TartanSpice

x2

I'd think we'll need at least a bit of pace in the team, so if Anya isn't playing then, unfortunately, Forrest has to start.

Scotland 0-0 Poland Ireland 2-3 Germany Gibraltar 0-3 Scotland Poland 1-1 Ireland And out we go.

Did the Supporters Club send out an announcement email about the squad this time? Just wondering if they didn't bother this time or whether I didn't receive it.

Where is it? On the Strip somewhere?

PM's sent out to what should be everyone. Let me know if I've missed you though.

I wouldn't play Brown, D Fletcher and McArthur in the same team, I was just saying I wouldn't be shocked if Strachan chose to do that. But it's a decision that he needs to make. Consolidate at the start, work into the game and then go for it later if necessary. Or, as you seem to suggest going out more attacking from the start. I think Poland will sit back and try and counter us. A point is fine for them, but possibly game over for us. So I think we'll need to break them down. Who we pick to do that is another question altogether...

I would not be shocked in the slightest if the team was as close to the same team Vs Germany as possible. So swapping in D Fletcher for Morrison. I don't like playing Mulgrew, but I understand the appeal. Tall guy, so gives height when defending corners with a bit of 'presence'. Same reason for playing S Fletcher as well, as he'd provide a bit of physicality when defending too. Whether WGS picks Robertson at left back will state a lot about our attacking intent from the start, as will him playing with 2 or 3 natural centre mids. Strachan has some HUGE decisions ahead of him. Based on his previous selections, Marshall, Hutton, Martin, Hanley and Brown are shoe-ins to start, and he'll probably decide who makes up his remaining 6 players from: Whittaker, Mulgrew, Robertson, D Fletcher, McArthur, Ritchie, Maloney, Anya, Naismith, Forrest and S Fletcher. Sitting here giving it a bit of thought I couldn't decide who I'd want the 'front 4' to be. Form says Ritchie and Naismith need to be a part of it. I really like Anya, and Maloney has scored most of our goals. But I'm not sure leaving S Fletcher out is a wise move. Good luck Gordon...no pressure...

Seats all gone.

Also: I have 3 seats available on the buses. Not an ideal number and looking to get them all sold so it'd ideally be to a group of 3, or a pair and a single. Will just play it by ear if that doesn't happen.

Looks like there's a wee shopping bit over the road from the pick up point. Around the McDonalds and the KFC. From the signs I could make out on google street view I see a sign for 'Net Kafe', tripadvisor says it's alright: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g189112-d3833969-Reviews-Net_Kafe-Albufeira_Faro_District_Algarve.html Not sure it'd be the place for a long stay, but seems like a decent enough spot to head to if anyone arrives for the pick up early.

I do indeed. Bus company dude did a wee recce of the Luna Miramar Hotel which is where we were leaving from originally, but as it's apparently a bit of a fiddly spot for the buses to get in and turned etc, he looked for a close alternative. So it'll be a wee minute around the corner where there actually happens to be bus stops, which is ideal. It's over the road from the McDonalds (going by google street view), in-between the Hotel Brisa Sol and Hotel Cerro Alagoa. I'll be sending everyone a screenshot of the location and a link to google street view, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Buses will be arriving at 5.45pm and looking to have everyone on board by 6pm so we can head off then. I'll fire off emails/PM's in the next wee while to say what bus everyone will be on and the like. Might have a few seats spare too but I'll confirm that in the next day or two. Dean

I'll be in New York when the Georgia match is on, and I'm wondering if there are any recommendations for a decent spot to watch the match over there?

I ordered online once as they didn't have stuff in store. As ordering online I couldn't get the discount. However, the folk in the store said that if I brought my order back in and returned the items to them I'd get a refund. I could then show them my SSC card and immediately buy my stuff back at the discounted rate as they now had the items in stock. Customer service at its finest.

Small stadiums for Slovakia and Slovenia, so guaranteed % allocation will be pretty low for those. But looking at previous and current campaign attendances neither seem to sell out so hopefully they'll be happy to take our cash and bump up the allocations for us, as I can't see us being a big draw for the locals.

I got the France group game in Marseille and the last 16 game in Lille. 2 matches from 4 applied for.

£163.54 showing out of the account at the moment. I only applied for 4 matches x 2 tickets each, but I selected the option to accept higher or lower category tickets so hard to judge what I've got. Might be 4 x €55 tickets + postage, I think.

Ghtresa is right. The A1, B1 etc will be the top seeds, but the remaining positions in the groups will just be totally random. At least if the draw is conducted in the same way as Euro 2012, as seen here: https://youtu.be/y5_BL7prg_w?t=7m10s That's why even if we do qualify it's impossible to say where we'll be because although we'll likely be in pot 4, that could still have us in any position from 2, 3, or 4 in the groups for the match order. All we can say is for the first group match is that, there's 12 first round group matches and it's a 3 in 12 chance of being in Paris, and 2 in 12 of being in Bordeaux and then a 1 in 12 chance of being in Lens, Marseille, Nice, Lille, Toulouse, Lyon or Saint-Etienne Bit of a gambling nightmare, but good luck to anyone who gets a decent match from the draw though.

Romania Denmark Scotland Israel Cyprus Malta Never been to Romania and their stadium looks banging. A trip back to Copenhagen would be cool. Probably never go to Israel if it wouldn't be for football, and a couple of nice warm visits for the last two pots. Top trips and not an impossible group to get out of. Odds are we'll end up with a pretty dull and repetitive group with one outrageous trip though. Belgium Czech Rep Scotland Norway Lithuania Kazahkstan

PM's on the way. No more spaces left now. Thanks all.

Still spaces available on the bus.

Hi folks, I'm organising a coach for my mates and we have 25 seats still available on it at the moment. It'll be from the Luna Miramar Hotel in Albufeira on match day, straight to the ground and then back to that hotel again after the game. Will be leaving around 18:00, just confirming the pick up time etc with the coach company. Will be £8 return per person. If anyone fancies hopping on-board with us just fire me a PM, and I'll pass on details for paypal for anyone who wants to confirm a seat with me. Any questions, just ask. Dean

Going via Dublin with Ryanair is working out much cheaper than direct, so gobbled up that route for Fri to Tues.

Only for the automatic 3rd place qualifying position, I believe.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the head-to-heads all matched up and it come down to a goal difference thing for the final game in Gibraltar and it ending up something mental like us need to win 11-0 to get a qualifying place.