ironbrew

Usual problem for us. 11 months till next competitive match so cheaper not to appoint anyone till February or later, maybe several months later when club commitments don`t get in the way. Could understand many people not wanting to take over now just for some friendlies in November and March.but early appointment or reaappointment would show interest if nothing else.

Agree with all the above suggestions except I wouldn`t bother going as far as Gibraltar. In province of Huelva, Aracena (old castle and great caves and nice countryside-try the ham too) and if weather is good coastal towns like Ayamonte (can still take boat there from Portugal), Punta Umbria . In province of Seville, Seville city and Carmona are worth a visit. In Cádiz province, lots of places-Sanlucar and El Puerto de Santa Maria area west of Cadiz city and to east Medina Sidonia, Conil ,Vejer, Bolonia (Roman remains and great beaches). Inland white villages like Grazalema and from there cross into Malaga province and see Ronda (gorge etc). If you get good weather go for coastal route to Medina, Conil, Vejer (great beaches near Trafalgar La Palmera etc),Bolonia (before Tarifa). If weather`s not so good go inland and see Arcos de la Frontera, Grazalema and Ronda or some of places mentioned. If with kids, they`ll like caves in Aracena, zoo in Jerez,Roman remains in Bolonia (Claudio Baello or similar), Isla Magica in Seville if still open ... Some places like zoo in Jerez close on Mondays but as next Monday is Spain`s national holiday may strangely open.

The Monday is a national holiday in Spain so hotel prices in Seville and coastal places in province of Huelva won`t be as cheap as some weekends and Scots who live in Spain won`t be working on Monday so will make a weekend of it.

Have you been to Alvor before? It`s a quiet village that at night has two or three streets full of Irish and the odd Portuguese bar. If we don`t beat Poland, there`ll certainly be partying in Alvor.

Very good point. If we beat Poland and and Ireland don`t beat Germany a win in Faro guarantees us 3rd spot.

Why SSC member? They`ll already have their own unless like me they`ve chosen to buy from Gib FA to be able to sit with non SSC instead of claiming point. If selling to an SSC member can SSC transfer your point to buyer?

Don`t know contractual situation of either player (either finish next summer?) but doubt Aberdeen would sell to direct rival unless at ridiculous price (Scott Allan situation) and any Celtic signing in January to guarantee CL must allow for failure to qualify for groups too. Reality is that while it`s great to have a proper league race whoever wins it will almost certainly not make Champions League groups.

It`s the weekend before knockout stages of CL and Europa League start so will be on Saturday (or even Friday) unless Real don`t make last 16. If your son`s an Athletic Bilbao fan he`d probably enjoy being in away section (usually about 1000 fans who make more noise than other 89000) but I guess you`d have to contact Athletic for tickets. The same weekend Getafe are at home to Atletico - a local derby and easily reached by train from Madrid and will be easy to get tickets as Getafe never sell out.

We draw with Poland and Ireland lose to Germany leading to a win against Gibraltar while Ireland and Poland play a golless, shotless draw to put us out. If we win last 2 matches we`ll be in playoffs unless Ireland beat Germany but not Poland.

We can still get to the playoffs and qualify from them. If we manage it everything will be forgotten but reality is that we are a Pot 5 team on skill. In 1996 we were ordinary, in 1998 mediocre and since then progressively worse. We qualified for Euro 1992 with 8 teams and looks like we won`t make a 24-team tournament 24 years later. In a playing sense we offered nothing in 1998 and we won`t if we qualify for next year but it has to be our major target along with producing top players.

Assuming Ireland beat Georgia and lose to Germany a draw against Poland would mean beating Gibraltar would still get us 3rd place if Ireland lose in Poland (maybe unlikely with Poles already qualified)

Bad result and an even worse performance but hardly a surprise. We don`t have great (or even good by Euroean standards) players in any position (Wales are like us but have Bale and Ramsey) so rely on great organisation, astute manager and great team spirit and luck (Northern Ireland for example also don`t have any outstanding players but got an easier draw, seem to have a great team spirit and organisation and maybe lower expectations). We`re desperately waiting to find a great player hence expectation with Harper, Feruz and Gauld in recent years and it looks like we`ll have to keep waiting. Anyway, even if we lose on Monday we can still make the playoffs and if we managed to qualify problems would be forgotten. I`m lucky enough to have seen us live in 1996 and 1998 and by then it was obvious we had fallen a lot compared with 80s. I always suspected we`d finish 4th in the group but still hope I`m wrong but whatever happens more has to be done to get more young Scots playing football.

Thanks. Obviously some problem. I`ll contact Gibraltar FA.. Ironically I sometimes go there for work and could maybe have bought tickets in person there last week.

How soon after payment should the email arrive? I can see payment on bank account but no email yet.

I`m a zero pointer but chose to buy from Gib FA to be with non SSC members and avoid hassle of pickup (1 other in group who is member lives overseas and might not be able to go cause of work). May regret not geting point (though doubt point will be enough for playoff or finals ticket if we`re in them)but alternative was maybe sitting by myself aand having to pickup and lose money on other member`s ticket

When you buy from Gib FA is no email sent till full payment has been confirmed? Went through whole process yesterday and seemed okay but no email yet. Something pending on card so suppose I`ll get email with tickets when payment is confirmed. Still considering buying SSC ticket before noon tomorrow.

Largs with Cumbrae with bikes is great but only with good weather and folk are reasonably fit (good view you have to go up hill). Stirling and Linlithgow good too but if you`re going to be back in Scotland again maybe better to try something more difficult. What about Loch Katrine? (Can you still hire bikes and/or do boat trip? Think I read about problems with boat recently and not sure about buses to loch). Lanark? Through to Edinburgh and new train to Borders? Dumfries? Inverarary with castle etc? Tighnabruich? Perth/Scone? Pitlochry?

My experience of mid October in southern Portugal and Spain is terrible storms but without the heat we got daytime between night storms in Valencia in early September 2004. And even in full summer the sea is freezing in the Algarve (western part anyway)-swam in Carvoeiro and Lagos in August several times in recent years and it brought back memories of swimming at Dornoch or Mull. Kilt? Each to their own I suppose and hope.

On zero points (usually get to one away match per year but decide late cause of work commitments) but definitely going to Faro match but with others who are almost all not SSC members (other one who is is also on zero and also has commitments which make it hard to guarantee attendance in advance ) . Not sure if it`s worth my while ordering ticket through SSC as 1 point is unlikely to get a ticket for playoff (hosts would give minimum allocation and most countries would probably have smaller stadiums) or for finals if we get there or for Wembley. . Any away friendlies in March or May would probably be too late to count for finals tickets. Is it still the case that all overseas fans have to pick up? When are supporters with Scottish addresses told they`ll have to pick up? If ordering through Gibraltar FA can anyone confirm best part of stadium (quite happy to be with home fans as long as we are not only away fans)?

Will partly depend on how many points Celtic drop after European matches. Seems to be a weak league and Hibs and Rangers must be kicking themselves for not being there. Hamilton and Ross County have started well and would be great if they could keep it up and really challenge for top 3.

These Masters tournaments seem harder to win than Slams. Not 5 sets but almost no rest days and all the best players to be beaten in a week. At Wimbledon there can be weaker players in first 2 rounds.

Who was this about? With all the Scott Allan stuff it`s hard to find news of any other possible signings.

Realise most people with tickets will still wait for draw and to see if we qualify before making definite plans but maybe worth knowing that SNCF are putting tickets on sale for days of QFs,SFs,final and France matches from 22nd September and from December for days of all matches. French trains are good and they usually have some good offers but I suspect offers won`t be so special during Euro 2016. They still have quite a lot of night trains which can be a good way of saving on hotels.

Nadal plays in quite a few doubles tournaments and Andy M too. Usually lose in first match so it`s just to get some match practice before singles begins.

Tournament seems to alternate between Montreal and Toronto (ladies in Toronto this year men in Montreal). Interestingly on Andy`s official website it says it`s in Toronto this year. Hard to say how he`ll do after last week though a lot of other top players also lost early.