The Midweek Update

It's Wednesday, which means there's only another few days until we get to swear and generally shout abuse at people we don't know from behind the safety of a thick line of polis and a great big fence. Ah, we can taste the meaty chunks in our half-time cup of tea already.

Speaking of swearing, abuse and police, the BBC reports that a game between MSP's (Members of the Scottish Parliament, for those unfamiliar with the acronym) and sports journalists had to be abandoned after half-time when an on-pitch steamie had tempers boiling over. The incident apparently followed a series of 'contentious' challenges by both sides, which resulted in BBC journalist Chick Young getting crocked. The MSP team included such luminaries as Ken Macintosh, Andy Kerr and Frank McAveety, while facing them where a team of journalists including the aforementioned Chick Young and Radio Clyde commentator Peter Martin. Normally we'd all chuckle at this but given that we're always being reminded about the issues that permeate football today (the 'famine song' and sectarianism in general, the whole concept of 'footballers as role models', managers getting banned from the touchline for abusive behavior to referees, coins being thrown from the crowd as in the recent game at Portsmouth) you'd expect better from those who sit in their ivory towers tutting at the scenes below. The journalists involved will no doubt fill a page in their papers, but you cant help but think that the whole incident was a spectacular own goal.

OK, back to the football. There where a few games in the League Cup last night. Holders Rangers eased past Hamilton for the second time in five days as Kris Boyd and Kyle Lafferty scored to put the Ibrox side into the semi-final hat. They'll be joined there by Dundee United and Falkirk, who also progressed: United won 1-0 at home to First division Dunfermline, while a Neil McCann header was enough for Falkirk as they beat Inverness Caley.

Slightly disappointing was the attendance at the various games; we appreciate it's a midweek game, but 32000 at Ibrox, 5300 at Tannadice and 3000 at the Falkirk Stadium is not great. So apart from Falkirk beating Caley, the results went pretty much as you'd expect. We even got a score prediction right when we said United would win 1-0. Actually, it was a bit of reverse psychology. We were secretly hoping that United would lose, so given our history of getting score predictions wildly wrong we figured that predicting a United win would actually see them losing ... or something like that. Anyway, it back-fired and now the Arabs and the Bairns are in the next round, where no doubt they'll get either Celtic or Rangers to ensure that no pish sides with a support that between them wouldn't fill Hampden in a month of Sundays get into the final. And you can interpret that any way you want.

All round Aberdeen legend and director of football Willie Miller has criticised reputable news sites as well as blogs for spreading rumours about the impending (or not, as the case turned out to be) sacking of manager Jimmy Calderwood. Miller, no doubt still furious at the recent theft of his trademark mustache, went on a bit of rant about fans sites and forums that

"come up with dozens of rumours every single day, the vast majority of which are rubbish, and I would not be at all surprised if this is where this one originated from".

All quite correct possibly, but that is an interesting choice of words: "the majority of rumours are rubbish". Now, that implies that a minority of the rumours are, in fact, true. Now, Calderwood is not in any danger in my opinion, but where there's smoke there's fire, as I wittily told the fire brigade while they doused the flames on my H-reg Nova Diamond (with alloy wheels) a few years ago. We're wondering if this is a case of "the lady doth protest too much" ..

It must be something about Edinburgh. The maroon half of Auld Reekie will also have to struggle on without their manager shouting profanities at them from the touchline for the next two games. Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo had to be restrained by Midlothian polis to prevent him lamping referee Steve Conroy following the final whistle. Laszlo was upset - to put it mildly - at Conroy's reversal of his earlier decision to award Hearts a penalty where it looked as if Jamie Langfield brought down midfielder Michael Stewart inside the box but, after consultation with his linesman, referee Conroy awarded a goal kick to Aberdeen instead and a bronze medal to Stewart for his tremendous dive. For his protests, Laszlo has received a two-game touchline ban, two fewer than Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen who went spare after his side's 4-3 defeat at Morton in the League cup a while back.

Speaking of managers, Dundee are still on the hunt for someone to lead the Dee back to the top of the table. Options are fast running out, with Brechin's Michael O'Neill and Queen of the South's Gordon Chisholm all ruling themselves out. If negotiations with Jocky Scott and Kenny Black, so far the only names to get an interview fail, there's always Juande Ramos and Terry Venables, whose name seems to come up with any managers job going these days and who are both probably quite open to a season or two in Dundee, the city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.

Mind you, given the fact that Inside Left has just managed to get Dumbarton promoted to the SPL in his FM2008 game, perhaps we should give them a ring. Has anyone got a number for Dens Park?