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We have 881 unsold as of midnight Friday, out of an allocation of maybe just under 10,000 it looks like. Celtic have been selling tickets up to section B1 in the west stand, and up to N3 in the South Stand upper deck, so there's going to be a lot more green than what's on the below map. If my maths are correct (not always so) then we're taking just over 9,000, despite a lunchtime kick-off in Glasgow, live on the BBC, off the back of a horrendous season, lost 6-0 to Celtic on our last trip to Glasgow, no wins at Hampden over Celtic since 1992, an aggregate score of 19-2 I think it is in the past 14 years v Celtic at Hampden, no permanent manager yet in place, our captain suspended, and a referee who consistently gives us nothing. I'd say that's a terrific support.

In Pre match drinks Section A5 Celebrating 2-1 Miovski & McGrath

Like a new signing! Forgot about him. Unfortunately Anthony Stewart is out of contract.

Tbf, Aberdeen kicked up a hell of a fuss in 2000 when they were refused a 50-50 split for the final. At one point they threatened to boycott the final (would Gordon Bennett have been CEO at the time? Sure it pre-dated Keith Wyness) and it even made it onto Watchdog. They didn't get their wish for that final, but the result was that ever since then, non-old firm teams have always been offered a 50-50 split for the Scottish Cup final if they want it, and Aberdeen (2017), Hibs (2001, 2013, 2016) and Hearts (2019 & 2022) all got 50/50 splits v the old firm. (Notable ones that didn't get were Dundee United & Motherwell but I'm sure they didn't ask for 50/50). Jim Leighton getting injured in the final and us having no substitute goalkeeper also led to five subs being allowed in the Scottish Cup, so our pain was for the benefit of Scottish football. So, chances are if we make the final we get a 50/50 split, so this whole narrative of "semi final sales will determine..etc" would be a change in previous procedure. Obviously, semi-finals and the League Cup final are different. Any sensible person should accept if you're going to play the semis in Glasgow with a lunchtime kick-off, most clubs will be affected by that and accordingly will sell fewer tickets. Amazing we still have to explain this to the SFA & the Old Firm every season.

What are we going to say to CAS? "Please sir, this is unfair. We want 50% of the tickets even though we can't sell them all"? We'd rightly be laughed out of the place. A fairer mechanism for selling, ie section by section up to a deadline and if not sold out the other team get them, is the ideal but to suggest we go greetin to CAS about it is fanciful. If "we" as a club want to make a point then it should start with being able to show demand is there in the first place, which it demonstably isn't. The SFA aren't going to have seats that could've been sold lying empty if they can possibly help it and it's very difficult to blame them for that.

We did finish third the previous season though. In reality, there's only a few players between us and third place in any season. Just as there is us and 11th (more often than not, there's one team that stinks every season). Obviously, I'd add both Shinnie and Clarkson to your list (and Rubezic might come good), but I agree that we're otherwise missing a lot from our squad. We basically don't have a squad. That comes from our constant rebuilding every season, and another missed window in January will be a huge issue for Thelin. None of the bench offer real competition for places, or anything different at all, and could be replaced with lampposts with little noticeability. Leven is basically playing our best available team in their preferred positions, with only Rubezic missing, and every team in the bottom six has been able to counteract that with ease (not necessarily beating us), and we've had zero off the bench. Phillips has been missing laterally of course, but for me he's the guy you want against better opponents where he can mix things up. I don't see any of the other squad players vastly improving under Thelin either, they're simply not good enough (maybe Duncan and Milne could advance with game time in a confident team, perhaps Sokler). I'd like to see a big clear out beyond the players you mention though, but that's going to mean at least two windows until we can start to see improvement.