Blastronaut

A few months ago I'd have thought you were mental for saying this but I mostly agree. He's came out of that Celtic debacle relatively unscathed as time went on (mainly due to details of Postecoglu's contract emerging and the boardroom circus act hitting new levels of hilarity). Howe still strikes me as total wanker and someone who wouldn't be happy being a stop gap. He'd definitely fancy himself enough to not just phone it in and wait on his payout though, and could probably get youse organised enough to stay up. I just seriously doubt he's signing up for this for 6 months without a hefty payout that I'm not sure he's worth.

You've worded that weirdly but I think you've got it. Even if he was "Evens" that only makes up a quarter of a book that counts to 200%.

Bit jealous of even the shit Sky coverage youse got over the last few years tbh. Most important game of the season up here ended in a draw and the only real coverage we got was from this glory seeking Liverpool Fan wanker that's decided to follow Kelty for likes, seemingly unaware the Albion used to play at Annfield (not a typo) and had Bill Shankly's brother Bob on the payroll right up until his death.

Maybe not directly "asked" for it but let's not pretend that he wasn't aware this scenario was a short term possibility. I'm not taking a pop at him like, he's conducted himself in a way that suggests he's been preparing for this rather than being blindsided.

In a standard market that had pre-declared runners and a designated "off" time then maybe. In this market you probably just take the book up to 201%. But aye they know fuck all and aren't invested in the outcome of any market beyond balancing their books and securing their overround.

Just what you could expect of anyone that went broke in Fife. Could get worse like, thats now a relegation playoff spot with the winners of the Highland/lowland league placeoff, hence East Stirling no longer traditionally taking up that spot.

Wee village in Fife, they were a non league Juniors team until fairly recently, had a lot of money pumped into them and now look like they're trying to pull a Gretna. Tbf they're probably good money for a few more consecutive promotions but I'm on the other side and hope we fucking do them tomorrow.

Aye. For the hundredth fucking time: this market rounds to about 200%. Anything above 100% is house/bookie advantage (or "theoretical" profit margin) so 200% is pure pisstaking. A fucking roulette table only rounds to 107% and big horse races usually spike at about 135%.

Sure I've also had to endure that bastard tooth brushing version of Blitzkrieg Bop. Memories of those Vtech Leap-pads or something similar. Double edged sword like. On one had it's cool that there's more generations getting exposed to that stuff. On the other hand, it's hard not to pity the generations that hear the Ramones and think "fucking hell, that's a weird version of the toothbrushing song. Didn't know they had smartphones in the 70s."

Aye. "Right lads. We're up shit creek here. I get paid my 8 million either way but your careers are on the line. My jobs to make sure you all improve and perform to the best of your ability, so here's the plan: let's do less work"

Dunno like. From where I'm sitting it looks more like the only cunt that was fatigued by Thursday and insisted on the extra day off was Bruce. What I do know is that anytime I've had a fairly unfulfilling job, unexpected paid days off did fuck all to make me want to work harder or take it more seriously.

Most important fixture of the season north of the border tomorrow that I sadly wont get to see since my glory seeking daughter would rather go to Celtic Park over the delights of supporting her local team in the fourth tier.

Slim to none, he would be ideal in the short to middle term though and still worth pursuing since he's still hated by Everton fans and there rumours of there being a rift between him and his bosses. He's already got a tune out of a lot of these players that are now deemed not up to scratch and undoubtedly has a checklist of "why I didn't see eye to eye with Ashley and what needs to be prioritised".

The response to that Super League debacle really reminded me of the repeated rumours over the years that Rangers and Celtic were plotting to join the English leagues. Like then I'm just surprised there wasn't more of a collective effort from the rest of the league to just wave them off with a chorus of "See we you later, hope the door doesn't hit you on the way out". Shows how much money rules the game these days, opposition fans and owners relying on this small clique to keep their teams solvent.

ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart

Nice one @Tom . Adam Buxton levels of daft but still poignant enough to remind me I need to drop in to see my pensioner aged mate that still cuts about in Sonic Youth t-shirts and really likes his speed.

He'll be alright, until he's not. Either way he's no longer your problem.

Surely needs to be pretty high up on the list of priorities when looking for a new manager. Bruce was a nice guy and had playing experience at the highest level but it's fair to assume his parents weren't into their homing pigeons.

I walk by his parents house on the way to my preferred local boozer pretty regularly. His dad's well into homing pigeons.

Would at least get the players motivated and take the edge off the "nasty House of Saud" narrative. That was my logic. He's no world beater but would surely arrive with a fairly solid short term plan. Should be able to consolidate and attract some better players, and would be easy to fuck over in June without much fanfare. Long term he'd be a liability though.

I'll concede you've convinced me on Martinez. Actually agree he's underperformed with Belgium too. 2.5% though. That's like going from draught Guinness to Nigerian Guinness. Not really sessionable but a readily available short term quick fix. I still reckon he could a be more useful short term appointment than someone like Eddie Howe like. Even just in terms of the type of player he could attract.

That's fair like, didn't realise Martinez record was so poor. Was he not heavily touted for the Liverpool job in the run up them hiring Klopp? Sure I remember spouting my usual "don't read too much into the betting" patter when it was Martinez and Villas-Boas the favourites.

That's me showing empathy rather than taking a cheap dig btw. Ive definitely said "I'd put in a good word for you but it'll probably do more harm than good" more than once.

"It was a great place to work until they hired me!"

Might as well try to get Big Dunc as well if that's the plan. Fully expect there will be a shorter term option and then a bigger name brought in once the ship's been steadied and they can be lured in with the promise of proper transfer window and full preseason. Martinez might not be a terrible shout as a stopgap and he's likely looking for a route out of the Belgium job (that squad probably won't last to the next Euros) and in the short term I reckon he'd get youse organised and motivated enough to avoid relegation. Plus he's so far up his own arse he'd probably fancy himself to change opinions and land the job for the long term. I don't fucking rate him as an elite level manager, but he's nowt like Bruce which might be what's needed in the short term to turn things around. Given Celtic just wasted about 6 months trying to negotiate with Howe, can't see him being worth the time or effort for a stopgap and the other names all seem to be more suited to long term projects when really this appointment really just to be "keep us up, help us attract a quality fullback or two, get these cunts performing and we'll pay you off in June".