weeyin

Much more positive this half so far.

Livi and Killie had pitches last season they claimed had passed UEFA inspection, so I'm guessing the bar is not that high.

Meh is acceptable if it means 0 - 0 away from home in the first leg. I swear every team with a plastic pitch sees us play then decides to make the surface as slow and sticky as possible.

Missing Said and Williams. Cookie a bit loose down that wing and JT not up to speed yet.

It's even making the HJK players trip and fall over. Agree about Cookie. HJK getting down that wing too easily most of this half.

That big screen in the corner would really put me off if I was playing. It seems quite low.

Do they still exist? I really hope so.

I bought it from SolidSport too, but still have the American commentator. I understand why teams in Finland play on plastic, but to keep things fair I think they should award the away team a 2 goal start.

I have the American bloke again.

I imagine bigger clubs have the resources to ensure all (or most) possible visa issues are taken care of well in advance. Its probably more common these days because there are a huge number of teams participating in Euro competitions these days, and wide range of countries to visit. Then there are the politics that mean some countries are applying more rigour (to put it politely) to their visa and immigration processes. Brexit didn't help either, although that won't be the issue for Said, but citizens from countries such as Nigeria or India often face more hurdles. Most visa challenges can be resolved, but it's the quick turnaround for football matches that is the problem. If you need to make an appointment with someone to answer questions or discuss the application it can be too late as those can takes weeks or months to arrange. It's also probably more common in recent times because teams have players from around the globe. 30 or 40 years ago most teams had players that were home grown with only a handful at most of overseas players, and most of those players were European.

Or if JK is fit, he can play right back and Sparrow can move to mid.

The Record was reporting it, but seemed to be directly from an interview with Alfred. I work with a lot of people from different countries and continents and it's often a real pain to manage travel and visas. If there is a reciprocal arrangement between countries it's easier, but otherwise it can be a hassle, especially if you need something quickly African and Indian nationals have the most problems because there are so many scam agencies trying to rip people off with fake credentials that there are often lengthy delays while everything is verified. If we want anyone from our India office to come to the US the standard processing time for visas is around a year.

Said not travelling for the first leg now due to visa issues. Unfortunately, often a risk for non-European nationals travelling at short notice.

Starts at noon for me, so I'll need to book a long lunch.

Same here. I was 100% on board with the latitude given to the World Cup referees and would rather see a few potential fouls not given, than a dozen soft or non-fouls.

It's available in the civilized parts of New England. What happens in Texas is anyone's guess.

Vogt seems to have fast feet. Not quite Said standard (yet), but showed a few more flashes of promise in the Hibs game.

Imagine spending your hard earned cash looking for some entertainment and having the gall to enjoy it. Outrageous.

I hadn't really thought about it, but they mentioned on the commentary at the weekend that Alfred isn't our youngest ever manager. Billy Davies had just turned 34 when took over as player/coach at Fir Park.

They must be worried about us.

This is a recent trend, and it's pretty laughable. I've lost count of the times the corner taker and the linesman have a discussion about exactly where the ball is placed and then... ... kick doesn't make it past the first man.

That was from the Sky commentary.

This time last season, we would probably have drawn (or even lost) this game. The fact that we found a way to win is a good sign.

Hope he does well there as he deserves a break, but history suggests he'll be crocked by the end of September.

Time to beat the jinx, but with a potentially tough game in Finland I'll be happy not to lose. Hopefully we'll have another addition or two in the squad by then.