buster.

The Belguim game will give us a much better idea but both will have already qualified and there will be relatively little to play for. Finishing top of the group may or may not be an advantage. IMO the real test will come in the KO rounds. The last 16 round : As it stands Senegal and Japan are in the places that England and Belguim will be paired with although that may well change. The quarters are where England (and Belguim) are 'scheduled' to come up against either Germany or Brazil but both 'WC Giants' have their work cut-out, if they want to win their groups.

Eight goals and six points Brazil, Germany, Spain,....No The bottom ranked nation of the 32,....Russia. Good to see the hosts get through but they'll almost certainly be playing Spain or Portugal in the last 16.

Yes, there is a limited amount you can do with a relatively limited budget compared to generally recognied objectives. Trying to squeeze as much quality as possible out of a limited budget has seen us gambling (and losing) on undoubtely (once) quality players, eg. Barton, Kranjcar, Rossiter and Pena. All had different baggage of some kind and it came home to roost for them all. There has to be a different approach. ----------------- Business wise to raise funds for other transfers, it might be............ Tav out for 3M Flanagan in (no fee/relatively big wage) Losing Tav would be a blow, no idea about Flanagan.

I'd agree that our best chance of real playmaking quality would be a loan but I don't think we can depend on the one young guy. We need a very fit team and an energetic, high tempo pressing game where everyone does their bit and helps create space.

I had it in my head it was 19th Had a quick look at the UEFA page this morning and it mentioned the EL draw today but looking more closely, it's the EL 2nd qualifying round draw for teams falling out of CL qualifying.

It really depends on how Gerrard is thinking about setting his team up. If it's one up top then Cummings becomes a bit of a luxury, when our money surely has to go towards necessities.

26 hours and counting............... Tomorrow includes the draw for the second round where we would be unseeded and could provisionally be paired with teams like Sevilla, Red Bull Leipzig, Burnley and Besiktas.

Thank's for the heads-up but hopefully catch some of the two games today between those teams first.

Russia 1 v 0 Egypt Portugal 2 v 0 Morocco Uruguay 2 v 0 Saudi Arabia Iran 0 v 3 Spain Denmark 1 v 1 Australia France 2 v 0 Peru Argentina 1 v 1 Croatia Brazil 3 v 0 Costa Rica Nigeria 1 v 1 Iceland Serbia 1 v 1 Switzerland Belgium 2 v 0 Tunisia South Korea 0 v 1 Mexico Germany 2 v 1 Sweden England 4 v 0 Panama (joker) Japan 0 v 1 Senegal Poland 2 v 1 Colombia

Good points. I think he's the type who will do well at an Aberdeen, Hearts or Hibs but won't ever esablish himself at a bigger cub.

Had a glance at the the BBC serial predictions man, Mark Lawrenson. Going by our system, he'd have 10 points That includes giving him benefit of doubt re. 1 extra point for joker (most have managed at least that).

The key to the counter-attacking game is to have quality middle to front otherwise it becomes a constant matter of hanging on by your fingernails for 0-0 (see UEFA Cup run 2008). Mexico did it brilliantly for 75 metres then ran out of quality decsion-making and precision...but got up th field so many times that one did come off. In the 1st half against Spain, Portugal (with Ronaldo) had more quality and looked more likely to score. When we had Laudrup, he could go past the Celtic defence by himself.

I don't get the thing that so many have for this lad. He scored goals in the Scottish Championship for Hibs and looked a promising player. He got a move to the English Championship and couldn't establish himself. He then got a loan to Rangers and couldn't establish himself. He has got some talent but the signs so far are that he won't hack it at a high level (ie. where we want to go). IMO he's the level for a top tier Scottish side in the bottom half of the top six (3rd - 6th) and won't ever get better.

They'd be pulling off a magic trick if they could be at the Slovakian and German border at the same time.

I'll be glad when the games begin and we can see some actions instead of the words.

Our opponent will come from that list of five. Progres would be my choice. Don't fancy a Bosnian or Slovakian team first up. ------------------------ Aberdeen put Široki Brijeg out in the second qualifying round last season, 3-1 on agg.

Spanish commentary has named Boyata as a weak link

Belguim and England managers react to the news that Gonzo has tipped them to win this afternoon/evening.

Just caught the last 10 minutes of the Swedish/Sth Korea first half and it was sufficient to know neither team will be doing anything of note this summer. Tbf the Swedes do bring something to the party...........

Any particular reason ? I remember finding Seedorf a very good pundit and Billic gave us a very honest and funny line that I saw on twitter.

Being divided into a various countries probably allows more players to make a name for themselves and rise to prominence. Who knows what Yugoslavian managers based their selections on in the past. The closest Yugoslavia came to success was probably when the team who took their place at the 1992 Euros, Denmark, won it.

Don't take the Colin Nish, it's just not nice

The 3 sides at the top of the pre-tournament betting for winning the WC have all played and to varying degrees, dissappointed. It's often the case that the big sides start slowly and get better as the tournament goes on, eg. Spain lost the first group game in 2010 and won the competition. Germany lost the first game in 82 and made the final. Over the years, Italy were the most consistent at this 'approach'. Over the last half century or so, there have been 4 main teams who have enjoyed WC success, Brazil, (W) Germany, Argentina and Italy. The Netherlands poked their noses in as beaten Finalists in 74 and 78. Not until the French won it in 98 did a team outside the 'big 4' make a Final again. Since then it has opened up a little with France, Spain and the Netherlands playing a part and 2010 saw the first ever final without a 'big 4' team (started in 1930). My main point being is that the first round of fixtures will have given more hope to sides like Belguim, Croatia, Portugal, England that this is a real opportunity.