southsidebud

1-0 Dumbarton!

Ayr down to 10 men - straight red. Come on Dumbarton!

Big 'Other Football' for us today must be Dumbarton v Ayr I'm guessing the preference for us is Dumbarton win - with the draw the second best result. (I suppose the preference between these two outcomes depends on whether or not you think we can still catch Dumbarton - for me I'd rather improve our chances of catching Ayr and then taking our chances in the Playoffs). An Ayr win will be a disaster for us. Of course the United v QoS game may also be of interest...

There is free football of a sort (i.e. Football show as opposed to live football) on the BT Sport Showcase channel every Saturday. They are basically making their Saturday afternoon Goals show free to view (Sky Sports News used to do the same thing a few years back). Obviously this one will have an English bias but it is slightly more slick than the STV Glasgow effort with Peter and Roughie. If not at the game I usually listen to Open All Mics or St Mirren Radio while pottering about but sometimes its handy for when lying about on the couch with a hangover

Warburton just released a statement asserting that he and his team did not resign The LMA have also said that Rangers have not answered their questions. Looks like it will be court and potentially seven figure settlements. Now if only we could turn this sorry state of affairs to our advantage

What odds on another liquidation? Various rumours kicking about - but if Warburton didn't resign (which seems to be the general feeling) then his lawyers will have a field day. Also Mr Ashley is coming back in March and if he wins then the new club will be on the hook for millions (apparently). Now if only we had drawn them in the Cup!

Watched it in the local pub - was a bit of a shock. Like others have said PSG outmuscled and overpowered Barcelona completely Great to watch! Coincidently some French visitors appeared in the pub with about 20 mins to go - and after some surprised initial reactions they were cheering and chanting away - so a bit of local colour was added to the proceedings

As its the mid term holidays, I had the wee man over at my mum and dad's today. I delivered the good news to him in person (technology isn't his bag [emoji5])

Not only that - if Hearts win their replay then the top 4 are all at home in the quarter finals. Where's that conspiracy thread when you need it ? [emoji5]

Sky show two ties with BBC getting one. I'm guessing Sky will nab both OF ties so it's the pub for me.

Does anyone know the cash on offer for a televised game? What will that boost the (potential) £225K already mentioned to?

My bubble is well and truly burst - I was hoping for a Sneaky Pete run to the final. [emoji20] Ah well - just got to hope for a cash in like you say Ricky..

I guess its one of those ones that can be seen either way. I also take no joy in seeing us getting hammered by anyone - and Celtic would indeed be likely to give us a right doing. However - most teams are getting shafted by Celtic and getting a bit of extra money is better than not. If we get them at any stage now its likely to be on the telly so it may well be something we have to face. The only way to avoid it would be to hope that either someone we might stand a chance against does us a favour and puts them out - or go out ourselves before we have to face them. Celtic are the only ones I see that could almost guarantee the hammering we are discussing. Even Rangers and Aberdeen - neither any great shakes - could struggle against us (or anyone else in the last 8 for that matter). They would obviously be massive favourites but I would not write it off as a fait accompli. I suppose I'm just an eternal optimist - I'm hoping for a winnable QF at St Mirren Park and taking it from there. [Edit: QF at Celtic Park - Well that's that then... I guess no one gets what they want ]

I had a quick check of the rules and - yep - we would be entitled to claim up to 20% as you say. Point taken and conceded. I did not know that it was as high as 20% and would not have made my throwaway comment had I known. I assumed that Celtic would offer a small amount as per league games and wouldn't really care about empty seats at the home end. That was an error on my part - every day is a school day etc. Would you agree however that it would be a better pay day - and day out in general - if we survived to get Celtic at a later stage at Hampden? That was the main jist of my post - initial flawed assumption excepted.

OK - not disputing any of that (I don't know the rules re. minimum away allocation for the cup). Perhaps I should have used 'relatively small' in terms of ticket allocation. Also 20% of Celtic Park may be beyond us for the QF as you say. However the intended focus/meaning of my point was that it would be a bigger day out (attendance from both sides, pay-out and atmosphere) if we dodged Celtic in QF and had a meeting with them in either the SF or Final and that remains my opinion.

Just an assumption on my part in terms of relative allocations when comparing the QF to the SF; I think we would get more tickets for a neutral SF at Hampden than from Celtic for a Parkhead QF. I also reckon that more Celtic fans are likely to be interested in wandering along to a SF than the QF as they would consider it 'job done' before a ball kicked. TBH - I'm not convinced that even the SF would be a huge draw for them - that said I reckon there would be a bigger turnout - from both sides - for a Hampden SF as opposed to a Parkhead QF.

I'd leave Celtic for Semi Final (or Final). I reckon we'd get a small amount of tickets for Parkhead and a lot of Celtic fans would fail to pitch up (not being that interested) meaning a smaller pay day. In the semi we would get more tickets and I reckon more Celtic fans would turn up as the treble would be moving closer to reality. And of course that would mean we had won another game! The final would be a sell out and the best option of all... not that I'm getting carried away of course...

I'd say potentially three or four winnable ties (depending on results tomorrow). If we get drawn with either of the winners of the two midweek replays, Patrick or Morton (if they make it) then I think we can make Hampden. [EDIT: Tam Cowan has made us team of the day and is postulating on the possibility of the Scottish Cup holders playing in the Third Tier...]

Great stuff. Watched most of 2nd half on periscope (thanks Div). A bit of "survivor's guilt" though - what with me and the wee man sitting in toasty house watching the shivering buds in Fife Three games from Europe and one win from Hampden! COYS!

I agree however one may lead to the other... so I'll take both

I hope the team can hold on to this. I don't agree with the "ditch the cup to concentrate on the league" argument. Every win is another chance to try and get momentum going. Let's keep it going Saints!

Quite a few games on free to view TV over the next week or so... Saturday 11 Feb 12:15 - Celtic v Inverness CT - Scottish Cup 5th Round - BBC One Scotland Tuesday 14 Feb 19:45 - PSG v Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Round of 16 - BT Sport Showcase (Freeview - Ch.59) Thursday 16 Feb 19:45 - Borussia Monchengladbach v Fiorentina - UEFA Europa League Round of 32 - BT Sport Showcase (Freeview - Ch.59) 20:05 - Villarreal v Roma - UEFA Europa League Round of 32 - BT Sport Showcase (Freeview - Ch.59) Saturday 18 Feb 17:15 -Queen of the South v Dundee United - Scottish Challenge Cup Semi-Final - BBC ALBA [to see who plays us in the final] Sunday 19 Feb 14:00 - Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur - FA Cup 5th Round - BBC One AND FOR THOSE THAT CAN'T MAKE IT IN PERSON - THE MAIN EVENT... 16:10 - The Cup Winners v The New Saints - Scottish Challenge Cup Semi-Final - BBC ALBA

Yep - Dumbarton have probably done enough to stay ahead of us - even if we start winning they seem to have sorted the knack of picking up points to such a rate that we would be unlikely to completely erode their lead. If Ayr had beaten Hibs, I'd be tempted to throw in towel but as things stand they are still catchable. We may have to settle for the playoffs at best - but I'll take that now.

Hibs 1 Ayr 1 !

I was catching up with Jim, the usual barman at the 'Last Chance Saloon', and he was saying that they have a happy hour next week. I said that I'd probably miss it as I would be trying out the new pub down the road called 'Saints Alive!' Come on Saints - don't make me a liar!