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Have been away on holiday so always good to come home to positive news. Can't wait to attend Hampden next month and get some great views from a mile behind the goal...

Just back from Leipzig* ... First, big thanks to @Rousseau for setting this up and keeping it running. Could have been anyone in the top 4, yet, brain beat the heart (well, mainly because of some England sort-of-mad friends), as the Spanish, if they wanted to play (which they did in the 2nd half) were better in every department bar the goalie perhaps ... when playing as a team. Their pacey one-touch stuff through packed defences was dangerous throughout the tournament, while England far too much relied on individual class and set pieces to get on the scoresheet. I was pretty stunned to be up there at the top of the table after the first round of games ... and actually started to think more than I should about choosing the scores (which is usually my undoing) from then on. Still, most were gut feelings rather than brain and I would have been totally content with the "God-King of Guessing Correct Scores" title ... but hey, for once Fortune* smiled. *There was the VAR bunker of UEFA and I needed to apply only little pressure on the guys there to rule the late Spanish winner on-side and "correct" the video accordingly. ( @WorthingBear91 money via Paypal to the usual address)

well done @der Berliner and thanks @Rousseau for organising

The Winner of the Gersnet EURO 2024 Prediction League: @der Berliner

This is brilliant

Once the title party is set up, all drinks of @CammyF, @Whosthedado, and @BEARGER are on me, to wash down the relegation pain ...

Stick yur prediction game up yur Jacksy! Congratulations to @der Berliner and thanks to @Rousseau

Yes, they would.

Doesn't mean much IMO Saudi clubs have been lining up deals and agreeing them for weeks.

Well deserved @der Berliner you were the most consistent throughout. Thanks Rousseau!!

He's been unfit and tired and shouldn't have been near the team. Southgate didn't have the balls to drop him and it cost England big time. England reached the final in spite of Southgate, and not because of him, and one of his biggest failings was not dropping Kane. The team couldn't function with a forward with no pace who kept coming deep. They were playing with one hand tied behind their backs.

Absolutely. Some Scots want them to lose through a healthy (albeit one-way) rivalry but many are xenophobic and their dislike/hatred of England is how their Scottish identity manifests itself.

Scottish fans celebrating England getting beat is really quite embarrassing, cringe!.

The best team in the Tournament, and the better on the night, won. No argument.

Comes with the success. Back in the day, we were still waiting for football this time of the year (80s and 90s). Or, during the dark years, had to fight it out with the dross of the lower leagues for a place to meet the Premiership "elite". We've picked some quality opposition for pre-season and yesterday wasn't too bad, given that the gaffer said that the team was put through heavy training before. More general ... Dunno the bother people have with Dessers and Cantwell. The former is the one striker who puts the ball in the net, and probably would have hit 30+ had he taken all of Tav's penalties. Lawrence played some shadow striker role yesterday, though I wish we would play with two strikers more often. Danilo and Cortes will hopefully contribute as much as Sima did last season, they are effectively two new signings. No-one knows what Igamane will be like, or what will happen to Lammers, so for the time being, Dessers remains our only reliable/proven striker. Despite being played against packed defences with not that much support. Cantwell remains the only player that brings a spark, the unexpected bit of creativity. Lowry (who I didn't notice at first because of his new "hairstyle") has that in him too, but we shall see how the Hearts trip changed him. Cantwell is the mercurial character that is disliked by quite a few. But really, I'd rather have three of him in the squad than all those these new 90 kg well-muscled footballer-imposters who fall at the ground at minimum contact (really a plague) to grab a free kick or get a fellow player send off. Or slow-motion thinkers who try well worked channels all game with little or no progress, Yesterday, especially some of the younger players, tried decent enough one-touch fast thinking football. Gives us hope, and one wonders whether Clement will blood a few of them in the lesser league or cup games.

I know what you are saying but we did get rid of about 8 players whose contracts or loans ended plus McCrorie so we must have reduced the wage bill a lot. With the expected departures of Lammers, Hagi, maybe Dessers that’s another chunk and if we can move on Goldson that’s the equivalent of another two.

Correct. The English players seem to be a decent bunch and I’ve no quarrel with any fan who goes to the match on a Saturday but tourism fans, many scribes and pundits (just like our own) are a waste of time. The centre forward lashes the ball first-time over the bar: “should have taken s touch and stroked it in” The centre forward tackled trying to control the ball: “should just have put his foot through it” That’s why I never listen to pre or post match discussion.

Don't mind either way, others need to be moved on before those two. As an example I'd rather lose Lammers than Dessers. Dessers scored 20 goals last season and we've been screaming for a 20 goal a season striker for decades. Now we've got one, we want rid of him. We've already agreed that we can't move on 10-11 players, Dessers and Tav are way down my list of players who need to be moved on. However, both would raise much needed funds if buyers were found.

The obsession with moving Dessers on is becoming Tav-esque.

Why Dessers? I felt he silenced a few critics towards the end of last season but if we’re bringing in someone better….

I was supporting England after Scotland got eliminated. Not sure what's cringy about wanting a British team to do well.

Difficult to decipher Clement's interviews nowadays. Seems to say one thing one week, then another the week after.... Not sure if it's a language issue or poor PR.

Comments on transfer incomings interesting, he seemed confident to me that things will start moving soon. Heres hoping the bids come in for Lammers, Dessers, Davies, Matondo, Hagi et al

Also, worth noting half the squad will be taking part in a friendly against a Leeds Utd 'B' team in midweek... The other half will be doing more fitness work.

There is a young guy in the States who no longer has any use for his high powered sniper scope. Obviously, a good optic that facilitates nicking an ear lobe at 120 metres in windy conditions. From the back of Hampden, this scope will guarantee you a good view of the nearest goalmouth, just.

Scottish reaction to England defeats is cringy. In fact, it's as cringy as Scottish people actively supporting England. Better off having no real interest in international football. The sooner its scrapped the better.

A small double

After a shaky start, I'm quite satisfied with mid-table mediocrity. Thank Rousseau and well done dB.

👋 @der Berliner , 👋 @Rousseau .

der Berliner and @WorthingBear91 were the big movers with JOKER-applied Correct Scores. @lenny3k, @Gonzo79, @Franc Ergs, @Ted McMinnime and @Yorkie Bear end with 2 points each for a JOKER-applied Correct Result. @CammyF and @Whosthedado are "relegated", alongside @BEARGER who couldn't fulfil his fixtures because of 115 PSR charges.

HP sauce on chips. And don't get me started on mayonnaise (nearly had a fit in Amsterdam!).

The collective chip on the Scottish shoulder...will it ever go away? All very childish and totally ingrained. I didn't care who won tonight - just wanted to see a good match and thought it was okay.

Great result as it negates things at end of year WHY?:- 1) the team of year on Biased Brodcasting Company's POTY will not be Engerland. 2) Southgate won't become a Sir. 3) The boasting will not hang about but unfotunately the post mortems will. 4) it might shut Linekar/Shearer etc. up, So many positives eh? Eh Viva Espana

Just on the managers comments, it's confirmation of what's been played out in the market and what we've known about the clubs dealings - what's encouraging for me is that Clement has backed up his long term vision with this club and team with buying and investing in young talent for the future with the funds available. It might not be popular but it shows he's serious about the long term health of the club. What isn't encouraging is the comments regarding his surprise with the current budget constraints. This snide dishonesty is seemingly rife throughout the club, possibly a legacy of Bisgrove, but there have been too many cases of the club being dishonest to fans and staff in recent times. Hopefully the situation we find ourselves in with our current budget constraints and total mismanagement of recruitment coming to a head will be the wakeup call this board needs to operate like an elite sporting operation. It's a shit storm of all sorts atm, but I think the prevailing thought is that the manager has to be backed by the fans because God knows he's getting it from nowhere else.

Is the European Championship a competition that is worth winning? The last few decades would suggest not. Starting with 1988 (mainly because it seemed to be just an afterthought of a tournament before then) we have the Netherlands a swinners. they went on to flop in the 1990 World Cup. 1992 Denmark won the trophy. didn't even qualify for the 1994 World cup. 1996 Germany won and flopped in the 1998 World Cup. Czech Rep made the final and didn't even qualify for the following World Cup. 2000 France won but were humiliated in the 2002 World Cup. 2004 Greece were winners but failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. 2008 - well that one is an outlier. Spain won and then went on to win the 2010 World cup. However... ...Spain won the 2012 Euros and failed dismally in the 2014 World Cup. 2016 Portugal winners but failed to do much in the next World Cup. 2021 Italy won the Euros and we all know how crap they have been since. It looks like winning the European Championship is no guide to how a team will do in the only international competition that really counts - the World Cup. Don't expect BBC etc to see it this way though.

2 good saves! Deserved a draw but I won't be happy if that is our squad to start the season.

That's not the managers fault btw - if he's gets no first team signings, then what hope has he got?