Dick Dastardly

It was a draw, so he only cost us 2 points. Sorry to be pedantic.

I didn't see that coming. Bloody brilliant

I'm no buzzin .... I'm buzzled

Can we not just sub the whole team for Bayern's ?

Much like how we were before the shutdown. Slow and predictable

Early goal for Falkirk was not in my script

Can't say I'm buzzin' more nervous trepidation. Lose and the season is as good as over.

Looks like as a team we play better with him than without, which is not what I would have expected.

Crossing every appendage. Can't say I have confidence, but I do have hope.

I have no sympathy for any club other than Thistle. Hell mend the lot of them.

I generally agree with what you say and certainly colt teams work in other countries. I do have an idea along similar lines which is loosely based on Gimcheon Sangmu who play in the K League. Sangmu's playing staff is made up of young South Korean professional footballers serving their compulsory two-year military duty. Fifteen players join up at the start of every season and spend two years with the side before returning to their previous professional club. My take is to create a Scotland U21 team to compete in the SPFL, perhaps with a boost to start them in Championship or even Premier League. Basically the team would loan U21 players, eligible to play for Scotland and return them at the end of the season. These guys would get top quality training and regular games, plus they would get to learn each others ways of playing, potentially building a better Scotland team in future years. Obviously it would need buy in from the clubs and I can see problems in getting players from the English Leagues, but that is why we have executives getting big salaries to sort out the details.

I don't like the idea of ppg coming in to play. The cynic in me immediately spots potential opportunities to abuse the system by finding a reason not to play the final game

But as a test of our fitness, it was not a kids team. Many Championship teams have done worse than 1-2 against Hearts. It will have helped many in the squad get their match legs back and so I am taking this as a positive outcome. As far as I know, nobody got injured, so the game will have put us in a better place to face Cove. I still have major doubts about pace in the squad and the age of some of our players, but it does sound like we put on some sort of performance

Presumably it was a Hearts reserve team since the first team played yesterday.

Really ? How many times did either of them play 90 minutes ?

You don't know what the finances were at the time. It's not Football Manager where you can just buy a replacement before getting rid of the old one. We also don't know who they tried to get in but didn't land.

May 22nd 2018 was my post in Players in out and maybes... I'm going to be controversial and put Erskine and Doolan in the maybe category. I'm not questioning their ability and their commitment, my problem is with their ability to play for a full 90 minutes. It is rare for either of them to start and finish a game, so if we start them both, we know that 2 substitutions are used up, which leaves few options to change the formation. If we pick up a couple of knocks elsewhere and they do need to play for 90 minutes, we have 2 players who are dead on their legs. It maybe that they are carrying knocks this year, or it maybe that the fitness training is a problem and it is possible that the pacein the Championship might help them (Livi didn't suggest that), but I think that they are probably now best as impact players which is why I have them as maybes

Who he was replaced by is a separate issue and I would have taken neither Harkins nor Cardle, however based on his performances it is hard to see how Erskine deserved a place in the squad. In fact I was saying 6 months earlier that it was time for him to go. I've seen no evidence since to change my mind. I hope that his time in the juniors has given him a chance to recharge his batteries. If we van find 80% of Erskine at his best, then he will run riot. I just hope he has still got it.

Are there going to be any playoffs, or just 1 up 1 down

Still scope to abuse the system and ensure the extra games are not played.

So .... we are on a run and close up to just 3 points behind Falkirk going into match 18. Falkirk don’t play their final game, so although we win ours, Falkirk are champions on points per game. No room to abuse the rules with this format

The problem is that by benefiting just 2 clubs, it also benefits the vast majority of supporters and the vast majority of users of the media outlets. Unless any changes are to the benefit of those 2 clubs, there is not going to be any appetite for any change. The vast majority of Scottish football "customers" are generally happy with the status quo.

My issue/concern is that upto now our play has been pedestrian slow and predictable. I’m sure that these guys still have skill and technical ability, but I don’t know where the pace that we were missing is going to come from

Hope not. A veteran central midfielder isn’t high on my list of priorities

After what the country and the world has been through, don’t be a dick !