25.09// The Midweek Update

Not quite midweek but, aye well.  So that's another exciting Scottish League Cup round out of the way, thank God.  Note that we're refusing to call it by it's proper name, the somewhat long-winded Co-Operative Insurance Cup, because it sounds a little vague and doesn't convey any of the weight and gravitas that a domestic Cup competition ought to bring with it. At least with the 'Scottish League Cup', you know where you are; the name "Co-Operative Insurance Cup" makes it sound like it should be up there with other diddy competitions like the Johnstone's Paint trophy and the FA Community Shield.

Perhaps this explains why some teams just don't take it altogether seriously, because they forget it's actually an important trophy that just could lead to European qualification, instead treating it as a nice opportunity to try out some youngsters, or to give those players you cant shift for love nor money a run-out in the first team in the vain hope that club scouts might have decided that there was nothing better on the telly and decided to go to the game instead.

And not taking it seriously is something that you could certainly accuse Aberdeen FC of. In what was something akin to a shit-fest of epic proportions, Jimmy Calderwood's team succumbed to another defeat (a heavy one at that) at the hands of Kilmarnock and another glorious early-round exit. A goal behind before Calderwood et al even had a chance to sit down, the Dons responded with an equalizer soon after, but it all went downhill from there. Another quality display saw three goals in half an hour go in at the Red end and once again the defensive partnership of Severin (a midfielder really) and Diamond was left wanting. Aberdeen play Celtic on Saturday - God help them. A good victory for Killie though, who showed the class that has seen them lose only 2 games this season (and that to the Old Firm).

Elsewhere, Rangers made heavy work of their game against Partick Thistle, needing an extra-time goal from Pedro Mendes four minutes before penalties, while the eagerly anticipated (well, to us anyway) Lanarkshire derby saw Hamilton emerge the winners in an exciting game against Motherwell that also needed to go to extra-time. Two sending's off ('Wells Chris Porter and Accies' Simon Mensing) and a flurry of yellow cards ensured that the next meeting of these two sides on the 1st November will be another cracking affair.

The next round of games takes place at the end of October, with only Dunfermline left to represent the great unwashed masses of the lower leagues. The lineup of fixtures sees Rangers avoiding Celtic (the 'square' ball trick worked again):  Rangers are rewarded with (yet) another home game against Hamilton, Falkirk travel north to Inverness, Kilmarnock get another crack at Celtic while it's the battle of the dun's as Dunfermline take on Dundee United.

In the context of our current financial climate, you could forgive the Hearts players and fans for skipping a heart(s) beat when news broke of the staff not getting paid. It looks like the panic is over - for now. The players will have been paid their wages, the 'technical hitch' having been resolved. Regular readers of Inside Left know how we feel about Hearts, so it's with tongue firmly in cheek that we say that "technical hitch" is probably pseudo-speak for "completely slipped Romanov's mind". This is an opinion shared by the great Charles 'Chick' Young who on his BBC blog dusts off all his old cliches and asserts that Romanov has probably lost all interest in Hearts now that his other club Kaunus are a major European force. With the credit crunch in full force, Romanov might be thinking about cutting costs - remember that Hearts have larger debts than the Old Firm combined. Talks of a players strike if wages continue to be unpaid where dismissed by captain Christope Berra earlier in the week but we're not altogether confident that Hearts are out of the woods just yet. The Tynecastle side need Romanov more than Romanov needs them and should his company get into difficulties, the possible effect that would have on Hearts - and Scottish football - would be catastrophic.

And speaking of finances - at the other end of the league (and scale), Stranraer this week voted to change from Stranraer FC to The Stranraer Football Club Limited. The club are in debt to the tune of £250k and need to raise the cash in order to ensure their survival. Currently in bottom place in the Second Division, signs of cost-cutting have included not paying for overnight stay following the game away to Peterhead, players packing their own sandwiches for journeys to away games, and the sale of two to three players.  With low attendances also not covering players wages (just over 300 turned up for the game against Stirling Albion and only 279 for the game against Brechin City) the club are in serious trouble and a solution to ensure the future of football in Stranraer needs to be found urgently.

Congratulations go out to Keith and Nairn County. Keith where crowned Aberdeenshire Cup champions when they beat Huntly 5-2, a low score by Highland League standards. It was the Morayshire sides first win in the competition since 1980. The final started out on a sour note for Keith, with goalkeeper Ross Bremner getting injured in the warm-up. Also celebrating silverware this week are Nairn County, who beat an Inverness Caley U19 side to lift the ITP Solutions' North Cup.

Right, that's it for now. Back tomorrow with our look-ahead to the weekend's action.