Fearchar

The "pishy" Gaelic commentary you're complaining about is streets ahead of the witless outpourings from semi-literates we have to suffer in Scotland in "English". It really is exceptionally bad. Just compare it with the clear, composed commentary deep in the lower leagues of German regional football (and weep): To be fair, BBC ALBA is just the transmission channel; the production company is responsible for that. It seems to be a common problem among British directors at football matches, that they think the actual play is less interesting than spotting celebrities in the crowd, watching a player's reactions when he's nowhere near play, etc. Another good reason for attending the game. And you can always record it from BBC ALBA at home, too, to play later.

The budget for Gaelic television won't allow for live subtitles, which usually need stenographers, who are extremely highly paid. Add the requirement for a simultaneous translation of a fast (well, probably) unscripted commentary, and it's easily seen why it doesn't happen much in live programmes in Scotland, even when no translations are provided. At least, for those too far away to attend, the Gaelic-language commentary will, as always, be of a much higher standard than is ever heard in English. Maybe there will be English-language radio commentary on BBC Radio Scotland Medium Wave for the linguistically challenged: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ml2mq

I agree with Santana. A great signing, who has shown himself more than capable of setting up attacks from the back, usually through his accurate passing.

It will take time for the base home support to rise (while the visiting support can't really be relied upon to provide numbers), as the media have bigger, more important changes to report on, such as events in Division 3.

Yes, they were very "physical" (i.e. dirty) on Tuesday evening: that's why the preview of today's game said Muirhead might not play - because he had been brought down twice by being clouted round the shoulders. Scott Fox was also brought down in his own box while surrounded by players - the mark of an opposing side that is being coached into how to foul without being detected, since no goalkeeper willingly falls down when defending on his own line. Thankfully, they are no Leeds United!

This.

I can't help feeling that the statements here supporting Chris Erskine and those criticising his mistakes - both types - are well founded. The question then is one for the coaching staff: how can Chris be helped to overcome his weaknesses, so that his excellent skills come to the fore without being tarnished by mistakes? In a way, we're not talking about Chris' talent here, but about the ability of the coaching staff to encourage and develop it while smoothing out the rough patches. There are some signs that this is happening, such as seeing him scoring with his right foot. Now that he has a set position in the team lineup, that seems to be benefiting him too, as we can see from his scoring record. Progress is really up to Jackie McNamara and Simon Donnelly.

Why didn't you call them Bavaria München, sigesige, to balance out the English way of spelling words?

To be fair, although Doolan has tended to be too mobile like that in the past, more recently he has stayed closer to the threatening positions where he's of most use to the team. I think his lower workrate is reflected in his higher rate of scoring - which is what we really need from him.

A bit unfortunate, but Welsh's shots bent away on the outside of the upright, and Erskine dwelt on the ball too much in the box. If these errors had been put right, Accies wouldn't have been able to come back into the game at all - their shots were rarely on target. Good display from their goalkeeper, but not enough pressure from our side. (Admittedly, a few fouls in the box would have resulted in penalties for us on another day, but the ref had convinced himself that the Accies were a young team needing to be protected from these seasoned professionals on the other side: doubtless he gets his football news from the BBC.) By the time the second half came, Accies had figured out that playing football against our team wasn't doing them any favours: from that point on, it was a long ball game, with plenty of fouls on Muirhead in particular, not to mention on Fox when the ref couldn't see through the crowd in the box. I suspect that they wouldn't have tried it on if Murray had been on the park, or they would have got too much back to make it worthwhile. However, it was disappointing to see the team responding to the long-ball game by following suit, instead of imposing their own pattern of play. That's really why they lost to an inferior team. Let's hope that Jackie McNamara has figured all that out by Saturday.

Mr Scruff mentioned something that is markedly different - the price. (However, that applies to other forms of entertainment in Germany too, such as orchestral music.) Both Bundesliga and (much) lower leagues do have a sense of fun and occasion at matches. Maybe the weather has something to do with it, or having working life more restricted, both in the sense that greater commitment is demanded and that it is not allowed to interfere with family/free time to the same extent as here.

However, some German politicians are pointing at the all-seated stadiums in the UK and saying that's the way to go. There are no problems with policing, and beer is on sale in the grounds - again, with no problems. However, German politicians are keen on telling the Greeks how to be good Europeans, too.

Oh, good! I've found the winning ticket. It will go to the costs of following the team to Pyongyang in the next preseason tour.

What! Both ways?

Great post! Thank you.

That brings to mind a certain well-known Gaelic-language sports broadcaster who has been spotted nodding and muttering agreement on listening to a recording of his own comments.

It's always encouraging when you see your competition's manager spouting delusions: "Second half I thought that we totally dominated up to the final third where our decision making was poor." Those big punts up the park were dominance, in the Jim Jefferies book of management, don't you know.

Well, we've changed from blue to red and yellow before. Well done, that team.

Erskine too.

A splash screen! FFS, why not let's go and hire a miner's son to manage? Once you get past that ("If" in the case of a mobile: you'll have to peer at the tiny link at the top right!), there are two players, not even in club colours, glowering at you, one on each side, along with a less visible club crest. Have they commissioned usability testing and then done the opposite of all that was recommended? Going through the normal tests of the W3C for one page, it had 10 errors and 2 warnings. Oh, and they've retained one of the particularly silly features of the old design - keeping "Media" separate from results and reports.

According to the Pars' website, in the last 12 league games between the two clubs there have been 5 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. Welsh is unlikely to play, but Lawless provides a creative spark that can lead to goals, while Murray tidies up in midfield. It should be a convincing win for Thistle.

Going by recent results, it's improbable that Sevco 5088 would beat Falkirk FC.

Why not plant wild flowers to make a natural meadow? It would look better than the current unnatural sight and it would be easy to maintain. I'm pretty sure that some environmental groups would be happy to provide seed for an urban wild meadow.