The Terrace Scottish Football Podcast

Welcome to this week's The Terrace,

On this week's show we'll look at the increasingly fraught battle at the bottom of the SPL, after Hibs capitulated at Easter Road and Dunfermline pulled one out of the bag at Rugby Park.

At the top, the Celtic juggernaut rolls on while Rangers continue to bumble and stumble through January.

We'll also talk gestures and bans.

In the SFL, Falkirk, Raith Rovers' attacking options, Derek Lyle and East Stirlingshire's devilish link to Alan's bank balance all fall under the microscope.

There's also a preview of the League Cup semi-final's, the Predictions League, Where are they Now and Punt of the Week in a packed show.

Enjoy.

Predictor Score ahead of this week: Kenny Millar 61 - 67 Craig Fowler

Be sure to Subscribe through iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-terrace-scottish-football/id304936264

We'd welcome your E-mails at: theterraceradio@hotmail.com, while - if you'd like to have your Tweets read out follow us at The Terrace / Alan Temple / Craig Fowler / Kenny Millar

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Welcome to the first Terrace Scottish Football Podcast of 2012; lovely to have you on board for another year, friends.

This year begins with the focus all on the William Hill Scottish Cup. The 4th round may have been devoid of 'fairytale' shocks but contained plenty of close-run encounters, not least at Tynecastle, where we begin our round up.

Spliced with the Cup action will be some transfer news, speculation and other tidbits. Including Gardyne for United, Casilinuovo signing on for Raith and the future of Scotland's top scorer Ryan Donnelly.

[Show recorded before Monday's draw, thus no follow-on reaction from what balls were picked out by AVB and Lippi!]

There will also be Where are they Now? and law-based Punt of the Week, the remnants of SFL news not covered during Part One, and the return of the Predictions league - with just one point between the lads.

Happy New Year, and enjoy the show.

Predictor Score ahead of this week: Kenny Millar 60 - 61 Craig Fowler

Be sure to Subscribe through iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-terrace-scottish-football/id304936264

We'd welcome your E-mails at: theterraceradio@hotmail.com, while - if you'd like to have your Tweets read out follow us at The Terrace / Alan Temple / Craig Fowler / Kenny Millar

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Welcome to this week's episode of The German-style-railed-modern-standing-section.

On this week's show we will look back on an SPL weekend packed with the usual mixture of vital matches, refereeing controversies and outstanding strikes [both footballing and physical, looking at you Goodwin.]

We'll have a wee chat about safe standing, following on from the news that the SPL will allow pilot schemes from any clubs who wish to trial it. Which clubs would benefit? Do the costs stack up? Is this a game-changer?

In the lower leagues we wax lyrical about comeback kid Craig Sibbald, the clean-living Ryan Donnelly and the [not 27 years old] Ian Little.

There will also be Where are they now? and Alan takes on the role of Craig in the Predictions League. [Ed - Sorry, Craig].

Predictor Score ahead of this week: Kenny Millar 57 - 59 Craig Fowler

Be sure to Subscribe through iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-terrace-scottish-football/id304936264

We'd welcome your E-mails at: theterraceradio@hotmail.com, while - if you'd like to have your Tweets read out follow us at The Terrace / Alan Temple / Craig Fowler / Kenny Millar

Listen Now:

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Hello and welcome to this week's episode of The Terrace.

On the show Craig and Kenny run through Saturday's SPL action; including Motherwell tightening their grip on 3rd place, Rangers lacking in creative spark and why you should never celebrate being awarded a penalty.

The guys also run through the lower leagues where the only thing that can stop a Ross County win is the weather and Stranraer launch themselves into the 3rd division title race.

There's also the usual favourites,

Enjoy the show

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Welcome to this week's episode of the Terrace,

We have a full compliment of presenters his week, again, and we are ready to bring you all the Scottish football action, starting with a timely look at what is going wrong in Aberdeen - and whether one of the biggest names in Scottish football could truly be relegated.

There were wins for Rangers and Celtic, the latter with a flat/professional [depending on which presenter you agree with] win over Dundee United. And the former requiring a fairly blatant dive to help them over the line against Dunfermline.

We'll also round up the rest of the results, ranging from Hearts to Caley, and even a cheeky wee electrical fire at Fir Park.

Jocky's gone in the lower leagues! We'll mourn the departure of the 'tache, while hailing the interminable march of Ross County, the improvement of Stenhousemuir and the impact of Hibs kid Lewis Horner at East Stirlingshire.

The prediction league is back [we've finally updated the score; check below] and we'll have our usual features Punt of the Week and Where are they Now?

Enjoy the show, friends.

Predictor Score ahead of this week: Kenny Millar 46 - 47 Craig Fowler

Be sure to Subscribe through iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-terrace-scottish-football/id304936264

We'd welcome your E-mails at: theterraceradio@hotmail.com, while - if you'd like to have your Tweets read out follow us at The Terrace / Alan Temple / Craig Fowler / Kenny Millar

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Hello and welcome this week's episode of The Terrace.

Father (Alan) is away at a family event so he has left the children (Craig and Kenny) in charge of this week's show.

And on the pod the boys talk through the SPL's weekend action as Celtic cut Rangers lead at the top to just four points, Pat Fenlon looked on in horror at the mammoth job in front of him at Hibs and Dunfermline's defence just can't stop leaking.

We have our weekly lower leagues round-up as Ross County extend their lead at the top of Division One and Alan is to blame for East Stirling gaining another point.

We'll also talk through Celtic v Athletico Madrid at the top of our predicitions section, and bring you our usual favourites.

Enjoy the show!

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A tempestuous encounter in the Highlands tops the bill, but a stagnant Rangers, same-old Hibs and goalless Hearts will also be featured. Needless to say there will be plenty of praise heading Motherwell's way for yet another win over Aberdeen, as well as St Mirren's win over a suicidal Dunfermline.

The SFL roundup takes a back seat this week as we look back on Scottish Cup third round weekend, including several tales of charming quirk and all that usual crap you get from the 'magic of the Cup.'

Also, Airdrie hit 11, Culter get a famous draw and Auchinleck Talbot will represent the juniors in Round 4.

And, with Craig taking a sensational lead in the Prediction League last week, the battle continues with a preview of this week's SPL servings.

Enjoy the show.

Predictor Score ahead of this week: Kenny Millar 36 - 37 Craig Fowler

Enjoy the show and be sure to Subscribe through iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-terrace-scottish-football/id304936264

We'd welcome your E-mails at: theterraceradio@hotmail.com, while - if you'd like to have your Tweets read out follow us at The Terrace / Alan Temple / Craig Fowler / Kenny Millar

Listen Now:

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Welcome to this week's episode of the Terrace,

We'll look back at all the Scotland action over the past few days, from the laddies through to the seniors, with particular focus on the fantastic achievement of Billy Stark's under-21 defeating Holland on their own turf. Forrest, Wylde, Kelly, Rhodes; the future's bright, the future's not Oranje.

Plenty of chat in the SFL section, from the battle at the top of SFL1 through to a new boss (for 7 weeks at least) for Berwick Rangers. There's a couple of 4-4 draws thrown in there too, while we find out the secret to any potential East Stirlingshire revival.

The SPL is back, so the predictions return, with the competition tantalizingly balanced - find out who fancies Steve Lomas to claim a point in Glasgow.

Where are they Now? and Punt of the Week are in the house too.

There's even a tale of hero-worship from a now-defunct dirt-cheap Edinburgh nightclub. 50p a drink, eh?

Enjoy the show.

Predictor Score ahead of this week: Kenny Millar 32 - 33 Craig Fowler

Enjoy the show and be sure to Subscribe through iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-terrace-scottish-football/id304936264

We'd welcome your E-mails at: theterraceradio@hotmail.com, while - if you'd like to have your Tweets read out follow us at The Terrace / Alan Temple / Craig Fowler / Kenny Millar

Listen Now:

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After a dismal end to last season that saw them exit the Scottish First Division with a whimper, Stirling Albion were looking to bounce back and be competitive once again at the right end of the table in the Second Division. Although things haven't quite worked out that way thus far. Craig Fowler writes.

Saturday saw a familiar football tale played out at the Doubletree Dunblane (formerly Forthbank) Stadium. A high flying, top of the league side are frustrated and flustered as they try to force a route to goal past a dogged team from the opposite end of the table. As the match draws to a close the superior side begin to dominate, pressing their opponents and forcing the defensive line to retreat backwards towards their own box. Despite this, the underdogs defend valiantly and come so close to seeing out the match with a point, until disaster inevitably strikes. On this occasion it was Stuart Malcolm knocking in a 92nd minute header to steal all three points for Arbroath and leave Stirling Albion adrift at the foot of the table.

As the home side clung on for dear life the supporters would have been aware of what was likely to happen - schooled in the cruelties of football to know the ending to the script – but what Stirling fans wouldn't have envisioned a couple of months back is that this would be happening to their side. Not only was that their fifth defeat on the bounce, it was also their fifth consecutive game without scoring a goal. A dreadful run that has saw Stirling drop from play-off hopefuls to favourites for relegation, and is unlikely to see another reversal any time soon. It's quite the fall for a club who a year-and-a-half ago were crowned champions of this division.

The “fall from grace” stories in the SFL usually have one common theme: money. Or to be more accurate: a crippling lack of money. In the context of the last ten years, the Stirling Albion story has mainly been a positive one since the club finished the 2001/02 season second bottom of the Scottish Third Division, but cash-flow problems have caught up with the club and the possibility of restoring their place in the First Division seems a long way away.

Over the last few years Stirling have been taken to court three times by the local council for failing to pay the rent on the stadium, which is owned by the council, and have twice faced winding up orders over unpaid tax bills. This culminated in former owner Peter McKenzie selling the club to The Stirling Albion Supporters Trust, making Stirling the first senior club in Scotland to be owned 100% by the fans. The former chairman wrote off £1.2million of money owed to him by the club, but even with that slate wiped they have continued in their struggles. This summer the club staged open trials to look for new players but charged the wannabe footballers £200 for the privilege, a scheme that took its fair share of criticism.

The club signed two players off the back of that initiative and while supporters would have been wary entering this season, there was cause for quiet optimism. This time around there was no Livingston in the league, meaning every club competing would be part-time and the financial playing field would be more comparable between club to club. The fact that newly promoted Arbroath were immediately installed as one of the favourites demonstrated how open the experts felt this league could be.

Optimism would have been further boosted by Stirling going out and winning their first two games of the league season, including a 5-1 hammering of Dumbarton. The next two games only provided one point but there were still plenty of positives to take as the team somehow conspired to throw away a 2-0 lead at home to Albion Rovers before a costly red card proved their downfall in a 4-2 away defeat to Arbroath.

A 1-0 win over Brechin on the 1st of October had the club in 4th place with 12 points from eight matches played. Another statistic is that they had scored 16 goals in eight games (netting in every match) which makes their drought since that victory all the more baffling. The downturn has boss Jocky Scott scratching his head, but supporters are becoming impatient and wish he would do more than that. The veteran manager has made it a habit of making few substitutions during matches, even when the first choice eleven are clearly not cutting the mustard. His reasoning is that the squad is not strong enough; that there is nothing better on the bench than what's struggling on the park, but fans would still prefer to see an attempt to mix things him.

At the moment Stirling don't possess a dominating centre half to stick his head on the ball and they don't have a reliable goalscorer. It's an incredible simple observation but one that's equally as difficult to fix. Supporters want a couple of more players to be signed, but that's always easier said than done, especially when burdened with financial constraints. As a result, some have called for a change in the way the team is playing. Stirling defend as a team but don't attack as one with the same unity or enthusiasm. What's more worrying than the lack of goals is the lack of chances. It's not like they are missing sitters every match, they're just not creating. The way some fans see it, why struggle all season playing football that is poor to watch when the team could open themselves up a bit? Sure they could go down, but they are headed that route anyway and they may as well entertain.

For now Jocky Scott is adamant that he is in this job for the duration and he won't walk away just because things have become difficult. He certainly has his sympathisers on the terracing and in the boardroom who understand he doesn't have much to work with. Then again, his critics can easily point towards newly promoted Albion Rovers. A team that, expectantly, struggled upon their arrival in the Second Division but who have managed to turn things around; winning their last four games, scoring 14 goals and currently sitting in fifth place. Rovers are a well run club but their resources are not significantly greater than that of Stirling, so supporters naturally ask why that team is flourishing while theirs is struggling.

This weekend everyone involved in the club gets a break from the depressing league situation as they host Dundee in the third round of the Scottish Cup. It's this type of match - as the obvious underdog with no weight of expectations on their shoulders - that could act as a catalyst to turn the season around. If not, three weeks from now Stirling host second bottom Airdrie in what, even this early in the season, is a game of great importance.

Welcome to a this week's episode of The Terrace, as it all kicks off in Edinburgh.

We talk things out as Hibs begin their search for a new manager after the departure of Colin Calderwood. O'Neill? Brown? Jefferies? We shall see. There's also the prospect of Vladimir Romanov searching for a buyer for Hearts, as the Lithuanian falls out of love with football.

Steve Lomas' Saints bow is delayed, but is he the right man for the job? Celtic emerge from a battle at Fir Park with all three points and Rangers continue to make the running despite a Wylde kick. We also look back on a goalfest from Rugby Park and 4 goals in 2 games from Andy Shinnie.

In the lower league round-up Kenny braces himself for a trip to Dingwall, as the top two in Division 1 both win to set up a cracker in the Highlands this week. Cowdenbeath and Arbroath continue to make the running in Division 2 while Alloa chew up the ground on Annan in the Third.

There's plenty of Scotland chat, from Mark Wotte to Gary MacKenzie, ahead of Friday's encounter with Cyprus and we'll have a former Scotland internationalist in Where are they Now?

Enjoy the show and be sure to Subscribe through iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-terrace-scottish-football/id304936264

We'd welcome your E-mails at: theterraceradio@hotmail.com, while - if you'd like to have your Tweets read out follow us at The Terrace / Alan Temple / Craig Fowler / Kenny Millar

Listen Now:

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