Ya Bezzer!

You'd imagine Kuban will be too strong for us over the two legs but I think that we should be capable of getting a result against anyone at home if everyone performs to their potential and we get a wee bit of luck. Hopefully that's what happens. I thought Hollis did reasonably well against Forest but I'd start Nielsen as he has more experience at this level although I think McCall will give Hollis the nod. I also can see us playing three in the middle which probably means Carswell will come in beside Lasley and Lawson with McFadden and Vigurs in wide midfield positions drifting inside when we attack. That seems the most obvious way to clog up the middle of the field while retaining some offensive threat. Pressing this team and keeping the tempo high will be the key, if we allow them time and space to use their superior technique then we won't be successful. If we can harass them they certainly look vulnerable enough at the back that we can cause them a few scares.

Last season we were putting out back fours with three U21's at the beginning of the season when there was a few injuries and selection problems. The hike in experience at the back should be seen as a good thing and probably needed more than ever now that Randolph is no longer between the sticks.

It's already happened this season. CSKA Sofia withdrew from European competition because they said they could not afford to travel.

Getting the first goal will be all important. If we can get an early goal you'll be sure to see the crowd lose the plot and a huge amount of pressure on the home team.

I was in the club shop last night and looked at the new strips up close and I thought the quality of the shirts was absolutely shocking. Poor quality material, bad stitching, cheap looking badge, etc, etc. Would have expected a lot better from Puma. If I'd saw them up the Barras I would have assumed they were counterfeit shirts.

We need to establish a pronounciation though. Vy-Gurs or Vig-Urs.

Really? I watched them against Tomsk and they were a good team but hardly an all conquering footballing juggernaut. When Tomsk put them under pressure they folded a bit and Tomsk were newly promoted into the league and pretty much 'poor relations'. We will need to play at a high standard to get a result but it's hardly impossible and predicting a humiliating result is a bit daft in my opinion. Levante lost narrowly last season to Rubin Kazan in extra time who have a much better European pedigree than Kuban.

The St. Johnstone chairman was on Radio Scotland last night and said the jet charter to Trondheim cost St. Johnstone £120,000 against prize money of £90,000. And that's more or less a 'local' tie. You wonder what our trip will cost the club.

If tonights line up is a clue to how we will start it was a 4-4-1-1 with Vigurs left, McFadden right and McHugh playing behind Sutton. They did move around after the initial stages though. Though we were pretty poor in the opening stages and just like the Newcastle match it was a bit alarming at how easily we were being sliced apart at the back. The goal against was not a big surprise when it came. However with the goal against we seemed to wake up a bit and step up a gear or two and most of the rest of the game was fairly evenly contested. Forest deserved their half time lead but we also probably deserved our goal in the second half. The keeper looked fairly assured and made a complete of very good saves. Worryingly both Hutchinson and McManus went off with knocks, although both walked off the pitch so hopefully they'll be fine for next week. Vigurs was impressive, especially in the first half and showed enough to think signing him was a coup, probably our best player on the night although ZFA made an other impressive performance coming off the bench and it was him who set up the goal that was well taken by McHugh. There was always the impression though that we were holding back a bit from challenges, making runs etc, understandable as no one wants to get injured before the European match but I'd like to have seen us play at just a little bit of a higher pace. Overall though a deserved draw I felt.

For me we don't really have another option at right midfield at the moment, but it's not just necessity, McFadden, if I remember correctly, had one of his best games last season playing in that position. I think he can play as well there as anywhere else. Also I'd say it can be wiser to having McFadden coming in from wider or deeper positions. If you make him the central figurehead you make him more of a target to be nullified. It gives him a wee bit more space to get on the ball.

I see what you are saying but I'm against regionalisation. I think qualifying for Europe would quickly lose its appeal if you were playing Icelandic and Norwegian teams ever year. To me part of the 'romance' of it is you can be drawn anywhere against anyone and if that was stopped I think interest would quickly ebb away.

I posted my strongest XI on Pie and Bovril a few days ago. As the squad stands at the moment, ZFA should be a starter in the left midfield role, IMO. ............Nielsen............... ..Hutchinson......McManus......... Ramsden................Hammell.... .......Lawson.....Lasley.......... McFadden...............Francis-Angol .................Vigurs............ .............Sutton................

Before you can score a goal you need to create a chance. That's more my concern at the moment. Look back at our goals last season and Ojamaa's contribution to them was enormous, he was almost always involved and often the architect. I think we are lacking the pace and creativity that he gave us last season and we need to replace that some how. If we can do that we can score goals, maybe not as many as last season, but if we do create chances then I can see two or three players potentially getting into double figures. I think the record will show that if say, Sutton and McFadden get into double figures next season, when we'll finish Top Six without too many problems. Looking through the squads I don't see many with more than one regular goalscorer that you'd reckon would be in the double figures.

We could be in trouble then, check out Dundee Utd's new signing (99) in the squad list. My link

Just in case anyone is wondering our pitch is a bit better than it appears on Google Maps, ie, actually has grass.

I think I'm right in saying seeding was introduced after Real Madrid drew Bayern Munich in the first round of the European Cup in the late eighties, that was at least the catalyst for it. The big teams weren't going to stand for 'the luck of the draw' after that.

I don't believe this actually happened because if it had we'd probably have said "YES PLEASE!"

Their match before the European tie is at Zenit so maybe they will fly in from Leningrad instead of going back to Krasnodar. When you play in the Russian league traveling long distances is pretty normal, Vladivostock were in the Premier League a couple of years ago which is 4,000 miles from Moscow!

Tremendous! Umbro are probably the best strip designs out there, IMO.

These high temperatures turn people a bit dolally. I'd be looking for a Top Six finish but this is more or less a new team and we don't know how it is going to perform. If we can keep Hutchinson the back four looks strong but remember McManus has a pretty horrific injury record and there is a question mark over the goalkeeping position as many don't rate Hollis and Nielsen is unknown to us. I'm concerned about the lack of pace in the team which was basically the key to our excellent football last season and we don't have a Ojamaa style player in the squad this time which is a huge loss unless we can find another. I hope we can win a cup every year but don't expect to and as for finishing 2nd or even 1st I think we should see more of this team in action before we get our hopes up. Top 6 seems realistic but until we see how this new team gels it's hard to make predictions.

As I said in the shout box this team has a pretty impressive home record. 1 defeat in 22. Although they tend to draw quite a few matches so perhaps we can sneak a narrow win and then get a draw over there, you never know it might happen! Seems to be their first ever European tie as far as I can make out.

I won't be traveling so that's not a concern for me. Sevilla would probably pump us and I don't fancy our chances against the Ukrainians and Russians. Think we would have at least a chance against the rest.

Have to disagree with you on this. To me, we were playing 5-3-2 with Kerr on the right wing back position, ZFA on the left wing back position and Hammell, Hutchinson and Ramsden the three across the back. Hammell played left back in the first half but I'd say he moved inside when ZFA came on.

Difficult to judge a player on one showing, especially when we are up against a side thats frankly much better than we are. He didn't really impress me but at the same time he didn't look out of place. The one thing you can say about him is that he got on the end of things. He had three good chances to score and perhaps if he'd been a bit sharper he would have got one or two. His final effort didn't look far from hitting the back of the net

Sammy Amoebi had the skinniest legs seen at Fir Park since Owen Coyle. And a pineapple on his head.