Texas Pete

This means Croatia have only won 2 of their last 9 matches and these victories were at home to Cyprus and Malta. Hardly great form.

Seems odd that players who test positive rarely have symptoms. When Armstrong tested positive he had no symptoms and nobody else caught it (even his close contacts, Tierney and Christie). Hopefully this is the case again. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Fleck tests negative tomorrow as well which seems to happen a lot when footballers test positive. The Scottish government would’ve taken pelters (from non-football fans anyway) if they had vaccinated players who are mostly under 30.

They did consider it I think but rejected the idea. It’s daft that you can buy alcohol at rugby, darts and snooker etc. in Scotland but you can’t get it at Scotland games. Half the people in the ground are pished and sneak their own drink in anyway.

That is very lucky. There must be some very unlucky people who have very early slots for all 3 games.

Gauld would likely get even less game time as Clarke clearly prefers Fleck to him. Not exactly the same type of player obviously but in general terms - Fleck is in the squad and Gauld isn’t.

Fleck won’t be dropped from the squad unless he develops symptoms and becomes too ill to play or possibly if he keeps testing positive. If he has 2 negative tests he can re-join the squad subject to Spanish self isolation rules.

UEFA changed their rules a few years ago. Alcohol is available at all UEFA matches (including Champions League and Euro 2020 matches etc) depending on local legislation.

I’m 1230-1300 for the Czech game so can’t complain about that. It’s the first game at a Hampden so I’m expecting things to wrong and for there to be delays anyway. 1700-1730 for the other 2 games though. Fine for Wembley as we can get an overpriced cup of warm lager but sitting in Hampden for 2.5 hours before kick off will be a pain. Especially if we are already out of the tournament.

They know fine well most people will turn up at the last minute of their slot. As far as I can see they are just trying to make sure there isn’t the big rush (and therefore big queues) to get in 15-30 minutes before kick off time that there normally is. It should also ensure trains and buses aren’t packed at any particular time as people will be travelling to the stadium over a three hour period. It’s not ideal but I’m not sure how else they could’ve done it.

This is pretty optimistic. Going inside to shelter from the rain is more likely. The East Stand has an outdoor bit after you go through the turnstiles but I’m pretty sure you’ll need to pass through the turnstiles and be inside the ground during your entry slot in the rest of the stadium.

I doubt he’ll replace him unless he needs to drop out. Bringing someone else in from the outside would be a big risk which should probably be avoided unless completely necessary. Yeah that’s the main worry. As someone else has said though there has been numerous instances, including a previous Scotland camp, where one or more people have tested positive and the rest of the squad were unaffected. It’s funny that most of these cases seem to be asymptomatic. If he shows no symptoms and nobody else tests positive it will likely be a false positive. Fingers crossed that’s what it is.

I did think of that a while ago but what would be the point other than so they could have fewer stewards? If UEFA are making people sit in the stadium for up to three hours so they can save a few bob on stewards it will be a poor show.

I doubt he’ll miss the tournament unless he actually becomes ill. Not sure what the Spanish rules are but I doubt they are as strict the rules here so he’ll probably have to isolate for a week or something. Not ideal but as long as he has no symptoms and tests negative he’ll be able to rejoin the squad before the tournament.

No such thing as no risk. They might as well cancel the tournament if we go down that route.

Tickets need to be activated by Bluetooth by a steward apparently so this might not work outside of your slot. To be fair I doubt the system will be that sophisticated but you never know.

You’d rather a game was called off because one player has tested positive? I think you might be overreacting just a little.

I would imagine several hundred people will probably be late anyway so we’ll see what happens. I doubt people will be refused entry but they may need to wait until there is no queue before they are allowed in or even until after the game has started.

I think the idea is to try and avoid queues altogether. Or at least to keep them to a bare minimum. Most people will likely turn up at the end of their 30 minute slot though so I doubt it will work.

Food and drink will be available. No alcohol at Hampden though of course.

The squad met up 4 days ago and the virus has an incubation period of 5 or more days. If Fleck doesn’t have any symptoms then hopefully it’s a false positive. If he actually has the virus then others in the squad may have it as well.

I’m sure those were test events where people needed negative tests to get in though so the social distancing wouldn’t have been as strict. Not sure if that was the case for the playoffs actually but I’m pretty sure it was for the FA Cup and World Snooker final.

I’ll give you a wave at 5:30 at the Croatia match. Ridiculous state of affairs. 😐

I’m sure the kit man would love that. 😂

The article seems to be a load of pish. The Czechs and Croatians have both moved their training base but the bit about the Czechs asking for the game to be moved is unsubstantiated. Even if it is true it states that UEFA have told them to feck off. The rules in Scotland are broadly similar to the rules in the rest of the UK so the Croatians are daft if that’s why they are moving to elsewhere in the UK. The whole Scotland squad didn’t need to self isolate when 3 layers tested positive so I think they have the wrong end of the stick. They maybe just don’t fancy the social distancing rules?

Yeah at least 7 or maybe 8 will start but there are 3 or 4 starting positions up for grabs that can be won over the next 2 weeks. Where did you see the squad numbers? I’m sure I saw an article about it the other day but can’t seem to find it now.