Boo Khaki Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Hah! bloody Tinpot countries! Not like our glorious trans-border rail service in Scotland with at least two whole lines I can think of off the top of my head. Well I suppose a foreign train could have taken him close to the Albanian border, before being smuggled over in the boot of a 1974 Simca 1100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BucksburnDandy Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 From a personal point of view, three teams was more than enough financially for me. Two competitive trips and maybe a friendly more than enough for me this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pie Of The Month Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Do either of the guys who've lived in Albania have any idea if their new stadium in Tirana will be ready or is it more likely the game will be elsewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Malky Mackay loves Israel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordopolis Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Would rather we had a 4 team group, but Albania and Israel isn't the worst draw we could have had. While the whole thing is fairly complex, it's not beyond anyone with a bit of patience to understand. No excuse for pundits etc guffawing about it. The thing that gets me is that the groups will be played out and finished by Nov 2018, but the playoff draw won't be made till Now 2019 (once the standard Euro qualifiers are done). It seems like a whopping (although clearly necessary) interlude. I guess that after one cycle it'll feel more natural - if they keep it, that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Rubble Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 17 minutes ago, Pie Of The Month said: Do either of the guys who've lived in Albania have any idea if their new stadium in Tirana will be ready or is it more likely the game will be elsewhere? If the fixture is this year, then its probable it will be in Elbasan or Shkodra. When I was last in Tirana in November the foundations were only being laid for the upgraded stadium, so not much chance it will be completed in time for September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFTD Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Interesting draw at least, considering we've hardly played either of them. Makes for a nice change, although I wouldn't go putting any money on us actually finishing top of the group. As already mentioned, that still leaves the SFA with the opportunity to f**k up some friendly slots, and for Malky to wheel out some Jewish stereotypes. Everyone's happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Be interesting to see the order of fixtures. Could do with not playing either of the away games in September when it is likely to be very hot.Also keen to see when our "free" matchdays are scheduled as there is a clear advantage to those who have a break in odd matchdays rather than even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambomo Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 It doesn't seem to be too complicated, now that I've seen them explain it during the draw. I think its actually quite exciting, its a proper tournament that we actually have some reasonable hope of winning a few games in, which is good for a start. I also like that we are playing teams of similar ability instead of the usual seeding in the EC qualifiers, less of a foregone conclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambomo Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 2 hours ago, forameus said: People having an ignorance lolfest around this are hardly alone. twitter is full of mouth-breathers who are questioning the point of these games, not realising that this draw is probably far, far more important than the actual qualifying groups. I get that they're hardly the most exciting opponents, but I don't care if we play twenty uninspiring opponents, the main thing is that we can beat them. Would they rather we were drawn against Spain and Germany or something? (they probably think that's possible too). EDIT: Can't wait for the chuckle hour on Super Scoreboard tonight as pundits claim not to understand it, like that's just OK, and caller question why we should care. Think it's Guidi on on a Wednesday, and he's usually fairly clued up, so I hope every tool that phones up gets told the truth - this draw fucking matters. I had the misfortune of coming across the Talk Sport twitter feed, they criticised the whole idea because they drew pot D first and that the smaller teams weren't exciting, then start abusing people who tell them that's kind of the whole point and that they've been told constantly that's where they were starting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameus Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 15 minutes ago, Jambomo said: I had the misfortune of coming across the Talk Sport twitter feed, they criticised the whole idea because they drew pot D first and that the smaller teams weren't exciting, then start abusing people who tell them that's kind of the whole point and that they've been told constantly that's where they were starting. TalkSport is just broadcasted trolling. It often comes on while my car decides to get bluetooth working on my phone, and the guy that does drivetime will come on and give a view that is quite clearly a fishing attempt, in a tone that will make things worse, just so they can get calls from Big Tone and Barry, builders from Rugby, who can't quite believe he's saying something like that. I remember one case when Harry Kane was doing some promo stuff for the NFL at White Hart Lane, kicking a field goal. He came on "absolutely seething" guestioning why the hell he was doing something like this when he hadn't won anything as a player. A whole segment of the show was then devoted to that. Fucking hell, English football is supposed to be entertaining, and this is the pish they talk about? I'm not surprised they're struggling with this concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Lanarkshire Jag Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Fixtures are out Albania at home Monday 10th September Israel away Thursday 11th October Albania away Saturday 17th November Israel at home Tuesday 20th November We miss Matchdays 1 and 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moo Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Where in Albania will the game likely be? Looking to book hotels now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estragon Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 19 minutes ago, South Lanarkshire Jag said: Fixtures are out Albania at home Monday 10th September Israel away Thursday 11th October Albania away Saturday 17th November Israel at home Tuesday 20th November We miss Matchdays 1 and 4. I'm going to predict an aggregate home crowd of 35,000 or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an86 Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Suspect these will be away from Hampden for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think there will still be heavy politicking around the future of the stadium. Secondly, nobody will be there because it’s a Monday night and a Tuesday night. Dirt cheap double package is the way to go to get a crowd in, but they won’t. Probably be £25 a spin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameus Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Just now, an86 said: Suspect these will be away from Hampden for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think there will still be heavy politicking around the future of the stadium. Secondly, nobody will be there because it’s a Monday night and a Tuesday night. Dirt cheap double package is the way to go to get a crowd in, but they won’t. Probably be £25 a spin. It all depends how the SFA spin it. They could sell the game as being important, particularly the final fixture with Israel, but I doubt they will. They'll probably charge a ridiculous amount too, which won't help. A double deal for £30 or something would be reasonable enough as an early-bird option. But then they charged £40 for Gibraltar, so... Anyway, I'd be amazed if these games weren't at Hampden. They'll presumably be used as part of the SSC membership, and there's no stadium outside of Ibrox and Parkhead that can fit everyone who is a member. Although there's absolutely nothing to guarantee that every single member would want a ticket, they wouldn't start off by excluding some of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdinburghBlue Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Pity that the SPFL wasn't asked to design this. Clearly would have been more attractive if some U20s teams were added to the lower levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeTillEhDeh Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 TalkSport is just broadcasted trolling. It often comes on while my car decides to get bluetooth working on my phone, and the guy that does drivetime will come on and give a view that is quite clearly a fishing attempt, in a tone that will make things worse, just so they can get calls from Big Tone and Barry, builders from Rugby, who can't quite believe he's saying something like that. I remember one case when Harry Kane was doing some promo stuff for the NFL at White Hart Lane, kicking a field goal. He came on "absolutely seething" guestioning why the hell he was doing something like this when he hadn't won anything as a player. A whole segment of the show was then devoted to that. Fucking hell, English football is supposed to be entertaining, and this is the pish they talk about? I'm not surprised they're struggling with this concept. Adrian Durham at his mouth-breathing worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forkboy Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 7 hours ago, forameus said: No reason why we shouldn't be able to top that group, aside from shitting the bed. I've got some bad news for you then. We're going to shit the bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8MileBU Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Adrian Durham at his mouth-breathing worst. Durham is just a half-arsed poor excuse of a troll. f**k knows how he gets so many bites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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