Skyline Drifter

He's been on before. He wasnt good then but dont recall him being this bad.

First one's a penalty all day. I assume this is some sort of trolling? More importantly though, who on earth gave Dele Alli a gig as a studio expert? He looks barely awake, his answers are monosyllabic and he's genuinely clueless. "I dont know who the [Chelsea] designated penalty taker is....". Why don't you know? I know. Every football supporter in tbe country knows? You're on there for your expertise. He also didnt know if Arsenal were home or away yesterday. He seems completely unaware of what's going on in the league which is pretty fundamental to his role.

Beaten to it. Just about to post that a rare 45 mins for him hasnt ended well. Didnt look especially bad. Hopefully just a tweak, but you never know.

Why? There's no reason or particular equity in that. Why should points be frozen to let those on high points not bother going to Netherlands and Portugal without being handicapped for ko tickets? Anyway, they've updated individuals accounts with new totals so it would presumably be those that determine when you can buy ko tickets. The cover list of numbers per points level is meaningless in that respect.

First and foremost terrible news for the player, just ahead of what could have been his breakthrough tournament and when he's doing so well in Italy. That's 100% the most important thing. Hopefully his recovery is good and his career will be back on track by this time next year. From a Scotland point of view it's bad news but we were always likely to lose someone from the definite squad members. We'll be fortunate if it's only him. Given he wasn't massively likely to start in a first choice eleven it could have been worse. However, he'd have been one of the first off the bench and, if we make any progress in the tournament and need to rest guys like McGinn, McGregor and McTominay then his absence will be felt all the more keenly. Also enormously increases the importance of Ryan Christie and probably Stuart Armstrong. As you say, not the most obvious position to replace on a like for like basis. Can't see Turnbull being called at this stage. One obvious possibility as a midfielder is opening up a slot for Ryan Jack but he's certainly more defensive and significant doubts about his own fitness also. From a more attacking point of view it maybe opens up an opportunity for a late call to Ryan Gauld as so many would like, or even a return to the fold of Ryan Fraser, although he's not currently an automatic starter for Southampton. Perhaps even that mythical 4th striker spot now lets a returning Jacob Brown, Ross Stewart or Kevin Nisbet into the squad without having to displace one of the other three?

Yep, mine has moved to 11 points now. Although they've not updated the main table showing numbers at each level. That's still dated November and doesn't include the Netherlands or Northern Ireland games. Odd. Certainly looks like they think they refunded you and aren't going to credit the points. I wonder if your history has been mixed with someone else's? I've certainly got the 2 points for the game (but then I'm not showing a refund either). Looks like you'll need to phone them to sort it.

There have been one or two series I didnt watch. Probably circa 2019.

This isnt new. Are you suggesting they'll ignore tv evidence in lower divisions on principle? Because there are plenty of examples of them taking retrospective action in such games.

They can and will (& should). Andy Dowie got pulled up for standing on Ian Black on tv playing for us in exactly the same circumstances.

Live tv and highlighted by commentary and half time analysis. Dundee United are high enough profile too. She'll be in touch Monday morning.......

He'll be getting a call from the Compliance Officer for that one. Two game ban incoming.

Whit? Alexander-Arnold wont even be Liverpool's starting right back next season. He's been playing midfield lately under Klopp and Bradley or Gomez at right back. Trent cant defend for love nor money. Take the point re Rico Lewis but he hasnt been playing right back either. He mostly plays midfield (mainly because Walker plays there right enough so that may change shortly).

Absolutely called it! Other than not seeing Paul coming from left field with the whole Scrubs thing instead of offering his dental practice. Knew Tre would have some left field bonkers plan. Never getting entertained. And as decent as Flo was, despite her daft numbers, he doesn't want a bloody 4th Recruitment Agency! Best two candidates in the process but out before the interviews started in effect. Well that and him making up a recipe drink. Have none of these clowns ever watched a previous series? He does it EVERY YEAR. It's not rocket science. I did think however, he was out of line in the whole Established 1933 is a lie rant at Phil. Just because they didn't incorporate a company and open a shop until 2005 or whatever it was doesn't mean they haven't been trading in pies since 1933. It's a completely reasonable claim to make assuming they have. I've got two or three major clients who both claim to have over 100 years serving the public in their line of trade and they absolutely do but none of them were incorporated as as companies until the 1980's. It doesn't mean the claim's a lie. Phil however was too stupid / intimidated / rabbit frozen in headlights to actually argue back on it though. I thought it was chronically unfair that Paul was allowed to / encouraged to move his business plan in the Boardroom. It's a nonsense, that's not the point. I note Sugar said it's happened before. Has it? What's he referring to? Didn't think that was fair on the other candidates at all. Why not offer the eminently likeable Tre the chance to come up with a different plan on the spot? And absolutely Sugar was at it. No chance Paul should be giving him a half share in a business making £400k per annum for £250k capital. I think you'd be surprised at the number of businesses who fell into money during Covid and thought it was the perfect time to expand and later got a rude awakening. I've seen it a lot. Phil's no different to many and plenty of businesses are run by people with no direct handle on the accounts either, though he certainly should have some idea of numbers over a six month period. Again though, do none of these clowns ever watch a past series when they are accepted for it? Every damned year, "not enough numbers, over ambitious plans, no samples, false claims in plans". Every. Damned. Year. FFS. Learn, you clowns! The fact that Sugar routinely sacks any accountant to enter in the first three weeks because he doesn't like accountants gets him what he deserves mind you.

You've made that up, presumably based on a final league table. We did finish 5th, following an excellent run towards the end of the season when Bartley took over (whatever's gone wrong this season, he undeniably improved us significantly when he came in last year). We sat 7th / 8th for most of the season though and the only reason we weren't looking over our shoulder was that Clyde and Peterhead were an absolute mile adrift of everyone else. We got above Edinburgh in the final week by beating an Airdrie team which rested most of their regular starters ahead of the playoffs. And Cove were sitting bottom half of the table for a fair period this season. They've had a strange season. They won 1 of their first 8 games and looked in a lot of trouble. They then won 8 of the next 9 and moved themselves into a comfortable 3rd spot. Since then they've won 4 of their last 15. Anything could happen in the last 4 games but as it stands I'd expect Alloa and Montrose to make the playoffs ahead of them and whilst the bottom 4 won't trouble them now, it wouldn't be a major shock if Kelty put them in the bottom half.

It says it was published 1 day ago but fair enough. In that case 4 of the last 10 is correct for Dykes, but it's also still correct for Frey. Neither of them started the previous game at Stoke (again, Sinclair Armstrong did). Doesn't change the fact that he's still getting regular football at QPR and the narrative that he's "out of favour" still doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. Of their three centre forwards he's getting the most game time. And what are you calling an assist by the way? Have you seen their goal on Tuesday? Dykes effort at goal is cleared off the line (might already have been over but probably wasn't) and Sam Field put the rebound in. Is that not counted as an assist? It is in any stat I've ever seen.

Yeah, we thought that. We have some good players for this level but it's a different league with different tactics and some adapt better than others. With all due respect, Falkirk are miles better than you're giving them credit for here (although nobody's really been good enough to test them at the back, not that convinced about their defence). They've pretty much battered everyone. Dunfermline the year before dropped down and bounced straight back up by having a solid defence and grinding out wins in a completely opposite manner to Falkirk. We on the other hand spent fairly big assembling squads that should have been able to challenge and have spent the majority of both seasons in the bottom half! Hamilton have very comfortably finished 2nd but they spent a lot of money gutting their squad in the summer and changed a lot of players. Montrose continue to surprise but they are an aging side and I suspect this is their last hurrah at the top end before having to gut the squad also. They and Alloa though have been over this course often enough and know the level well and how to stay in games. Arbroath may drop down and do the same if you are keeping the majority of a part time squad who took you to all that success and they still have legs. But it wouldn't be a major surprise if you dropped down and did the same as us.

Well that's just factually untrue. Dykes has started 5 of their last 10 league games. Michael Frey has started 4 of them. One game v Sheffield Wednesday neither of them started (Sinclair Armstrong did). The narrative here of Frey being preferred, doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Dykes may not be favoured, he may be moved on in the summer, He's still currently their most regular starting forward, and when he doesn't start, with one exception v Birmingham, he's coming off the bench and gettting game time anyway.

Yeah this. The idea that Ralston's a better option than Patterson because Patterson had a bit of a nightmare against Northern Ireland, not getting much game time under Dyche and should drop out altogether is silly IMO. Ralston's nothing special either (and is far from a regular at Celtic for that matter) and there wasn't much evidence he's a better defender against the Dutch for instance. Ralston's very much a third choice at right back. Like Taylor the other side, he'll do a job if need be and had he been available in another era maybe he gets 30 or 40 caps, but he's miles behind Hickey and Patterson. He goes to the Euros as Patterson's deputy if Hickey doesn't make it, or he potentially goes as a 3rd right back (far more likely if we're allowed 26 players) if there are significant doubts about Hickey even though he does make it.

He's certainly better than Patterson but what makes you assume he's not been "sounded out" already? It's not like his eligibility is some startling recent revelation. Livramento has no particular reason to jump our way at the moment unless he was raised 'Scottish' a la McTominay, which his involvements in young England sides would suggest he wasn't. He's 21 years old. England's established right back Kyle Walker is 33. He'll be competing with the regularly injured Rhys James for the England right back slot soon enough and likely for the next decade. There's no reason at all for Livramento (or Gordon) to be committing as Scottish any time soon if they'd prefer to play for England. Nor Anderson I suppose but he's not as good as them plus he was Scottish through his youth career so his recent consideration to defect the other way was a surprise. Harvey Barnes is slightly different in that he's nearly 27, has one England cap from 4 years ago and plays in a position where he's up against guys like Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford for a place. His chances of playing for England are much lower and he has 5 years less in which to do so. However, you have to respect if he considers himself English and only wants to play for them that's fine.

I think if Hickey does go there will inevitably be lingering doubts about him though. If he's fit by early May (I think that was the last estimate?) then he'll not have played in over 6 months and he'll have at best two games with Brentford and then probably only if they are safe and not looking over their shoulder. In a 23 man squad that's maybe a risk Clarke thinks he has to take. In a 26 man one it lets him take Ralston as extra cover and I'd think he would. But as @Butters Scotch is keen to stress, only my opinion. I think there was a general acceptance that the squad he picked in March plus McGregor, Hickey and Jack potentially was where the names were coming from barring any significant injury to one of the three strikers, etc. I appreciate we were thinking 23 man squad then so it is possible he'll go left field to an extent with one of the extra picks but I can't see it. He's pretty loyal. That said, with Hanley still completely out of the picture at Norwich and an interview this morning saying he's likely to remain so until the end of April, it's looking more and more like he may not make it. If he doesn't then both Cooper and Souttar probably go and there's another slot there. Not sure Jack's any closer to making it than Hanley is so maybe Fraser or a fit Brown comes into contention. I'm unsure where Brown's at in terms of return date? Initial reports suggested "April" but that could mean this weekend or it could mean three weeks from now if it's even still valid. This is true. But my opinion is based on the factual squads he's been picking to this point and his previous comments that it's unlikely anyone from the u21's set up would be promoted pre-Euros. Your opinion that Conway should have been part of the squad already is perfectly fine, but it's pretty clearly not Stevie Clarke's opinion. My "wild take / fantasy" remark was more aimed at the continual suggestion that Harvey Barnes is just waiting for Stevie Clarke to go see him so he can profess his undying devotion to Scotland and start wearing a kilt daily. I'm not sure how much clearer the boy can be than to give a direct answer to the query about his international future during the last window saying he's still committed to England and believes he can add to his one cap to date.

This is another wild take. You can discuss it all you like but it's fantasy stuff. If UEFA increase the squad size to 26 (and there are no enforced injury absences) then Clarke will call up three from Cooper/Soutter (one of them will already be in), Taylor, Ralston and Jack. Conway's chances of going almost certainly depend on one of the established three strikers missing out and even then it's possible he'll call McBurnie first. He'll certainly call Jacob Brown first if he's fit by then. If Clarke's already said it's not likely any of the u21's will be called into the Euros squad (which he did) then calling Conway up to the N Ireland game would be pointless. Barnes has been in the press the week of the international break and reaffirmed his hopes to play for England. He's clearly not planning to defect to us any time soon and the notion that neither Clarke nor Carver have not already spoken to him or his agent is naive (or just deliberate trolling?). Nobody switching country will be appearing in the Euros now. If they were they'd have had to switch allegiance ahead of the last break.

Bloody hell. Well thats debatable. Your opinion does not equal fact. To suggest he's outside our best three though is an absolutely wild take. I think we can agree on that.

He had one of his better games with even most of his detractors in the QPR support conceding so going by online posts. He created their goal. Whilst they are frustrated by his lack of goals, general opinion is that they play better when he's the starter from their three centre forward options, none of whom are regular scorers.

Just about the right final five I think with Phil the obvious outlier. From VERY early in the process it's been obvious Tre and Flo were the standout candidates. Rachel looked a strong 3rd early on in the series but has stumbled towards the end, losing three of the last four tasks, two of them as PM, and she made a backside of it last week and absolutely hung Faluso out to dry. She deserves her place in the final five but is well behind the other two now. Paul's been quietly effective throughout without ever standing out. He's never been in the Boardroom apart from the one he lost as PM and he's clearly getting along with the other candidates and making wise calls as he goes. He's a dark horse for this. Given he owns a dental business one would assume his business plan relates to expanding that. Would be a bit left field for Sugar but then he invested in the Beauty Clinic of Leah Totten a few years ago so he's not above going left field. I think he'll deal with interviews well. Wouldn't be a bit surprised if his plan stands up better than the others and he makes the final. As for Phil, he's clearly been a bit useless throughout, though probably unlucky to have lost as often as he did. Given he's in the food business, leading the team last week should have been an open goal for him and he even made an arse of that, though was saved by Steve's bizarre decision to go for curried cheese. The unavoidable conclusion is that Sugar quite likes his business plan also which will inevitably be based on expanding his existing pie business. I suppose there's a chance therefore that having made the final five he then gets through. I assume it's likely Flo has a business plan relating to her existing recruitment consultant job which is a bit old hat. It's been done several times before and he's invested in a couple (Ricky Martin, James White). Rachel's clearly looking to expand her fitness studio into something franchisable which isn't that different to last year's Boxing Gyms. Not absolutely clear what Tre's business will be but he's been very likeable throughout the process so he has a chance of selling it if whatever it is stands up to interrogation. I've said before, I hate the "new" process (I say new but it has been in for 12 years out of the 18 now) of it being a pointless 10 week gameshow leading to a two week episode of 'Dragon's Den' (and to be honest, I'm fairly convinced he normally knows who is winning after the interviews, the final week is just a glorified reunion show. They may as well let Justin Lee Collins host it!). Preferred it when it was a job interview and there was more merit in the early tasks, as daft as they are. There's probably a fairly good chance that Phil and Paul end up the final two with established businesses that are probably scalable.

Surely the match dates / international windows are set by UEFA just like the mens game? They cant just tell Slovakia, "Never heed Tuesday, rock up Saturday instead!"