ascender

Definitely. With the running I'm doing just now I've noticed I could pretty much eat and drink whatever I want and I won't put on any weight. But I still notice a difference in terms of my fitness and how hard certain sessions become. Conversely, watching what I eat means I do feel a difference in how I feel in general but also in training.

Likewise, I bet we've all got one of those annoyingly skinny friends who can eat & drink whatever the hell they like and not put on any weight at all. Although obviously its having some effect on their body over the longer term I guess.

I just find it interesting as I'm reading quite a lot about the subject just now and there's obviously a cultural difference in the UK which a few pros have mentioned over the last while, but nothing's really changed. So I was wondering if this is because its a lost cause in Scotland as nothing will change? I then find it strange that with the money footballers are getting paid, that clubs aren't more strict with them.

Its kind of going off-topic, sorry.

But the former Lens hitman met boss Walter Smith at Murray Park yesterday to insist his words had been lost in translation.

Well done to all of you who had "lost in translation" down as the explanation for this one. I refer you back to my post form a few weeks ago Its unfolding like a textbook case of unhappy foreigner trying to win a move away from the club.

So, does this mean there's still a problem with the infamous "monster munch" culture within our squad? I still don't understand this really. I'm not a professional athlete (no shit I hear you cry), but even I know that when doing any sort of semi-serious training, its a big benefit to you if you watch what you eat and drink and train a bit more "clever".

Given we're talking about pro footballers who are no doubt being given lots of advice by the club on similar subjects, is it acceptable for us to still have this unprofessional approach to our game? I know that it appears to be a Scottish problem and not just a Gers problem, but why does it still exist?

Confused.

Is this a new article or just a re-hashing of the one from France which he did months ago? Like I said recently, its all pointing to him wanting to leave and I don't think he'll be here next season. Him and his agent are obviously just using us as a stepping-stone to England.

The risk with Buffel, apart from his lack of starts, is that he was such a hit and miss player at the best of times. One day he looked like the real deal, the next he looked like a complete waste of space who'd rather be anywhere other than at Ibrox. Which is a shame as he's clearly talented, but in all his time here he's never really looked like coming good for us.

If we need pace I'd be tempted to play Naismith tbh.

The Boyd to Birmingham story is still doing the rounds and has now been picked up the the Mirror.

I had big hopes for Webster being his replacement but its not looking like that will happen any more. As for the defending deep thing, I don't think it helps having Papac at LB either as he's not an attacking WB like Hutton so also has a tendancy to get caught further back than he should be at times.

As for Weir, I'd like to see him stay at Ibrox in some capacity as he seems like he could be an ideal coach for our young defenders.

Has to be the league, but hopefully we have a strong enough squad now to compete on both fronts without any excuses. Just so long as Walter actually starts using the full squad....

Didnt PL want to stay on but he just couldnt agree to a improved contract?

Yip, I don't think he liked the idea of being part of the new wage structure that was being put in place. He wanted a new megabucks deal which just wasn't going to happen.

You can see his point of view, how's anyone expected to survive on 15 grand a week?

Did the PL house rumour not start about 2 weeks after he left?

He went where the money was, so what does that tell you about his love of the Gers? If he'd really wanted to stay here, he'd still be here, simple as that.

I don't see why we're suddenly the moral police and don't think its doing us any favours tbh. I've said for a while that I think this will make us look bad in the media and the public eye and I think that's starting to happen. Its petty point-scoring as far as I'm concerned and while we're not singing about child abuse itself, its definitely in the same ballpark.

But hey, each to their own and I know that opinion will label me as a handwringer among most of our support.

If he is unhappy then we should let him go. Time to bring back Sebo-+

Fook. I forgot about that option. Gribz will be all over it like a rash when he reads my post...

Maybe we should keep the miserable fecker after all. Cousin that is, not Gribz....

I rate Cousin as a player. I think he's got talent and like a lot of the better European players, he has a nice touch and lots of natural ability.

So, am I surprised about the latest rumours concerning this player who has a history of being an unsettled (or should that be unsettling) player to have around? Not really given his history. But he's now starting to come under the same intense scrutiny that Kris Boyd has done recently, with every minutiae of his body language and behaviour being analysed by some fans.

However, even apart from his history, since he signed for us, there's been the usual noises through various media outlets, that he's not been happy. We've had so many of the usual clich�©s associated with an unhappy foreigner that I'm starting to think its only a matter of time before he moves on.

Mis-quoted article in his home country stating his unhappiness? Check.

Constant rumours from the training-ground? Check.

Media stories about his unhappiness? Check.

Of course we've also had a few performances where he hasn't looked interested, culminating in last week's match where he put in a "shift" which even Kris Boyd must have thought looked lazy. From here on in I think it will be a downward slope and I won't be at all surprised if he leaves in January. If the rumours are true then I don't think we should be keeping an unhappy player who may be a disruptive influence. We simply don't need that sort of player at the moment.

Like I said from the outset, I do rate him as a player, but with this sort of situation there's usually no smoke without fire. Which unfortunately makes me think Hemdani will be leaving us sooner rather than later too.

And Sunderland keep a clean sheet. Bit of a strange one as the lad hasn't been playing badly, but I guess Keane wanted to change things around to see what happened or maybe give CG a wake-up call.

From what I've seen he's been playing OK but nothing amazing and looks like he could do with trying to come from more crosses to dominate his box a bit more. I know I've been critical of AM at times for how he comes for so many high balls and often has to punch/palm them away, but I'm starting to think I'd rather have it that way than a keeper who's rooted to his line.

If Gordon doesn't get his place back soon and AM keeps improving, I think we'll have a new Scotland number 1.

I'd start with Boyd over Buffel but give him a run out at some point. Assuming he can get on the bench with the U21 rule.

Surely Gow could start in there ahead of Adam. Or does Adam just need some games to get his match fitness & confidence up?

They're just playing the game. The SFA would have known Eck had wanted to go but couldn't be seen to just give him up without a fight, so he has to resign.

Same deal with WS which was why he took so much flak for it from Scotland fans.

I thought he'd leave, but Birmingham isn't exactly a prestigious place to go.

Leaving Scotland I can understand as he's too young for that job and clearly misses the day to day stuff. He can also leave with his head held high and be proud of what he did there largely speaking.

I guess at least Birmingham stayed faithful to Steve Bruce (although now there's rumblings from him) so maybe that was in his thinking that its the best of a possibly bad bunch. And at least he's not shying away from a challenge.

Whoever comes in to Scotland has got the makings of a good squad already, so maybe it is an ideal time & opportunity to get someone like Dalglish back in to the game.

What are Norway like these days?

I was very confident until I realised 2nd place is only a play-off place. That stinks tbh and could knacker us.

I think we should definitely sign him, but there's just no point at the moment as where would he play?

Ignore that, I was being a trumpet.

I wouldn't have that much of a problem with KM coming if we hadn't signed D'Archeville and Cousin. I think we're agreed that the 4-5-1 formation has its advantages at times in the CL for example and personally a player like KM who can run and run while on his own up front is an asset. I know he gets flack, but I think he'd be a useful squad player if we didn't already have 3 players who could play that role already.

Who knows about Burke and Gow? I've not seen anything of them to know if they're worth keeping. Its been baffling that neither have featured when at times we could have done with a creative spark and some width.

I wonder about Webster. He's impressed me a lot when I've seen him, but feck me is he injury prone. I hoped he'd be groomed this year to take over from Weir from next season, maybe we're quite happy to keep him as his transfer saga is still rumbling on.

I think Buffel will go as he's another one who I thought WS would have played by now if he was going to keep him. A nominal fee and his wages should pay for someone to come in.

I've wondered about Kingston for a while, think he could be worth a punt.

I've been a fan of McFadden for a while now, but I'm not sure where he'd fit in. We (still) badly need a box-to-box midfielder who can score goals and drive the team on, not to mention provide defence-splitting passes.

Selling Boyd makes no sense at all to me. For all the abuse he's taken and his lack of starts, check out the scoring charts. He's exactly the sort of player we need in the SPL and the sooner WS gets a settled 4-4-2 the better.

Eck is obviously wanting to get back in to club management as the international thing is fine but lacks the day-to-day stuff. I'm just not sure how he'll do as I think he's been found out at times with Scotland from a tactical point of view in the same way that happened at Ibrox. But the flip side is that I still think he did a lot of good for us given the rampant downsizing going on around him.

I'd be tempted to stay in charge of the national team though. He's got a great group of players and might get a great chance of making the World Cup given how we've improved in the world rankings recently. He's also got age on his side.

If he does go, then there's probably never been a better time for someone to come in and do well with the team. I'd like to see Gary Mac involved in some role though.

Woke up after having a dream about the game. Not sure how accurate the team selection was, but we lost 3-1 and played Catherine Zeta Jones in goal. Hope I'm wrong on both counts, but with Eck you never know.

I'm being very optimistic and hope we get something, but I've a real worry that we could be torn apart for the first time properly under WS. If they use the width of the pitch and their passing to maybe get an early goal, it could be a long night.

There's been rumours of his unhappiness for ages now despite the odd denial. He's 30 years old and hardly playing. I can see why he'd want to leave and 3M seems like a fair price considering.

We definitely have a good aerial threat now which makes it even more disappointing to see us wasting so many set pieces. We've struggled to get a decent corner-taker for years now, another one of those glaring problems which makes me wonder how the management can't see it.

Funnily enough, the last time I remember us taking decent set-pieces was when Bob Malcolm was in the team. I distinctly remember he came in for a while under McLeish to play the holding midfield role and as part of that started to take set pieces and finally we had someone able to deliver a decent dead ball.

Surely we have someone who can take a half-decent corner kick in our squad?