Mugging in the material world.
Morton visit Livingston this afternoon for their final meeting of this cycle of rebirth known is the 2011-2012 SFL First Division season.
2011-12 has been a qualified bust for Greenock Morton. For several weeks in September the Ton led the league, though by the end of that month it was with a negative goal difference, inspiring a question at the Guardian's football trivia column The Knowledge. Since then they've settled to seventh place. How does this compare to previous years? Since rejoining the First Division Morton have ended the season: 8th with 37 points and a minus 18 goal difference (2007-08); 6th with 47 points and a 0 GD (2008-09); 8th with 37 points and a minus 25 GD (2009-10); and 7th with 43 points and a minus 4 GD (2010-11). Sixth to eighth in the First Division is a pretty small target to hit year after year. Sooner or later the club has to improve or be relegated.
One scenario spinning out of the trainwreck at Ibrox has Rangers accepting relegation to the Third Division and two First Division clubs moving up to the SPL: Ross County plus most likely Dundee.
Morton's exit from administration in 2001 without a points deduction is being held up by Rangers fans as an example of SFA favouritism.
Last night UCD entertained Drogheda United. They played to a 1 - 1 draw.
Altrincham host Gainsborough Trinity today in English sixth tier action. [Gainsborough win 3 - 2.]
Montreal Impact play the Portland Timbers at Stade Olympique. [Montreal win 2 - 0!]
Pohang Steelers visit Daegu FC at the Blue Arc. Daegu have three Brazilians: Leandrinho, Matheus and Dinélson. What is your Brazilian football name? [Daegu 1 - 0 Pohang.]
Yesterday Mito HollyHock visited Shonan Bellmare. If I owned that team they'd be called Shonan Jump. Mito won 2 - 1.
Quick, think of a Japanese footballer who has played in Scotland. Shunsuke Nakamura played for Celtic for four seasons and was voted Scottish Footballer of the Year for 2006/07, though he is on record as saying he would have voted for Alan Hutton. Nakamura now plays for Yokohama F. Marinos. Here's an interview.
Think of a Scot who has played in Japan. Alan Irvine, whose career spanned the years 1980 to 1995, played the 1989/90 season for Mazda, the club now called Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Scott McGarvey played for Mazda as well from 1990 to 1992. Steve Paterson was the first European to play in Japan, joining Yomiuri FC in 1983. They are now Tokyo Verdy. And Steven Tweed played for Yokohama FC from 2004 to 2006.
Is there a Scot playing in the J-League this year? No. Which countries are the most popular sources for foreign players in Japanese pro football right now? 1) Brazil. There are about thirty Brazilians in J1. 2) South Korea. About twenty. 3) North Korea. The Brazilians were born in Brazil and the South Koreans in South Korea, but the North Koreans were all born and raised in Japan of Korean refugee parents, and play for North Korea internationally, in what must be one of the only examples of co-operation between Japan and North Korea. In J1 there's Kim Song-Gi, who plays for Cerezo Osaka; Hwang Song-Su, for Júbilo Iwata; An Yong-Hak, for Kashiwa Reysol; Kim Myung-Hwi for Sagan Tosu; Kang Song-Ho for Shimizu S-Pulse; and Ryang Yong-Gi for Vegalta Sendai.
[Livingston nil, Greenock Morton nil. Morton evade relegation. They will finish seventh or eighth, depending on the final score against Raith Rovers next Saturday. Queen of the South are relegated. Ayr can avoid finishing ninth only if they make up a 17 goal deficit next weekend. Dunfermline win, and are not relegated from the SPL yet.]
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