Late.                               Kay, my mother-in-law from my first marriage died today. She was only 3 years older than me and was rushed into the Western General a week ago but she never regained consciousness. She was my pal as is her husband Alan. He and his three daughters will be devastated. My daughters and their cousins Amy, Callum and Cameron are devastated. Football isn’t really that important.

James Hair ex Uni captain signed for us this evening. He’s a big strong, fit lad with a magnificent attitude and I hope he does as well as the one or two ex Uni captains he follows to Spartans.

The manager who pursued Robbie Ross and Keith McLeod tried to tap a second Spartans player last night. Can I put in writing that any junior team wishing to sign any signed Spartans player will have to pay a similar fee to that which City are looking for if any junior team wants Mr Ross. We will be more considerate if the move is up the way to an SFL side.

I don’t feel like saying much more tonight.

Early.                                               There’s an ongoing debate on the P&B as to just how well those two bed fellows Edinburgh and Leith are getting on. It seems one of the main aims of half the contributors on Forums is to use a big stick to stir things up. 

My question is however – who are they? What is the “joint” team called? Are they Edinburgh Athletic or Leith Athletic or just Leith? the EOS website has Edinburgh Athletic on this season’s league table and Leith in the Cup fixtures (I gave up trying to open the League Fixtures).

Whoever you are boys I wish you all the best for the coming season. 

Who do you fancy for the Premier League title? I had a discussion with KH from City the other day and we both agree it’s quite open.

We were perceived (his thoughts not mine) as looking good before the exodus and with not only ourselves but WW and the Uni also losing players it’s hard to tell just how the three of us will cope this season.

With Cloudie out for a while (it could easily be all season) we will start this campaign with 5 first team regulars from last season missing. That’s the biggest turn around since I joined the club so how we perform must be up in the air. Don’t get me wrong we’ve added to our squad and brought quality in so we’re hoping to gel early and put up a challenge but time will tell.

At one stage WW were meant to be losing most of their team but looking at the pre-season friendlies I doubt if they’ve lost as many as us. Still they will have to bring one or two in and there will be an amount of transition at Rosewell as well as City Park/the Academy.

The Uni are the third “top” team to lose a few but with Tommo, Hazelnut and the Jamie Redhead still there I’ve a sneaky they’ll be up at the top again come April/May (last year I’d have said April May or June).  

With Annan stepping up how will Dalbeattie do?  It all seems quiet down there so it’s hard to tell. Losing GP is a blow but I’m sure Skin will be wheeling and dealing as the season approaches fast. There’s no doubt once the dust settles, very good EOS players who can’t cut the mustard in the SFL will gravitate from Annan back to Dalbeattie but that’s not for now.

How about H-W? The last time they came up with a good side they nearly won the Premier. Always beware a university side with momentum.

If I’ve missed anyone else winning the Premier it would be a shock….apart from two teams of course. 

City and Preston have both held on to all their top players and have added to their pools. On paper – and we all know where football is played – they look the two strongest challengers this season. Preston are steadily getting better under GP and City came good after a slow start last season. They also have the EOS’s first ever five figure striker of course.

Like it or lump it I have installed City and Preston as joint favourites for this season’s EOS Premier Division title. Don’t just ask me – ask City’s KH.

Late.                           After dropping Gemma at Trinity Rugby Club this morning I nicked along to check out progress at the Academy. I didn’t actually go in but had a look from the car park. There are lights and fences up (don’t get Ainslie Park mixed up with the Theatre that is City Park), the roof on the main complex looks completed and the field turf area looks ready for the field turf. I hope it’s not coming via Poland.

Anyway the Theatre that is City Park is once again enclosed with 6 foot boarding where the holes in our defences were. I didn’t stop to have a look at the pitch but I’m sure it will be cut lined and looking in good shape for Saturday. Talking of Saturday I’d much rather have played Nitten on the back of a 7-0 win over Bonnyrigg as opposed to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Jennifer Arinson. Louis will have them well would up.

I’ve been reading comments from junior contributors in our favourite Forum on the back of the RR saga. Seemingly the EOS is crap compared with the Juniors and the Highland League. I also had a pint with Terry Christie, Tam Hendrie, Eamonn etc last night and TC was telling me he’s signed hundreds of juniors but never anyone form the East. Maybe that’s why you’re no longer in football Terry – only joking.

Well times have changed boys and the top half dozen teams in the EOS can hold their heads up against any non league sides in Scotland. I’ve seen a gradual improvement in the standard at the top over the last 16 years and a team finishing only 3rd in our league yet losing 3 players to the SFL proves my point. Oh! and in games against teams from other non leagues, the two EOS teams I’ve managed have won considerably more than they’ve lost.

I got this text today which put a smile on my face – “Hi Mike just got back this morning, training as usual at p’mill tomorrow?” Struan is back home and assures me he’s in one piece. And he says he’s got a tan this year. He won’t start on Saturday but he will on Tuesday and has a good chance of playing against Coldstream.

I watched S’land tonight until they took CG off then turned to Rangers on the BBC live text. I don’t know why everyone is getting excited – they didn’t concede a home goal. Don’t people remember last season.

Finally congratulations to RW for making the management committee. I’m sure he’ll lap it up.

Early.                         I don’t work on a Wednesday so when I wake up I don’t jump out of bed and head for work, I think about things I can during on the day ahead. I spoke to Bobby Ford yesterday about tennis or golf but the weather today might put a damper on that. A haircut is another favourite on a Wednesday as is doing something with the boys.

Today the boys have “summer” camp at Gracemount Leisure Centre with football for Murr and games for Robbie Rotten in the morning and swimming for them both in the afternoon. I’ll make an appearance both am and pm but I’ve also to ferry Gemma down to Trinity Rugby Club where she’s rehearsing for Jekyll and Hyde in the Festival.

It looks like a haircut is out and just as well. Before heading downstairs, Saturday’s game against Nitten and next Tuesday’s game against the Seconds were running through my head.

When I get a haircut I usually just get my head shaved to keep it tidy. Normally I get a 3 and a 5 or 7. That’s a closer shave at the sides and back with it left a little longer on top. In the heat of summer or just before I head for Santa Pee I get a 3 and a 3 – just a 3 all over leaving it short on top.

Lying in bed this morning I realised it’s be a 3 and 3 for us against Nitten on Saturday. We are going to be short on top as Nicky Walker is our only recognised striker available. Bob and Cloudie are out long term, Struan arrives back late on Saturday, Nani will be heading for the Pans with his fireman gear on and our new front hope Daryl is heading to Ibiza.  That’s 5 strikers down for Saturday. 5 strikes and we’re out.

Struan and Nani (maybe) should be available for Tuesday but it looks like I’ll have to shuffle the pack at City Park. I could bring someone in from the Seconds or the 19′s but as everyone in the First Team pool needs match practice I’ll go with the guys at my disposal.

I wonder what the score was at Ferguson Park last night?

Late.                                             With Dapper, Tim, Joachim Irving working on his tan and Eric recovering from bird flu Eartha took the warm up tonight and Sam most of the training. It was just like old times. Sam was enjoying it so much the keepers came down on time but had to stand about for 15 minutes as old Aragonads went through his repertoire.

It was a warm evening and the guys must have worked hard because their legs looked gone at the crossing and finishing and even more so in the finishing game.

Sam you never lose it.

We need to add to our pool before the season starts. Don’t get me wrong, we can call on talented players from the Seconds and Under 19′s but it’s better to work with the players you have at your disposal every possible night at training. We had several missing tonight and when you have a small pool of players it is difficult to plan training and the atmosphere suffers also.

Planning for the SFL then losing three players to the SFL caused us problems. Kevin retiring and Bob and Cloudie being injured added to that. Had all things gone to plan we would have assembled the best squad the EOS has ever seen. Of that I have no doubt.

The best laid schemes of Michael Mouse and men sometime go down the swanny however and for us it has recently. There has been an internal debate on the go about certain matters and although people are looking at our postion from different angles I know that everybody has the best interest of the club at heart.

We need to work together to get the first team squad in the right shape and the right size before the season starts a week on Saturday. I’m sure we will do that.

My lot lost 2-1 tonight in a shortened game due to Sam’s enthusiasm to train the boys. I’m slipping behind in the Jack and Victor league but I’m sure I’ll come good when we move to the field turf at the new Academy.

Talking of field turf, the number one astro at Peffer has been pulled up and is about to be replaced. The rain was pouring down as I was about to leave this evening so I nicked upstairs for a Magners ’til it went off. Arthur was telling me the old astro is being shipped to Poland to be relaid. 

And I thought everything was heading the other way.

Early.                             Some keepers are good at saving penalties and some aren’t so good. Kevin Brown was somewhere down the middle. He won us the Qualifying Cup once and on other occasions pulled off the odd save from the spot. He let a good few in but saved his share.

People say big keepers fill the goal but smaller keepers tend to be more agile and get down and across quicker. Yours truly had a great record while playing in goal Secondary Juvenile with 10 out of 11 saved one season my record haul. 

My favourite keeper just now is big CG at Sunderland. He’s crap at pens yet he saved one in Ireland last night. I’m not sure if I like him because he’s the Scotland keeper, an ex Jambo, a Scottish ex Jambo keeper playing in England or because he gave the English National team a bit of stick on Soccer AM once. I think it was the latter.

The only thing worse than a keeper who is hopeless from the spot is a keeper who is hopeless from the spot but saves penalties in pre-season friendlies when it doesn’t matter. Mind you I was flicking channels with the Spurs game and Sunderland might have swapped keepers when I wasn’t looking.

No, it was Craig – I saw him later giving the pen away. 

Talking of the Spurs game I think Darren Bent scored four last night. Does that make him as good as our Daryl.  I grant you Norwich are probably a bit better than Tynecastle but it could be said Mr Bent has better players round about him supplying quality chances.

I wonder if Darren is swanning off for two weeks holiday this weekend?

Finally for now – Ral’s rumour via Yogi must just be the same one going round Edinburgh.

Late.                                       A lot to say and not a lot of time to say it in.

First – we are playing Newtongrange in a pre-season friendly this Saturday (2nd August) at City Park with a 2.00 Kick Off. They have a better park but I’d like the new guys to get a “home” game under their belts before the season starts. The earlier KO is to help captain courageous.

Secondly the Robbie Ross story won’t disappear and this time I back City and the EOS all the way. City are meant to be denying the lad a chance to step up – eh!!! More money doesn’t mean more class. Senior to Junior could never ever be classed as stepping up. Going to a better team is a different matter but that’s a different matter.

City are seemingly denying him the chance to move by pricing him out the market thus giving them the moral low ground. I wonder if City were approached before the player? I doubt it. The same manager tapped my striker on three occasions since last season ended only to be told no thanks. Was anyone at our club approached? What do you think.

Don’t get me wrong all managers talk to players from other clubs. I do so no moral high ground for me. I say “if you fancy a move once you’re out of contract I’d be delighted if you’d like to come and play for me”  That’s it – no more phone-calls, no pressure. I just wait and let it develop.

I’m not saying City are whiter than white either. We could have held out for a lot more for Naomi but it’s not our style.

What about Man U and moral high ground. Explain to me the difference between the Ronaldo and Berbatov situation.

Thirdly and on a lighter note how many Garfield’s do you know?

Like me it’s probably two. Sir Garfield Sobers and Garfield the cat.

Did you know that Sir Garfield Sobers was born on this day in 1936 and Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield the cat was born on this day in 1945. It’s a strange world.

Finally my daughter Gemma has been asked to fly down to London on Thursday for a Disney workshop to decide who’s getting the new parts in “As The Bell Rings”. That’s a thousand down to around half a dozen and considering she’s into song ad dance rather than acting the girl done good.

You can guess I’m proud of her.