ironbrew

Is there any easy way of knowing what results from other groups give us best chance of qualifying from playoffs? Best if Finland don`t qualify I suppose and that strong teams qualify direct?

So now England, Portugal and 2 more play for title in Portugal next June. In theory same 4 could play in March 2020 playoffs too but surely all or almost all of 12 teams in division A will qualify by groups anyway. What happens if England,Spain and Croatia all qualify direct for Euro20 for example? Who would take the playoff place?

Could we get Israel in our Euro 20 group? Presuming not as could be situation where defeat helps qualifying chances. If we don`t win on Tuesday and are struggling in Euro20 group a defeat to Israel could help them qualify direct and so give us playoff place. Or we beat israel on Tuesday and Israel lose to us for Euro20 so we qualify direct.

Never been to Lanzarote but know it`s famous for being windy and less touristy than other Canary islands. Also this year weather in northern Europe has been better than south in recent weeks, not sure if that`s same with Canaries. Whatever, weather is about to change and soon southern Europe will be hotter than north as expected. Sounds like you`ve been disappointed by other holidays too probably in other popular beach resorts in Spain/Portugal/Greece/Turkey.etc. with direct flights from Scotland. If priority is good beaches and good food then southwest Spain (provinces of Huelva and Cadiz with flights to Seville and Faro) but you won`t get so many bars with foreign channels and beer etc and I`m sure there`ll be other places in Italy,Croatia etc . From July things change. I went to Cinco Terre in Italy last August and it was nice but mobbed so would only recommend going outside summer months. Imagine Dubrovnik will be the same.

Was at the Sweden and Brasil games in 1990 and Brasil and Norway in 1998. Good memories of both but never thought that 20 years later we wouldn`t have qualified for WC or EC again. 1990 was better with Italy being more of a football country than France (even when France were playing, you`d hardly notice it in Paris-maybe different later in the tournament) and by 1998 our team was already rotten (weaker than some of our teams since then I`d say) and I didn`t really enjoy watching our football (Scotland v Norway in Bordeaux must have been one of the worst WC finals matches technically for many years). Now I`d take any qualification with any level of play. Hard to know what Euro 2020 will be like with so many venues but sure a lot of us will have great memories of tournament even if we don`t qualify.

Thanks. Is it widely available? Much cheaper than I expected. The IV option sounded more like what I was looking for but I`ve read that being overweight and/or breathing through mouth are obstacles and you have to be accompanied for several hours after. Presume this is nothing to do with "wand" offered by some dentists which I think is to self-control anaesthetic not level of consciousness.

Anyone got experience of IV sedation or alternative (laughing gas I think)? Any idea of prices? Been reading about it on Dental Fear Central site and both methods sound interesting. Expensive no doubt but if they allow a lot of work to be done in a short time may save money if meaning less time off work.

Good article. Was at the Bulgaria, Ni and Wales home matches before WC but not England one (in those days tickets for England matches were got by ballot, folk sent those postcards with no photos and I was lucky in 1976 and in 1980 but not in 1978). Must have been 80,000 at NI and Wales matches and over 60,000 at Bulgaria match (played in monsoon I remember). Argentina was obviously traumatic for fans but we still had a big support in Vienna 3 months later. It was my first away match and there must have been about 5000 Scots there including hundreds of soldiers who`d travelled from Germany.

I was living in Portugal at the time and decided to miss Costa Rica match as i couldn`t afford time or money for 3 group matches and further rounds. I remember watching Costa Rica match (a Monday afternoon I think) and wondering if it`d been a big mistake to book for Genoa for Sweden match. After very long train and bus journeys got to Genoa -scorching heat with no shade in queue for tickets. Sure it started at about 4 or 5 and not in evening as said in blog. Tickets were sold in venue blocks at Italy 90 so I think there were even a few Costa Ricans at our match v Sweden who hadn`t travelled to Turin to see CR play Brasil. In Genoa bought ticket off Brasilian as loads of Brasilians had Turin venue tickets. Was right behind goal and so got excellent view of Leighton and McLeish (seems like yesterday). Left by train very early next morning but seem to remember that we weren`t eliminated till 24 or 48 hours later and could have ended up playing in Bari in last 16. Was a good WC for fans and it`s a pity Italy hasn`t hosted a WC or EC again since then.

Not sure why message above about St Andrews lecturer appeared with other stuff. Must have pressed wrong buttons!

Clara Ponsati, one of the Catalan politicians who fled to Belgium with Peugdemont in October is reported to have returned to St Andrews University where she is/was an Economics lecturer. If Spanish authorities issue a European detention order it could be interesting. Would it be Scottish Justice Minister who`d have to decide or someone in London? If former, could put SNP in difficult situation. Not too sure about Ulster plantations as I think most of the Scots sent there were probably quite poor but in case of Catalonia, the vast majority of the "immigrants" from poorer parts of Spain especially Extremadura and Andalusia would be very poor and probably cheap labour for their Catalan masters. Mass tourism in Spain started under Franco in the Costa Brava and also under Franco the big car companies came to Catalonia -these facts will be forgotten or interpreted in different ways by modern Catalans according to their political views. Not sure if Franco had much say in where people went looking for work as at the same time many Spaniards also moved to other parts of Europe particularly Switzerland and Germany. In Germany, Germans often talk of the huge part Spaniards and Italians played in the huge success of the German economy in the 60s and 70s and I think it was probably something similar in Catalonia.but meaning workers from other parts of Spain. There was an article in El Pais the other day comparing Catalan and Scottish nationalism, full of generalisations (Catalan nationalism stronger in rural areas, Scottish in cities, etc.) but statistics did suggest support for Catalan independence is less strong among poorer people which often means in industrial areas where many people come from other parts of Spain or their parents or grandparents did and Spanish is still the first language. All generalisations of course just as there are Scots with 4 Scottish grandparents who don`t support independence and people in Scotland with no Scottish family who`d vote for independence.

Glaswegian Aidan McHugh through to semis of Juniors in Melbourne.

Thinking of going to Sweden and Finland in summer. Maybe go to Gothenborg and Stockholm in Sweden and Turku and Helsinki in Finland but would like to spend a few days in quieter place and thought about an island. Any recommendations? Gotland ? (3-hour ferry), Aland? Smaller island? Oland (stopping off on way to Finland)? Just looking for a place with some relaxing walks and maybe somewhere worth visiting with public transport or bike hire. Or would trip to Lapland be better-doesn`t seem to be a train from northern Sweden into Finland. Finally, I know Sweden is very expensive. Is Finland as bad?

I stayed for one night at Barchetta Excelsior last summer. Very well-situated for visiting town and boats leave from very near hotel. Train station (for trains from MIlan and Lugano)is about 10-minute walk away. It`s a beautiful place and I`d love to go back again since I was there during a heatwave which seemed to be very unusual as shops etc didn`t have good air conditionin and even slow walking was uncomfortable. . Only had time for one-hour trip on lake but there are longer trips and funicular railway up to more places. I went to Como on way between north west Italy (Cinco Terre) and Switzerland and it seemed cheap compared with other places.

1v1. Only saw last five minutes. No idea what penalty was for and none of our players seemed to claim for it either. Almost won it at the end.

Can you give me one example of it being all over the Spanish press? I`ve looked at El Pais, El Mundo,ABC,Vanguardia and others and have seen no mention at all of Scottish govt.

I`m not surprised at all by what you say . All parts of Spain have been used to massive public demonstrations ( political like anti ETA /NATO/etc) at different times since Franco`s death in mid 70s (mixture of enjoying political freedom and other factors like open character and good weather) and Puigdemont`s lot and United Spain lot in October are just 2 more examples. Also worth remembering that we usually see Barcelona on the telly or on holidays which has a high percentage of tourists/foreign students who can`t vote and civil servants who at present will tend to support independence parties while the rest of Catalonia will have clearer lines between strong support for independence and support for staying within Spain (usually poorer parts of Catalonia with high percentage of people from other parts of Spainj).

Guessing here but maybe because they don`t want referendum in other regions of Spain. Or don`t want more financial problems which might affect all of Spain. SEAT factory alone is 17000 jobs.

How would new Catalan elections help Puigdemont? His party and pro independence allies won last Catalan elections with total of 47% of votes . They could repeat that or even get higher share of vote assuming allies stick with them but even then vote would only be at regional level like elections in Canaries or Extremadura for example. Declaration of independence won`t be recognised by any country with any weight internationally or EU, NATO (Catalonia has no military forces anyway) or other organisations unless a real referendum is organised and held (that would take years/decades to organise since October 1st offered no guarantees whatsoever-people voting several times etc). Very hard to know what is going to happen but beginning to look like divide and conquer tactics of present Catalan independence group have been a mistake or at best will mean an independent Catalonia with little or no recognition from outside.

What did he say? I`ve looked at BBC News website and their reports on Catalonia situation in last month seem fair from what I know about Spain (no expert but have lived in Spain as well as numerous short visits for work and pleasure). If anything they give more credibility to those getting headlines for leading Catalan independence move than I`d expect. This thread started about press coverage of Catalonia situation. Hopefully Catalan press will give fair coverage of what happens in Catalonia in the next six months before Catalan elections are planned. Many of us were annoyed about press coverage from BBC and Scottish press before our referendum but situation in Catalonia seems to be very different at least within Catalonia with numerous complaints about bias on TV3 and Catalan radio from public and journalists that have worked there. Ironically, decades of working for independence using press, schools etc may finally not work while in Scotland we may yet achieve independence without pressurising children and press (maybe not possible iwithin Scottish press anyway?)

Ok. So Mossos do some of the work GC do in rest of Spain but GC still do immigration control and some other duties in Catalonia? In the rest of Spain they mainly do traffic control in rural areas and are rarely seen in cities. There were certainly reports of children of GC being bullied at Catalan schools after October 1st and GC barracks near schools were mentioned.

I know some Policia Nacional and maybe Guardia Civil have been moved into Catalonia ( some staying on a cruiseship in Barcelona) but I was questioning that Catalan police force had replaced Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional since both forces are just as present in Catalonia as anywhere else in Spain and both have thousands of Catalan members. Also not all members of the Mossos are Catalan. In effect the three forces work together and are colleagues. I haven`t seen any of the multile footage you mention, just a few incidents where in moments of tension words have been exchanged . Reading the Spanish (including Catalan) press I get the impression both sides of the divide seem to want to demonstrate that Mossos have in some way been disloyal to Spain (Spanish centralist attitude) or pally with independence supporters (Catalan independence attitude) but in fact reality is probably that 95% of Mossos contributed in making voting difficult or impossible and got on with their jobs just like police officers anywhere else in Europe. There is also footage of Mossos hugging Policia Nacional and exchanging phone numbers as Policia Nacional left their hotels and reports of hundreds of Mossos applying to join the Policia Nacional even though it would mean a significant drop in salary. Would imagine last bit is invented or at least exaggerated but I haven`t read or heard anything to suggest that Catalan police are all rabid anti Spanish independence supporters either.

3-4 million? Sure I read that the population of Catalonia was just above 7 million with an electorate of about 5 million.. There was talk of about 2.2 million people voting for independence on 1st October, even allowing for the fact that many people couldn`t vote because of police action it seems extremely unlikely that as many as 3 million let alone 4 million support Catalan independence since every opinion poll on the subject suggests that the majority of people living in Catalonia are against it. Or are you including people from outside Catalonia who support independence too? Lots of comments on this thread about how peaceful the Catalan independence movement is but does that mean that the first Catalan government after independence will reach out to those who want to continue to be part of Spain ( this could be anywhere from 30 to 60% of the population, maybe even more ) ? Not just Puigmont and other public leaders of independence parties but those in the much smaller parties which are getting a lot of influence for the number of votes they`ve received.

Is this true? Pretty sure there are Guardia Civil working in ports and airports etc in Catalonia just like anywhere else in Spain. Likewise there are Policia Nacional in Catalonia. Lots of those involved on the day of the referendum will actually be Catalans or have lived in Catalonia for many years. Catalan police are more like Policia Local in other regions of Spain. Not sure what would happen with Scottish police if there was a popular uprising for independence in Scotland but i suppose it`d be like now in Catalonia with some Catalan police in favour of independence and others against it, a reflection of Catalan society. Where did you read that the Catalan police refused to shut dwon the polling booths? Some have been accused of not doing enough to prevent people voting but hundreds of the booths were closed by Catalan police.

If playoffs are in March 2020 does that mean draw for finals will be 2 or 3 months before tournament or that draw will be made leaving 4 places for playoff winners? Even if we qualify are we likely to play even one match at Hampden? Can`t see how we could be guaranteed even 1 match there.