BrahimHemdani

" the socks are, as always, traditionally styled to pay homage to the club's heritage while engineered to provide comfort and support in key areas." The first picture on the site this morning were the traditional black & red but now they are white?

I knew I had seen the 6,000 figure somewhere, which applied form 2005 to 2013 http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/aberdeen/217366-requirement-for-seated-stadiums-to-be-scrapped-under-league-reconstruction/ Thanks for the update.

Hibs win at Livingston last night was a big disappointment, as a loss and a win for us v Falkirk on Saturday would have been enough to secure second spot, a bye to the Play Off Semi Final and fix the date of the 3rd Gernet Dinner as 23 May, much to the relief of SteveC who has already booked flights. As things stand, Falkirk come to Ibrox still with a mathematical chance of finishing fourth, although they would need to beat us and Hibs at home on the last day and can't afford QoS (who have a vastly better goal difference) taking even one point from Dumbarton at home and Livingston away. A highly unlikely set of circumstances one would think especially as Falkirk's minds may drift to the Cup Final. Falkirk have only one point to show for 4 encounters with us this season and a total of 2 goals for and 10 against. That said they will not lie down to us and are perfectly capable of taking something from the game; but I expect us to win and Hardie to score again. Alloa go to Easter Rd on Saturday needing points to avoid the relegation play-off spot. HIbs lost the first league encounter when they were struggling in August but have since beaten the Wasps three times. Fyvie was in top form last night and I expect Hibs to win. Falkirk have already beaten Hibs 1-0 home and away in the League as well as the Cup but Hibs will be looking for revenge for the Scottish Cup Semi Final defeat on the last day when Falkirk may have nothing to play for other than avoiding injury ahead of the Final. I think we have to assume Hibs will win that. Which means we will have to win at Tynecastle. We lost home and away in 2014, including the embarrassing performance at Tynecastle in November but for me the victory at Ibrox on the 5th of April was our best performance of the season. Hearts will want to end the season on a high even if it makes life slightly easier for Hibs and it will take another epic performance for us to win again; but we are capable of that. Then all we have to do is beat the second bottom in the Premiership, most likely Motherwell who have 3 wins in their last 4 outings. But we have cup wins over St Johnstone and Kilmarnock this season, whose league positions suggest they are better teams than Motherwell; although Motherwell have a win and a draw against Kilmarnock in recent matches. Odds against accomplishing all that, 50/50 at best?

6,000 I believe.

A fitting tribute no doubt. Unfortunately Hibs just took the lead at Livingston. And Hippolyte scores a spectacular equaliser. But Hibs go in front again.

A long overdue but nonetheless clear statement of the law by the learned judge.

You may well be right about the sequence of events. The reason I remember the bit about the UEFA delegate was that at the time no one could work out how Celtic knew about it. My recollection is that the punishment was automatic after that but I may be wrong and don't have time right now to look it up. I'm more worried about our first trip to Kazakhstan in the ELQ4 in a couple of year's time TBH.

My point is that if the penalty had been awarded and he had been sent off as I think most but not all agree, then he wouldn't have the dream to be shattered about. That said I agree that it is a very unusual case but I do think that Celtic have more of a case to be disappointed than ICT or the player; but Celtic's subsequent actions take that all away. As per usual they are bad losers, something that I am pleased to say, we have very rarely been guilty of. I do remember one time WS let the side down from that point of view but in comparison with Celtic, as a rule we are far, far more dignified.

Well there has been at least one lady at each dinner so far but I'll happily organise the ladies night

I think there's a case for that which is why ICT are having a go but in all honesty it SHOULD have been a pen and and he SHOULD have been ordered off, so they're being a bit hypocritical in my view. And this bollocks about the player being shattered is just that BOLLOCKS. He got away with it on the pitch but it's caught up with him now and he deserves a ban however unusual the system is that achieves that.

If memory serves me it was the UEFA delegate who spotted it, I think.

Well, he's right that there's no point in the letter but saying Mr Muir “must be an idiot not to see it” is just as out of order.

Unfortunately the petition is based on two false premises: Meekings is not looking at ball when it strikes his arm and, therefore, the handball cannot be deemed to be deliberate. Wrong. His arm is raised and clearly in an unnatural position, therefore it IS deliberate handball. Indeed, even in the case of a clearly deliberate handball - Thierry Henry v. Ireland in 2010 - FIFA's disciplinary committee reached the conclusion that there was "...no legal foundation for the committee to consider the case because handling the ball cannot be regarded as a serious infringement as stipulated in article 77a) of the FIFA disciplinary code." Handling the ball to prevent a certain goal IS regarded as a serious infringement, punishable by both a penalty kick and and an ordering off.

You can't lay that one at the feet of the SFA, GS, they don't write the Laws of the Game! No pun or even irony intended on your part, of course.

And who am I to argue with him

Not quite, Ian. The referee's decision is final as to the facts on the day. So I would argue that the handball was not punished after the game but the player's action will be. Semantics, perhaps.

I always felt that not having been a player hampered me as a referee, so I take all you say onboard. I would contend however that the REASON why Meekin put his arms up is irrelevant, so long as the action was deliberate; it is deliberate handball and hence a penalty. Goalkeepers tend to get a lot of leeway, perhaps too much. Aside from that I won't rehearse the arguments again. I do think that you make a very telling point at the end. If you appeal a verdict in law or in football you leave yourself open to the sentence being increased. Likewise if you ask for an explanation where none is possible, or at least none that you do not know already; then you should be sanctioned for bringing the game into disrepute. But we both know that there is absolutely know way that that will happen. I would argue that Celtic's letter is much more disrespctful than the player caught shagging in the dugout.

It's a FANtastic example of what can be acheived by very hard work and dedication starting from scratch. I saw them play at Chester in the SD Cup and their support are very noisy and enthusiastic, good luck to them. They were promoted in each of their first three seasons but have stalled a bit since reaching the second round of the FA Cup in 2010-11. FC United of Manchester v Benfica WOW.

In what way did he bring the club into disrepute or not act professionally; did the lady complain that his performance was not up to scratch If he didn't have (presumably only the top half of) the track suit on would it have been OK? The mind boggles anyway, do they have the kind of sports car seats or just an old fashioned bench?

Got a look at that incident on youtube. I'm not convinced that the keeper deliberately punches the Inverness player on the back of the head, what would be the point in that anyway. There's another big difference in the two incidents, which is of more relevance, however. The ref appears to have a clear view of the Zaluska incident and obviously decides the clash is accidental, so the Compliance Officer can't act in that case.

Always do, amigo.

I agree it's argumentative but if Zaluska is not charged that doesn't mean Meekings is wrongly charged; I'm sure that deep down you would agree with that.

Looking at it a few more times I'm not convinced that he had his arm up before he went to head the ball anyway, I think he may have brought his arm up in the split second he realised he was missing the header. Whatever way you look at it it was a penalty and he got away with it on the park and it would have had a significant bearing on the result penalty and an ordering off; so I don't think he can complain about the notice of complaint. He'll be found guilty IMHO and get a one match ban. It may be tough but it's arguable that if he had not handled the ball his team might not be in the final and if it had been dealt with on the field then he would have missed the final anyway. Celtic were right about McDonald and his linesman but this is quite different and they are wrong to pursue it because that just makes the notice of complaint look like cause and effect.

Walter is spot on.

I haven't seen it but of course the answer to both questions would YES