Geordie Saint

Fairly comfortable win. Train journey home was more pleasant for seeing the smug looks wiped off those rangers fans faces .

Think I might take root sitting in my armchair for so long this Saturday. Saints game live at dinnertime, soccer Saturday followed by nufc at man city all on the box. 2 very hard games. In fact the latter is impossible and merely damage limitation. Still, I'm not moving.

Meant to watch that then forgot . My 1st memory of the saints was that of being the team in black and white stripes on the very back page of those albums. Used to cut the saints crest from the corner of my swaps and stick them on light switches and sockets in my room as a kid.

Just browsing the fixture list and BBC have us playing Dunfermline away on a Friday night. Error or have i missed that one. Can't see any tv listings that far ahead. Saints official site says Sat 27th. Probably more reliable.

Any TV picks decided for this round yet?

As a Newcastle fan who's club owner has no desire to do well in the cups, i love the difference in attitude from St Mirren. It says their aim is to get promoted and progress to the latter rounds of domestic cup competitions, and they actually mean it. So wish NUFC had that way of thinking and some ambition. It's the way a club SHOULD be run.

I agree about double standards here. Going back a long way to the late nineties granted, but i can remember the clubs own mascot the Paisley panda standing in front of the Morton fans and pretending to wash under its arms as if it was showering. While this was hilarious, some might deem it offensive. Personally i still chuckle to myself when i picture it in my mind all these years on .

Surely common sense should prevail here. A bit of discussion between the club and representatives from W7, together with an apology and a promise to tone down the banner messages in future must surely resolve the issue. I can understand the clubs condemnation of THAT banner but it does seem like an over reaction. The noise and visual displays in W7 have improved the atmosphere greatly. Get together. Get it sorted and let's not have an unnecessary divide between club and fans which indirectly may hinder what promises to be a good season on the field.

Aye. I'm coming up for it. Lad at work is a Big Country fanatic. Just mentioned that they were on with the skids in Paisley and he was up for going. I originally thought i'll just go up for a trip away and a few beers etc but after watching the Skids on youtube last night i'm really looking forward to the music side of the trip. What's the town hall like as a venue? Couple of bars in there? Despite years of visiting Paisley i've never set foot in there. We're in the gallery. Is that one of those balcony type areas? Spot the non concert goer eh?

Speaking of the challenge cup, i got saints mentioned on BBC radio Newcastles' football phone in,'Total Sport' the other night in relation to this. Some sunderlanfd fan had been on saying he had been one of their 7 away fans in their checkatrade trophy game at Grimsby last week and had attended all of their ties in the competition. I texted in to tell them about my saints interest and that i'd got to every round on our run to last seasons Irn Bru final. They read it out and mentioned that the producer of the show is a saints fan, while former Ireland defender John Anderson chipped in with 'At least they got to a final'.

Without wanting to hijack the thread, will i be able to buy west stand tickets at the main ticket office when i arrive in Paisley about 11am tomorrow? Or will we have to get them from the west stand portacabin nearer KO? Would prefer to buy them early and be done.

Also looking forward to the game. Hopefully make it 3 wins out of 3 for us this season, albeit we've only been to Stranraer in the cup then Brechin at home. I'm sure it's been mentioned on the forum but i can't find it. Is there a minibus that runs into the town after the games? Would be handy if so. Maybe allow time for a celebratory pint before the train home.

Pre match on Sunday the cameras showed the Rangers players getting off the bus, 'Simply the Best' playing on the coach. Enjoyed Chris Suttons' comment after the game when he said 'They won't be playing that on the way home, will they?'

One of the few places we make a point of staying over for nufc away games. When we're in the same division of course. Always felt safe and found the locals to be welcoming. Usually quite hard to find affordable hotels near the centre. Ended up booking a room above a Toxteth pub the other year. We were a bit apprehensive because my memories of Toxteth were of it being in flames during the riots on the news when I was growing up. Turned out to be one of the best places we've tried. So hospitable.

What a strip and badge. Reminds me of my early saints watching days and making me nostalgic. Also reminds me of my Panini sticker albums at school. Saints always stood out as a team in black and white on the very back page. The ugly sisters always had a double page spread while the provincial clubs had to make do with a single page. I'd never have guessed back in those days that i'd develop such a saints connection. So pleased i have.

tickets purchased for the November gig.

So sad. Always looked so happy through his tragically short, troubled life. Well done to Jermain Defoe who took him under his wing too, giving him some of his happiest times. RIP Bradley.

Is that a big bass drum that fruit's carrying?

Celtic playing Sunderland at the stadium of s**t* on July 29th. No away fans stay in Sunderland so Newcastle will be full of the green vermin that weekend. Guaranteed to be dickheads on every visit. Will dig out my saints top especially for the occasion.

Never been to Stranraer so unsure of how quickly you can get back to the station but might have to sacrifice the end of the game to catch that 16:59 train rather than have to hang about til 19:03. With the benefit of hindsight we should have waited for news of the supporters busses before booking a return from Glasgow to Stranraer. Never mind. It's done now.

Had hoped we'd be able to but it seems there isn't a direct train line between Carlisle and Stranraer and we'd still have to go via Glasgow unfortunately. There's a national express bus leaves Stranraer at 6pm and scheduled to get to Carlisle at 8:45pm. Last train from Carlisle to Newcastle is 21:28 so a bit of a gamble booking that in case there was any delay on the bus journey.

Hell of a place to get to this. Booked trains the other day, via Edinburgh and Glasgow on the morning of the game. Trains don't run late enough to get back to Newcastle so staying over in Glasgow Saturday night. Then today Newcastle announce they're playing Hearts at Tynecastle the night before. We change trains in Edinburgh on the Sat' morning. Quite frustrating. To make it a double header is tempting but it means booking more trains and paying for another nights stay. Not quite ruling it out however.

I'd forgotten the bit about his failure at Bristol City. A repeat at Sunderland would be nice.

Pretty sure if you book the bus through megabus.com it's quite cheap, and think you just end up on the citilink coaches.

Nice to have a stress free weekend. A wander round Hartlepool marina for us today. In the words of Band Aid "Well tonight thank god it's them instead of us."