A Off The Ball - Monday Update

Mondays. We don't like them much. Not as much as Brenda Ann Spencer, but certainly enough to use up the last of the bog roll in the third stall from the left in the gents on the third floor of the office where we work, and not tell the guy who went in after us. That's how much we hate Mondays.  Yes, another week at the coal face of Scottish football beckons for Inside Left, chipping away at the rock with our little pick, all muscular and sweaty, shoveling the news into a little bucket ready to be brought to the surface for you, dear reader, to throw onto the barbecue of life. Let's start then with Paul McDonald, the man behind the forthcoming takeover of Fort William, who got in touch (though thankfully not with a threat of legal action) following yesterdays posting apropos the, well, unusual season about to get underway for the Highland League club.  As reported yesterday, the idea is to replace some of the playing staff with, as the website describes it, "handsome, young fish out of water" types and basically let them loose on the field and in the town. The site goes on: How will the local fans react to Americans playing their game, going to their restaurants, pubs, churches and schools? How about dating their women? Who knows, but we hope "The Wicker Man" is not the in-flight movie coming over.  The idea of turning the town and the club into some kind of Disney-esque theme park for the amusement of others is hard to digest. We're not sure what to make of it quite frankly - on the one hand you've got arguably the worst team in the history of the Highland League getting some much needed help (and boy do they need it), but on the other hand Inside Left fears that another Gretna scenario is about to unfold.  We're sure the town will benefit, financially anyway, from this endeavor. Depending on the players brought in, we can only hope that the team will improve also. But we also hope that the town and the team have thought about life once the camera's go. What happens when the program ends and these young, handsome players all go back to the US, taking all the money they brought with them to the club disappears? Will Fort William revert back to their previous incarnation as, according to the website anyway, the World's Worst Soccer Team?  Who knows what will happen, but something tells us it's not going to end well. You are of course free to make up your own mind, but we're interested in your views on the matter, either via a comment on the forum. For more details about America's Team, check the website.

Round Up
Inside Left's weekend got off to a right belter on Saturday when Aberdeen took on the European Champions Manchester United at Pittodrie. We had presumed that being a pre-season, Alex Ferguson (none of your 'Sir' la-di-da here) would have brought the U19's for a wee run-around but, all credit to the man, he brought quite a talented squad. With the exception of goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and Chri$tiano Ronaldo, the side that lined up at 3pm was not far off what you'd see in the league ever week. Rooney, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Brown and Vidic all played at least some part of the game. Aberdeen gave debuts to Mark Kerr, Gary McDonald and Betrand Bossu, all of whom put in excellent performances, in our opinion. Aberdeen had the ball in the net first, but Mackie was harshly ruled offside. The final score was 2-0 to United, with Carrick converting a penalty just after half time (a penalty as dodgy as the pie I had at the Dundee vs Partick game on boxing day last year) before Rooney wrapped it up when he headed home a Fletcher cross. Aberdeen next play Dundee away on Tuesday.		Meanwhile, away from the glamour ties between two European champions, down in the lower leagues, Annan Athletic are slowly getting used to the step-up to the senior leagues. Convincingly thumped 5-0 by the team from up the A57, Queen of the South, the team are in a rush to get new players on board soon before the season starts. They play Cowdenbeath on the 2nd of August. Edinburgh City also lost at the weekend, when Second Division Arbroath beat them 3-1. And Gretna 2008, the club formed by the Gretna Supporters Society played their first fixture; they lost 5-0 to Workington Reds. Spartans meanwhile fared a little better, they beat Third Division champions East Fife 2-0. This season's Stirlingshire Cup competition has been canceled. Not much more to say about that really, it was a bit of a waste of time tourney anyway. This means that the planned fixtures between Stenhousemuir, Dumbarton, Alloa Athletic, Falkirk and Stirling Albion will now possibly be played as friendlies. Check the club sites for more details. Rangers won their first pre-season game against Preussen Munster but injury worries continue ahead of the start of the season as Charlie Adam and DaMarcus Beasley join Barry Ferguson on the injury list.
Upcoming Fixtures
Friendlies
Today Dublin City v Dundee Utd Glentoran v Hearts ong>Tuesday 15th July Dundee v Aberdeen Forfar v Brechin City Morton v Hartlepool Raith Rovers v Hibernian Wednesday 16th July Airdrie v Hamilton Dunfermline v Hearts Tolka Rovers v Dundee Utd