buster.

If both are off, whether both start or one replaces the other, they are both off. Sometimes (like today), in part it's usually down to a lack of quality supply / good organised defending / frustration as well as simply being off.

Still not adverse to them both in a 3-5-2.

Hearts are 8 points ahead of us so at this point in time, we can't say we are better. Nor should we be doing ahead of the fixture next weekend. It's shaping up to be a very important match. moreso than the European match on Thursday. Hearts are another team that can be difficult to break down and might to an extent, afford an opportunity for us to show how much we can improve tempo middle to front, by playing on a decent pitch.

Obviously the Mother !

If we slip and they don't, it's down, at least in part to footwear. The pitch was far from ideal and was a factor but in the 45 minutes I saw, Livingston were very effective defending the area between the edge of their penalty box and 20 metres upfield. Livingston are hard to break down as their goals against stats bear out. eg. Hearts have failed to score at home in 2018 in only one match. Guess who it was against ?..... 22/09/18 PRE Hearts 0 - 0 Livingston One goal conceded in their last 6 league games (540 minutes)

Livingston stopped us playing moreso than the pitch. We played our best domestic away game (and result) this season on a plastic pitch (Kilmarnock) edit. In the 45 minutes (first half) that I saw.

Only saw the first half and after it you kind of knew that it wasn't happening today. You can see why Livingston don't concede many. They work hard, are very organised and very difficult to get behind. Goals conceded in their last six league games 001000........(and they beat Hibs 2-1 the day they conceded) Can't say much more as I didn't see second half.

Just to add, I think it's good SG has come out publicly with that as it will send a message to the players that his public backing isn't automatic if you aren't pulling your weight. SG is a 'natural' to football management.

Club will obviously lose sales because of the late arrival to market of the strips but the timing might actually mean that some buying strips won't be able to buy tickets for the European game next week. The percentage of sales price going to club is much higher for the match ticket, hence the potential loss. 35000 went to the Ayr Utd game which was a very decent crowd. I'd imagine the Rapid game will be in the low 40's.

That tends to be last resort and like you, I don't see him being considered as an option.

Ach well, it'll just have to remain a secret unfathomable mystery

Rousseau recomended him to Mark Allen

Very encouraging. It seems to be a comprehensive and holistic strategy that is being put in place for the football operation. It's the only way to go if you want to be as good as you can possibly be. Well done to those involved, including those at board level.

Dorrans and Rossiter are an unexpected bonus at this stage and regardless of the surface, after their midweek match, I don't think they'd have been starting come Sunday. Touch wood but our middle of the park options are beginning to have both quality and quantity. Sunday will be a lot to do with attitude and application against what will be an aggressive and in your face opponent.

Very much so and was always going to be the case. Revenue won't be an unimportant factor. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.7 For each Match in the Semi Final Round of the Competition: 10.7.2 15% (or such lesser percentage as the Company may be able to agree) of the gross admission receipts after deduction of the applicable VAT shall be paid to the neutral venue owner and operator as payment for the hire of the stadium and associated services; 10.7.3 following the payment specified at Regulation 10.7.2, the Match expenses and costs incurred by the Company or for which the Company is liable shall then be deducted from the remaining balance and applied in the discharge and/or reimbursement of such expenses and costs; 10.7.4 the Company shall retain 5% of the remaining balance following the payments specified at Regulations 10.7.2 and 10.7.3; and 10.7.5 following all payments specified in this Regulation 10.7 the remaining net admission receipts after all such deductions, payments etc. shall have been made and/or allowed for shall be divided equally amongst the four competing Clubs or clubs which participated in the Semi Final Round of the Competition. https://spfl.co.uk/admin/filemanager/images/shares/pdfs/League Cup Regulations 2018-19.pdf

Should have publicly pointed it out prior to the decision. He's effectively throwing shite at the moon now but it's a standard Scottish fitbaw scenario that the tabloids will milk.

Sunday will only be super if Rangers and Hearts both win.

There is no need to call some on here "silly arses" because they don't see things in the same way as you. Just as a continuous confrontational war-footing from the club will not be in our best interests because in the long term it'll be us that lose. That isn't to say we don't 'battle' of occasion, there are several fronts currently open that mainly come from legacy issues. Wrt to BBC Scotland, as I said previously an immediate solution of coverage doesn't change their spots but you have to start somewhere and look to make further inroads over time. Prolonging the current situation and that general approach indefinately will damage us more than it will them and is what the Celtic-Minded would like to see.

Had Hibs beat Aberdeen the other night, I doubt the Polis would have been so keen.

Aberdeen have often had to play games in Glasgow with an early KO. It might not be ideal for fans but it's not as if it's breaking new ground and many of them have obviously found a way round it in the past. As have our fans who live even further away (ask Forlan). I reckon it comes down to finance and they didn't want Murrayfield getting a chunk. Look at the positive, two cracking semi-finals,...bring it on.

Taking different parts of what various posters have said and puttting them together could provide a solution to the immediate problem of coverage. DMAA talks about reinstating press privilages to McLaughlin and John mentioned both the club and BBC Scotland agreeing on statements that basically save face for both. That would mean renewed coverage and the important benefits that go with that and deny those individuals who work on BBC Scotland the vacum to air their increasingly open contempt (often by saying nothing at all). It wouldn't change the spots of the usual suspects but as Stewarty says, we are looking at the medium term to make significant in-roads there but you have to start somewhere. Bill says that the BBC is like the Arc and are becoming less important. I don't agree, they are by far the biggest broadcaster and are generally ahead of the digital curve wrt competitors. Clubs do a lot of their own coverage but there are many who don't want to always hear a one-sided take on things and for that matter, take an interest in what is happening in the rest of the football world. Bottomline, we as a business need to look to the future and not always play the confrontational game that if you do for too long will marginalise you. This is exactly what the Celtic-Minded want and how they are playing it. That doesn't mean bending over, it means boxing clever and subtle, a little give and take.

Is it a joint European and Scottish directive ? Or perhaps you should leave the paranoia to Timbo.

Making those type of excuses don't wash now that he's been over a season in the Scottish game and he doesn't seem to be willing to learn or appreciate the importance of discipline in certain moments. On the face of it, a booking last night was no big deal but the reality is that it was ill-discipline that now makes a very significant difference to what options are available to us in a National Cup semi-final and this would have been relayed to him prior to the game. In the Ufa game, he kicks the ball away and gets booked in a hugely important game, it's something that can happen. What doesn't often happen in that type of situation is that having been booked, he continues to act the idiot and gives the referee the grounds to send him off. The language doesn't matter, that was reckless stupidity for a footballer in those cicumstances and he has it in his locker. Bottomline, he can't be trusted.

We don't want the sheep to stay too long and graze too much of the long grass prior to Hearts v Celtic. What about loaning Kyle Lafferty back to Heats for the day at a rate of 60K per goal ?

It was the management teams reaction to going down to ten men at Aberdeen that gives me confidence that they can find an effective way of getting over the the lack of a centre forward. Probably more important is keeping our general momentum flowing.