buster.

England and Penalties in the World Cup = Flight Home

Yes, no problem playing him against Hibs.

Devine is doing ok Leverkusen look like they were at a stag do last night

Can't get excited about this. It is the Hibs game I am looking forward to.

With those players, there was a match against Switzerland in the Euros where there was a 15-20 minute spell of fast, fluid attacking from the French that was something very special. The best I have ever seen. Was a wonderful second half and Switzerland went through on penalties

The basic point of not entertaining the idea of extending his contract is certainly the way I think. Couldn't understand why we seem to still be trying to get him to stay. He has always had a downside but where before, the upside was good enough to endure the negative....now the balance has gone the other way. He could have been a real player but he is just not wired the way. Like many before him, I don't think he will fully realise what he is fcuking up until he is retired.

Always liked the French top. Their football team first impressed me at the '82 World Cup and like their Rugby back line at the time, were full of flair and well worth watching come those televised summer tournaments. England beat them in the First group stage but France went further and went out in that memorable 3-3 thriller of a semi-final with West Germany that Schumacher thought was a boxing bout and got away with it. Platini, Giresse, Tigana, Rocheteau (followed since our game with St.Etienne in the mid 70's), etc were some of the names. Then at 98 you had Zidane, Hendry, Djorkaeff, Desailly, Pires, etc winning the thing. It now lacks a Platini/Zidane like figure in the middle of the park. Griezsmann does a very decent job though and of course they have the human canonball on the left, Mbappe. They may miss Kante in the defensive midfield today and Benzema, for counter attacking at speed/precision.

No, it was necessary to make up a lot of ground relatively quickly and we had individuals prepared to finance it. (I have used the term constructive losses for nearly eight years because it was how Dave King described the strategy, if they could takeover from the spivs).

They should have kept attacking at the beginning of extra time. Argentina were on the ropes and couldn't cope with ra big men up top. Some day of football and we have France v England tomorrow !! Tottie wee Croatia certainly have the minerals. Only been formed for five minutes and that is three WC semi-finals they have reached. The Argies and Croats will be buggered and should ask FIFA to make their semi a 15 minutes each way 5-a-side match. Borna may yet get a medal.

This generation of fans have been used to throwing money at such problems and to hell with the loss making and debt. We have had the years of equity funded constructive losses, we can't/don't want to do that anymore, at least not to the same extent. Over the City had major problems post 55, but had a serious amount of money to throw at it.

For the fans......but it is off the pitch that is the root problem. Break everything down and it is about us and them, both on and off the pitch. We have been playing catch-up for a decade and after getting quite high up on the snakes and ladders board, we fell down a long ladder after 55.

Forgeting individuals, squad management has been awful and yes, a lot of it is to do with trying to squeeze value and of what amount to outside bets. No-one really seems to want to take responsibility. Will things change? Will Beale and his team make an ongoing difference ? We have to hope so but as you partly allude to, the elephant in the room is Finance.....and how we lag behind the other side of the city in revenue generation. I note what Forlan has said about the medical department and you wonder what is going on. We know there have been changes made post Gerrard&Co. Is it subject to a financial squeeze / poor recruitment ? Couldn't believe we seem to be offering Morelos another deal. Wilson mentioned that we'd received only one bid for Alfredo (and one for Ryan Kent). Was it the Chinese or French bid ?

Bit like Maggie Thatcher going to the House of Commons to take the flack for the Westland affair (slight exaggeration!!!) I was a younger man listening to the radio live coverage and Kinnock made a complete arse of it. I was shouting at the radio for him to wake the fcuk up 😁 I think the board are looking for the new first team management to take the heat off them with an upturn in results. However, some of the underlying issues will soon return, if/when results hit a sticky patch.

John Bennet brought the subject up in the interview to RTV. David Graham was then moved on. Various things went Pete Tong and they clammed up. Nothing was mentioned about it in the AGM. I don't know who has taken on the remit David Graham had.

Communicaton I mentioned this as being an issue in the summer, alongside awful squad mgmt. and that the AGM would see an announcement regards progress on the stadium disability issues #TrumpetBlown A few weeks later John Bennet came out on RTV to talk about communication issues. Shortly after, David Graham left the building. Thereafter, as the club stuttered on the field of play and several other issues came up that some/many fans weren't happy about, the board seemed to hide in a bunker. The line about waiting for the AGM to complain became almost as popular as injured players being out until the World Cup Finals. I just watched the AGM on Utube and Communication doesn't seem to have been mentioned. Can anyone enlighten me as to who is doing the remit that David Graham left/was pushed from ? What we saw post Bennet RTV videos, was a club that effectively didn't want to know about meaningful communication. I think because various things started to go badly/become an issue. Communication remains an issue -------------- God, it is a difficult gig to be in that boardroom. - Costs Millions (for some) - Stop 10 - European Final But a couple of false steps and you are slaughtered. Honest and timely communication would, IMO, mitigate the potential wrath you might have to face.

Will be 32 in January. At least he'll bring down the average age !!

It is no easy thing to do in Glasgow.

You obviously need to produce or bring in a decent level of youth to have any hope of it working. I don't know enough to talk about individuals although I would love to see Lowry grab a chance because of how he plays. Tillman isn't our player as yet and it would be much better if Lowry could do enough to get in front of him. At least, give him the chance.

Better off increasing the balance of youth in and around the first team. Should use what is left of this season to give some of the better youth prospects real gametime and see if we get a real player or two. It is also a potential route to adding value or fattening up livestock before they get traded for a decent whack at market. We need to find bodies for the player trading model. Our accounts won't work without them. Said a year or two back, our only viable route would end up being the Scottish diluted version of the Ajax model. Vital you have the right people in charge.

I am fairly sure Beale will have final say on first team signings but I am not so sure Gio had the upper hand WRT squad mgmt as a whole. I think we'll take on board the successful change by Celtic regards recruitment. Lawwell left the building and new manager got the players he wanted. It showed how quickly you could turn round a situation with a good managerial appointment and good recruitment. Easier said than done, especially when we lack anywhere close to the budget they had. In an ideal world I would be looking to say Cheerio to Ross Wilson and Stewart Robertson. Replace Wilson, bring in decent CEO and a specialised PR professional. Plus upgrade medical staff. But it ain't an ideal world.

Yes, Gio managed it about eleven months ago but as sure as night follows day, this group won't be able to keep it up for a sustained period. We aren't going to be able to change everything in the January window but we need to use the next two windows to have a much more energectic and fresh looking squad for the beginning of 23/24. IMO Ross Wilson isn't the man to be at the heart of this. He now comes accross as a somewhat confused individual attempting (poorly) to justify himself. Is he on the Red Bull or something ? Can't stop bouncing around in his chair. Hadn't noticed this until the Beale Blue Room Presser.

You are cruel, you could have just said he finished 8th 😁 I was referring to a thread on here about a fans election. Might try and look it up for some sad entertainment.

I'd drive Morelos to Tranmere to get him off the wage bill and out of the dressing room. IF Kent is going to Everton (DB rumour above), he could get a lift at the same time.

To keep it going we need sellable assets, we currently haven't got any of significant value. The player trading that we will need to focus on in the next couple of windows (at least) will mostly be about replacing those that will be leaving. I think it reasonable to assume a net spend on player trading between now and September 2023. Next years accounts should be ok. Beyond that may be problematic unless we start producing and improving younger players.

A World Cup almost lit up by the left back of the team bottom of the Scottish top tier. Aziz Behich was a last ditch tackle from becoming immortal. He could have sent the tie into extra time with Cumdog Cummings to come off the bench to score the winning penalty 😁 Seriously, it was a very Messi like mazy with the added detail that Messi was on the pitch watching.