BowenBoys

Agreed. Let's aim for 7th now and finishing with more points than 6th placed Dundee. If Carlsberg made leagues as crap as their beer...

Great to see the young Jags having such confidence coached into them.

I bet somebody at Celtic uttered those very words earlier this season when they received that letter from Legia Warsaw.

There are two possible reasons for the (lack of) decision. 1. The match officials didn't see the handball. An obvious explanation which would mean that no further discussion is necessary. 2. The referee on seeing the incident clearly, or being informed of the offense by another official, ignored the evidence for reasons known only to himself. This would require further investigation.

The following is a story on the BBC website (bold highlighting is mine): Celtic have written to the Scottish Football Association about the refereeing of their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Inverness CT. The Parkhead side were angered by referee Steven McLean's failure to award a penalty for handball against Josh Meekings when they led 1-0. Caley Thistle won 3-2 in extra time. " Given the level of reaction from our supporters and across football , we are duty bound to seek an understanding of what actually happened," the club said. "We have not been given any other specific explanation so far and this is simply to understand the circumstances of what went on and why such an obvious error was made." Celtic congratulated their opponents, describing Caley as "a fantastic club" and saying "reaching the final is a great achievement". The Scottish champions took the lead through a Virgil van Dijk free-kick, but were denied a first-half penalty when Griffiths' header hit the arm of Meekings. Ronny Deila's men had goalkeeper Craig Gordon sent off in the second half for bringing down Marley Watkins in the box, with Greg Tansey scoring the subsequent penalty. Edward Ofere put Caley Thistle ahead but John Guidetti levelled before David Raven's extra-time winner. Absolutely unbelievable arrogance to question the integrity of match officials and patronise your opponents. NonOF fans I know think Karma. A Sevco fan remarked that while both they and Celtic get more than their fair share of dodgy decisions, Celtic get the most. Can we please let them play each other 38 times a year, much to the delight of Sky (and, ipso facto, Doncaster), while the rest of us get on with good, honest football.

Strange that he complains of playing teams too often then proposes that the league cup should switch to a two leg format. But on the whole I agree with him.

Think she might have a point. Perhaps it should be renamed SUFL. ian_mac suggests a visible protest against Doncaster by fans all over the country on the last day of the season. Great idea.

Let me rephrase that. I think that all Kilmarnock wanted was that one of their home games be played on that date. We are all, hopefully including Doncaster, aware that club finances are fragile. An important anniversary, big crowd etc.. I don't see what's wrong with that request. I bet that Celtic would have got what they wanted.

Good for them. They are quite right to protest. Impossible to make the post-split fixtures fair, of course. That's the stupidity of the system. Regarding the home game request to celebrate an important anniversary, who the hell do Kilmarnock think they are? Celtic? I thought that when Doncaster came up with the name SPFL, the second word was a reference to a new, fair and well run administration. Recent events prove otherwise.

Fairly sure that it was this game that brought about the FIFA/UEFA rule change.

I don't have a problem with clubs debating rule changes to be voted for by all but I agree, rule changes should be implemented next season at the earliest.

Without the split, the Motherwell game might have been our last '6 pointer' of the season. As a much more significant tie, the crowd would probably have been greater. With the split, the loss of revenue from a second home game against the bigger teams is a big financial hit. I would argue that playing each club home and away once will reinvigorate football and boost crowds. But we might never know. Anyway, looking forward to finding out who we will be playing at home, or away, for a third time. Yawn.

I understand what you mean about the (short term) excitement that the post-split part of the season can bring but it has done nothing to help the long term development of football. In my opinion larger leagues, playing each other twice, would allow teams who are lower mid-table at this point to start planning for next season free of the fear that the split brings. This in turn brings greater stability and a better chance of teams like us being able to grow. It is a long term strategy which Doncaster et al are terrified of implementing. Why change anything, it's all going so well. I've forgotten, who is sponsoring this exciting league?

Really don't understand the Hamilton reference. To be honest, I don't understand the whole stupid split thing.

He was playing the advantage but I cannot see where the advantage is if you can't move because the defender is trying to get your shirt off.

Love that incident, in the second half, on the half-way line. Bannigan trying to run with the ball while being pulled back by his shirt. Madden was right beside him signaling 'play on'. Idiot.

About 500? Just a guess...

Good time to score

Indeed. Quite astonishing. Don't understand why only a two year ban. Leopards and spots springs to mind.

Absolutely. Fill your life with as many adventures as possible (especially when somebody else is paying!). Wouldn't mind ticking the 'played in a world cup qualifier' box myself. Good luck tonight, Lyle.

If the club were to think about this I hope that they would find out how the Citz operate their scheme before dismissing the idea as unworkable.

I really wish I knew Twinny. You're right, Glasgow has many better places than Firhill for meetings/conferences/drinking and the pitch won't support ground sharing. I love Firhill but it is in poor condition and isn't going to improve any time soon. I would hate to have a new Lego set ground for a home and, again, there would still be better facilities around. Like many here I can outline the problems, as the board are no doubt fully aware. Nobody seems to have any answers. Anybody else hear distant alarm bells?

Completely agree, CGMB. My earlier post was tangental to yours, didn't make that very clear. The cost of running a stadium that is used, on average, once a fortnight for nine months of the year must be a drain on resources. Imagine a theatre with two performances a month and full time admin staff, crew and actors to pay. If the twelve thousand seat auditorium was, routinely, only a quarter full for each of these irregular performances, I imagine a reassessment of ticket pricing would be high on the agenda.

I wonder by what percentage the average salary of a Thistle footballer has increased in that time.

Think this idea is definitely worth following up. Some years ago the Citizens' Theatre introduced the Gorbals Card. Once registered, with proof of address, cardholders were able to get a generous discount on tickets. The Citz is proud of its unfashionable location and has a long history of community inclusion. PTFC claim to be a community football club.This might be a good time to prove it. Such a scheme could be widened to offer benefits from other local amenities/businesses. It would be good to see the club leading on this. Offering discounts to those on your own email database is ok but reaching out to potential new local fans could be much more beneficial. I have always been fond of the Gnome idea as a means of creating publicity for the club but in terms of raising the profile of PTFC nationally and possibly internationally, the sort of work being done by Forest Green Rovers of the English Conference would be hard to beat. http://www.forestgreenroversfc.com/about-forest-green-rovers/ecotricity-and-forest-green-rovers/greening-up-football Good topic Sinistar.