GG Riva

Well, here's another fact - I don't post rumours and if I did, I'd say so. I have it from a 100% reliable source that Watson phoned the club and told them he had Covid, knowing full well he'd be told to stay away. He then jumped on a plane to Portugal with some mates. By doing this he compromised the Pars Covid bubble. Selfish, unprofessional, irresponsible. He obviously believes he's smarter than the average footballer. Good riddance.

No number of wrongs make a right but the hypocrisy of some of the other Premiership clubs with dubious backers is astounding. Even the lesser clubs have voted to block the move out of self preservation. Newcastle are now very unlikely to occupy one of the relegation spots next May, increasing the chances of Norwich, Watford, Burnley and Co going down.

It might be common at clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City etc. where most of the squad are on international duty anyway. I'd be astounded if the club had sanctioned a holiday, at home or abroad, for any player during the international break. We're sitting at the bottom of the table, the manager's job is hanging by a thread and you think he would be happy to allow players to swan off on holiday rather than bring them in for extra training? Seriously? Bear in mind that if you gave one player permission, you'd have to let others go if they asked and you'd end up with maybe half a squad. That would be utter madness.

Ha, Kozma's the player I missed out. 😥 Unforgivable, I know. I'll amend my OP now. Thanks, Ally.

The Lifeline`s legends wall, outside the players entrance to the Norrie, has a total of 17 former players on display:- Ian Westwater Willie Callaghan John Lunn Norrie McCathie Andrius Skerla Roy Barry Hamish French Stevie Crawford Charlie Dickson Stewart Petrie John Watson Alex Edwards Andy Tod Ron Mailer Bert Paton and Jim Leishman* Istvan Kozma A fellow fan asked me why Alex Smith`s picture didn`t feature in the display. Since Alex is my favourite player of all time, I suggested it must be an oversight but would make enquiries on his (and my own) behalf. I spoke to a member of the Lifeline Committee before the game on Sat. He explained that because of the limited space on the wall, the Committee was unable to display as many players as it would have liked to, so they chose a selection from different eras in the club`s history. He also added that these players have been on display for 3 or 4 years now and the Committee would be open to the idea of a rotation and replacing some of the pictures with new ones. I see this as an opportunity for us to put forward some suggestions as to which players might be included next time round. Here are mine:- Jock Stein Eddie Connachan Alex Smith Willie Cunningham Geordie Peebles Jackie Sinclair Hugh Robertson Jim Fraser Craig Brewster Barry Nicholson I limited myself to 10 players. Please add your own favourites to this thread. *I noticed that Big Leish`s pic has been damaged by some idiot. Looks like someone has aimed a kick at it.

The ref has to add 30 secs for every substitution, so there's 3 mins right away, meaning he added another 3 mins for stoppages and time wasting. Their goalie alone wasted at least 5 mins, so that was well deserved karma for him. ☺ Funnily enough, I remember a game in the 60s v Killie, when Campbell Forsyth was doing exactly the same, as his team were happy to take a 0-0 draw and a point. Unluckily for him, Killie conceded a pen in added time and wee Hugh Robertson smashed it in off the bar.... 😃😃😃

Fackinell! If your info is accurate, I can understand how hacked off the manager and the club will be.

Yesterday's performance was at least as good as the ICT game, but we saw some goals, which probably made it feel better. We thoroughly deserved that injury time equaliser, as did their keeper who must have wasted at least 10 mins before that. A feckless ref let him get away with it, without so much as a waring. What ever happened to the bookable offence called "ungentlemanly conduct"? Grant has got himself another game, I think. An improvement, yes, but still no wins in 9 games is not a happy stat.

I don't know any more than you, BRS, but the most plausible explanation is that he and the manager have had a serious disagreement. The manager must either be allowed to manage or leave the club. The Board have obviously backed PG on this one and it would probably make matters worse if the reasons for the fall out were made public. If Watson was in the wrong, an apology would almost certainly put him back in contention for a first team place. Fortunately for Grant, he has managed to bring in a very able replacement in Connolly. If/when Watson does return, it'll be interesting to see who makes way for him. My money would be on Vytas but it may be that Watson would be on the bench. I can't see Connolly being dropped.

I couldn't agree more, 1950, but fear that Piracy and Inside Par are right on the money. I have two reliable sources. Ross loves the Pars to the point of fanaticism, otherwise he'd never have put in the countless unpaid hours he has since he joined the BoD, but his health and that of his family must always come first.

I'm fervently hoping no news is good news and that the lack of an official announcement is down to Ross's fellow directors convincing him to stay on and get it right up those mindless morons who want him out.

Maybe we should all tune in to Kingdom FM this morning?

Falkirk have a CEO. He's on around £50k a year, allegedly. That's money we saved during Ross's time as Chairman, as effectively, he was covering that role, too.

Yes, Bob would be a good man to hold the fort until someone else is appointed - assuming Ross decides to stand down, which is the more likely scenario, imo. ☹ I don't think Bob would want to do it long term - he held the position before Ross and was happy enough to hand over then and he's not getting any younger.

I don't think Piracy is saying that at all, IP, though I'm sure he can speak for himself. I just took it as a mild rebuke. 😐

I'm not privy to PG's contract details, but I'd bet my house that he wouldn't be due any compensation if he resigned. Setting aside the totally unsatisfactory results and performances in the league, how many of us in his shoes would turn our back on a compensation package because we are highly principled? He then goes home and tries to explain it to his wife and kids. Maybe he could afford it, maybe not. Jose Mourinho must be a multimillionaire by now. I don't think he's resigned from any club he's managed. Just saying.

Sorry guys, that's my fault because I'm only on here sporadically. The chat is quality, but sometimes a bit slow. The irony of the previous sentence hasn't escaped me. 🤔 I'll have a look back through some older posts and see if I can find the answer to my own question.

For my principled friends on here, who do not go anywhere near dotnet, here's why I haven't felt so low since I lost my mum. I've been privileged to know and collaborate with Ross for several years. I retired from teaching in 2011 and approached the Pars about an idea I had to use our players as role models in local primary schools, to consolidate what they learn in the Health & Wellbeing section of the Curriculum for Excellence. If we gave participating children a comp ticket each this would be mutually beneficial to the Pars and the school children. A director told me the club had tried that and it didn't work. It was a massive disappointment. I tried again after the new BoD was installed in late 2013. Billy George suggested I speak to Ross McArthur. Ross couldn't have been more helpful or enthusiastic. He said that the club's reputation had been badly damaged when it went into administration. He wanted to rebuild it and make the club the focal point of the West Fife community. He spoke to the manager who allowed me to speak to the players and the 'Pars Tackle Health' programme was born. At the same time, Ross introduced me to two teachers from other schools, who had recently retired and were also Pars fans. We put our heads together and came up with two other initiatives, 'Tours for Schools ' (a stadium tour) and 'Pars Stars in the Media' (a literacy programme.) During the time the Schools Engagement Programme was running ( it was halted by the Covid pandemic in March 2020) Ross was always hands on. He was out to see it in operation for himself, asking if there was any more the club could do, how well the players were representing the Pars and the level of feedback from pupils and teachers. Ross was keen for U-12s to be able to attend Pars games for free. Around 5,000 had the opportunity to do this from 2014-2020. Ross has been a fantastic Chairman and a great ambassador for the club. We can ill afford to lose him at such a critical time.

What I'd like to know is who informed Kingdom FM that the BoD had given Grant a Vote of Confidence before the Board meeting took place? Kind of bizarre, isn't it?

Apologies for speaking about Ross in the past term, as if he had died. Probably a Freudian slip because I haven't felt so low since my mum died. I respect Ross's decision to step down if this is true, but if so, the mindless morons have won.

So sad. Ross is the best Pars Chairman in my time as a fan and I go back 58 years. Hounded out by mindless morons who haven't the faintest idea of the countless unpaid hours he put in for his beloved Pars. His family will be pleased to get him back. Those of us who knew him will be gutted.

I haven't seen any specifics, either on here or dotnet, so I assume you're referring to other SM platforms? It would be quite wrong to discuss anything which may become the subject of a police investigation.

When all the facts eventually come out, you'll have a better understanding of how that came about, DA-go, but I agree with you, it was an error of judgement - as was the rest of the statement. The whole tone was confrontational and the last thing any business needs to do is alienate its paying customers....

Ditto for me, Stanza. I posted this on dotnet this morning as a plea to the more hysterical fans in our support, who just don't get the seriousness of the club's predicament. " This whole sordid, unsavoury episode has affected me even more than I originally thought. I woke up in the wee small hours and couldn`t get back to sleep, playing events over and over in my mind. Is this what we`ve come to? A lynch mob mentality in Dunfermline? Ross McArthur is not the richest Chairman in DA`s history, but he`s certainly the most hardworking. Anyone who thinks he just arrives at EEP, a couple of hours before the game and swans about with fellow directors in the Boardroom, before taking his place in the Directors Box, couldn`t be any wider of the mark. He has put in countless hours of unpaid time, in his tireless efforts to rebuild the Pars as a focal point of the local community, following our near fatal collapse in 2013. Elsewhere on this thread, fans have expressed a concern that our German investors may be so scunnered by these attacks that they might withdraw their support. That would be a sad day for the Pars, but if Ross decided he`d had enough of the abuse from his fellow Pars fans, it would be an unmitigated disaster for the club we all claim to love....." And this:- "I can categorically confirm that the entire statement was written after the attacks. It's a safe bet that the BoD - including our German friends, of course - were less than impressed by the unacceptable behaviour of a small number of (presumably Pars) fans." And this:- " Quote: DA-go Par Adonis, Fri 8 Oct 11:36 I`d prefer they man-up, contact the club to apologies in person and ask if there is something positive they can do to help the club. As we know, we always need volunteers to help out with things, so there`s no doubt something that the perpetrator could offer which could be of benefit. It doesn`t need to be publicised either. I`m sure neither the guilty party/parties nor Ross want a lynch mob or to bring this further into the public eye. That's very magnanimous of you, DA-go. I have to assume you're not aware of the gravity of the attacks? I wouldn't rule out the possibility that if those responsible were to contact the club, apologise and offer to make some kind of restitution, by means of voluntary work, the Chairman and BoD might decide not to press charges, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Those responsible will probably have convinced themselves that their attacks were perfectly justified, on the grounds that the BoD are persisting with the manager, even though we sit at the bottom of the Championship."

You've been around long enough to know fitbaw disnae work like that, Yorkie. The Pars were awful in previous league games, so ICT, who are top of the league, could have reasonably been expected to wipe the floor with us. Instead, they got a very hard game and going by their time wasting near the end, were happy to escape with a point. I hope the Accies are awful again next week, but they could equally get their act together and give us a hard game.