Renegade

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

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

According to today's Courier, the Celtic fans are going to bring them.

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.

Who's Pam Schriber?

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.

Not necessarily. Even though Israel aren't in the EU there seems to be some agreement here with European countries (Israel is part of Uefa even though it's in Asia geographically) so that players don't need to have X amount of international caps. I've never heard of other Uefa but non-EU countries like Iceland, Switzerland and Norway ever having problems with visas.

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.

Less than that! MJ Lives! Heard the women who runs this site being interviewed on the radio last night. Totally barking mad. Apparently Jacko's coming back at some point to warn us all about the Illuminati and the Anti-Christ that's going to take over the world!

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.

I reckon the standard of the New Zealand team is higher of that of the current Scotland squad.

Well that's Italy gone, finished below New Zealand - unbelievable stuff. I know they had a couple of debatable decisions go against them, but they still deserved to go as they were pretty rubbish in each game. Well done to New Zealand though, they might be out on goal difference, but I thought they played well in each game and weren't the no-hopers many had them down as. Chile v Spain tomorrow, possibly the game of the tournament?