sadoldgit

Good to read a balanced, non-hysterical piece after the weeks of doom-mongering from the likes of the Mail and Mirror. Of course, as he points out, it is way to early to get carried away but the signs so far are very encouraging.

Perhaps we should rename our bedwetters The Prophets of Doom?

Perhaps they were hoping he would knuckle down and fight for his place?

I love the way Branfoot, with a gutted look on his face, turns to Moody and says sit down when the ball hits the back of the net! Shame he scuffed the shot a bit but other than that, perfection.

No wonder he loves it here if someone gives him a polish every afternoon!

Is there such a thing though. I have many unhappy memories of standing an terraces in the 70s. I have been in crushes where I have feared for my life. Some people weren't so lucky and never made it out. All seater stadia may not be ideal but are far safer (IMO).

Probably as well that I am not voting as I have a very simplistic view of the situation. We are where we are because of hundreds of years of power struggles. Boundaries and discussions about power have been going on for centuries. At some point it is not unreasonable to say this is where we are. That point is long gone for me. Yes, by all means talk about the way that power/economics etc work across GB. But to take a vote on Scottish independence in 2014 makes no sense in the very complicated world we live it nowadays.

Yep, another one. Sadly many of those amazing orators got themselves assassinated! Tells you something about the plant we live on! What worries me about referendums is the lack of proper knowledge that the people making the decisions have given the power they hold. Listening to debates about the situation in my local pub (I live in England) is scary. It will be the same with membership of the EU. John Lennon used to sing about "power to the people" which is all well and good but when a large majority of the people don't really have a grasp on the facts it is a recipe for disaster. I wonder if David Cameron is thinking that the referendum was such a good idea this morning?

LOL. I'll see your Andy Murray and raise you a Ben Fogle and dozens of other people who don't have a proper job! Gotta love celebs!!!

Sadly the very words "elected officials" tell you all you need to know given the vast majority of them are just plain awful. How many would you want to listen to? Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mandela, Bevan...can't think of many more who have said anything worth listening to over the years. We used to have something called a "soundbite" - now we just get streams of self interest buried in boring rhetoric and drivel. As an American friend of mine would say, "Blah,blah,blah."

Valid point. On the Andy Murray point - I love it when they wheel out celebrities on these occasions. I wonder if he would be happy to stay in an independent Scotland if they hiked up their tax rates for the top earners? I remember all of our patriotic rock heroes b*ggering off to tax havens in the 70s and 80s. Sean Connery used to talk a lot about Scottish independence from his luxury home abroad didn't he?

This is the thing. If we were turning away thousands of season ticket applications every year you could see the point. Realistically how many more could we attract if did expand at our current performance levels? Assuming at some point we get European football how many plastics are out there and would it be viable to expand given that they would disappear the moment we get knocked out. Expand but reduce prices to encourage more through the turnstiles? Could we ever regularly get 35k/40k crowds? Try and build the fan base first, then expand if needed.

Brand is clearly an intelligent bloke and makes many good points. Sadly though he comes across like a GCSE student on speed.

Oh well, if Andy Murray has come out for Yes its all over! No doubt Mel Gibson will make a film about this momentous moment in years to come and play the brave Andy himself.

Indeed. He may have "lost it" on the touch line but he isn't the first one to do so. I really don't think he would be so callous. As for his sacking Alpine I am sure that was more to do with a clash of personalities with Cortese

I think you are right.

"If true"

Don't worry Viking, I got the joke. It must only be us oldies!!!

I also saw that on the BBC gossip page. Gossip being the word you need to note.

Why the immediate assumption there is something wrong???

Unless of course that Luke doesnt cut it at MoanU!

Sometimes things work out for a reason. Lovren clealry has talent but does he have the mental strength to back it up? He has been poor for liverpool this season so far and had some poor games for us last season to be fair. He was caught out of position a few times in the WC and I do wonder if he will cut it in the CL. The point is though that we could well have found ourselves a better CH so whatever he does at Liverpool I am not fussed because we seem to have sorted our defence out.

To be fair David I think it was Killer who made Claus a better player rather than the other way around.

Still early days but 8th would be brilliant. If Mane is as good as we are led to believe and Jay gets back to something like his old form you would hope that we would be pushing a bit higher - but I think we need to wait to 10 games in before we get too excited. Looking good though!!!

Ok, no probs.