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´óÏó´«Ã½ BLOGS - Chris Jardine

Archives for November 2009

Critics should lay off Thierry Henry

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Chris Jardine | 11:37 UK time, Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well.

I have to say that, as I'm about to turn 31, the last two games haven't been kind to the old legs. With the weather we've been having recently the pitches have been really heavy and I've been waking up on the Sunday with aches in places I never knew existed.

If I'm feeling like that, goodness only knows how Derek Townsley felt after his !

Well, there has only really been one person dominating the front and back pages of every newspaper up and down the country since last Wednesday - I give you .

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Scotland must eat, sleep and drink football

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Chris Jardine | 17:37 UK time, Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Well that's , and I think the majority of the Tartan Army will welcome the news - but where do we go from here?

Every Scotsman will have their own thoughts on their , but as far as I'm concerned Scottish Football needs to change from rock-bottom up in order for our fortunes to change - and it's going to take a long time.

The last time we qualified for a major tournament was in 1998, which means that at least 14 years and six competitions will have passed by the time Euro 2012 comes around.

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Pyramid would be positive step for SFL

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Chris Jardine | 11:16 UK time, Thursday, 12 November 2009

Discussions are underway to revamp the top level of English football, with Bolton Chairman, Phil Gartside presenting his vision of an that could potentially see the Old Firm moving south.

And we may not be too far away from a restructuring of our football north of the border with the introduction of a pyramid system, which would see promotion and relegation into the .

I touched on this subject a few weeks ago but since then draft paperwork of how the system would work has been drawn-up.

I have to say that in its early stages it looks a little complicated but it would certainly work. It's been suggested that a vote by the 30 SFL clubs could be imminent, although SFL chief executive David Longmuir has warned that the realisation could still be years away.

There are obviously going to be pros and cons for such a drastic change but the fact that the SFL are willing to open up access to the Third Division is a positive step.

I know our chairman at Annan, Henry McClelland, was always very supportive of the pyramid system before we were accepted in to the SFL and I'm sure that won't have changed, even though our place would be under threat.

Football in Scotland has taken a lot of flak recently and it's nice to have, what is in my opinion, some positive news.

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Annan win dedicated to Simon Aitken

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Chris Jardine | 15:49 UK time, Wednesday, 4 November 2009

It's been a really up and down time since I last wrote. The week started amazingly with a new addition to the family when my wee cousin Gary and his partner Jess became proud parents to a beautiful baby boy in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Welcome to the world baby Torrin Findlay Clark. We're a very close, big family and Gary and I are more like brothers than cousins, so I've been very excited about the new arrival for a long time.

I can't wait to finally see Torrin awake - the wee man certainly likes a sleep!

It went without saying that I travelled to East Stirlingshire on Saturday morning with a spring in my step and looking forward to the game ahead.

That bounce immediately disappeared when we got the news that the club's honorary president, Simon Aitken was seriously ill in hospital.

Simon was obviously on our minds as we prepared, and all we hoped for was that we could give him a wee lift by winning.

But, just as we were taking to the field, we got the devastating news that he had passed away. is without doubt dedicated to big Simon.

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