It's a good offer, but it's probably as far as Bank of Scotland can go. RBS will probably step in as a kind of white knight.

I saw [State Radio] at Irving Plaza in New York City over winter break. They played to a sold-out crowd among other acts, and State Radio was the band the crowd got into the most.

They're like Dispatch with a kind of Pearl Jam-ish type, with a little more of a return to the heavy guitar instruments. It's a definite depart from Dispatch.

Certainly closing above 4,400 last week has been positive. The market seemed to be struggling to get over that. We've been helped in quite large part by a big move in the oils in recent days.

The retailers are pretty awful but everyone knows that. The retail analysts are waiting to see whether the shops go on full sale ahead of Christmas.

It's a start for a lot of guys who had good college careers, but didn't have what the scouts were looking for. It's also exciting to be seeing a group of young men (rookies) at the start of their careers, and seeing what they can do. And for some it's a second chance as well.