Gribz

Holland 5-4 Spain

The World cup thread has been good, rarely does a sticky thread work for a while. But the final might deserve a thread of its own. Holland havent been that easy on the eye considering the luxury players they have yet have still been strong and decent and remain the only 100% in the tournament thus far. Spain are similar, they have world class players everywhere and have looked more like a classic german or italian side who can be strong without being brilliant. They held the best attacking team in the tournament (Germany) very well and took their chance. I think Holland are stronger than Germany and Spain will find that out on Sunday. We are due a good game after the disappointing semi's but both team will be cagey and extra time is surely likely. Im tipping the Dutch though, after coming behind against Brazil it gave them some belief.

I have no problem with most of these if they leave as long as we get equal replacements! Kenny Miller - Im a big fan of Kenny and I hope he will stay, Id say its a banker he will. Kevin Thomson - Never overly impressed me but I think he will improve. Would accept 4 million. Danny Wilson - seemed to make his bed. I bet he would struggle without mentor Weir next to him. He has to be consistant to be considered quality. Andy Webster - hasnt even kicked a ball for Rangers but had a good (not outstanding) season for Dundee Utd. If fit could be a good player for us. Neil Alexander - Good keeper / No.2. But sign McGregor up on a long term deal and we could get another back up keeper. Lee McCulloch - Would anyone lose sleep if we sold Lee? Sasa Papac - Bit of an unsung hero, Id like to keep him. Andrius Velicka - Crickey - He has made Webster look like he needs a testimonial! As i said, its not about who leaves though, its about keeping numbers in the squad and getting equal or better replacements. But could we get better players than these in todays inflated market and with our lack of money?? Also - it might be another paper spinner.

Welcome to the forums! Nice post. You dont have a Dad called Calscot by any chance to you?

I'll be watching the Championships Forest v Watford...far more appealin Nah, but the SPL champs should be first up on TV IMO. This TV deal is a nonsense that OF homes games are practically never on.

I actually agree with the last part that Lennon wont be another Mowbray. Mowbray got it all wrong but Lennon seems to have installed belief back into them which always improves a team. Its not nice to say but Lennon wont allow anyone to hide for them. I still think we have a better starting XI on paper. Id have Mcgregor over Boruc anyday, and our centre halfs by a mile (assuming Bougherra stays). Davis is the best midfielder in the league and Miller's work rate upfront is better than any of their strikers. So we are still the team to beat IMO.

Kevin Thomson has never over impressed me but I still think he has ability to be a good player. Its concerning the lack of depth we would have if he was sold. We are already thin as we dont have natural wide players, selling Thomson would leave us with Edu and Davis as natural centre midfielders and Lee McCulloch. We need at least 4 players capable of playing in that position. Mind you if we manage to hold onto Bougherra I wouldnt be opposed to playing him as the holding midfielder, I think he would stroll that position. Young Fleck playing behind a front 2 is another option and takes up 1 place in the midfield, but its getting depressing knowing we are going into a season so low in numbers.

If the Championship is rubbish then what is the SPL? Id rather watch Swansea v Cardiff and Leicester v Derby than Hibs v Hearts and St Mirren v Kilmarnock. The Championship can be more exciting than the EPL at times when 5 or 6 teams can be going for the play offs.

Holland have won every game without playing great but still showed bits of good football. Spain lost their opener and have since won every game by the odd goal. Germany were the most impressive performance wise followed by Argentina and Uruguay. But football isnt won on the enjoyable eye or Arsenal would win the EPL every season. I hope Holland win as they seem to have been the strongest overall.

A list of a few free players at the moment according to Skysport: How good would Bobby Pires be for a season!!! Sign back Amdy Faye anyone???

Yip absolutely. Obviously playing for Rangers at Ibrox is a different story and is appealing but going away to the teams you mentioned wouldnt be as good as going to City ground, elland Rd etc. Only Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, Hibs and Hearts are attractive away games in the SPL. Thats why it wouldnt bother me if the OF moved down south but had to start off in League 2. Im pretty sure we'd be up to league 1 after one season and look at the teams you have their these days....Sheff Wed, Southampton, Charlton (And in recent seasons Leeds, Norwich, QPR, Man City) - id rather be playing them than St Mirren.

Add Porrini into that aswell, he was a centre half in Italy but played RB for us. To be fair to Durie he was a good signing.

Peterboro got relegated Ok Scunthorpe arent appealing but the Championship is like a Premiership 2 these days. I watched it all last season and was impressed. You have Forest, Leicester, Sheff Utd, QPR, Coventry, Norwich, Leeds....etc - all ex prem teams and all have big crowds every week. Id rather be playing Forest away than a league cup game away to Forfar!

If it was a 1 season deal then Id pick the EPL with Wigan or Blackpool. But if its a 4 year deal Id go for Boro at the moment as I would say they can get promoted this season. But TBH id have tried Turkey ahead of Boro. To be fair to Boyd I dont think he made a knee jerk reaction in joining Boro.

4-4-2 can still work if it is applied correctly. As Alan McInally said the other say its garbage that 4-4-2 seems to not work anymore, its simply down to the players you pick and the tactics. He was arguing back against the other pundits who say it didnt work and he was spot on, all England needed to do was play Carrick with Lampard in the middle, J Cole on the left and Milner or Lennon on the right. Gerrard would go upfront with Rooney almost like 4-4-1-1. Had we kept Novo then 4-4-2 would have been ok for us although Im still against Davis being on the right. But It would have been a midfield 4 of: Davis______Edu______Thomson______Novo. But now we have zero width. I want to see Lafferty upfront, and as for Naismith he really has to convince me.

IMO he has done what Roy Keane did - just turned out for Celtic, I think thats all he wanted to do. His interests will be on 1 final big money move. Im sure Aston Villa will sign him. Agreed that he is a class player though, Spurs are silly to rid him.

Bullard has been in Glasgow for about 3 weeks now. If he stays injury free he'd be a good signing.

Cant believe I woke up at 2:30am just to be let down on that game. It was awful. Germany missed Mueller, their flow couldnt get going. Bit of a bullet header from Puyol though. They havent played well this tournament but are still in the final. C'mon the Dutch.

Probably one of the first few names on the team sheet for me. Id have McGregor, Bougherra, Davis, Novo and Miller in my team straight away. Novo gave is a good balance when playing almost any formation as he was good on the left, even better on the right and still managed 25 goals when he played as the central striker.

Have to disagree with this to an extent. Id go to Boro over Wigan and Blackpool anyday. Id be amazed if those 2 teams are above 15th in the league next season and in the future. Yet Boro do have one of the most loyal and ambitious chairman around. Steve Gibson has bank rolled this club for the last 15 years but hasnt put them in a mess. I would bet his vision is to get the club back in the top flight long term. He got rid of Southgate as he wanted auto promotion - turned out to be the wrong move but the amibition was still there. The only concern is Strachan hasnt made much of an impact and his signings have been a bit shocking. As for Boyd threads Im sure we will be keeping an eye on him next season.

Doesnt mean the ability of Fletcher is now double Laffertys. Fletcher didnt do much more at Burnely than Lafferty did yet his fee doubled. This just shows transfer fees are way out of line down south. Not to mention Lafferty has also looked good everytime he has played for N ireland.

I think Lafferty will score goals this season also and be a better all round player if he is played through the middle. As mentioned before he still has a bit of maturing to do which will come. The fee wasnt his fault and considering Steven Fletcher went for 3 million id say 3.75m for Lafferty may prove to be ok long term.

I didnt think Ferguson would return but it will be Scotlands loss. I felt he was a better team player for Scotland than he was for Rangers and this form has went onto Birmingham. When the spotlight isnt all about him he is a better player. The likes of Fletcher and Broon will miss him. Im beginning to fear that Scotland are still in decline with levein in charge and that its going to be a bit of Berti Vogts all over again with players earning caps who nobody recognises.

A wide player should be top target IMO but lets make sure its not another Rothen. 1 player I like is Matthew Etherington at Stoke, i felt he was underrated when at West Ham. I read he is unhappy at Stoke. Wages would be the problem but thats the calibre of player Id be hoping for.

Considering he was a big game player who could do well in all types of matches he should have been offered a much better deal. Definatly madness to allow him to go so easily.