stewarty

Houston was not a happy bunny when interviewed on Radio Scotland. Giving it both barrels to Dougie McDonald. Strange when you consider he gave the decision in his favour. He did mention about the booking near the end with Samaras and the United player and suggested that McDonald "couldn't wait to give the decision against us (United)".

I thought Hodgson would be a cracking manager for them. If Everton won 6-0 today, Liverpool would have been bottom of the league. Says it all really

I've gone and had a look and I think its a thread started by someone "hoping" Smith has a go. Note to self: pay more attention.

Think it was a thread title on FF. I only skim over in case there is something of interest so I may well have picked up something wrong

I thought he played pretty well against Dunfermline in the League Cup. Sure we conceded two goals but he pretty much strolled through the 90 minutes which is quite impressive considering he hadn't played in about 9 seasons.

Yep, me too. Things are going well so it may be a mistake to change it. Guess it depends on what Walter thinks because he doesn't strike me as a man who changes his mind very often once its made up.

Has Walter not given the press the heads-up that he will be commenting on this matter at today's pre-match conference?

Not quite, there's this Celtic Nations Cup thing due to start in the spring along with, no doubt, several friendly matches.

Thoughts? Your colleague is a fanny! In most walks of life I find those who feel the need to proclaim themselves as being bigger, better, faster, more skilful at something or other, are usually a mixture of paranoid, delusional, arrogant, self-serving egotists who attach themselves to individuals or groups of people as they try desperately to fill some void in their lives they are incapable of doing themselves. As an example, think of every twat who tells you proudly that they are "mad" and regale you with all the bonkers (cringing?) things they got up to at the weekend. Either that or he was just winding you up! :spl:

Never say never. You would imagine the part-time/semi-retired nature of the role would suit him at this stage in his life!

Do we expect anything less from those self-serving egotists at the higher echelons of the Scottish game? I think Leggo sums it up nicely - it isn't enough to simply act transparently, you have to demonstrate that you have acted transparently as well. Normally these things are done much more openly yet for some unknown reason, this has been flouted. If there is a reasonable explanation for this situation, let us hear it now. The longer this continues, the murkier the waters become.

That was about as well as we could have expected to play last night. Makes a mockery of the Czech performance as others have said. As for Levein's performance post-match - I didn't see it myself but I suspect that if his card wasn't marked before, it certainly is now. If we get a going over in this Celtic Cup thing next year, I reckon it'll be curtains for him - and there wont be many who feel sorry for him

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I can see the logic of Souness far more clearly now than I did when he was interviewed by the SFA. If anything, the Burley and Levein eras (so far) have shown that any success we might find on the pitch will come from the leadership shown from the manager. Under Walter Smith, and to a lesser extent Alex McLeish, the players played for their country but also their manager. He fired them up, dressed them down, set them out as difficult to beat but gave them the belief that they posed a threat in attacking areas. In essence, Smith was Scotland's 12th man on the pitch. Under Burley it was like being two men down before the game even started; and under Levein, the performances have been uninspiring at best so he could be going down the same road. I hope to be proven completely wrong by Levein I certainly have more hope under him than I ever did under Burley. Time, however, is running out.

Suspect we will fall to a gallant 2-1 defeat with Spain getting a last minute winner from a dodgy free kick.

Haha, bet he felt a right plonker. Easily done though.

I'm amazed its taken them so long. No doubt those fine upstanding sporting integrists from across the city were responsile for tipping them off.

I have only just caught with the threads relating to this sorry mess and I think the OP is entirely justified in making his actions public. It seems to me that the decsions and actions of some Board members have been made in no small part because of their own self-interest; and Mr Harris can have little confidence that his recent actions and words would not have been dismissed for the same reasons. More power to your elbow Mr Harris - and welcome to Gersnet!

As a Scotland fan I would not want that to happen as I want our best squad available. However, surely any reasonable request to move some fixtures around would not be refused? I do wonder about our approach to getting the SFA to give us a few breaks. Have we actually approached the SFA/SPL about moving some fixtures or are we just having a wee moan about the powers that be because they do not just doing this sort of thing as a matter of course? It seems that other nations bend over backwards to help their clubs in european competition so from a national perspective, surely the SFA/SPL need to take a step back and work out what is best for all Scottish clubs as I don't think this is the sort of thing that can be done on an ad-hoc basis... An approach needs to be agreed by all clubs in advance of the season - otherwise we are in danger of going down the "sporting integrity" BS line spouted by Lawell in 2008.

Bugger. He said he was unlikely to be fit during his post match interview with Peter Martin. Shame because his second half performance was by far his best of the season.

My biggest worry is the depth of our squad. All very well resting players for CIS Cup duty but Walter will find it very difficult to do it in the league with Celtic building up a head of steam at the minute.

I thought he had a cracking game. With more games he will hopefully settle into first-team life and provide us with more midfield options.

Agreed. Well worthy of a new deal. He showed last midweek that he is well capable of slotting in a centre half, an area we need extra cover for.

Welcome to Gersnet!

Ha ha. Just sent that to the 3 Tims in my phone book!

Nearly fell off my seat laughing when I read this! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/9007357.stm 0843 BST: Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is considering a move for Celtic midfielder Scott Brown. Full story: caughtoffside.com