edinburghowl

Favourites for the tournament for me. Like you say you have an unbelievable choice of attacking options, good overall squad depth, and you’ve had a near perfect qualification campaign. England look very strong

I prefer H2H personally too for qualifying. It’s the fact they’ve changed it back again to GD after having that previously that is frustrating.

Yes but this is Scotland we are talking about here!

Agreed and I strongly fancy Hearts to finish 2nd this season. Bloom has said publicly he wants a league title in 10 years. Given that he achieved that at Union in Belgium, who started from a lower position than Hearts, I’m inclined to believe in him. Exciting times to be a Hearts fan right now. Still no appointment made but it’s looking unlikely. Solskjaer and Muscat more fancied by the bookies now. What do Scottish clubs have to gain from that? Presumably they would need to give up a domestic Scottish cup competition to compete in a British wide cup. You would still have the attendance problems down south because people would lose interest quickly. And the Scottish clubs would then lose access to a competition which for most is one of two possibilities to play at the national stadium and win silverware. There’s no way the clubs would go for that.

Drifted out to 7/1 now so safe to say he is not getting the job. Muscat now odds on with bookies.

Crazy given their squad. Front two of Gyökeres and Isak and still they are stinking the place out. They have a Danish manager so maybe he’s an agent doing the business for the Danes I’m not liking the fact they’ve done away with the head to head and it’s goal difference instead. We’ve already confirmed a playoff place but it could cost Scotland. There’s a possibility we may end up losing out on GD with a better head to head against the Danes given our draw in Copenhagen. If we lose against Greece in the return leg but beat Denmark at Hampden like we did last time recently, we will still finish 2nd. Scotland have only lost 1 of our last 19 home World Cup qualifying matches. An incredible stat given our pathetic overall qualification record. A draw in Athens and win against the Danes does it. Lose to Greece and beat the Danes and we will lose out on goal difference even with a better head to head.

They probably would and I reckon most Championship teams would give this Rangers team a game in its current state. They are dreadful and whoever is appointed as manager has an out of his depth Sporting Director to work with, allegedly a limited say in recruitment, and a poor squad of weak minded players to work with. It would not surprise me if Rangers finish 20+ points behind top of the league this season they are that bad. That is more realistic than title talk which is hilarious. They will in all probability end up 3rd whoever they appoint. They need a complete clear out starting with the Sporting Director. I reckon Thelwell is a big reason Gerrard and various others have turned the job down. He was the clown that went all in on Russell Martin too so I’m surprised their fans aren’t being more vocal about wanting him out. The clubs are Scottish and should play in the Scottish system. Always makes me laugh too when fans down south sneer at the Scottish Premiership and call it a pub league. It’s not a great standard but it’s the best attended league per capita in Europe. I don’t think the Championship or League 1 are particularly good quality either but you don’t see folk in Scotland calling them pub leagues. The league has been a one team contest and uncompetitive for 15 years but there have been 10+ clubs that have won cups in Scotland in the last 15 years. Scottish football clubs still value the cup competitions putting out full teams instead of playing reserves in front of less than half full stadiums like there is in England. I find the English clubs attitude to the cups atrocious to be honest. I’m a Hearts fan too - I’ve seen cup wins, been to multiple finals and semis at the National Stadium, been to over a dozen countries watching Hearts in European competitions over the years. Away days to Fiorentina, Rosenborg and Copenhagen in the last 3 years. Would I swap that to play in a British league where Hearts yo-yo between the Championship and League 1? Absolutely not

Agreed. We were terrible in both games. Got the points though and that is all that matters.

We are guaranteed a playoff now with the result in Copenhagen tonight. Greece now eliminated with two games remaining. We need two wins, or a draw in Greece and to beat Denmark at Hampden to win the group.

St Johnstone won more trophies than Gerrard in his time at the club. I think he was vastly overrated for his time at Rangers too.

Celtic sold Kyogo to France because he was on the slide and they recognised this. They have been excellent at recognising value in players and buying and selling at the right time. Something that Rangers have been terrible at and it’s a big reason why they are so far behind on and off the pitch. Idah was poo at Celtic, worse than poo , and that’s why they punted him. And I’m sorry but Celtic would be top 6 in the Championship comfortably. Forgetting on the pitch the economics dictates this too given their turnover. Fans down here vastly overrate the quality in the Championship sometimes. Russell Martin a prime example of this with the rubbish he has recruited. They are both massive clubs

A man who knows the club and played for them before, won a treble whilst he was there as a player, and who has actually won something in his managerial career. 5 league titles at 3 clubs plus other cup wins. That is what it is all about in Glasgow. Our fans may disagree but their fans will be looking at Röhl’s CV and thinking what has he done to warrant being in the frame. That’s a fact

To be fair he is a rookie. Rangers have literally just fired a hopeless manager who has filled up their squad with largely mediocre players from the Championship and League 1 and left them in 8th position in the league. Gassama has looked passable but the others really do not look up to scratch. And now it looks like they are hiring another boss from the same league with even less experience. Look at it from their perspective. I can 100% understand their frustration. I liked Röhl at Hillsborough but he has zero experience of winning trophies, knows nothing about Scottish football, he hasn’t managed games at a high level or managed in European competitions. Added to that the expectation levels in Govan are multiple times higher than at Wednesday. It’s a lot to ask of a young manager and that’s why many of the players Martin signed haven’t coped either. The mental toughness you need there is on a different level and he will get no time to bed in. The demand for success is instant. The reality is they are going to be struggling to finish second this season nevermind first, and the expectation is always to finish first at that club. That bit is the delusional part given where they are just now. Some of their fans turning their nose up at a manager who has not really achieved a great deal isn’t that surprising. Röhl is a good coach as we know but their problem is they’ve been knocked back by several higher profile managers before and after Russell Martin. And that’s because their club is not in a good place and they are not the big draw that they think they still are. The Sporting Director they have seems clueless and the new American owners aren’t giving off much confidence either. Rangers are a mess at the moment and they need a complete overhaul. Martin wasted tens of millions this summer and Röhl would be walking into a toxic situation where you either sink or swim. I think he’d be mental to take it on personally given the chances of success are so slim.

Turned down by Dyche and Gerrard. Rangers are a mess

I’ll hold my hands up and say we were absolutely dogshite last night but we still managed to get the result. We could and probably should have been 2 or 3-0 down at half time. They took a deserved lead and somehow through pure grit and determination we managed to turn it around. The result is all the matters but we were very fortunate in honesty. Greece were by far the better side last night and they must be scratching their heads at how it ended up 3-1 Scotland. I’ll take it all day but that was poor last night. Centre back, striker, and goalkeeper are a real problem area for us right now. We have a few glaring weaknesses in our side just now.

A lot of bookies markets have now closed. It looks like it’s a formality and close to being a done deal for Gerrard. And Scotland’s 3-1 win against Greece tonight means the Greeks need to win in Copenhagen to have even a small chance in the group now. If they fail to do that Scotland will have a playoff as a minimum presuming we beat Belarus at Hampden.

Think even that is a stretch to be honest mate

Glasgow is a far better city than Sheffield. Not even a contest. Me too and I’m from Edinburgh

Still a no for me. It would take away from the magic when we do play competitive fixtures. As a side point I’m one of the few who has grown to quite like the Nations League.

There is absolutely zero chance Rangers are taking a punt on a manager like Röhl right now. Their fans who are already eleven out of ten angry would go into meltdown.

For Hearts, Tony Bloom is bullish in his view that they can not only help improve Scottish football by being competitive domestically, but can help improve it on the continent. He suggested earlier this year that Hearts could split the Old Firm this season. And he reaffirmed his belief and expectation of the club competing in the Champions League on the back of their league performance. “I'm very confident that will change because I can't speak for other clubs, but Hearts will be a force," he explained. "And when we get into Europe, we'll be winning games and we will help lift that coefficient. It takes time, the way the system works. “As and when Hearts win the league, we want to go straight into the Champions League; we do not want to have two games." No messing from Bloom yesterday!

Daily Record reporting that Dyche has turned them down and that Hearts have told Rangers to Foxtrot Oscar with any enquiry for McInnes. I think it is a bit too soon this season, even with the improved quality in the current squad and boardroom, but I do think we will win a title within the next decade. The Glasgow clubs are faltering but I think the aim now has to be second place for Hearts this season. I’ll be incredibly disappointed if we don’t finish above this Rangers squad. If Hearts keep following the Jamestown plan and program, and progress with our revenue growth and squad improvement, make gains window by window like USG did in Belgium with Jamestown, we will eventually win the league. I can’t believe I’m saying that too but I genuinely believe in this setup. The proof is there from Belgium with Union and they started from a lower starting point than Hearts. We are on a serious upward trajectory both on and off the pitch. It’s an exciting time to be a Hearts fan.

I can see that too given his background and relationship with Thelwell but it would be a big change in strategic direction and style going from Martin to Dyche. Completely different footballing philosophies and approaches to the game. Would put serious questions for me on the board as it points to the fact they don’t really know what kind of Rangers they want to try and create.

I will be surprised if it is Röhl or an appointment like him. Their fans will want a winner, an experienced head, or a ‘Rangers’ man, and not a relative rookie. I hope they think like this too because I think Danny could transform them. The new ownership need to get the fans onside and they will be conscious of that. I think it will be Muscat personally who is at Shanghai Port. Possibly Gerrard. His arrogance and attitude was stinking throughout his tenure, and like many others from the English lower leagues he thought he would stroll Scottish football and failed. Filled their squad with a bunch of duffers spending £30m+ in the process. The worst thing for me is he didn’t have the class to mention McGlynn or Falkirk once last night in his interview and he was like that in most press conferences. I’m struggling to think of a worse appointment ever in my lifetime for Rangers boss. He has set them back years.

5 points clear