QuoteSeems to me that Mr Romanov behaves a bit like "the Tsar of St Petersbourg"...
How many more managers is he going to consume?
The mental thing is that you could see that being a possibilityOriginally Posted by Hibs4Ever
Whats the odds of Vlad naming himself manager at start of next season?There's always been plenty of rumours as you know that he picks or has picked the team on occasion.
Seems to me that Mr Romanov behaves a bit like "the Tsar of St Petersbourg"...
How many more managers is he going to consume?
"Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get."
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
2-1 to Celtic. McManus with an excellent header and Maloney with another freekick. Boruc made an absolute howler in injury time to make it 2-1.
It seems to be becoming more common with him, certainly not as reliable as he was for his first 5 months at the club. Still rate him though.
Maloney's quality free kick here: http://media.putfile.com/ASF_0017
Boruc has made quite a few howlers of late, luckily for him not all of them have cost us. Marshall must feel very frustrated as all he can do is wait for Boruc to get injured or make some howlers, he's doing the latter but Strachan is sticking by him. As the title is all but wrapped up, I guess there is less pressure on Strachan to make a change.
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
I think Marshall will get a run in the team when Celtic get the 2 wins. I'm getting worried that Lennon will be offered a new contract. He was the best player on the pitch last night. Nakamura was pretty good too. It was a terrible match tbh.
I think that statement needs a correction or an explanation.
I'd prefer this to be Lennon's last season.I think that statement needs a correction or an explanation.
Lennon is very underavalued IMO. Not at his prime and at times frustrating ( with the backwards ball) but his work rate and ability to breakdown opponents play is essential.
I think he deserves a one year contract, which may involve him playing a bit part role next season. Im sure Lennon would do it for less money as well, afterall he's "A Rich so and so...."
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
Just a small update for those of you interested.
WELL DONE DEANO
http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/news/mo...d=1404_0_1_0_C
fair play to the lad. Couple of questions.
1) I guess he's Irish from the article, has he been capped at any level for Ireland?
2) It says they would prefer to wait until the end of the season before having a replacement eye put in - what has he got there at the moment??? (Medical ignorance im afraid!!)
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
Northern Ireland.
From the 4 games that I have seen, I'd agree with you.
If there is a bit part for Lennon, who would play the lead role?
How far is the team from a decent showing in the CL group.?
IMO, a brand new back 4 is needed. Punt Balde if possible, the guy is on ridiculous wages for what he is producing.Also a new centre midfielder is needed(presuming RK leaves) if GS can stretch the budget that far
Hartson seems to be on the way out as well, a replacement should not be a problem there using the Hartson fee and his wages.
Good point. Keane will hopefully still be around next season, though no guarantees. We do need another ball winner in the squad. Pearson, Petrov, Nakamura, Maloney, McGeady are all creative, attacking players. We have a youngster Lawson, though I haven't seen much of him to be honest. Thompson will be off in the summer I reckon, though he was the most likely to fit that sort of role (too erratic and ill disciplined though)
At the moment it looks like Lennon / RK - job share
Still way off Im afraid. Strachan has had a good first season despite the awful start, but in all honesty he's had some luck on his side, the competition has been poor and inconsistent, Burley leaving Hearts also played in our favour. Don't get me wrong we are by far the best team in the SPL but way off being a decent CL performer. Added to this, next season we will have a few new signings in Caldwell and Miller who will have little time to settle in to the team prior to some big games.
Back four has played much better of late and Caldwell is still to come in next season. Wilson looks decent and will hopefully be at Rightback next year. Leftback is the problem spot at the moment, Ross Wallace has done ok, but still has a lot to learn in his new defensive role. (EDIT: just remembered the youngster Mulgrew on Loan at Dundee Utd, having a good spell at LB, might be his chance, though CL football is a massive step up) Whilst I tend to agree bombscare Balde can be extremely frustrating with his misplaced passes etc..The Celtic defence has been much more solid with him in there. I suppose it depends on what offer we got whether I'd want us to punt him or not.
Don't forget we have Kenny Miller coming. Im not particularly happy with that and I hope Hartson stays with us, we miss him when he's not in the side.
Last edited by Junior; 27/03/2006 at 5:47 PM.
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
This article may explain some of Balde's form since Novemberhttp://sport.scotsman.com/topics.cfm...9&id=468372006
Sutton has been injured almost non stop since his departure. Some wages saved there at least.
[QUOTE=geysir]This article may explain some of Balde's form since Novemberhttp://sport.scotsman.com/topics.cfm...9&id=468372006
Probably explains in part, but in all honesty he's just not a footballer. Big, strong, dominant in the air and athletic but ask him to pass to another person wearing the same colours as himself and you have a 50/50 chance of success.
Fabulous player for Celtic and Larsson apart, IMO was our best & most important player over the last 5 years. I think we parted company at the right time (for both parties).
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
Interesting article on Gretna's owner in Guardian of 31st March.
Janey, the town is about half the size of Beeslow.
Their Cup semi-final v Dundee is on BBC Scotland today at 12 noon.
Mileson's Gretna maintain roots in the village and a toehold on Europe
Millionaire owner who helps out in the ticket office leads his club to a cup semi-final this weekend
Lawrence Donegan
Friday March 31, 2006
The Guardian
If you walk into the office of most professional football clubs and find the owner counting out used £10 notes it is probably time to give Lord Stevens's bungs inquiry a ring. At Raydale Park, Gretna's ramshackle home, the sight of Brooks Mileson sorting out the receipts for a big game is nothing out of the ordinary.
"What other club would let me help out in the ticket office?" says the devoutly Christian, animal-loving, pony-tailed multi-millionaire behind one of the most unlikely football stories of this or any season, the progress of the newly crowned Second Division champions into tomorrow's Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, where they will meet Dundee.
What kind of club would let the owner help out in the ticket office? It is a good question, but a better one is this: what kind of club owner would want to spend Wednesday afternoon separating Bank of Scotland notes from Bank of England notes, because the tellers at the local bank like it that way?
After an hour in Mileson's company, the answer begins to take shape: the kind of club owner who actually believes in the quaint notion of football clubs contributing to the community around them, as opposed to paying lip service to the concept; the kind of club owner who spends money giving the club's young players the basis of a university education so that if the manager decides one day the kid is not good enough to make it he will have something to fall back on; the kind of club owner who finances drug education programmes and employs five full-time coaches to tour the local schools using football as a teaching aid; and, finally, the kind of owner who has made somewhere in the region of £50m in the insurance business and, after two heart attacks, one broken back, one removed kidney and a nasty case of ME, has decided it is time to share the wealth.
"Getting involved with Gretna has been like therapy for me," Mileson says. "The excitement has given me a boost. I'm feeding off the energy. My health is a wreck and this has put years on my life."
Gretna's ascent from English non-league football, when the club was attracting gates of around 60, to a Scottish Cup semi-final, for which it has sold more than 4,000 tickets (not bad in a town with a population of 2,075), may well have been therapeutic for Mileson, but it has been like a bad dose of flu for its competitors. Scottish football is a small, and small-minded, world. For every person who admires the transformation wrought during Mileson's three years at the club, there is someone else who describes him as a Scottish version of Roman Abramovich, content to buy success with little thought for the wider game.
A Sunderland supporter by birth and inclination, the 58-year-old bought Gretna in 2002, after initially sponsoring the club's youth development scheme. He was introduced to the club's manager Rowan Alexander, developed an affection for the man and institution he was trying to guide through troubled times and was then offered the chance to buy a majority shareholding. "The club had a lot of debt - for them, anyway," says Mileson, whose first acts as owner were to clear the debt and take the club full-time. It is safe to assume he will also be providing the cash for a new stadium for 6,000 people.
"I told the people at the club if I was going to do this, I wanted to do it properly. Sure, it has cost a bob or two. And no, I'm not going to tell you how much. It's vulgar to talk about money where I come from because we never had any. All I will say is that I have had a lot more back in pleasure than I paid out in cash."
As for the suggestion that the club has bought its success, it is just about the only thing guaranteed to stir Mileson's otherwise benign persona. "That is a load of complete and utter ********," he bristles. "The only reason we are successful is that we have a good manager who has brought in older players who weren't wanted at other clubs and moulded them with our young players into a good team."
This may be true, but it is also the case that Gretna's players enjoy better salaries than virtually every other team outside the Premierleague. They also benefit from more scientific coaching, courtesy of the computer software made available to Alexander by Mileson's money. They are feted and pampered like SPL players: club suits, trips abroad and so forth. The same cannot be said of those who play for Morton, who stand 16 points behind Gretna in the Second Division, or St Mirren, First Division leaders and vanquished quarter-final opponents, or tomorrow's opposition, Dundee, a club that has spent most of the past three years in administration.
If preparation and professionalism decided football matches, then Gretna are in the final. Already. And if Hearts beat Hibs in the other semi-final and finish second in the SPL to secure a place in the Champions League, then Gretna will be in Europe. And if Gretna are in Europe, then Brooks Mileson will be in heaven.
"There's a lot of ifs in there but you never know," the club's owner says, laughing at the daftness of it all. "I wonder if Uefa rules would allow us to play here at Raydale?" If they do, then it is safe to assume the first name on the sheet for ticket-office duty will be Brooks Mileson.
Gretna in numbers
75
Mileson's estimated personal fortune in millons of pounds
750,000
Gretna's wage bill in pounds (approx)
418
Average attendance 2002-03
1,339
Average attendance 2005-06
2,705
Population of Gretna (2001)
6,000
Future capacity at Gretna's Raydale Park
3
Cost of stadium expansion in millions of pounds
75,000
Record transfer fee paid by Gretna
See the above has been moved to this thread. I didn't post it here 'cos I thought that this was for the Scottish premier League only but no probs anyway.
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