Diamond Scot

I think if Dykes is fit but doesnt score again for the rest of the season then he is still on the plane for a number of reasons. 1) Credit in the bank 2) Knows our system and phases of play which is important to Clarke 3) Utter lack of any credible alternatives I can see Adams getting a move to low end EPL team in January. Would suit both parties at this stage although Stewart getting injured might affect things.

If fit it will be both Dykes and Adam. 100%, not even a remote chance of either being dropped. The question is who the 3rd forward will be. Probably between Shankland, Brown and Nisbet. Id take Shankland.

If any of the classics were brought out today they would be nothing designs. For the home strip in particular I think less is more.

I actually quite like the current strips but the anniversary strip should be the template for future strips. Dark and traditional for home. Away abit more free but not neon etc

EPL is a better overall standard than Serie A however id argue that its harder to score goals in Italy.

If they give us bad stuff we buy it anyway lol

Im not defending the ref as I havent seen enough about the specific match today but why do you think he would call a game off if the pitch was clearly playable? Robson said he had concerns about the pitch and on Clyde 1 they were saying the away end goalmouth area was particuarly bad. I just cant see a reason why a ref would travel to a game and then cancel it for no real reason. Others games going ahead sometimes doesnt tell the full story. Is Dundee's pitch just not very good this season. As others have said, theres been a good few games where the pitch has been bad. I would suggest training on it to make a point probably wont help the pitch going forward. I think it may be half fee and travel expenses to answer my own questiob about whether they get paid.

Clubs will always want games to go ahead. The home team because they lose money if a game gets rescheduled and both teams as generally they can do without the fixture congestion. Thats why its left to the officials to decide.

Genuine question as I dont know thw answer but is there a prescribed time for the officials to arrive by? Info is that he turned up at 1.40pm with other officials arriving earlier. What was the protocol that he didnt follow? I presume its only a courtesy that he consults with managers etc as the decision will ultimately rest with the officials. Apparently Robson said he was concerned with the state of the pitch when walking over it but that he wanted game to go ahead and felt for the fans. If the ref hasnt followed some protocol then fair enough he should be sanctioned however why would a ref want to call a game off when he is already on site. Im pressuming they dont get paid as much if the game doesnt go ahead.

The ref made the call that the match wasnt playable because of the weather. What do you think should be done to him? He is just doing his job. People might say it should have been called off earlier but the same people would complain of a games called off early, the weather improves and the pitch is playable come kick off time. Its rubbish for the fans but its been that way since the beginning of time.

I agree but my point isnt that Aberdeen could or should be challenging for the league. Its that there is and has been a real opportunity for them to distance themselves from 5th downwards and thats something Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs have failed to do. Guarenteed European football eqch year makes it easier to not have to rebuild every year for a few reasons. Firstly you can put players on longer contracts, secondly players are less likely to want to leave as soon and thirdly its alot easier to attract players. Hearts actually did this really well. They ties guys like Shankland down to longer contracts, padded out their squad more and also brought in some free transfers like Forrest. If Aberdeen for example consistently finished 3rd and got group stage football then they could cherry pick the out of contract / 1 year left from the rest of Scottish football. They would also be much more atttactive for guys like Clarkston / those wanting exposure but also would be able to attract a better quality of loan players. Your last point is also correct but thats the nature of business, not just football. If an unknown talented shoe designers makes amazing quality of shoes they still cant sell them for 5k like the big well known established fashion houses. However each succesfull sell makes the next sell price abit higher. Look at Ajax. Because of the success over years they now get a premium. I guarentee if an Italian club wants to buy a promising Aberdeen player the price they would be willing to pay would be slightly higher due to Ferguson etc

Personally im no big fan of GRR or self ID but what you say isnt neccesarily correct. You said transwomen arent women. Transwomen can be women as defined by the law of the land. What they cant be is biological women which is where chromosomes etc come in. I think most people could accept that the current process of a lengthy wait, multiple doctors visits etc to change identity is perhaps to long and labourous however I think where they erred is by going too far too soon. Half the time and the number of medical hoops to jump through and probably nobody pays any attention.

Totally agree. My post was more in responce to the point that everything SNP do should be geared towards independence. Sometimes a government need to take unpopular choices in order to govern. Banning smoking in pubs, minimum alcohol pricing etc The big problem with the GRR is that its too easy for opponents to spread misinformation about it. For example a lot was made out of male abusers gaining access to rape centres by claiming they are a women now etc however there has always been and was proposed to continue with a clause allowing centres to refuse entry if they had any concerns etc. Another big issue is whats happening in schools. A quick way to lose votes is to make parents think they are losing control over the raising of their kids. Rightly or wrongly thats where we are at with alot of peoples views towards the SNP.

Even though the aim of the SNP is independence, the minute they were elected as a ruling government they also have to govern in the best interests of the country. I agree that the gender recognition issue and some other "progressive" polices have been an error however when the SNP have been in power for a number of years, they need to first show that they are a competent government but after that they need to show that an independent Scotland would differ from the rUK. A good way of doing that is by implementing progressive polices that in particular are vote winners with the younger generations. In this sense I can understand why not every action they did was safe or clearly to further the cause.

I dont disagree, his all round stats must be very poor. From watching him it just looks like its not the technical side of his game thats lacking.

You have to worry for Roofes career. Can only see him being offered a pay as you play deal whetever he goes next and his body doesnt seem capable of staying fit for some reason. The challenge on Lundstum was as clear a red as you will see. The ref was 10 yards away, looking strqight at it. How he only thought it was a yellow should be a worry for his ability. Thought Rangers lacked creativety / movement in the final 3rd. Something they have struggled with for years. Im a source of laughter for my Rangers supporting mates now but I still think Lammers could be a good player. He seems to have all the attributes except pace. He has brilliant feet and can spot a pass etc however he just seems to have no quickness of the mind. He consistently does the technical part of action really well like a side step etc but then instead of getting the pass or shot away he takes ages as if he is still to decide what happens next and then he gets tackled or blocked. Not sure if thats something that can be coached or if he is just that way now.

The vast majority of chairman in Scotland either live abroad or in isolated mansions. Criticism from the media or the powers of Scottish football should never be an excuse for not doing the right thing for their club and supporters. The fact is that its the chairman themselves that are the problem. Too often happy to accept the crumbs thrown to them and more worried about upsetting the status qou than representing the views of their support.

It does, my point is that the big teams like Aberdeen have it in their own hands to distance themselves from the rest of the pack and have consistently failed to do so. Thats on them and nothing to do with the OF. If Aberdeen played in Europe every year with all the things ive listed above that come with it then their chances of beating the OF on a one off cup final would be improved. Scottish football should really be the OF, then Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs and possibly Dundee Utd. It should be a massive effort for the other teams to break into the top 6. Of the 4 non OF big teams in Scotland, 3 of them have been recently relagated and out of the last 20 seasons Aberdeen have finished outside the top 6 on 7 occassions.

1) My point was that this would be lessened if a team such as Aberdeen could finish 3rd every year. Its alot easier to keep players if you have a steady income stream from Europe every year. You can afford to offer longer contracts which prevents low ball offers. Aberdeen no longer need to sell their best players for less than a million quid. Especially with clubs in England having so much money. This is a negative for the OF and very much a positive for Scottish teams. 2) Agreed and imo its up to the non OF chairman to band together. I was actually watching the Brawn GP documentary the other night where it showed the creation of FOTA which was basically the teams coming together. If the non OF teams could do something similar it would give them a much stronger argument, even with the 11/1 voting structure. Ive given an example in another thread about cup tickets. If the 10 non OF clubs stated pre season that they wouldnt be participating in the cup unless a guarentee of a 50/50 split being offered then it would force the authorities to discuss. 3) This doesnt affect a club like Aberdeen consistently finishing 3rd. If refs are biased towards the OF then it equally affects all non OF clubs. A match between Aberdeen and Ross County wont be affected by said bias.

Finishing 3rd every year for a club like Aberdeen, Hearts or Hibs would make a huge difference. Automatic qualification for group stage football not only brings in much needed finance but allows the club to offer longer contracts, snap up free agents on higher wages, attract better standard of loan players but would create a gap between 3rd and the rest. Thr financial gap between the OF and Aberdeen is massive but so is the gap between Aberdeen and Livi / Ross County. Yet reguarly teams like Aberdeen drop points to these other outfits and are close to them in the table. If one of the above clubs got their act together with the right board and a manager who didnt accept the current order then big strides could be made. Despite the cash the OF have, they are limited in the players they can buy these days. For example Celtic have something like 70 million in the bank but they simply couldnt buy a 15 / 20 million pound player. Partly because said player would then demand a wage in the region of 100k per week but mainly because that standard of player wouldnt come to Scotland as he will have more attractive offers. Therefore the OF are shopping in the buy to sell or giving 2nd chances market. Thats the same market a successful 3rd placed club would be operating in albeit at the lower end. Take Clarkston as an example. Doubtful he would have joined had Aberdeen not been able to offer group stage football. Imagine that could be offered every year. All of a sudden there is no need to sell your best players to the OF and the building blocks could be put together slowly but surely. Unfortunetly it seems Hearts and Aberdeen cant have more than 1 good season in a row, even with the advantages the Euro money has given them over the rest of the league.

Big call to leave out your top goalscorer and generally accepted best performing player from the qualifying. I know you have said previously that you would try Hickey as a holder and therefore allow McGreggor to roam forward more. Do you believe that McGreggor is a better attacking / box 2 box player than McTom?

Its always a balance though isnt it. To have a go you first need to get the ball and in certain games Gilmour clearly hasnt been fancied or done the job that Clarke wants. Personally I think our strongest 4 is McGreggor, Gilmour, McTom and McGinn and thats what id go with however I can see Clarke being abit more pragmatic in certain games like the Germany one.

Talking about international football. It may be a one off but McTom was our biggest goalscoring threat in the last campaign. Ferguson does look like a threat in a Bolonga shirt and he may very well work very hard for them however in a Scotland shirt he hasnt shown he is a goal threat or offer as much workrate as Christie amd Armstrong. Those are the barriers he needs to overcome to play for us. I do agree regarding gametime though, he should have got more and hopefully when he does he can show that he is a better option.

Correct, an unused sub for Scotland. Hence the strength in depth point. Having a stand out player in Italy finding it hard to not only break into our starting 11 but also getting any gametime shows how strong we are in that position.

Top tier side, the only one in our group is Germany. Swiss and Hungary are sides similar to us so to answer your question I wouldnt be surprised to see McTom start deeper against Germany and Gilmour the other two games. McTom has been inconsistent / poor as a holding mid for Man Utd. Now he gets played as a number 8 (box to box) and he is in the form of his career. For Scotland he is more like a box to box number 8 when starting deeper and almost a number 10 alongside McGinn when playing further forward. Although its not quite a number 10 as they have alot more defensive duties.