Gribz

We should go all out attacking and go for a 5-0. As Ian says 2-0 is probably likely. Not sure if this game will be a sell out, if not this is the type of game that should be played at Easter Road or Tynecastle to get a full house of around 20,000 and a good atmosphere - that would always help the team.

Paul Mitchell is the most dour, depressing commentator ever. Any game Ive listened to with him makes me want to turn it off. Must admit I quite liked Old Archie McPherson plus Jock Brown wasnt bad.

I like it. I think it will look better when seeing the real thing or being worn.

I'll be amazed if we qualify. I suppose Levein gets his chance but he still wasnt the right man IMO. The Czech's will beat Lithuania on Tuesday and we should beat Liechtenstein but they will already have a game in hand. As Juff says we will have to beat the Czech's twice or take 4 points off them.

Portugal 4-4 Cyprus

Did they not sign or try to sign a defender called Fanni at one point?? Naylor_____Schiet_____Balde______Fanni___ :robbo:

McGregor Hutton Weir McManus Whittaker McCulloch Broon Fletcher Robson Naismith Miller

Yes I'll also reserve judgement until I see him play but I dont even know what position he plays. I cant see Giggs and Nani worrying too much about coming up against him in the Champions League.

I need a few cans of Fosters to think he will be a good player.

Ricky Foster!!! Thats the worst signing since Gary Bollan. Scott Severin went to Dundee Utd, he would have been a better squad player as centre midfield cover.

Poor transfer window and iim glad its over so all the nonsense rumours go to bed. Hleb is probably the signing of the day, thats exactly what Birmingham need. Did the bloke Gyan score that peach against USA? Still, risky for Sunderland to spend that amount. Cant believe Arsene Wenger didnt get a keeper. He should have went for Given. Schwarzer would have been an improvement but Given would have gave Arsenal 10 points a season. Almunia is worth -8 points a season. Van Der Vaart to spurs will be a good signing for them if it goes through.

If you were talking about Queen of the South, Cowdenbeath and Ross Country then id agree but I wouldnt say it would be 2 poorer teams if it was the likes of Dunfermline, Dundee, Falkirk, Raith and Partick as they were previous SPL regulars and there is nothing between them and the likes of St Mirren, St johnstone and Hamilton. Having these teams being down a division is what keeps them from getting better as they will be playing a higher standard in the SPL rather than Div 1 and have higher crowds so revenue increases.

A way around that and still expanding the league is to have a 14 team league and play everyone twice (26 games) THEN do the split and play the teams in your half twice - both home and away (12 games). That keeps the current 38 games per season yet removes the nonsense of playing some teams away 3 times and some at home once.

Yip not only that they could introduce a 16 or 18 team SPL and play each other twice. It would then free up a few more weekends for 1) the winter break and 2) playing the semi finals and final of this cup on weekends. What it takes to have common sense!!!

Is Barazite a done deal Frankie???

Manchester Police and council should be taking some responsibility for not being organised. People I know who made the trip were saying about 6 portacabin toilets were put here and there - how on earth is that useful for tens of thousands who are going to need toilet every 5 mins! So then fans get tarnished for doing the business on the street. They also shot themselves in the foot by attracting the fans without tickets to the city centre for the big screens (which didnt work at stages) when all they needed to do was open Old trafford and put big screens up there then HALF of the crowd who made the journey without tickets are then comfortably inside one location and not a nuisance to anyone and the police can then have a bit of control on the situation.

Agreed. This cup has lost all its interest since the late 80s and 90s. There used to be some belters of finals - the 3 games against Aberdeen in the late 80s then the 4-3 v Hearts in 1996. There is 2 reasons for it IMO, 1) Obviously the European place got taken away and 2) The powers that be moved the final from its original October to March for some bizarre reason even though the earlier rounds are still played pre-christmas. Having a cup final in October made much more of an interest as there was a chance for a trophy early on and good form at this time could be rewarded.

I hope he only goes if he get a player coming in. Im thinking Champions league here and that if Lafferty moves and Miller is injured we'd be buggered upfront. Jelavic isnt eligible Naismith is our new RM Beattie has it ALL to prove Velicka is 5 miles behind Beattie Lafferty is in last chance saloon but the guy still has something in his locker if he would just wise up.

Seedings in the League Cup?? When did that start? If anything it should be regionalised. But Raith at home would be fine.

Cousin is an idiot and only has himself to blame. He had bags of talent and could have been a big player with us for as long as he wanted and won medals if he had a good attitude. He was outstanding against Celtic (in his last game) and played superb against Barca at Ibrox. But he felt he was too good. But karma strikes yet again, so many players think they are moving onto better things. If he didnt settle in Glasgow then I dont think Hull would have cured the problem of being unsettled. I think as soon as he signed for Hull he realised he had signed for a EPL minnow and threw the toys out the pram again. he had 2 good opening games then barely kicked a ball for them again.

I dont disagree with you on much topics but have to on this. What you are saying is the SPL doesnt nor will ever deserve a quality player - thats a nonsense. So the best should remain in the top leagues only?? It may be the case that some players use the SPL as a stepping stone to England but this is purely down to the money Sky pumped in down south. Its a generation thing. Sky could collapse and tons of english clubs could go into debt. 20 years ago it was a reverse situation, the top English players were coming north to play in our league- Butcher, Woods, Stevens, Steven, Hateley, Wilkins, Francis etc, crikey even aberdeen managed to sign Charlie Nicholas from Arsenal in the 80s. Then we attracted quality players in the 90s and early 00s. Celtic did this also with Thom, Van Hooijdonk, Di Canio and Larsson as well as getting Lambert to return from Germany. Then 30 and 40 years ago you had the best from Scotland going down south and being the best in England so to me that says we could hold our own against English clubs. I agree the SPL has went backwards but there are a number of reasons for it 1) TV money (and lack of it) 2) The amount of leagues / clubs in the country 3) The jokers who run the game (SPL, SFA, SFL - too many bodies) 4) The structure 5) Playing winter football on frozen pitches....i could go on here.

Id go with that, My fave is EPL followed by Bundesliga and Ive watched a lot of the Championship in the last 2 years and quite enjoy it. I used to really like Serie A when it burst on Channel 4 years ago but its went downhill a bit since.

I thought Barazite had finished his trial. If he is affordable then there is no harm keeping him for a season.

I'll be judging Beattie after he has had 5 or 6 games as 1) he needs fitness and 2) needs to adjust to the SPL and his new team mates. Granted he has looked poor but he did show some good composure to set Miller up at Hibs last week when 99 strikers out of 100 would have probably tried to shoot from that tight angle. Its a long season with 4 competitions so all out strikers will be needed.

To the best league in the world argument it depends on whether you are looking for entertainment, skill, excitement, standard etc. But I wouldnt say La Liga is the best in the world, its in the top 4 in Europe along with Serie A, EPL and Bundesliga. Id say a few South American leagues are easily on par and if not better than Euro leagues in some catergories. One reason the likes of Messi etc go to La Liga is the similar lifestyle between South america and Spain, not to mention if they come to UK they are paying 50p in the pound for tax.