a popular Dundee player in the 80s but was still a surprise choice. He has a lot of coaching experience but not at first team level. His only senior managerial job prior was an unsuccessful stint at Clyde. To be fair to Brown Clyde are resource starved, and are sitting bottom of Div 3 just now, despite being managed by the experienced Jim Duffy, ironically another Dundee legend.

In recent times Brown has been better known for speaking out quite vocally against Rangers CEO Charles Green. Frankly he came across as slightly unhinged, his ranting lacking both substance and credence. It was an episode that didn't do his credibility any favours.

A number of the Dundee support threatened boycotts and rumours of board unrest followed. These turned out to be untrue for now.
The media, particularly the BBC, were remarkably outspoken regarding his appointment. The Scotsman's Tom English, usually sane and measured, described the appointment, on air, as like Matt Bassett, Billy Dodds was equally scathing.
It later transpired Dodds had himself applied for the position.

The Dundee CEO explained his decision quite well I thought. They couldn't offer someone a longer contract than the end of the season because they don't know what league they'll be in next season, with possible reconstruction further muddying those waters. Brown has a lot of coaching experience, particularly with young players, something they thought important as Dundee currently have no scouts in Scotland, I was surprised to learn. Having played for the club Brown has some affinity with them and has also worked with the Dundee CEO in the past too.

Some see that as jobs-for-pals and perhaps it is, but when explained it wasn't quite as baffling an appointment as it seemed at first. Either way, it would take a miracle, or Hearts going into administration, to save Dundee from finishing bottom now.

AMMS wrote:


My Dad was a Dundee fan, even though he played briefly for Utd, and I count myself as a long time exiled one.

John Brown was an excellent, if somewhat agricultural, player at Dundee (strangely, he was even more of a bruiser at Rangers) but Smith has been very harshly treated by a club who have been appallingly run for too many years. Hardly surprising that Dundee are vocally in favour of league reconstruction.

I wondered if I could get some advice.

A few of us who are up for the Scotland v Wales game on the evening of Friday 22nd of March are planning to take in some games on the 23rd.

What are the practicalities of getting tickets for Rangers v Stirling at noon (ideally in the away end) and Partick v Livingston at 3pm? Crucially , how hard is it going to be to see all/most of both games with the transport in between?

Harry,

Ibrox, Govan and Kinning Park Underground (subway) stations are within a 15 minute walk of Ibrox park. Busy on your average matchday, but if you allow the crowds to disperse (I'm doing my best to avoid the "Subway Loyal" stereotype), you should be able to hop on at 2pm and be at Kelvinbridge or Hillhead subway within about 15 minutes. Both are a 15 minute walk from Firhill.

If the worst comes to the worst, you could *probably* walk from Ibrox to firhill, via the Squinty Bridge and some very nice West End scenery in not much over an hour. Whether you'd actually want to is another point altogether.

Thanks, bruno. That all looks doable. Anyone with any ideas about tickets would be great, though I presume Partick should be easy enough?

Harry,

Partick will pose no problems, you can effectively pay at the gate for either home or away sections, but if you want a ticket for the visitors section at Ibrox you would certainly have to contact Stirling Albion. There's nothing obvious on their website about ticket sales, but I might just be being a bit dim.

Standard allocation for away fans at Ibrox is about 900, so I'd imagine they'll have a few going spare, but I don't know how suspicious they might be about ticket applications from visiting Welshmen.

Forget about walking it, though.

I live about 100 yards from Firhill and work in Govan. It takes me more than an hour to walk home and I think you'd be lucky to make it from Ibrox in less than 90mins.

For getting to Firhill I'd say go to St Georges Cross subway rather than Kelvinbridge. There's not much in it distance wise but it's a straight walk up Maryhill Road from the station to the ground.

If those players were signed to win Div 1 then it still doesn't explain why they have performed quite as badly as they have this season.

Name the last team who won division 1, didn't strengthen their team in the summer, and survived in the SPL the next season. Trick question, there isn't one. Even Gretna, who used SPL-grade players on Monopoly money to win divisions 3, 2 and 1 signed a bargeload of new players before their first SPL season.

There's a world of difference between trying to win promotion, and fighting a relegation battle one division higher. You may even witness this first hand when your own lot eventually get back to the SPL.