Gribz

Cant fully agree with this. Whilst I agree that he came on and made a difference, i think Faye and Thomson were just piss poor at Hearts but these 2 players should be standing in and doing a better job. If we have to rely on 1 player in SPL games then Walter should be shot for his signings.

An infection after the Op is common but the anti-biotics will kick in and do the job. Anyway, the fixtures is all yours again next week - I got 0 out of 4 from saturdays games which is why i never bet on SPL games - too unpredicatable.

Thats why there is such a gulf in the OF and the rest coz the supposed ambitous clubs like Dundee Utd and Hearts cant go to these places and win - its a joke. And thats why i seldom bet on SPL games - id have had 2 away wins on yesterday. Its also a pity for the league, it would have been good to see DUFC keep up there good form.

Good stuff Pete, how was the Op? Hope your feeling better soon

Thats awesome! I got goosebumps watching that. As eight says - i wish i was part of that aswell. Barca will get the shits up them with that, plus the fans will turn the notch up even further for them

Tougher one this weekend. But after a quick look at the coupon I fancy my luck to change this weekend and will have a crack at all Sunday games: Newcastle v West Ham - Draw 11/5 Villa to beat Everton 11/10 Hibs v Celtic Draw 5/2 Blackburn to beat Portsmouth 4/5 Spurs to win at Bolton 11/8 Man U to beat Chelsea 5/6 I'll have 4 of them but not sure which ones yet

Andy Johnson missed 2 pens aswell

These rankings clearly state a teams current form if anything else and its makes great for us especially when the name Berti Fookin Vogts comes to mind.

In Pete's absence I'll quickly do this: Saturday, 22 September 2007 Falkirk v Motherwell, 15:00 Gretna v Dundee Utd, 15:00 Inverness CT v Hearts, 15:00 Kilmarnock v St Mirren, 15:00 Sunday, 23 September 2007 Hibernian v Celtic, 14:00 Rangers v Aberdeen, 15:00 Mark McGhee's Motherwell have been impressive so far this season and following their win in Aberdeen last week they make the trip to Falkirk who are conceding goals for fun despite trying to play a bit of football. This game doesnt look attractive on paper but probably wont be a bad match for the viewer. Id say a narrow 2-1 to Motherwell but a draw wouldnt send any shock waves. Gretna are now finding their feet in the SPL and may be getting used to playing at Fir Park. They entertain Dundee Utd who were my tip for a top 5 finish this season. Craig Levein has got something about him with this team and they are IMO back as a top 6 team where they belong. They have a winning streak about them and the chairman is getting on well with the manager and morale is high. I cant see anything other than an away win here. Hearts have finally kicked off there season with 2 good wins at Motherwell then against Rangers. They play a Caley side who are being beaten every week despite Craig Brewster returning to the team. Brewster has been a bit unlucky fixture wise since returning with trips to Hibs and Celtic so will expect better in his first home game in charge. I can see a draw here although Hearts will start as favourites. Kilmarnock v St Mirren - This has to be a banker home win. Killie have started well and have a chance to open up a gap between them and the bottom clubs here. The Saints are a never say die team but they dont have the quality to win every other game. 2-0 to Killie. Easter Road arguably has the game of the weekend on Sunday. Hibs are playing well again this season and are tough to beat at home. They have started well and like always will fancy there chances of getting something when the Old Firm come to the captial. Celtic are coming of the back of another away loss in europe despite a good winning run in the SPL. Should be an entertaining game and a score draw would be my prediction. Finally the other game of the weekend see's rivals Rangers and Aberdeen meet. The home side are on a high after getting their champions league campaign off to a winning start. They lost last time out in the SPL for the first time this season so that will be in the back of there minds and spur them back onto winnings ways. The Dons travel down to Glasgow with a disappointing return to Europe. They only managed a 0-0 with there Ukrainian opponents and now have it all to do in the 2nd leg. They havent won at Ibrox since 1991 and that will remain the same - I cant see anything other than a banker home win by 2 or 3 goals.

I agree with above but Fergusons problem is consistancy. He has to play like that 9 games out of 10 IMO. The odd bad game is accepted.

I can see Chelsea going down the Hearts road now with chopping and changin managers. The boy Grant wont last until March and I cant see the players being up for it as much now. Although a rumour in a paper has it Jose and Terry had a bust up the other day. He got rid of a few wrong players and replaced them with worse players IMO. I dont rate Mikel, Kalou, Sidwell as much as the team they had with Makelele, Essien, Lampard in the midfield then Robben J Cole and Drogba upfront.

I didnt have a bet on lads but if i did then they wouldnt have won. Last night id have been screwed, id of backed Blackburn and Everton who didnt win.

I think something happened behind the scenes as I cant see Jose being the type who would shy from the challenge this early. He could just be unhappy at background interferring and the english game in general after there goal was chopped off last weekend - wrongly so. As i said it will be very interesting to see what happens. Id say Gus Hiddenk must be a banker favourite for the job plus the Sevilla coach is in with a shout. Outsiders? - Big Phil Scholari / Klinssman / Wenger (Im sure they would be after him and offer him a silly amount of cash but he wont break his new contract at Arsenal)

Shocking but not shocking at the same time. You got the sense he wasnt happy with a number of things. But I hope its purely off the park things thats done this. Id hate to see him walking aay coz his team are playing poor - Wenger and Sir Alex have never ran away. But he doesnt get on with Roman, Kenyon or Frank Arnsen (sp) plus the new boy and id say thats the reasons. It will be very interesting to hear why he left plus see where he goes and all what happens to Chelsea next - they have Man U on Sunday.

14th! Thats a new record for us - superb stuff despite the rankings not meaning a great deal! If we beat Ukraine we will be pushing for a top 10 place!

I'll say fair play to Chelsea though as they kept the same home top this season as last season. You dont see many clubs doing that this year especially with the money it makes. I hope other clubs take notice and follow there example next season.

They just cant play away from home in europe, i actually thought they might nick a draw there but no so. Pretty bad start for the British clubs in Europe with Chelsea being held at home to Rosenberg and Liverpool drawing in Porto. I thought Chelsea were a banker but thought liverpool would draw. Arsenal, Man U and Rangers will all win tonight though

I think its too early to say and Im edging towards that this is a one-off. But we still need to improve as we werent convincing against Zeta or Red Star although we went through. But it does seem that Hemdani is being frozen out. Its ok resting him but he hasnt featured at all recently.

Probably Darcheville for me. Looked the only bright spark when he came on.

Bassa McInally :uzi: And I was blaming myself. At 80 mins I thought the West Ham game is done and dusted, il switch over to the last 10 mins to see if Fulham can hold there lead. I turned to the misses and said as soon as I turn it over I bet Wigan have scored - and right enough 1-1. Fulham have been so unlucky this season. They have deserved something more from every game they have played in.

Fine piece and I agree with the team matters. Weir is never going to last the pace and should be played spareinly (sp). But Webster would have played today had he not had a knock but what about Broadfoot who could have came in for either centre half or LB and moved Papac to the middle. Big Ugo Ehiogu is still to come back aswell. Faye and Thomson were disappointing and Ferguson did make a difference when he came on. I still think Hemdani should be first midfielder on the team sheet but im hoping we can eventually fit Hemdani, Ferguson, Buffel and McCulloch into the midfield. Upfront Darcheville and Cousin are definatly my pick aswell. Id even have had Sebo been given a run ahead of Boyd before we punted him. Why chase Naismith for so long and not give him a chance today before Novo?

So is this just a one off or did we get carried away with our good start? Remember today was our first test against one of the so called better SPL Sides as we have only played Falkirk, Gretna, St Mirren and Caley up until today - the 4 worst teams in the league. IMO we have great cover in every position in the team but we still have a number of average players playing in the starting XI: McGregor (Has had a good defence ahead of him and silly challenge today) Whittaker (early to judge but he looks poor IMO) Beasley (weak) Thomson (hasnt impressed me at all since coming in and has moved Hemdani to the stands - absolute baffling), Boyd (Still isnt mobile when Novo, Naismith, Darcheville and Sebo all are) I think when Ferguson, Hemdani and McCulloch are all in the midfield we look much stronger.

Yeah Fraser, plus you have school work to concentrate on! But your name was 5th up so thats why - nothing else bud. You'll get a bigger game next month

Arsenal were brilliant. There 2nd and 3rd goals were superb (especially the 3rd - look out for that one). My 3pm treble was close. I went for West Ham (Easy 3-0 win and a great 2nd half performance) Sunderland (2-1) Fulham (1-1 with Wigan getting a pen to level on 80 mins )

Good luck with tha mate. Villa will be 50/50 West Ham will win I looked at Charlton but Colchester are playing well with Teddy Sheringham still scoring. I looked at Leicester - they will win Preston are dodgy but are favourites West Brom and Killie should be a bankers and Hibs should win I dont have a clue about Queens though