steveoath

I think it got jinxed ?

So to sum up my football/soccer season..... I support Greenock Morton one of the oldest full time and professional teams in the world (founded 1874). We have bobbed about in Scotland's lower leagues with brief seasons in the top division. In my lifetime I have no recollection of them playing higher than our second tier (although I am assured my Dad took me to games from the age of 5.... 36 years ago. During last summer our chairmanndied. Morton had been his plaything since pulling us from administration. His shares are now divided up to his surviving family. Who have no interest in the club and are cutting funding. Remarkably this season started promisingly well, we hired and up and coming manager in Ray McKinnon. But he left the job about a month after starting his employment to join Falkirk, a club the media here seem to love but other fans despise. (Mostly due to the government handout they got to build their new ground, and their fans persecution complex). Managerless, playing rubbish football, and with and the threat of further budget reductions what was next for the long suffering fans? The hire of ex-rangers player and Finnish international Jonatan Johansson. At the time this was looked on as a brave move, a young up and coming manager with fresh ideas (sound familiar sabres fans?). Needless to say he was an abject failure. Alienated one of the best players to have played for us in the last 20 years (Michael Tidser) and trying to play defensive football with players who are not of the standard required resulted in is facing relegation. He struggled to achieve a point per game in his first 20 matches (quite a feat in a league that awards 3 points for a win). A late awaking coupled with collapse of Falkirk, Queen of the south and Partick Thistle somehow allowed us to creep upwards, and on Saturday we finished 5th. One place outside the promotion playoffs. The drama on the last day was not limited to the pitch though. With Charlie Telfer in the teamsheet he was to play in his 25 game and trigger a contract extension. The chairman veteoed this. Some 2 hours before Saturday's final game the management team resigned as a protest. Luckily we'd already secured safety and the fans are in holiday mode. Fast forward to the final whistle. We beat promotion candidates Dundee United 1-0 to seal fifth place.looking elsewhere, our fans were tuned into the scores coming from Falkirk and also to Ayr v Alloa. Could our ex-manager achieve safety with the club he snakes out of Greenock to join? The answer was an emphatic "NO". Alloa winning a point against 3rd place Ayr meant that despite Falkirk winning Ray McKinnon and his "ambition" we're relegated to league 1 (,the third tier). A fantastically successful day.... Clinched 5th place with a victory and a clean sheet. Lost our dreadful management team. Ray McKinnon leads Falkirk to relegation. Rumours of "fan ownership" and "new investors waiting in the wings" are rife. This summer will, once again, be very intering as our future unfolds.

But

I got my first for my 40th birthday last year. I've been part of the DIY/punk/hardcore music scene in Glasgow for over 20 years and one of the few people I know who wasn't tattooed. Decided to go through the experience. I have a fist sized Ruderal Bumblebee on my calf now. (A tattoer I liked did some charity pieces for bee conservation). On the train just now but will add pic later. Probably going to go for a half sleeve next, due to work couldn't go full sleeve.

@Thorny above has hit the nail on the head for me. But this is what keeps us interested isn't it. No debates = no fun.

Fair point. Something I didn't consider.

I thought the Calder was for the rookie of the year. Bennington hasn't played enough in my opinion. Yeah, he's be great but has he even played half the season?

Don't agree with Bennington being the at all.

Fun 4-on-4 there in the dal-stl game.

Grönberg-train. All aboard.

He works part time for the Avengers

"He’s a great coach,” said the Sabres’ Dahlin, who played for Grönborg at the 2018 Olympics. “He’s kind of North American style. It’s pretty similar, but of course he has his own thing.” Grönborg’s coaching style features a free-flowing game where players aren’t defined by their position. “We involve all five players in the defense as well as the offense,” he said. “The game is not as static anymore. Everyone needs to go outside the box a little bit. Forwards are not always forwards, and defensemen are not always defensemen. It’s the situation that steers that and dictates it. That’s how you raise the pace of the game.” On identifying a team's strengths. “Everyone wants to talk about fast-paced games, and I agree with that. I like that part of it. But sometimes you just don’t have that kind of a team. Well, then you have to make adjustments to a new way of thinking. So I think the biggest thing is the adjustment part of it and agree on ‘this is our strengths’ and how do you get games to play into our strengths?” “There’s so much information out there – for coaches, especially – but how do you boil everything down to what’s important to you and your team and your environment? I think that’s the biggest key because the information is all over the place. I mean, you’ve got video, you’ve got analytics, you’ve got what I call soft value, which is working with the players individually and within the team. They’re not robots, you know? There needs to be a balance of everything."

Sorry, don't know the SS policy on cut n pasting. ?

Prob linked earlier but this is a good read.... https://theathletic.com/942738/2019/04/24/i-like-to-break-barriers-how-swedish-national-team-coach-rikard-gronborg-has-put-himself-into-contention-for-the-sabres-job/

Would take Hayes and Duchene on those terms tbh.

Wait... What?

I'm going for the perfect score here, lol. 100% incorrect.

That didn't age well.

What happened with Pekar? Was he out for the season, but sent to roc to be around the team?

I'm new recruit for the Purple Army!

Seems that freesports.tv has the full tournament too!

Agreed. Didn't realize how good McKinnon is until watching this series.