GG Riva

I can't argue with any of that, parsforlife. Clearly, the statements Rossmcno1 alluded to, were not vetted before being released.

Correct, Grant. The trouble is, when we're emotionally charged, we're not thinking calmly and rationally, so we bash right on and do it anyway. 🙁

The trouble with written statements is that they can be interpreted in different ways by different readers, so the writer must be exceedingly careful to ensure that any misinterpretation is kept to an absolute minimum, if not avoided altogether. I'm aware of the statements you allude to, Ross and I can tell you that those who wrote them were very angry at the loutish behaviour of a small number of Pars fans at the time. I'm sure you'll agree that writing a diplomatic or conciliatory statement when emotions are high, is well nigh impossible. I don't believe it was ever the intention of any Pars director to "tar us all with the same brush." I certainly wasn't offended by the statements, but I recognise that they were poorly worded. Should these directors be vilified for that? They're only human, just like you and me. "Think you have me confused with someone else, as I’m not involved with any of the stuff you’ve listed GG" Are there two Kelty Pars? I'm fairly sure we've met a couple of times - once in the East Port Bar, where I very kindly bought you a pint, when I judged you the winner of a wee competition on daftnet about England's World Cup exploits. Yours was so hilarious, my sides were sore with laughing. The second time was in the Boardroom at EEP where 4 of us met with Ross McArthur to discuss ideas for a Schools Engagement Programme. You came up with the idea of a stadium tour for upper primary children. This was carried forward by Dave Dawson, a retired colleague and huge Pars fan, as you were unable to do so since you are still working - serves you right for being so young! 😀 If you're not the man I think you are, please accept my apologies.

I don't doubt Kelty has a good, friendly match day atmosphere. Do we not have one at EEP? Perhaps this season has seen rumblings of discontent - and with good reason - what do you suggest the Pars should do to improve the match day experience for fans? Not being a smartass, but if we were up there challenging for promotion, most fans would be perfectly happy with the pre-match experience, which probably explains the atmosphere at NCP.

I wouldn't use match attendance as a barometer for measuring the Pars success as a community club. I was thinking more along the lines of how well the club engages with the local community. I know you're well aware of the different initiatives in the Schools Engagement Programme, given you were involved at the outset and the stadium tour was your idea. Match attendance is always likely to mirror success - or lack of it - on the pitch.

Our club was doing pretty well as a community club, before Covid put a stop to a number of excellent initiatives, RP, so I think it's very harsh of you to suggest we could learn from Kelty Hearts. We were engaging with Kelty PS when the local club was still scratching around in the Junior ranks. 🙂 I don't know all the details of the relationship breakdown with Rosyth or Inverkeithing, so I don't feel I can comment on that.

The biggest difference between Kelty and the Pars is our fan base. I believe we have a core support in excess of 3k which could swell to at least 5k if the team was doing well and established in the Premiership. Factor in walk up and visiting fans and you'd be looking at a healthy turnover and that's before TV and sponsorship monies are considered. With the best will in the world, Kelty Hearts cannot compare to us. Dunfermline's population is about 10x that of Kelty. We can survive in the SPFL without our investors, Kelty would struggle to stay in League 2 if Dean McKenzie left them, unless another sugar daddy replaced him.

I'm pretty sure Gretna's owner didn't "walk away" but died, so his money dried up. No matter how much money a rich owner ploughs into a club, it has to be sustainable when he leaves, as Piracy and others have pointed out, otherwise the club will regress back to its optimum position. Kelty would be League 2 at best. Ross Co. are another club who will drop down the league's once Uncle Roy calls it a day. Dingwall has a population of about 6k has it not?

Never been more serious in my life, Ross. Look, I can understand someone from Kelty deciding to support their local team, but why on earth would a Pars fan from say Valleyfield or Dalgety Bay decide to abandon us for a Johnny-come-lately village team? It makes no sense to me.

What makes you think any Pars fan would switch their allegiance to Kelty Hearts, Ross? It would be completely bizarre. Kelty Par, your thoughts as a native of the sprawling metropolis, please. 🤔

A 6pt gap to QOS at 4.50 pm, would look great, but I'd settle for 4 or even 5 pts, with 5 games to play.

I was crying in my home made vino. Rab. ☹️ It wasn`t overly surprising when you consider Italy drew half of their qualifying games against less fashionable opponents, in spite of enjoying the lion's share of possession in all 4 matches. Factor in Jorginho`s penalty misses in both games v Switzerland, either of which would have seen Italy qualify as group winners and you`ll catch my drift. Italy have always struggled against teams who sit in and are much more effective against sides who carry the game to them. The problem has been exacerbated by the loss of Chiesa, their most effective forward, to an ACL injury. Ciro Immobile can't hit the proverbial barn door in international games, but scores regularly for his club. N. Macedonia put in an outstanding defensive performance of which Mourinho would have been proud and found a way to win against technically superior opponents, so good luck to them. I watched the whole game and for all their possession, Italy rarely looked like scoring and N Macedonia's keeper didn't have much to do. I`d be very surprised if they can repeat the trick v Portugal who, unlike Italy, possess a magnificent goal scorer. Eta. All right minded football fans know that Qatar should never have been awarded the WC in the first place, with their dreadful human rights records. Italy's players were obviously of the same persuasion, so they f@nnied around for 92 mins before allowing NM to score a winner. 😉

I try not to get too despondent when we lose and not to get ahead of myself when we win a game. The Partick game was a fine performance and great result. Against Morton, the result didn`t match our good performance. Ironically, going behind v Morton and Thistle was the a good thing - it meant we had to chase the game to try and get something from it. In previous games when we`ve gone ahead, lack of confidence has seen us sitting deeper and deeper` to try and protect our lead. These last two games will have instilled some much needed confidence among the players. I`m certain they will now approach Saturday`s game believing they can win it, whereas previously they might have gone into it hoping to avoid defeat. It`s fine margins like these which establish good runs in football - that and the odd slice of luck, like the OG equaliser on Tuesday evening. I think we'll get something from this game. 3 pts would be brilliant, but my head says 1 pt is more likely. If we stay up, I might vote for Lewis Mayo for POTY. 😉

My pal said Dom's goal reminded him of some guy called Geoff Hurst..... Never heard of him.

There are so many fans dreading Mehmet's return in goal that it would be just like football for him to keep two clean sheets, tonight and Sat, giving Yogi a decision to make when Jakub returns from international duty. 🙂

I don't think there's much between the teams, so any result is distinctly possible. The game could well be decided by a piece of luck, a mistake or a poor refereeing decision. We don't score many, but haven't conceded many either, recently, so fingers crossed we score the all important first goal. I think there's little chance Yogi will go with 2 strikers, nor do I believe it would automatically double our scoring potential. He might throw an extra forward on late in the game if we're behind or to try and find a winner if we're level. I very much hope he doesn't need to. 2-0 Pars for me.

We do, but why should that count against us if we finish 9th? The most recent (promotion) play offs have seen us line up against teams who finished higher up the table than we did. I think the only time we've lost a relegation play off was to Alloa after we went into administration. Do we have any players left from then? Poor historical records in H2H games have some relevance. e.g. we have a poor record at Ibrox for a reason, so we can expect to lose there over 90% of the time, but you can't apply the same logic to play offs, imo.

It's more optimism than confidence, RP. The play offs are weighted in the highest ranking team's favour. It's scheduled to play the 2nd leg of both the semi and final at home, which is what managers prefer, even though the stats don't suggest that it's a huge advantage.

I saw a team who worked very hard throughout the game against big, physical opponents, who defended really well. It is to their credit that they kept going after going behind to such a poor goal, which gave Morton a lead to defend. The equaliser may have come late, but was thoroughly deserved and with a little luck, we might have won it. There`s a noticeable lack of confidence when it comes to having a shot at goal - few players want to take responsibility and when they do, it`s often a tame sidefooted effort. That`s what happens when you`re at the bottom. We`re not dead yet, though. 8th is gone but give me the play off spot now and I`ll back us to come through it. Better than 10th at any rate.

Agreed, Grant. Even elite goalies will concede goals if they have little or no protection from their defensive team mates.

That's a great initiative from the Pars. Secure Par, that's an angry rant - which you're entitled to - but you may want to re-evaluate when you read it back. Parsforlife sums things up very well, just below your post. The problems in the UK are real and successive Governments have failed to address them adequately, but that doesn't mean we should look the other way at the horror unfolding on the people of Ukraine and the consequent suffering they are going through. No food, no water, no home, no electricity, no heating, no sleep, family members killed and living in constant fear of the next missile attack. In 2022.

You're correct, DP - Jakub can play on Friday. Apologies for confusing you. I was referring to next week's games but didn't make that clear.

Stop it! Things are depressing enough, with that awful footage of the war in Ukraine without you adding your tuppence worth, RP. 🙁 I hope it doesn't come to Alexander having to play in goal, but if he does, I don't think he'll be the disaster some posters are predicting.

That's a pretty downbeat assessment, Grant. You might be bang on the money, of course, but I'm hoping that the players will still be hurting after that debacle at Cappielow and will be determined to avenge it. It's last chance saloon to have even a small chance of finishing higher than 9th. Hughes must tell his players to play on the front foot from the off and if we lose, we lose. A draw isn't much better than a defeat. Morton have done well since changing their manager but they did lose 3-0 to QOS, so they're not unbeatable. I'll go 2-0 Pars.

I think Grant's post was tongue in cheek, Al. Yes, it was the semi-final, Grant, my bad. 🙁 9th v 4th. Brechin actually finished their league 1 campaign with a negative GD, but ended up being promoted. Shows just why we shouldn't have play offs - they can be so unfair - but apparently the fans like them and more importantly for the clubs, they generate extra income.