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Last season may well have been our most "successful"" ever but we had a terrible start - as bad in many aspects as the season before. With the weather that we have had you don't need to train abroad and we simply don't have the drachmas to do that. But we do appear to have learned - we have got practically a full squad together right from the off and we have arranged a variety of games allowing most of the squad to show their potential. The fixtures have also been well planned where we are stepping it up against better and better teams. The only thing that I feel is missing is a second game in Englandshire against 1st or 2nd division opposition. We could have played Raif and then missed out on the delights of Arbroath and travelled South to camp and play on the Wednesday evening - could easily also have been in the London area. Of course finances may have put pay to that as well but I would have preferred higher opposition.

I see little point in going abroad. I can't see how training and playing under baking heat is good preparation for coming back here where (last couple of weeks aside) the weather is totally different. Ok, so maybe it allows a bit of "bonding", but we never seem to have had any trouble in that regard. I think it's probably become more of a kudos type deal...and a means to getting clubs to pay for players summer holidays! Our pre-season so far has seen the team pitted against increasingly physical opposition, but that's probably as much to do with luck of the draw and who was available when as it is anything else. It's all about getting the players game time to blow out any cobwebs from the summer; getting a look at new players in a competitive match setup and experimenting with positioning and maybe a few things from the training ground. Whilst "glamour" ties are great for the fans and maybe even a chance to make a few quid from pre-season, they're not going to achieve much else. The Charlton game is, I imagine, a chance to piece all the bits together and get a look at what you might think would be the starting squad for the league against an opponent which is more on a par with that level of competition.

I honestly believe we can push Celtic for the title this season.

Wow, lots of confidence on this thread. I've voted 'not sure' because I think the there's too little difference in quality between most SPL squads for us to be confident of almost anything. Last season there was almost nothing between 2nd place and 11th place for the whole season, and I don't see that changing greatly this year. I worry a little about the fans being too confident - we've never been the most realistic support (something I think stems from our quick rise through the leagues under Pele) and that definitely transmits onto the pitch. If we struggle against St. Mirren in the first game, will the fans start getting impatient because we are expected to beat a team that we finished 8 places above last season? We may have done that but we also took only 2 points from 3 games against them and they looked a decent side on each occasion. They may be well be better than us this year, I have no idea. The New Firm might be different propositions under new management with lots of new faces - again, no idea. So I'm not confident or concerned, just clueless.

Well, if I think about it, poor kids in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. often can be seen playing cricket rather than footie. Why is this? cricket has no violence and I haven't heard much about sectarianism or discrimination in cricket. I don't think they are earning 120,000 quid a week either. And not many clubs are tax dodging or setting up again after sacking staff and leaving creditors out of penny Don't get me wrong, I have never even watched 2 mins of it on TV, but each to their own, and they way football is going, we are all living in the preverbial crystal palace.

Regardless of the outcome, you've really got to applaud these nations for reaching the final of the Ashes, time after time.