calscot

I be raging if we had paid that much for him...

Let's hope he establishes himself as a decent player in the EPL, that would be very good for the Scotland team.

But I think that's the whole point, we have to get rid of a couple before we can sign any. If the Ricksen and Fanfan moves are sealed then I would bet a lot of money that we'll get at least 2 defenders in before the transfer window closes. If Malcolm and Andrews also leave we may see even more signings. Another centre half would be good or a left sided midfielder - possibly Lee Martin on loan, and there's a good chance we'll get another goal-keeper in too although I'd like to give our latest conveyor-belt youth stopper a chance as backup while Klos recovers. It looks like we'll have supplied 3 SPL teams with a keeper.

Fraser, the reports a good idea but it's the 2005 report which is now obviously out of date. We've paid off quite a bit of the debt since then due to the CL run and the JJB deal.

I agree with Cammy's line up, especially if you swap Sionko and Burke around during the game as both seem to be able play either side. I can't see us dropping Svensson, I think he needs more games not a place on the bench if you want him to improve. Hemdani might be able to do a job but he's me more of an elastoplast than a long term solution. Svensson will come good, I just hope it's sooner rather than later. I think it's quite easy to drop Prso as he needs to be careful with his knee and Adam is still young and maybe needs to be treated with care. Give him too much responsibility to soon and he may not cope with it if he has a bad run and the fans get on his back. So Burke and Boyd in for me with Prso and Adam on the bench, and sticking by Svensson.

Frazer, it's difficult to have 20 big teams when you have a population of 5 million people. All the big leagues have populations of over 50 million people which means they can support 10 times as many teams as us that are on average as big as the Old Firm. It doesn't quite work that way as for example, twice as many people per capita go to games in Scotland compared to England and England have for more provincial teams with significant supports. But the TV money from a huge armchair fanbase really makes a difference and the supply and demand for the top teams is greater meaning ticket prices are much higher. But basically there is no way we can compete with such a small population and we do rather well compared to our closest peers such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria and Switzerland.

Two good things for Scotland about Hearts - they played 5 Scots in the team and, like us, they have a Scottish flag on their shirt. Very unlucky way to lose, the sending off was a joke and the second AEK goal was a complete fluke. If only they could have held out for the last 6 minutes. I only caught the last 40 minutes and thought Hearts played well enough to at least deserve a draw. They must have been pants in the first half for the commentators to say that AEK deserved to win.

He said: "I appreciated the reception I got from the supporters. "It was a great sight to see the stadium all red, white and blue. It's great for the players to receive this kind of backing. "I had heard that our supporters were very passionate and emotional and that was true against Dundee United. "I loved the atmosphere and I hope I can enjoy a good relationship with the fans during my time at the club. I had that at Lyon and I feel it's important." So with the least sectarian chanting and singing for a while and the new boy is still knocked out by the atmosphere. The bigotted prophets of doom take note, your predictions about Ibrox being a morgue are about as acurate as Nostrodamus' end of the world in 2000.

Tomorrow has Hearts v AEK Athens The Jam Tarts have started the season well with 3 wins out of 4, winning two difficult games at "home". Do you think they can continue the good work with a decent result against the Greeks at what should be a half filled Murrayfield? I think that the result against Celtic will have given them a great lift and a boost in self belief which could raise their game against a side which are only just recently recovering from debt problems and a decade of decline. I'm think they have a good chance of at least a narrow win but will have to be careful about losing a crucial away goal. Thursday has Gretna v Derry at Fir Park. Whatever the fourth Scottish representative in Europe, the traditional result is an ignominious early exit from what would normally be considered a complete minnow from a footballing backwater. Do you think Gretna will be another name added to the list of shame, or do you thing the 1st division new boys will carry the great spirit and determination with no lack of skill, that they used to narrowly lose the Scottish cup on penalties, into their first European experience with the Irish 3rd placed team? Derry created a shock to get to this stage of the competition by beating former conquerors of Rangers, IFK Gothenburg 1-0, both home and away. So it's fair to say they won't be coming as cannon fodder to the team who opened this season's account with a 6-0 thrashing of last years third placed team, Hamilton Accies. I think the way they are going they'll be the team to break the mould and actually give us a bit of a novelty European run although it will be very hard fought.

This is the price they pay for guaranteeing an extra Old Firm game or two at home as well as the likes of Hearts. The possible loss of a home game against the likes of Hamilton with about 2000 fans attending is not hard to take when you are gaining three home games which are against the top six teams as well as swapping games against the likes of Ross County with that of Dundee Utd. They get a minimum of 18 home games, while it's 15 in a 16 team league and they are against higher and more lucrative opposition. It's a no brainer. The interest created by the split can also increase their attendances. For example let's take Inverness's season who lost a home game and play that against what they would have had in a 16 team league. In both leagues they would have had one home game against the other 11 SPL teams that were in the league last season, and in addition the following home games: SPL as is-------------16 team league ------------------------------------ Aberdeen------------St Mirren Motherwell-----------St Johnstone Dundee Utd----------Hamilton Falkirk---------------Ross County Rangers-------------Nobody Hearts---------------Nobody Kilmarnock-----------Nobody So not only do they have 3 EXTRA home games but they are against Rangers, Hearts and Kilmarnock. They also have some more attractive home games with Aberdeen instead of St Mirren, Motherwell instead of St Johnstone, Dundee Utd instead of Hamilton, Falkirk instead of Ross county. As a Caley fan, which version of the season ticket would you rather have?

I must be the only one who can see past this aberration. The teams who finish outside the top six can only finish a highest of 7th. The top teams can only finish a lowest of 6th. If the 7th team is not far behind the 6th then it is LIKELY that 7th will have more points than 6th. This is because the 7th placed team, having already demonstrated that they are better than the rest of the bottom 6 are likely to win most of their remaining games. Conversely the 6th team are more than likely to lost most of their remaining games to the top teams in the country. It looks strange at first glance, but it's relatively easy to reconcile it when you understand it and get used to it. This was a known issue when before the new league system was ratified and was therefore acceptable to all clubs.

I can't think of many of Eck's misfits that have had much of a chance under Le Guen so I reckon the players in question have behaved in a way that is unacceptable to the new gaffer as he demands a lot of respect. Klos, Kyrgiakos, Zurab, Fanfan, Bernard and Ricksen are all out in the cold. Waterreus and Lovenkrands were the ones extended olive branches but they rebuffed them. I think Andrews and Malcolm are just not considered good enough.

I would presume our present level of debt is very low and highly likely to be under £10M. We'll find out in the end of year financial report. Can't remember when it's due.

A loan deal is probably pretty good for us as long as they pay his full wage. If he realises it's his last chance to save his career he may pull his socks up and we could possibly sell him next year with a fee based on a decent season in the Premiership. That would be much more money than we'd get for the misfit at the moment.

Most doormen are built big, fat, bald and with no brain - is that you?

How is inviting them for a homo-erotic act with you going to help?

I think our league is small enough for the benefits to outweigh the drawbacks. The teams on average earn more money, even if they don't qualify for the top six, than they would with a 16 team league. It suits our league due to the uniqueness of having 42 teams in a country of 5 million people.

PS I'm thinking logically, ignoring all loyalties.

I still think it's a shame in a way that Hibs resisted Hearts' takeover bid. If they got sensible can you imagine how a united Edinburgh team could challenge the OF. Instead of 16 thousand fans, they could have 30 thousand, or even more due to reasonable success. Hearts may be doing a good job without the Hibs support but can you imagine what they would be like with that extra revenue and vocal backing. And before anyone says, I realise that there are historical reasons why it wouldn't go so smoothly. But it was 20 years ago. The other two that should merge is the Dundee teams. The city's population has pretty much halved and there's no way they can support two teams. And having two stadiums next door to each other is just ridiculous.

There are good reasons to have the split and not go to 18 teams. Would you pay the same for a season ticket for 17 games (instead of 19) where only one was Celtic and one Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen etc? They are replaced by the likes of Hamilton, St Johnstone and Dundee etc... We have a twelve team league but even then a lot of the games attract around 5 or 6 thousand fans. How many will turn up to a mid-table game between say Motherwell and St Mirren, where neither team will get into Europe nor get relegated? How much TV money will the league attract, as well as sponsors etc? The split may be controversial but it can spice up the mid-table three quarters of the way into the season. It gives all the middling teams a tangible goal which is rewarded with extra income. So we have a fight for the Championship, then a fight for the CL place, then a fight for the UEFA place then a fight for a top 6 finish and finally a relegation fight. To spice up the bottom even more I'd make the 2nd bottom team play a play-off with the winners of another playoff between 2nd and 3rd in Div 1. It's a flawed system, but it does work at making our league more interesting for it.

Cammy, if you want to misinterpret what I say and get on your high horse, then I'm not going to rise to it. Let me make this clear, as a non-season ticket holder and someone who does not get to many games, I have no desire to lecture anyone on how much they spend on football. Please read this and take it as my definitive statement on the subject. Anything you read of mine that you think suggests otherwise means you have not interpreted my words correctly and are taking inferences that are not intended.

I agree. I wouldn't be disappointed to see the same team and formation next week. We're playing fantastic football, creating a barrel-load of chances that could win a dozen games - and that's only two matches into the new regime... You could say we missed a fair few chances but the saves were top quality and you don't expect a team to save three shots off the line. The goals will come with time - they are inevitable, and when they do we'll give someone a complete hiding. As for the defence, it's too early to make judgements and I think Svensson will come good. However, we definitely need more options there, but it's obvious Le Guen knows this. If Fanfan goes, I'm sure we'll be right in the market for another defender. If we get Barry back soon, Hemdani can be cover for that area. I'm entirely happy with the way things are going and see no need to change much at all. We're not going to win every game, but if we play like that every week, I won't complain too much about the odd draw or unlucky loss.

So you didn't find it wry in anyway?

He was foolish indeed, given the usual behaviour of these so called fans.

Seems a bit silly to have a change strip with the same colour in it...??? And why are they wearing it when their home strip doesn't clash with maroon? They are definitely fleecing their fans with an unnecessary away kit.