Frankie

Careful now 26th - our well kent naked Northern neutral newsperson will join the forum to retort...!

:D I can sense a TBO banner along those lines in a few months. That should put their gas at a peep. Whit like?! :box:

Yep, he's started in left-midfield...

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/1265245?UserKey= Maybe something to do with Christian Kisuka and apparently Fraser Fyvie who has just signed a new deal with Aberdeen?

Aye, let's hope Big Mark is right... :spl:

Agree with Ian. Over the piece Ferguson has been a good player. Past his best now though which makes the fee and the loss of his wage (and influence) probably better for us.

Good opener for us - expect Celtic win but won't be easy for them with McGhee something to prove...

Bloody hell - impressive stuff!

Glad someone bumped this - forgot to donate last week! Small donation now made - all the best mate!

Jim Devine MP has claimed expenses for ice-cream and associated shelving for other confectionary.

Haha- sigs are actually turned off. Only Gersnet Writers and admin can use them... Tomorrow, I will create another usergroup where well behaved users who help me out can use them as well.

Is there anything in the quick links menu (top right of page)?

Good news... Hopefully Edu will also be back for the start of the season. Both players will be important next season!

Great stuff BD... I'm sure there are many clubs in Scotland following the oranje model but the more the better. Hopefully the McLeish led project will help facilitate this.

Cracking comparison between best practice in Holland and Scotland from pete... http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=800&Itemid=2 For those not aware, Scottish football is to be given a thorough and extensive review from the grass roots through to the professional game. Henry McLeish the former First Minister and an ex-East Fife youth player is going to examine Scottish football from the availability of facilities at grass root level right up to the professional game. As Holland has been one of the best countries in the world for producing world class players I would like to give an idea on how things work in Holland. Firstly football in Holland is based on being a community sport. Clubs are formed in Holland to give anyone who wants to play football the chance to play football. There is no looking in newspapers to try and find a team if you want to play - no matter how good or bad you are then there will be a club within a ten minute bicycle ride. These clubs differ in size with the biggest in being Quick Boys (Katwijk) who have 1783 members. They have 19 senior teams, 6 under 19 teams, 8 under 17 teams, 10 under 15 teams and 11 under 13 teams. Below this age group teams drop down to seven players and play on a half field. Players at all levels pay contribution money to the club so if you take 1783 x ââ??¬15 (average) per month that is a lot of money being pumped into your football club. The youngest age to join a club is five years old or to become five before a certain date. The first few years the cubs as they are called, normally just play within the club. They play 4 v 4 so as they will get as much time possible on the ball. At the age of six they move up to 7 v 7 on a half field with corners being half corners and a penalty from eight meters. The goal is the same size as a handball goal. No offside is played. Because the idea is to let everyone play football, every age group in the youth has the possibility to play 7 against 7. If there are too many players to form an eleven-a-side and too few to form two teams, then teams of seven-a-side can be formed. There are 83000 inhabitants in the town where I live and there are 8 football clubs . In total there are about 70 senior football teams. Behind all these senior teams come all the youth teams. These clubs are all set up to feed the top senior team (the first team). While most kids have the dream of playing for a professional club, getting into the first team for his club and the first team in his age group is also driving factor. A player who just fails to make the grade for the first team in his age group this season is not lost to the club and can go on to develop in the second or lesser team in his age group. That is where I feel many good players are lost in Scotland, as most boyââ?¬â?¢s clubs only have a first team per age group. The football clubs all have there own complex of pitches which are mostly owned by the council. The amount of pitches differs by the size of the club, most having between two and six full sized grass parks and a training pitch. The upkeep of the pitches falls partly under the cap of the council and often their social work department who employ subsidised workers. A 'canteen' where beer and wine is allowed to be sold is an important part of these clubs as it is a huge boost on the financial front. If you take the example of Katwijk above, then they have 19 senior teams. That means that they can have ten teams playing at home on match-days. Including reserves that is the possibility of having 140 people having a drink. Most away teams drink at least one beer or soft drink with the opposition before they return to base. That means you have the possibility of 280 people buying at least one drink. As I know for certain through experience many players spend the full afternoon in the canteen. The money these clubs make on match days, many pubs would be happy with the same amount in a week. All of the profit goes back into paying for trainers and the upkeep of the facilities which are partly the club's responsibility. Clubs are not permitted tax wise to make a profit through the bar so every penny earned must be put back into the running of club. Here is a quote from Edward Sturing - Head Coach at PSV: ââ?¬Å?The top clubs do not work alone. Without the thriving local football scene they would struggle. There is no organised schools football, but there are nearly 3000 local clubs of which 95 percent have a fully functioning youth set-up. Every weekend all those clubs play competitive matches in the age groups between seven and 19. Thatââ?¬â?¢s a lot of football and a lot of footballers. ââ?¬Å?In Holland the pyramid is very big,ââ?¬Â explains Sturing, making a triangle with his two hands. ââ?¬Å?To have so many local clubs for such a small country is amazing, because the base of the pyramid is so big there is a lot of quality at the top.ââ?¬Â Regional Scouts are regular visitors of club's youth games and the region's top 40-50 youth players are invited to be involved at regional level. A final region team is picked to play against other regions. Almost all youth training in Holland is based on the 'Coerver' training methods which is based on all training being done with a ball. Practice making perfect is preferred to jogging round a football field. Youth players have a natural stamina and working on the ball improves technique and stamina. In the youth setup there are not enough girls yet to form female youth teams, so female players play football with the boy youth teams. I have seen one female who made it as far as the under 17 first team. Not every club has a female team so at about 16 females have to look at moving to a club who do run one. That is perhaps one aspect of the system that should be improved in Holland. I think this article shows the big difference between Dutch football and Scottish football is at grass root level. Youth training and possibilities to play at a young level and grow through from cub to a senior first team level are hugely important principles often missing in our country. The chance to grow from five to fifty without searching newspapers to find a team. Football in Holland is community related, where grandfather, son and grandson will probably play for the same team. No fighting over football fields just 100% grass fields or sometimes synthetic these days. A football association which realises that the youth of today are the players of tomorrow and a government that puts money into sport without a lottery grant. Cambuslang Rangers, Pollock, Maryhill, Renfrew Juniors, etc. should be large clubs where anyone can play with the clubs thriving on a larger pyramid and contributions from players from all levels. There should be a full youth and senior program behind these clubs. Scotland has to build a pyramid with a proper youth football set-up being the foundation. Investment in the future is the way the Dutch look at things. Scotland should be doing the same. :spl:

You could even compare Walter's 2nd spell favourably as well...!

I hope he knocks him out literally! But Mowbray does have some size of heid! Him and Caldwell in the same dressing room should be interesting!

Just watched that film tonight actually...! Goebbels has nothing on some people...

Weird - thanks for the responses Jon and Gav; I've no idea why it wouldn't appear for some and not others. One for bmck come Monday...

Hmmm... just checked mine and it is there. Was it there before for you? Can another member check their's for me please?

I think Naismith is best in a free role. That's where he did his best work for Killie.

Agree with Norris. I still have high hopes for Naismith but I'd certainly prefer we played him centrally either as a striker or slightly withdrawn. We don't need to write him off yet.

Can he play left-midfield?

Nope, nothing at all. There will be plenty speculation but I'd imagine unless we move on a Ferguson, a McGregor and/or a Boyd; our budget will be non-existent.

As per the sticky thread above, the only strong rumours I've heard are Zak Whitbread on a free from Millwall and Chris Brunt from West Brom... Nothing else concrete.