Renegade

I just find that a bit rude. Sorry.

Well I've never met, but I don't think I'd want to. I just can't back or have any support for such dull, arrogant person. He seems to be unable to put two words together most of the time. I even saw him eating through an interview once! Anyone But Andy for me.

The first ICT friendly is only a few weeks away ain't it? It's on the 19th or something against Clach I believe, so presumably then, the new kit should be revealed in the next couple of weeks or so.

Personally I'm quite glad he got beat actually. Sure he's good at the tennis but I just can't get behind such a dull, boring human being. He has the personality of a corpse! Such a dour, dour man - at least Henman actually sounded at least a slightly bit interested when was being interviewed. Sorry people, I just can't stand him or his cringe-inducing mother. Well done Nadal!

And that one goal was scored against.......North Korea!

Well I'm gutted for Ghana. They played well and the game could've either way, but it would've been nice to see an African side do well (even though technically, Ghana are the furthest going African side in a WC ever. Senegal and Cameroon were beaten in extra time, while Ghana went to penalties!). Asamoah Gyan in particular I'm gutted for, for missing his penalty, but then having the courage to step up and take the first one and hit it perfectly. He's played very well throughout the tournament as well. Obviously there's the whole argument about the actions of the Uruguayan handballer, what he did I suppose was punished but morally what he did benefited his team, which really isn't gentlemenly and in the spirit of the game. What this game does show tough, is that you have to take your chances, and the fact that Ghana didn't and some of their players took some horrible penalties cost them. We'll see an African winner one day, and it could well be them. It might not happen in the next couple of WCs but it'll happen one day, of that I have no doubt.

I went for McGhee, but I could see it being Hughes.

Is Vallodolid's goalkeeper coach not that old Columbian keeper Rene Higuita?

Right I see. The original article had the word "build" in it which probably got me confused.

Wouldn't the building of the Sports Bar have an effect on the supposed gas pipe that's in that area? IIRC that was always the reason why a stand on that side wouldn't be particularly easy to build, due to the pipe having to be shifted.

Indeed.

Indeed he is, and was has played in goal in every WC game for them so far, including the one that went to penalties against Japan the other day. He is the captain of Paraguay too I believe. Also, I see Valladolid was also once managed by Helenio Herrera, they guy who pioneered the Catenaccio style of football that was most prominent in Italy. Obviously a team with a lot of history then.

The thing about these Fifa rankings, is that I'd always take them with a pinch of salt. Scotland are currently 46th in the Fifa rankings, they're probably a bit better than that. A couple of years ago they were 13th, they're not as good as that. Also bear in mind that in the late 90s Norway were ranked 2nd in the world. Norway! They might have been a bit better in those days, but 2nd come on!

Not really. Around the time of the game that you refer to, Scotland at least had some chance of getting to a major finals, they've been nowhere near good enough in recent years. How good they will be under Levein remains to be seen, but I wouldn't hold my breadth.

And so have Scotland.

That was 10 years ago.

I see Craig Brown reckons that Scotland would've gotten to the Quarter Finals had they qualified! This is the same man of course a couple of years ago who said that Terry Butcher should get the England job, something Butcher himself laughed at.

That gives me the impression that these trialists might be wingers then, or a position Butcher is looking to enhance.

Well after watching the group stages of the World Cup, that North Korean striker Jong Tae-Sae looked a decent player. VFL Bochum from Germany were looking at him apparently. Also, I see that guy who scored the first WC goal is without a club after being released by the Kaizer Chiefs. His name was Tshabalala or something. A doubt his wages would be too much and he could look at a club like ICT as a stepping stone to something bigger.

So what about the North Korean team? Where are they now? Salt mine? Labour Camp? Guineapigs for nuclear testing? .... whilst the North Korean people are being told that their Glorious Eleven, thanks to the personal inspiration of The Short Arsed Leader, has won the World Cup! Coal mines apparently. Link Apparently, some of the 1966 squad were sent to Labour camps for throwing away a 3 goal lead to Portugal to lose 5-3, even though they were the first Asian team to reach the quarter finals.

That'll be a good game I reckon. Nice to see a Spanish club at Caley Stadium.

Ah, another British sportsman who'll get hyped up and hyped up by the media who'll go on and on about how he'll win it, who then goes on and doesn't.

Before the start of the World Cup, some people were saying that Capello was the best England manager since Alf Ramsay. Based on what exactly? Granted, he got the team to qualify, but Ramsay was only the regarded as their best manager ever in the years after '66, many also forget that he was also sacked after being eliminated from the World Cup in 1970. Capello has had great success as a club manager, but is untested at international level. It's also interesting to note that when McClaren was sacked, Capello wasn't the name most England fans wanted, the majority wanted Jose Mourinho, who first wanted the job and then changed his mind a few days later. From what I could see, it says a lot when you get beat 4-1 and your goalie is your best player! Terry was poor, Johnson was poor, Gerrard was bad and Rooney was abysmal. Forget Wayne Rooneyfor a minute, I think Adam Rooney would be better! AT least he knows where the goal is! Defensively England were terrible and were carved open time and time. I've seen better at the Caley Park! I actually thought that after Upson's goal and Lampard's goal that never was, England played quite well, and even at the start of the second half they were quite good, but after the Germans scored the their third goal it was all over. A lot has been said about this England squad, but they simply aren't that good and no amount of hype will change that. From the clubs I've seen at the this World Cup, barring the really big sides, I'd say that even the likes of New Zealand, Ghana, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mexico etc have been better than England. They simply aren't that good. Butcher so perfectly put it on Sky Sports News earlier - "England couldn't beat a dirty carpet". I couldn't put it better myself.

According to today's Courier, Russell Duncan, Grant Munro and Adam Rooney are going to be offered contract extensions.

How many bank clerks do we have playing for Scotland like? Man U, Birmingham, Old Firm, West Brom, Wolves, Blackpool, Tottenham, Sunderland and Wigan players and most are regulars but no bankers or league 2 stars. Yep I see what you mean there. I see your point, but it wasn't that long ago that Scotland got an embarrassing 2-2 result against a bunch of farmers and fishermen. Let's be honest, Scotland are not a good team, and have IMO zero chance of getting to any major competitions any time soon and I doubt would be able to get a draw against Slovakia, a good Paraguay and a not so good Italy, something New Zealand did. They also play excellently as a team, are very well organised and hard to beat, something I don't feel could be said for Scotland. BTW - I had a wee look up the NZ team and I think they only have one banker, with the captain Nelsen playing for Blackburn, four players who were in the Championship last season, one guy in the Danish League, one at Motherwell, one at NY Red Bulls and a few at some of the higher Australian clubs (some of which will be the same standard as the SPL). So, not the most prolific team in the world, but not as amateur as you claim.