AlfieMoon

I got 2x €50 tickets for the middle group game at Hampden in the first round of allocations. Got the email yesterday with more availability so managed to get the same for the additional 2 group games. It didn't give me the option for the R16 game at Hampden I assume because I hadn't originally applied for that. Also had the option Baku games. Must be due to complete lack of demand for that particular venue. Overall seems a reasonable system.

Yeah, it's dreadful coverage from Sky. As I've stopped going to as many games in recent years it is really starting to become a pain in the tits having to listen to them. The commentary team have been around for far too long and need freshened up. The Sky studio and combined analysis team covering other home nations is just cheapness and crap. The anchor is rubbish as well. I coughed up for a one day NowTv pass for last night as I refuse to give Sky recurring money. I think I'll go to the bother of heading for the pub in future and maybe put some headphones in so I don't need to listen to the crap.

Current representation in Scotland: 2x SNP 2x Labour (1 of which is currently vacant as Catherine Stihler has chucked it early) 1x Conservative 1x UKIP What do we expect it to be if we end up in Euro elections? I imagine that votes will be up for the SNP (brexit), Conservatives (indyref effect), UKIP/Farage party (brexit), and LibDems (brexit). The only party I can see nosediving is Labour vote. I can only imagine that SNP would retain 2 seats and Labour will drop 1. The other 3 seats may be split (Tory, UKIP/Farage, LibDem)

Not especially. He's not a patch on Angus Robertson who preceded him. Indeed, a lot of the SNP MP's aren't of a particularly high calibre in my opinion. The huge increase in seats on the back of Indyref shifting Scottish politics meant that a lot of SNP were thrust into Westminster probably a lot quicker than we were ready for. Some real good quality there like Joanna Cherry, Philippa Whiteford and a few others, then you have stars for the future like Mhairi Black, but there's many others that are found wanting and that disappoints me to say. A common criticism of their Labour predecessors was along the lines of 'monkey in a red rosette'. I think the same charge could be levelled at some of the SNP. Unfortunately, the loss of Angus Robertson, Alex Salmond, John Nicolson, Michelle Thomson, and the fact that Stewart Hosie has had to take a back seat - all means that the SNP at Westminster are simply not at the same level as we could do with them being.

All it does really is prevent the government from trying to gradually edge this same deal over the line - which was never looking likely in any case. In all likelihood this removes the option of a short-term extension. Now it probably has to be no deal or a long-term extension (if EU agree and we change legislation accordingly in time?). On the other hand you could say that this now possibly helps her negotiating position with EU as the UK parliament effectively won't let her even put the current deal up (again) for approval. Still makes it difficult to see how the EU would blink. Long-term extension far more likely - opening possibilities of a new Tory leader, indicative votes, PV, or GE.

Looking for a bit of advice from anyone that works in public sector... I moved from private -> public 2 years ago. Now starting to look at options for my next move within local/central government. What I’m not sure of is etiquette for applying for jobs. i.e. is it expected to be above board and notify my manager prior to any application? Or is it reasonable enough to apply for a job first and only notify them if I get to interview stage? Previously in private sector everything was kept under the radar so felt a bit more straightforward in not worrying about burning bridges in my current position.

This is the key thing. They should really publish the EU vs Non-EU immigration figures as headline news every day. It shows quite clearly that the UK Government (driven by business in the UK) has no appetite to reduce immigration. If they did, the non-EU immigration would have been the low-hanging fruit to cut the numbers. Instead, numbers of non-EU immigrants has soared. All the while the Government collect the additional tax revenue (from the net contributors) and UK Businesses coin it in from a combination of highly skilled and low-skilled workers. Then when the Government don't build enough schools, houses or health services to support the public, people point an accusatory finger at the immigrants rather than realising it's the UK Government have collected tax revenue and failed to adequately redistribute the wealth.

Even if the Tories vote to remove May tonight it doesn't result in a GE. It would only be a no-confidence vote - which Labour are deliberating over - that would potentially collapse the Government. I think she'll win the vote tonight anyway but who knows what happens after that.

How far in advance do they need to announce the venue? I notice that all recent games have been in Astana but they played a qualifier against Denmark in Almaty back in 2017.

I went in 2014 and got my visa through an agency which cut out a lot of the hassle so I'd recommend that for the minimal additional expense. Didn't have to submit a fingerprint at that time so that must be new.

I seriously doubt it. Unless May manages to get the vote through, we will still not know what direction the UK is going in. Labour (McDonnell) saying today that they doubt they'll be able to force a GE so that would mean they'd need to support a 'People's Vote' if/when the Government's Brexit vote fails on 11th December. If that happens then the SNP are still playing the waiting game. If the 'People's Vote' comes to fruition then I'm pretty sure Brexit will be overturned and we're back to business as usual. The Scottish public will have been shown how difficult it is to come out of a political union and independence will go on the back burner for the long-term. The difficulty for the Tories is that a People's Vote (supported by Labour) would be the springboard to the Tories losing power at the next GE. May will already be working on what happens if/when the parliamentary vote fails so there's still a long way to go IMO before Sturgeon knows the direction that the UK is going.

Likewise, I can't see him being the sort to complain about it. It's clear that it stifled him from going forward when he played at RB but he was reasonably solid defensively. He's potentially better at RB than anyone else that is likely to play that position. You'd hope that he would look at it as an opportunity to develop and improve his game and his weaker foot, rather than being overly frustrated about it or feeling that he's being hung out to dry. Especially when you've got guys like Danny McGrain who are saying that Tierney could similarly adapt to play RB - that should be all the encouragement and example that the young man requires.

Nice one! Enjoy mate!

Yep, there must have been about 50 tickets appeared yesterday so just keep an eye on the SRU ticket site.

Just picked up a few 'restricted view'* tickets for the South Africa match. Looking forward to it after what seemed like an exciting match against Fiji after the disappointment of the Wales performance. *West Stand (W17), Row D, so seems right next to the players tunnel and only 4 rows from the front. I was assuming that the restricted view is probably the dugouts. Anyone with better knowledge of Murrayfield care to hazard any other guesses?

Boris is now the bogey-man that we like to think will become PM just to typify how much the lunatics have taken over the asylum - and in turn to boost the Scottish independence cause. It's not going to happen. Boris had his chance when Cameron bolted and it fell apart as soon as Gove dropped support for him.

I see Gerrard saying that Maribor didn't show Rangers any respect?! What exactly is he on about or does he just mean from a footballing perspective that Maribor should have been a class above but didn't win? I wasn't sure if I've missed some disrespectful chat or whether it was just an innocent comment. I thought he'd have been a bit of a class act when he came up here but the more I hear of him, the more he just seems like a bam. Intent on instilling the siege mentality that the world is against Rangers and that Rangers are against the world. Fair play to him if it works but it's just not what I expected. He certainly seems to have improved them so far.

I think Gordon has got a bit too casual over his time at Celtic but he's still a good standard of goalie. McGregor is also a decent so it will be good to see how they compare in the SPL over the coming weeks and months. I wouldn't go changing on a whim without seeing McGregor over a sustained period. One thing for sure is that it's far from our problem position despite them perhaps not being at the same level they were 5-10 years ago.

Unfortunately I have very strong doubts that the Scottish psyche would embrace another change scenario (independence) as a way to resolve that situation. Also, fully agree that Tories will get rid of May post-Brexit and go in to the next election with a more slick David Cameron type. Labour do have a chance - especially as Brexit unfolds - but I think would need to get rid of Corbyn.

I don't think there's anything particularly dodgy about it. There's already a decent bit of support for a 2nd EU ref from the LibDems and various others. It's also a pretty reasonable argument to make that people didn't know what they were voting for (as Brexit wasn't defined) so should have another vote. The SNP are another chunk of MP's to try and persuade to to that cause. With the SNP being so opposed to leaving the EU they could reasonably align with this as a mechanism to avoid Brexit - as the expectation would be that the initial vote would be overturned. The 'catch' for the SNP would be the knock-on effect. With the danger of EU separatism lifted , the (European) union would be strengthened as the UK would have stepped back from the brink and decided that 'togetherness' (with EU) was more important than 'separatism' (Brexit). The same logic would then apply to any notion of independence and we would also no longer have been "removed from the EU against our will". In short - supporting a 2nd EU ref could (small chance) be good for the SNP in stopping Brexit, but bad for the overriding aim of independence.

Probably more achievable. I can't see how WM are going to allow an Indyref2 during the lifetime of this parliament.

Yep. Why? What kind of country are we? Surely we are just a country?

I'm not close to the industry but have heard multiple times from sources like ScotGov and Ian Wood that there are skills shortages for the industry and want better alignment from Scottish education through to industry. Surely if we're not filling the jobs ourselves than we only have ourselves to blame? The same could be said of the IT sector in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Or am I missing something? Your post suggests something more sinister.

Would be a decent transfer window for St.Mirren if that happened in addition to the £300k for Morgan. 33% sell-on due on McGinn. I still can't see him signing for Celtic in this window though but you never know.

From what I understood in the video (needs sounds) - the higher rank team gets home advantage in the play-off semi-final. The final is at a venue to be decided by UEFA - i.e. it is not one venue.