Tichy_Blacks_Back

Potentially good signing - hopefully one (or even two) may follow :biggrin:

The semi-finals were played yesterday: Al Gahrafa Stadium - Japan 2 South Korea 2 (aet) - Japan won 3-0 on penalties - att. 16,171 In a close game it looked like Japan had edged it until South Korea snatched a last minute equalizer in extra time. Japan then won comfortably in the penalty shoot out to deny South Korea the opportunity to win the tournament for a third time. Celtic's Cha Du-Ri has been playing in this tournament and hasn't looked too bad a player. With the rebuilding planned for the South Korean team the 3rd/4th play-off on Friday may possibly be Park Ji-Sung's last game for the national side. Last night's game was his 100th international appearance. Khalifa Stadium - Uzbekistan 0 Australia 6 - att. 24,826 This was a surprise result with Australia running out winners by such a big margin as Uzbekistan had played well throughout the tournament but injuries to two players in their quarter-final match appeared to hamper the teams performance. Kewell scored for the second match in a row (this time in the 5th minute) to settle Australia and they went in at half time 2-0 up. Australia got a third half way through the second half and following that Uzbekistan went down to 10 men effectively ending the game. Saturday will be Australia's first Asian Cup Final appearance. Their first appearance 4 years ago ended in defeat to Saturday's opponent Japan at the Quarter Final stage. The final between Japan and Australia is to be played on Saturday 29th January at Kahalifa International Stadium - hopefully it will be a good match with a lot of goals.

Hibs sign two also: Matt Thornhill (Notts Forest) Defender Richie Towell (Celtic) Midfielder - Loan

Hamilton pick up two: James Chambers (Shamrock Rovers) Midfielder Aaron Wildig (Cardiff City) Midfielder -Loan

Item on BBC site - states undisclosed fee.... BBC Football

Latest YB article quotes them as saying they are looking at Rooney as a potential player for next season not transfer in winter window. Also states that they were at Ibrox mid-week to look at Rooney and another player (not named) but are currently assessing a number of players as potential new signings.

QF3 Iraq 0 Australia 1 (aet) - a Harry Kewell goal with 2 mins of et left settled it. Have to say it was one of the best football matches I have seen in a long time. Both teams went for it and I was impressed by Iraq who played really well. In QF4 South Korea beat Iran 1-0 also after et. Semi-Final line up is: Japan v South Korea Uzbekistan v Australia

Nice strip - obviously just couldn't wait to wear the green and white hoops again

Seemingly he was being watched by YB at Ibrox in mid week. Not sure they would have taken much from the game though.

Weather has been not too bad - quite cold (and wet) for some of the evening games though. Off to the Australia game this afternoon and the South Korean game this evening - one hour dash between the stadiums to make the second kick-off Japan do have a good chance to win this and expect to see them joined by Australia and South Korea in the Semis - sad thing is those 3 teams and Uzbekistan I am afraid would be too good for the current Scotland team :angry:

In QF2 at Khalifa Stadium Uzbekistan beat Jordan 2-1

10 man Japan come back from 1-2 down to beat hosts Qatar 3-2 in QF1 at Al Gharafa Stadium (Att. 19,479)

Yeh - it was the photo of Murray's sending off after fighting with his own player that I saw that raised my curiosity - East Stirling play Brechin next so will have to up their game if they are to get into the next round

Ta - thought it looked a bit weird

Anybody know why Buckie wore a blue and red striped ICT style top for their Scottish Cup game in mid-week - is that their away strip as they still had green shorts?

Sehr gut :biggrin: If he did end up going to YB would he be legible to play in the Europa League v Zenit in February?

Qatar's first goal from win against China - not a bad strike Qatar v China 1-0 (Yousef Ahmed)

Sorted you are absolutely right - this is just an extract from Arthur Macdonald's article in the Gulf Daily News earlier this week where he gives Scotland a mention: What surprises me even more is that Qatar wanted to hold the finals in the first place. Given their recent performance in the Asian Cup their participation in the 2022 event is unlikely to last very long unless they grant citizenship to a lot of Brazilians. Furthermore their short spell in the competition is likely to be somewhat of a sporting embarrassment as the best results most teams from the region have achieved in the World Cup tend to be managing to draw with Scotland. Given there is little sign that Scotland will be capable of qualifying for any international competition any time in the foreseeable future, even that small consolation will be denied Qatar. One positive thing about having Qatar as the venue is that its central position means that it is in a time zone accessible to about 80 per cent of the world. Presumably FIFA decided that this would allow it to maximise the amount of cash it hauls in from television rights. FIFA, like most of the business of football these days, seems to have more to do with television advertising than thinking of the poor fans who take the trouble to turn up and pay at the turnstiles.

Brechin Home win - ta

TICHY BLACK'S BACK HT: 2-0 FT: 3-1 1st scorer ICT: Rooney 1st scorer Opp: Imrie Crowd: 3,823 CAL'S THISTLE HT: 1-0 FT: 3-0 1st scorer ICT: Foran 1st scorer Opp: Antoine-Curier Crowd: 3,789

I suppose YB would offer the potential of Champions League football next season versus the potential of the 1st division with Hibs

Yeh but not career threatening - I think someone will look to tie him up as he is available to sign outside of the window as he is now unattached. Potentially a good position for a decent footballer.

Would be interesting if Calderwood goes - Hibs are a club in turmoil who I suspect may be losing a few more players before the end of the transfer window

With Michael Stewart back in Scotland after terminating his contract in Turkey where next after Hearts and Hibs? Aberdeen or Motherwell?

Off to Turkey it seems - hope he has spoken to Stewart :-)