Annan Bear

Let battle commence

Just wish Ally would read that

He's right about Ian Black though

I honestly can't see the current SFL 3 teams voting for the new structure. They would be joining a league of 18 where 8 of those teams are potentially stronger ( one division higher) making the likelihood of promotion very difficult for years to come.

Ignore your bank account Steven and look at the attendances at Ibrox games and you'll see it - loyalty.

Think we need to have more depth in the squad but I'm happy to continue with the young guns.

Are they gonna send the polis to our doors and shepherd us onto buses to Tannadump? If the fans stick together there's feck all they can do.

Still remember that night like it was yesterday. Was in the Govan stand right in line with the Copland Road 18 yard box when McAllister scored and what had been a wall of noise went deadly silent. For a few seconds the only sound was the couple of Leeds fans in the middle of the Govan stand celebrating before they were bundled away by security men. Then the support burst back into life and continued for the rest of the game and a great 2-1 win thanks in no small part to John Lukic's howler allowing Ally McCoist to score. Brilliant Euro night - sadly missed.

Gretna packed their team with players that had played for years in the lower leagues. In hindsight thats what we should have done.

Sry just noticed already posted

From the Scotsman By EWING GRAHAME Published on Tuesday 18 September 2012 00:00 Rangers last night sparked a war of words with Third Division rivals Annan Athletic after claiming that the ankle injury sustained by winger David Templeton in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Galabank may have been caused by the artificial playing surface. The allegation was strenuously denied by the Dumfriesshire club. Templeton, signed for £800,000 from Hearts on transfer deadline day last month, collapsed nine minutes into the match with the ball elsewhere and no opponent within yards of him. Manager Ally McCoist claimed that medical staff had assured him that the plastic pitch was responsible for the damage, the full extent of which has yet to be revealed but it is likely to rule the 23-year-old out of action for the next few months. McCoist doesn’t believe that Annan’s 3G surface should be used for senior matches and claims that he has banned his senior professionals from using the ones at Murray Park. “The ankle is not broken but it is pretty bad,” he said. “He has ligament damage and only time will tell if that’s worse [than a break] or not. At least with a break you know where you are. We will just have to monitor him because he will have another scan to see how severe the damage is when the swelling goes down. “I have no idea what timescale we are looking at. I would probably settle for a month but I think it will be longer. Their player was nowhere near him: he just got his studs caught in the surface. It’s a shame because he started so well for us. Our doctor did say the pitch definitely played a part in it, but I don’t know how much. “As those surfaces go it looked all right, but whether we should be playing on them is a different argument. “I’m not going to start an anti-plastic pitch campaign because we have four teams in our league who use them. It doesn’t matter a toss what I think about them because we’re playing on them. That’s the way it is. We have two artificial facilities here, one outdoors and one indoors, and I don’t ask my older players to use them. That would give you an indication as to what my views are on it. But, at the same time, I fully appreciate why clubs use them because of the use to the wider community.” Annan secretary Alan Irving, though, rejected any suggestion that the synthetic surface could be at fault for Templeton’s injury. “These surfaces are now used in Champions League matches and cup finals and our surface is state-of-the-art,” he said. “Not counting youth-team games, we must have played a dozen times on that surface without any problems. One of the things which has become apparent, though, is that you need to wear the right footwear to play on it. “I’m sad that David Templeton has been injured but I find it incredible that our pitch is being blamed for it. He’d gone into a tackle shortly before he went down and I wonder if perhaps he was suffering a delayed reaction to that.”

Still think its down to the players attitudes. From the off Annan were snapping into tackles and giving no Rangers player time to look up and play the ball. Yes the smaller teams treat these games as cup finals but we need to take control from the off. In all the three away games the home team haven't just parked the bus and invited us to break them down - they have had a go when the opportunity occurs.

We were absolutely terrible today - if Annan had a front line they would have won. We had nothing today - we were constantly second best to 50/50 challenges and didn't have the desire to win. These away games are going to be battles and as soon as the players realise this the easier its going to be. Time to stand up and be counted.

Sent Andy a message about Annan preview - will wait for reply to see if he is doing one

Not been on much other than a quick browse on my phone. I have scribbled down a draft of a match preview for the Annan game. I know its late and Andy was going to do it - if he already has i'm fine with that - i appreciate if he has, the time and effort put in. Let me know if you would like me to put mine forward. Again sorry i left it so late.

From Annan Website 01/09/2012 - Annan v Rangers - Ticket Sales Announcement HOME Tickets will be sold to individuals i.e. One ticket per person. Tickets cannot be collected or purchased without ID (Driving Licence, Passport, Utility Bill, etc). A register of all ticket holders will be held by AAFC and used for ticket tracking purposes only. Annan Athletic FC reserve the right to refuse sale of ticket to any person and shall not be required to give any reason for such action. Supporters wearing Rangers strips, scarves, etc.* will be refused entry at the Home Turnstiles, tickets purchased for the HOME end cannot be used for the AWAY end. Postal applications will not be accepted. * If they stick to that there's gonna be a lot of people not getting in. Saw lots of "home" Rangers fans getting vouchers at the games.

Welcome to the worlds most successful club Sebastian.

Lee will still be able to play for Scotland long after Levein is long gone

Pretty sure it was Clyde

Annan are waiting to see what the new attendance is set at after the reconstruction work is finished but have said its all ticket with season ticket holders getting priority then supporters club members followed by holders of two vouchers from the two previous games. Then one voucher holders and finally public sale.

All the SPL clubs seemingly followed the opinions of their own fans. On various forums and in the media almost all these clubs fans wanted us booted to the 3rd division - so you got what you all wanted now live (or die) with the consequences.

Not a chance Darther - in fact i think they'll come out and put the blame firmly at our door!

In Annan's case (although only 4 years as a league club) they have never had to rely on Sky. The club is run with a tight budget mainly funded through local business and the thriving social club. The new pitch is being payed for by government grants and the proceeds from crime initiative.

Annans viewpoint (taken from AAFC Website) 13th July 2012 Recent months have been very testing and trying for all associated with the game, all 30 SFL Clubs were represented at Hampden today and collectively the SFL dealt with the issues that through no fault of our own had firmly landed on our doorstep, it was our duty to look at all options, in reaching our decision we acted with fairness and diligence. Annan Athletic FC voted Yes to accept Rangers application into the SFL, we voted No to Resolution 2 (to explain a no vote was saying no to Rangers being placed in Div 1 with the reform package known as Head of terms and yes to Rangers being placed in Div 3), we voted yes to resolution 3 that will enable Dundee or Dunfermline heading to the SPL when invited. Annan Athletic believed there was indeed only one acceptable option albeit not the one we felt we were being â??guidedâ?? towards, we fully accept that consequently Scottish Football is facing significant challenges, especially those of a financial nature, there will be a shrinking football economy but both options would have had similar results. As a club we are also committed to addressing the need for change, the presentation document, â?? Our Futureâ?¦.Our Clubâ?¦.Our Gameâ?? highlights many aspects of our game that could be changed and we look forward to being part of the consultation process in a true collaborative manner as indicated in the Head of Terms but more importantly one which is free from threat and bullying. The SPL are now due to meet on Monday where the first steps of shift in governance should take place with removal of the 11-1 vote. Like many other clubs we are suspicious that the SFLâ??s decision to place Rangers in Div 3 may not be final, the SPL could easily counter such fears by inviting Dundee or Dunfermline into the SPL to take the compliment of teams to the minimum number in accord with the legally binding Settlement Agreement. We were delighted to hear the unanimous response from all ten 1st Division clubs who stated that they are only interested in a 42 club resolution (for any CEOâ??s or others who are unsure what that means, bluntly it is stick SPL2 where the sun donâ??t shine and do not even attempt to pull a 16 team stunt move, another scenario that wouldnâ??t astonish us is for Rangers to be invited back into the SPL â?? to think we were threatened with Armageddon! We do however have faith that the SPL chairmen, the guys that matter, will invite Dundee or Dunfermline into the SPL and through all our combined efforts we will see a 42 team resolution to restructuring and the many other changes we all wish to see happening. It is worth noting that all 42 clubs in the SPL and SFL are members of the SFA along with all our other fellow members from the various associations are the country. Today at Hampden 30 of these members clubs made a decision based on sporting fairness which as our CEO, David Longmuir, reminds us is the fundamental principle of the Scottish Football League. A week or so ago the SPL clubs also based their decision on the same principle. Assuming the SPL do the right thing on Monday there is only one final element to be determined, the action to be taken by the SFA who still have to conclude the transfer of SFA membership from Oldco to Newco and complete the 2nd Tier Appellate Tribunal, that would appear to be straight forward as from what we heard yesterday Rangers are more than willing to take on board what is being suggested to them. We cannot share what was said yesterday as we respected the confidentiality of the discussion, Charles Green and Ally McCoist could only be as candid as they were under such agreement. The SFL clubs showed considerable strength, conviction and unity to reach their decisions, we now expect the SFA to support the decision of their member clubs, member clubs who through no fault of their own had the problem thrust upon us. Annan Athleticsâ?? stance is once again clear, we expect the SFA to quickly close matters out and let us get on with the game, our season starts in two weeks time. The SFL voted our newest member into our league today but they still have not got the surety that they will even be playing football next season. Despite the prediction of slow lingering deaths or Armageddon, Scottish Football has an opportunity to address so much, what is wrong with clubs cutting their cloth accordingly â?? it is fundamental and sets solid foundations which deliver sustainability, the opportunity to develop home grown talent will become a necessity, the Club Academy Scotland programme will be accelerated, the correction will be painful but clubs will eventually be able to demonstrate a much healthier and stable financial position, rules can be introduced to deal with insolvency (it should be an easy one â?? same as Gretna, Livi and Rangers), amalgamation of the leagues, governance of our game, the list is endless. We believe that the game in Scotland can come out of this clean; our game is big enough that these decisions merit consideration, debate and implementation free from an environment that removes a gun from our head. Today was a significant day in Scottish Football, the correct decision was made, and we now need everyone to move on. Today the stakeholders of the game voices were heard, without fans we have no game, we survived before SKY. Greed, imbalance of governance, etc etc etc has finally caught up with our game. We have a chance to rebuild our game, we need the fans to be good to their word, even if you canâ??t make a game fans can influence the financial situation. We have seen the keyboard warriors come to the fore, from every corner of the world, well guys support your team, support Scottish Football, itâ??s easy, sponsor a player, sponsor a match ball, clubs can be innovative as they like ( Annan Athletic are creating a Scroll of Fame that will be proudly displayed in our club, it will be dated 13th July 2012 and will reflect todayâ??s watershed decision, we donâ??t know how many people might wish their names added to the scroll but it will be our memory of the day we changed the face of Scottish football) â?? we will all need to be innovative as we rebuild our game, fans can play their part, come up with ideas like never before. This whole episode has proven one thing that we at Annan know from a personal viewpoint. We are involved in football because we love our game, we care for our game, we love our clubs, football is in our blood, football is our culture and for many of us it is our life. We would like to thank everyone for all the texts and e-mails, we have a tough time ahead but together our game will come out of this stronger and in a much better place. (http://www.annanathleticfc.com)

Glad i renewed my season ticket at Annan - gonna be a mad scramble for tickets!