Christy

Gladstone you make some great points and then ruin them with statements such as this. Of course the physical action of cupping ones' ears should not be inflammatory; it is an arbitrary physical movement. In the same way, someone decided years back that by extending my middle finger, I am being insulting. The actual action is of course totally innocuous; if he had started scratching his belly instead of cupping his ears nobody would have mentioned it. If I extend my thumb rather than my middle finger it has a totally different meaning, but the act remains nearly the same. The point is that the meaning behind the action is inflammatory. By cupping his ears to say 'I can't hear you', this childish act of defiance in front of opposing fans in the flesh - and millions more on TV - WILL incite a reaction from opposing fans (and indeed his team's own fans). And can you guess what kind of a reaction that will be? That's right, one of hatred. Us vs the world. Tribalism. A VERY fucking stupid thing for such a prominent figure to be doing in such a volatile (indeed, life-endangering, at the risk of sounding melodramatic) environment. Had there not been bombs sent to him recently? Had there not been a recent resurgence in Sectarian killings in Northern Ireland just one week previously? I was in Belfast for that game (and then flew into Glasgow later that day) and believe me, the atmosphere in both cities reminded me once again how great it is to be an Aberdeen fan. In fact, I was in Northern Ireland for two Old Firm games this season and idiotic gestures such as Lennon's do not take into account the pissed-up people the world over who will react. The Luca Toni situation was obviously entirely different. At the end of the game he came over to the south stand and applauded us and got an ovation back. The very definition of pantomine villain. Neil Lennon is not a pantomine villain. He's a very naughty boy

Two such incidents in two years = points deduction fo sho. Thoroughly deserved.

I cannot speak for every Dons fan obviously, but my initial reaction was 'FFS that is shocking, I presume/hope the Hearts fan will do time for this'. It was followed by '...but if he had to lamp somebody, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy'. There is an almighty difference between this sentiment and condoning it. I know you are probably sick of hearing it by now, but if Lennon handled himself with a modicum of class then he would not be so roundly reviled by the rest of the Scottish football community (including fans). I cannot think of another manager in my lifetime who has been so despised (Sounness, perhaps); not-so-coincidentally, I cannot think of another manager in my lifetime who has been as wiflully antagonistic as Lennon. The religion thing is a convenient excuse. No doubt, the most sectarian element of Rangers fans will hate him because he is a Northern Irish Catholic. Personally I (and most people I know) could not give less of a fuck about where he's from and what religious denomination he is; we dislike him because he is a Grade A fud. Religion issue = red herring.

Well your Aberdeen supporting best mate is a) a complete fud, or b) having a giggle. As he's your best friend, I think you could probably afford him the benefit of the doubt and go with b).

Neil Lennon does not deserve to be attacked while doing his job. Nobody does. However, he is no innocent victim in all this; there is a damn good reason why he is being targeted in a way that no other footballer/manager in recent years has. With his pathetic posturing and touchline antics, not to mention his continual conspiracy theories in the media, he appeals to the most soft-headed of football fans. This kind of tribalism (we are the good guys and the rest of the world is against us) will in turn provoke reactions from the most soft-headed of opposing fans. What the Hearts fan did was inexcusable and they thoroughly deserve a points deduction but Lennon is no cuddly innocent victim. Celtic have broken the British record for most penalties awarded in a single season, but the officials are obviously against them. It is this kind of bone-headed, ludicrous garbage that makes your average football fan roll their eyes and rant about it in the pub/on the internet, but it is no surprise that the most idiotic of people will want to do something about it (which inevitably means violence). If you spend all of your time pandering to the most tribalisitic (dunno if that's a real word) of your own fans, surely it is logical that the most tribalisitc opposing fans will take matters into their own hands. And WRT Gladstone's claims that Pittodrie houses worse crowd behaviour than Celtic Park...words fail me. Obviously there is no way to prove it, but I think that even your own supporters would laugh at that claim. It is absurd and utterly, utterly wrong.

I would SERIOUSLY doubt that one act per showcase would make it through - if that televised showcase is anything to go by, I would assume none of those bands make the cut. They aren't very good. Plus, by luck of the draw it would stand to reason taht two or three good bands are in the same heat and it would suck for them to be limited to just one winner.

Harper is definitely the best uncapped English keeper I have seen in years. Another change of subject - look at the banner hung from Ibrox last night: They are a brainy lot.

Considerable difference between one incident in a distinguished career under extreme and unreasonable provocation, and the conduct of Neil Lennon throughout this season. imo

Sorry I stand corrected, CB was not exonnerated at all. His knuckles were rapped and he was given a warning. For some reason I picked it up wrong. Boyle was fined and warned too. BBC Sport - Craig Brown and John Boyle censured by SFA for spat

Brown and Know are owed five figure win bonuses from Boyle for their Motherwell tenure - I guess it would have been something like "no need to look for a win bonus this time" or something. The real question is "WTF is a chairman doing at the dugout?". Seems pretty obvious that Boyle went out of his way to cause trouble here. I am sure I will be accused of bias because if it invloves the Dons and I am a Dons fan it cannot be right, but I think Boyle is the guiltier party here. CB was exonnerated by the SFA at the hearing, and I think Boyle was fined.

^^^^ If you think we got 7 figures for Anderson you are tripping. We got no more than 600k, and the papers took "undisclosed" to mean "seven figures" because it sounded like a better bit of business by AFC. Calderwood did a good job at AFC (albeit with a far bigger budget than his predecessors and successors) and I am grateful for his work here. However, his time was clearly up, simple as that. The players, his players, had stopped performing for him. I supported MM up til the 9-0 game, then it was over. No manager should lose 9-0 and stay in a job. He was a disaster. CB and AK are finally going to be able to make some signings, and few have contacts like those two. Blackman didnt work out, but his was an impressive signing, and Milsom looks good. More of that please.

^^^Had a mental over/under on that gag. I took the under on one hour. You lot failed me.

9/11 in 5 mins. Any more than 5 mins is cheating imo.

There we have it guys: Status Quo > Bob Dylan. Seems right to me.

Someone rep Soda Jerk s'il vous plait. Overall, though, there seems to be some underestimating of the massive advantage that being a hugely superior technical team has. Physicality will counteract it to some extent, but over the course of the season Barca have such a monumental skill advantage that they would cruise it in the end imo.

Barca would absolutely coast the EPL imo. The would, of course, drop points on occassion, but I reckon they would still win the league by a clear 10 points. They would win almost every match vs Man U, Citeh, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs.

Watched MOTD2 last night, and the handball was an absolute stonedyker. The trip should have been a pen too.

orly? I gotta say I didnt give it my fullest attention but it looked like a pen. Serves me right for trying to be clever and multitasking.

Howard Webb is lucky that Man U won. Two clear pens and he let Ivanovic off with murder.

Jeff Winter is a media hooooooor and those comments are somewhat wide of the mark imo. I get what he is saying, that unconsciously, a human might be disinclined to give a fair go to someone who has not given them a fair go, but on the fitba pitch obviously this cannot be allowed to happen. I think that he is trying to make the point that it is, if not counter-productive, then at least pointless to harnague the referee all game long. However, his wording is all out of goose. I would be absolutely amazed if a top-level official (albeit now retired) could believe that it is acceptable to favour certain players because they are nicer. If that were the case, we would see fewer situations of players surrounding the ref and getting all up in his grille, and more gentlemanly chats. Strange comments fo sho, but almost certainly an innocent sentiment poorly communicated (or at least not a stance shared by most officials).

^^^Rep this man, someone. Bugs my happiness too.

Is that the cab that was for sale on this forum? I aint no guitarist but I was drooling at the sight.

That would bring a tear to your eye, surely? Your Japseye amirite?

The Dig Lazarus Dig album by Nick Cave&TBS. Owned it for ages, always loved it, but this week I am fucking obsessed! YouTube - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Lie Down Here & Be My Girl

Sad to see Sone go, if indeed he does. Madrid benefited from dodgy officiating last night too. If it erent a dead rubber, there is no way on earth that Carvalho and Diarra (who was outstanding) would have lasted the 90 minutes. Carvalho should have had at least four yellows.