RickMcD

Like a few of us I could never warm to Gary Neville as a man but suggesting he wasn't a good player is utter crap. 85 caps for England speaks for itself. He worked hard at his game and I wish we had a few players just now who got stuck in like him. Years ago a pal of mine was getting petrol at a services area on the M6 and his wife spotted David Beckham there. She asked Ian to get his autograph but he told her would he hell so she went after Beckham and got his autograph. When she got back to the car she was chuffed as hell and Ian asked her if she had got Gary Neville's autograph as well. 'Who's Gary Neville?' was his wife's reply. Neville was with Beckham and apparently Beckham handed the thing he had autographed to Neville but Jeanette apparently almost ripped it out of his grasp because she was so desperate to see what Beckham had written. 'I thought that strange guy didnae look too pleased' she said.

In the early 70's I had to go up to Stirling on business and one lunchtime I wandered up to the castle and a bit of Colditz was being filmed. Thought I'd watch but it was boring as hell with next to nothing going on. I hoped I might see some of the actors but the only one I recognised was Anthony Valentine, standing about doing nothing. RIP. He was a good actor.

Is your first name Jeremiah by any chance? In your last manifestation you were exactly the same. In your world everyone has to have an angle. Found any reds under the bed recently? There is such a thing as a beneficial owner though admittedly not too many. Things aren't good at the minute and an opportunity could arise for another stab at some form of fan ownership. At the moment St.Mirren FC is depreciating in value. Anyway, cleverclogs, Brain of Britain or whatever your real name is, give us your masterplan as I'm assuming you've thought it all through.

Cheeky bassa! Don't know about Bluto, right enough. I heard Pontius the pilot washed his hands so the Romans couldn't get the blame. It was definitely Jews that wanted him dead. Back on subject, we have haggis and the trimmings on St.Andrew's Day and on 25 January. We're trying to bring a bit of culture to Ulstermen.

FFS Shull. Come on over here and watch Bangor YM. They don't even get bus fares. Scotland can support a full time professional league and St.Mirren could be part of it. We badly need an infusion of cash and I don't believe it has to be megabucks. Your way St.Mirren would slip down the leagues and into oblivion. You've said often enough in the past that you will support St.Mirren no matter what happens but most of us have higher hopes for our club rather than let them become another nonentity glorified junior team.

Don't know how you can say that. What he took on was a damned near impossible task apparently made more difficult by the attitude of a couple of the players. Teale will get a chance at management again and I have a notion he'll do OK. I found the article quite convincing.

Going part time isn't a panacea. From what I gather we are effectively a part time club anyway if we are to believe that turning up at Ralston for a couple of hours a week for a couple of hours equates to full time. Doesn't sound like it to me. Going part time, whatever that means, you save money how exactly? Making back room staff redundant? That has happened already to some extent. Renegotiating players contracts? That kind of thing goes on continually in any walk of life. I think the truth is that the current board is doing pretty well in keeping things tight but they have undone a lot of the good with the money 'wasted' in getting rid of managers and players earning pretty big money who just weren't performing. I firmly believe that the dividing line between an acceptable level of success or failure is pretty thin. If the managerial farce had been sorted out earlier last season and if we had got a rub of the green in just a couple more games we could still be in the Premiership. This season can still be salvaged but I wish I was confident that the right decisions will be made in the next week or two. Some will say we can't afford not to get rid of Murray. Do we have the cash to pay up his contract? It doesn't look like it from the accounts.

If it was at home we might have half a chance.

It's a well known fact that anybody who ever went to Camphill Senior Secondary School is entitled to feel a bit snobbish. Possibly even Bluto, but to be fair I don't think I've ever read anything from him that exhibited snobbishness. Now you, on the other hand? I'm surprised Bluto hasn't responed But bate your breath just in case.

I've never been an avid boxing fan but always quite enjoyed especially heavyweight world championship bouts. They used to be sensational and got nearly everybody excited. I remember in primary school when Don Cockell fought Marcianno we raved about it for weeks. Then we had Cassius Clay followed by a guy called Muhammad Ali. After that for me the sport started a gradual decline and I barely pay attention now. Pleased to see Fury won although I agree that the Klitschko of a few years ago would have won comfortably. I couldn't even be assed watching it.

Was about to say wtf? for the first time until I spotted Coleraine. Never heard of these folk but food looks interesting. Not crazy about peanut sauce. Caramel pork sounds interesting. Wish it wasn't 60 miles away.

How can a rocket scientist deliver such hellish punctuation?

Never hurry a Murray. He'll just dig in his heels and hing aboot.

That's a booking for sure. You forgot to add a name! Silly billy!

Me too. Back then the ref gave an indirect free kick but I don't remember bookings being handed out unless some clown was doing it all the time. We soon learned to add a name, any old bloody name at all, and the ref didn't seem to notice if it was wrong. Of course, we were brighter, sharper kids in them old days.

Like Cammy or Shuggy? Or maybe Billy The Kid. A legend but a bad bastard.

Sensational free kick. The amount it dipped was amazing but I'd like to see it from the side so, Shull, can you arrange a clip from the sidelines, roughly in line with the penalty spot? I know you can do it.

Who?

Ever say something dopey and then feel embarrassed? I'm retired but still deal with a few of my old clients and yesterday I was on the phone to a woman who leases a house from one of said clients. I've spoken to her a few times but don't actually know her very well. We ended up speaking about a mutual friend, a very elderly man and I was saying to this woman Avril that I thought he had,as I put it ' You know yon illness that makes you fall asleep instantly- what's it called- Oh,aye necrophilia'. At that point, I heard my lady wife laughing through in the lounge. but I thought she she was laughing at something on the TV. Avril didn't say anything and she agreed that our friend wasn't well. When I came off the phone and my wife told me I had said necrophilia I thought she was taking the piss. I was convinced I said narcolepsy. Just in case I sent Avril a text and she confirmed that I had said necrophilia, but she knew what I had meant to say. She said she would have a laugh telling her husband. Anybody got a similar faux pas to own up to?

Enjoying this thread. The variety of posts ( some making good suggestions , some very funny, some plain crazy) is one of the main reasons why I love this forum. It's like a drug I can't resist. Or maybe booze even. For what it's worth, when Murray was appointed my first reaction was that he would have problems with the senior players. And when he came out with the Sunday thing in the press before he had even met most of the players I thought it was a gigantic boob. If he really thought the Sunday thing was a winner, it still made sense to tell the players first and try to convince them. There seems to have been an undercurrent of dissatisfaction emanating from the senior players for a few years now which should have been hit on the head a long time ago. Or is that just a nasty rumour? Does the club use a sports psychologist? That's a genuine question. Some of our players seem to me to have the skill to perform much better but they freeze on the day. I'm not suggesting a psychologist would solve all the problems but if I was made manager I would certainly look at the possibility of using one.

My reaction was 'Thanks, but no thanks'.

Would his weapon not stick out quite a bit?

Good memories. And thanks for Mungo Jerry. Me and Mrs. McD enjoyed singing along to it.

Tend to agree with all of that but the title had me wondering if the late, great (?) Jock Wallace had been reincarnated. He used that word in virtually every interview he ever gave. A real wordsmith. Still have to smile at the story about the English players at Leicester asking their Scots colleagues after Big Jock's first teamtalk 'What the f**k's a skoosh case?.

I don't think anyone has mentioned capital gains tax. Selling BTL's create a capital gains tax liability which can knock a hole on any gains. Over here the buy to let market has probably probably been a plus to the market. There is a shortage of social housing but social housing is expensive to provide and very expensive to maintain. Swings and roundabouts. Property is normally a good investment but it is illiquid generally and you can get a good boot in the nuts at times when you don't expect it.