ALSY

Not a bad first touch, but very one-footed and a bit lightweight - tended not to get involved much in games that were quite physical in nature. I don't know what the standard is in your league compared to SFL 1, but he couldn't get back into our team for the last two-thirds of the season. Good luck for the season.

My head works a little better sober. Also, if I don't have five pints beforehand, I won't miss half the match by having to nip out for a pish every 10 minutes. I could, of course, borrow your sporran as a surrogate urinal, but it would need quite a sizeable capacity...

Have a greeny, sir. Maybe a seaweed sorbet, using seasonal bladder wrack sourced right on the doorstep, for dessert?

I've always avoided volunteering for this because I usually have too many pints before a match, but I could do the Dundee Utd game if you need someone for that - I'm working the next day so will have to stay sober. I'll let you know about future games.

Vigurs sent off for an elbow in the County game. Heh. Edited to add: crowd at Inverness 1099. 10 man County go ahead - Barrowman.

3-0 now. All sounds a bit scrappy, but a solid start to the season - no need to p*ss about with replays.

1-0 Cox

Ah. Cheers, captain.

According to Charles Bannerman on BBC - Esson McCann Tokely Golabek Blumenshtein - and he didn't mention anyone else! Very uncharacteristic for a completist like Charles... Decent way to celebrate my birthday - a couple of beers and the first competitive game of the season on the radio.

Long season ahead. I suspect the depth of squad Lennon is building will enable Celtic to win the SPL. If he they don't, given how thin the current Rangers squad is, then he really will have made an @rse of his attempt at management. In the meantime, here is a wee tribute to the scorer of the opening goal for Braga...

In that case, though, why risk him wide right, as you have him in your original post? I don't remember him making too many effective crosses in any games I've seen him in. FWIW I think he came on to a wee bit of a game in the "hole" towards the end of last season, although I still prefer Sanchez there for his passing ability. Having said that, I've not seen any pre-season games, so I don't really know who I'd play in the wide positions with Hayes and Foran out.

I think it will be tough for Saints, but Killie have been pretty poor for a couple of seasons now, probably can't afford to strengthen in January if they are near the bottom, and have exchanged a manager who has a decent record in the SPL for one who struggled badly last time he had the chance. Added to that, there's a good chance they will lose Craig Bryson, probably their best player. Maybe I've underestimated Mixu and maybe they'll see a bounce under him, but I could see them going down.

No pangs of conscience about predicting your old team will go down?...

Some nice photos there, DD - whets the appetite for the new season's away days.

C & P from the 'Confidence...' thread: Celtic Rangers Dundee Utd Hibs Hearts Motherwell Hamilton St Johnstone ICT Aberdeen St Mirren Kilmarnock

This. Can't set too much store by a friendly result, especially with Foran and Hayes missing. Will be interested to read IHE & Red Card's thoughts on the game - if they can remember any of it after their Russian-themed breakfast.

This. Will probably still get the shirt though.

He's here, he's there, he's every f***ing where...

It would be great to see some of the youth team players pushing for starting places this season. I'd almost forgotten about them because of all the focus on the new signings and on whether last year's signings could make the step up.

I'd love it if you were right about this. Can't see United maintaining such a strong challenge for so long, however. I think they'll miss Webster in particular. I wouldn't be surprised if Celtic won the title by some distance this season. As for ICT, I agree with those who think that 11th would represent a good season for us, but I'm cautiously optimistic that we can do a litle better. The squad looks stronger than it did in our last couple of seasons in the SPL, notwithstanding the absence of Black and Cowie, and Butcher is a far better motivator than Brewster and also, if last season is anything to go by, more prepared to change his approach if something isn't working. Top 6 does look a bit of a stretch though. Motherwell have a lot of good young players and a shrewd manager - I'd expect them to be up there. Despite losing McArthur, Hamilton seem to have kept signing players and looking to improve and will probably hit the ground running faster than us. St Johnstone have also god quite a few good young players and I wouldn't surprised if they push on in the way Hamilton did in their second season in the SPL. At the moment Killie and Aberdeen look weak and St Mirren are a completely unknown quantity. I'm guessing the SPL will finish something like this: Celtic Rangers Dundee Utd Hibs Hearts Motherwell Hamilton St Johnstone ICT Aberdeen St Mirren Kilmarnock

We need experienced cover at centre back and Innes should provide it - Rosscoe hasn't much experience of playing there in the SPL. Not exactly a long-term solution, but in the best case scenario this could turn out to be like Dods signing for us when we were promoted first time around. Alternatively Innes could be a total donkey and ready for the knacker's yard. Time will tell...

Agree with this, and I think there's a good chance these are the tactics Butcher will adopt. Long ball wasn't ever really a managerial poicy last season as far as I could tell - the central defenders just seemed to have a tendency to revert to the punt when things weren't going as planned, particularly in the first half of the season. I'm guessing Butcher will be looking at playing either Blumenstein, Sanchez or Odihambo in behind Rooney - will be interesting to see who he starts the season with. I still think Sanchez could be effective in the SPL if he gets the space to make passes, but I'm also looking forward to seeing how Blumenstein shapes up.

Couple of financial disasters since I bumped into you means I won't make it - out of pocket to the tune of ?400 thanks to an exploding washing machine... Maybe try to arrange something for the Celtic game if you're heading up, though?

I'd love Murray to win it, but I have the feeling that he won't do it this year. In the really important games his first serve often lets him down - this undid him in the semi against Roddick last year and although I reckon he'll beat Tsonga tomorrow, I could see the same happening in this year's semi, especially if he's playing Nadal. Also, if he does manage to make the final, the chances are he'll be playing Federer, and I worry that having been beaten in straight sets by Federer in his previous two grand slam finals, he won't have the psychological strength to win this one. Really hope I'm wrong though.

For any of our Irish players to be considered for an international call up in the near future, he would have to have an exceptional season, and the team as a whole would probably have to be performing well above expectations. It's not impossible, though - George O'Boyle won Northern Irish caps whilst playing for small Scottish clubs, and Tommy Coyne won most of his Republic caps whilst at Motherwell (admittedly a pretty good side at the time). FWIW I think Rooney should do OK next season as long as he gets decent service from midfield and doesn't have to rely on scraps from long balls. In his previous season in the SPL he certainly showed more promise than Barrowman, although, in common with the form of the whole team, this was very sporadic. I think Hayes might struggle to make an impact in some matches if opposing teams pick up on how to keep him out of the game - he had a few quiet games towards the end of last season once the other sides cottoned on to how much of a threat he could be and started making him more effectively. Looking forward to seeing how they do though, and also whether Sanchez and Odihambo can make any impact at this level.