tom_widdows

Seedings Pot 1 France Germany England Portugal Belgium Spain Pot 2 Italy Russia Switzerland Austria Croatia Ukraine Pot 3 Czech Republic Sweden Poland Romania Slovakia Hungary Pot 4 Turkey Republic of Ireland Northern Ireland Wales Iceland Albania

Looks like the swedes have it. Denmark have 9mins to get 3 goals Ukraine hanging hanging on against the slovenians

Hungary 2-1 Norway (3-1 Aggregate) Any chance this thread can remain about the teams and matches involved in the tournament and not descend into arguments about the reasons why anyone happens to wish another country well?

Ukraine 2-0 Slovenia Sweden 2-1 Denmark. From what I can gather the Swedes were cruising then fell apart and the Danes almost snatched a draw. Least this one wasn't abandoned.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34800672 'Uefa referee officer Hugh Dallas says Scottish officials remain among the best in Europe.' '"We've got some really good referees in Scotland. They can stand up with the best referees in Europe." Scotland's Willie Collum and Craig Thomson, plus England's Martin Atkinson and Mark Clattenburg, are among the European governing body's group of 29 elite referees.

Extreme amount of mirth for a typo there Manc? Will you be buying tickets for the next Joe Pasquale tour?

Hungary potentially on their way to their First European Championships since 1972 and first major tournament since 1986 after winning 1-0 away to Denmark

Age, waistsize or both?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34768103 The Fred Goodwin approach

I think i see where you are coming from but regulating something and then putting it into the hands of governments and/or private companies may reduce/ remove the drug being contaminated with detergents, weedkiller and all manner of toxic substances but at the same time may turn it into a 'profit driven business' where use is encouraged. The destructive properties of tobacco and alcohol are well documented but the breweries, distilleries, tobacco companies etc all still advertise and encourage the use of their products all with clear consciences. I went to an event where the speaker was the head of one of scotland's biggest brewers and whilst he seemed to support the minimum pricing he was totally against lowering the drink drive limit, his reasoning seemed to be that it would criminalise regular people who just wanted a wee drink during the week only to get pulled over on the commute to work the next day. When asked if this view was in any way influenced by his profits being hit he turned on the politician mode. Seems these companies (along with the casinos and bookies) are perfectly happy to profit from misery and its all ok as long as they put 'please drink responsibly' or 'when the fun stops, stop! on their adverts. How long would it take for 'please inject/ snort responsibly to appear on posters?

Personally I believe creativity comes from a combination of genetics, encouragement and personal drive. Having had to assist and treat people who were intoxicated from Alcohol, legal highs and on a couple of occasions suspected illegal drugs I struggle to believe the likes of Hendrix came up with their best material with the assistance of such substances. For every artist 'hailed' for their creativity under drugs there others who are just 'hailed' for being creative

Didn't say I've never tried alcohol. Just said i don't drink. Tyrant hit on one of the reasons I stopped I personally cant understand why some people will drink to the point they cant function properly and then justify anything stupid, dangerous, illegal they did with 'It wasn't my fault, I was drunk'.

Strange comment this one. Is this to say that the only people who die from smoking are those who bought the badly made fags? Or those who die from alcohol are only those who got a bad pint? Pretty much every drug will kill you if taken in enough quantities or in the right conditions. Sometimes its pretty much instant, other times it knocks you down at 50 when you should have lived on till at least 70. I think it will come down to whether or not governments decide the general public can be trusted to have enough self control to not turn into characters from a Hunter S Thompson/ irvine welsh fantasy. If they use the public's attitude to alcohol as the yardstick I reckon the idea is dead in the water. Personally I'm for legalising them but then again I dont drink, have never smoked and have pretty much zero experience of illegal drugs so what do I know.

Interesting to see what the league cup semi brings up Will it be 'fixed' to get a 'sponsors' final of Celtic vs Hibs I shall be glory hunting with Ross county again either way

Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale put Montrose out after Extra time 3 Non league clubs guaranteed in the 4th Round

At least Hibs managed to salvage something from the weekend.

I see a Hearts win will knock the dons down to third County and Hamilton win and they are only 3 points behind with similar if not better Goal Differences Could actually be 5th by 5:30pm next Sunday

Straight out of the Jerel Ifil school

Well here is the test Tradition would state this goes onto be a 3-0 tic win but given some of the chances created (Rooney's header making me feel sick right now) shows this Celtic team are actually there for the taking.

The modern knife culture in young Scottish men is something that baffles police and medics alike. Few years ago Strathclyde Police released a video highlighting what was becoming a worryingly common incident in central Scotland (It was used as part of a First Responder training course). The video was split screen showing two young guys (mid 20s) getting ready for a night out. The last things both did on their way out was to put on their jackets, grab their keys, then go to the kitchen drawer and pick up a knife which they tucked inside their jackets. The video continued split screen showing the two men approaching each other in the street then suddenly switched to a single shot as they 'accidentally collided (like the bittersweet symphony music video). They both became very aggressive, shouting at each other then both suddenly reach for their knives but one gets to his first and stabs the other. As soon as he had done it he freezes, drops the knife, then after a few moments goes into a panic and tries to help the other guy including calling the emergency services. When the cops arrive the guy gives himself up, admitting what he had done but cannot offer an explanation as to why he had taken a knife out with him or why he suddenly became so aggressive with a complete stranger. With this case I wonder what the immediate aftermath of the stabbing was. Did the stabber react in a similar way to the guy in the police video i.e immediate remorse and/or shock as to what they had done, or were they cold/ emotionless as if nothing had happened?

Its starting to remind me of the 1996/97 Season Granted the team wasnt top of the league (this was the time when the OF were starting to spend seriously stupid money) but having seemingly exorcised the ghosts of the 1994/95 playoff season by finishing 3rd and lifting the league cup, the team fronted by a strike-force of Billy Dodds & Dean Windass with an ageing Duncan Shearer still able to give teams hell for the last 15mins the team seemed to be in a great position. Results included a 4-0 hammering of hearts, a 7-3 humping of Morton in the cup, coming back from 2-0 down at Ibrox etc. Then came the a 3-0 defeat at home to Sevco in a live Scotsport TV game during which Nicky walker went on one of his many walkabouts allowing Laudrup to score from pretty much the halfway line. That was the heaviest home defeat by Sevco for fuck knows how long and something seemed to shift. The team won the next 2 games including a 2-1 win at tynecastle but after that they team picked up just 16 points from a possible 60. Aitken somehow survived into the next season but a 5-0 humping at Tannadice finally saw to that.

Playoff Draw Norway vs Hungary Bosnia Hercegovina vs Ireland Ukraine vs Slovenia Sweden vs Denmark

The real test to this trend is when the following appear outside stadiums Cardiff/Swansea Newcastle/Sunderland Millwall/West Ham