Manager Gordon Strachan admits Scotland are in a battle for second spot as they prepare to kick off their campaign to reach the Euro 2016 finals.
Strachan's side face World Cup winners Germany in Dortmund on Sunday in their opening match of qualifying Group D.
Republic of Ireland, Poland, Georgia and Gibraltar are also in the group.
"Germany will qualify. Poland, Scotland, Georgia and Ireland for the other two spots, that's a mini league," Strachan told BBC Scotland.

Scotland have not qualified for a major tourney since 1998, and although group D is a toughy, I think , Germany aside, who will win it with their eyes shut, Scotland have a chance. Poland are the biggest threat, but if we continue to improve, Euro 2016 in France could be seeing the Tartan Army after an 18 year gap.

Thought I would set up a thread to allow users to add suggestions for the site.

Here are some suggestions from Thurnscoe to start with!!

(03-09-2014, 01:02)Thurnscoe_OWL Wrote: You can really tell that it's a new site. I'd maybe give it a while to get somewhere near user friendly before we move over here. It's a bit like when we turned the analogue off over here. I'm just thinking about poor old pei and imre getting all confused and flustered in the switch over.

Just a few changes I can suggest; the smilies being put next to the quick reply box (in fact have the quick reply the same as the old site), a bit of colour about the place (maybe some pictures and what not ie select a few players from each league to head their league pages), a quick jump button so you can select where in the thread you skip to (owlstalk have a "start from last read" button which comes in handy as threads grow in size, possibly difficult on a site of this stature) and also sort it out so I can have my Atdhe signature pic because it won't upload properly

---

and we need our : smartass: and : sleeping: smilies in order to run the BML AND Thurnscoe_OWL's league for people who care about this shit

Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor says Patrick Kluivert remains in contention to become the Staggies' new manager.
The Dutchman emerged as a shock candidate to replace the sacked Derek Adams, but weekend reports suggested he had ruled himself out of the running.
"I talked to his agent yesterday," MacGregor told BBC Scotland.
"I think he's interested in a number of jobs but [his agent] alleged he's still interested in the Ross County job, so we'll take it from there."
Kluivert, who earned 79 caps for the Netherlands, was assistant manager to Louis van Gaal at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, helping guide Holland to a third-place finish.
The 38-year-old has not managed a side on his own, however.
Strange things happen, but I doubt this is a goer.

WOULD BE GREAT IF IT HAPPENED THOUGH

I notice that a lot of the team names are not complete. Just a small thing but I would prefer to see Sheffield Wednesday in full on forum names rather than Sheff Wed.

Continuing the catch all thread theme. Please post anything related to the season so far on here, transfers, rumors, club statements etc etc. Of course there is nothing to stop anyone from setting up a new thread for a single subject if you feel it is warranted!!

With all the transfer changes finished it may be a good idea to outline them.

IN>
Daley Blind Ajax £14.0m
Ander Herrera Athletic Bilbao £29.0m
Angel di Maria Real Madrid £59.7m
Marcos Rojo Sporting Lisbon £16.0m
Luke Shaw Southampton £27.0m

OUT>
Jack Barmby Leicester City Free
Bebe Benfica £2.4m
Alexander Buttner Dynamo Moscow Undisclosed
Sam Byrne Everton Free
Charni Ekangamene Zulte-Waregem Undisclosed
Patrice Evra Juventus £1.2m
Rio Ferdinand Queens Park Rangers Free
Ryan Giggs Unassigned Players Retired
Angelo Henriquez Dinamo Zagreb Loan
Javier Hernandez Real Madrid Loan
Federico Macheda Cardiff City Free
Nani Sporting Lisbon Loan
Nemanja Vidic Inter Milan Free
Danny Welbeck Arsenal £16.0m
Wilfried Zaha Crystal Palace Loan

So, about £140 mil spent, ut the defence has not received much work, and could be the main reason I feel that Utd will struggle again. LVG certainly has his work cut out.

These were very popular and may help with visibility as a lot of google visits were due to it. May be worth setting up a section...Just a thought.

Rangers Manager Ally McCoist has involked SPFL rules to get the Petrofac Training Cup quarter-final against E Fife to be postponed due to international call-ups.

Lewis Macleod, Bilel Mohsni and Dean Shiels are likely to be on International duty.

Not sure it is a good idea tbh as Gers have hit a bit of form and a longish layoff may well put us back to the drivel we were playing eirlier in season.

Hello,

Glad you found us and welcome to this new sports forum.  

This has been a quick to market activity and so although the boards are all there for you to start discussion.  I appreciate that on other forums there might be features not yet available on here and also that you might have ideas on what more could be added e.g. a prediction league? If you have constructive ideas please add them to this thread.

In the meantime:
Step 1 Has been to get the site established and available to you all - I hope this is appreciated and you will spread the word.
Step 2 Will be to add a bit of branding to make it more our own
Step 3 Will be to look to appointing moderators moderators once we have a mass to care for.

• If you have been a moderator elsewhere and would like to continue please let us know
  
• If you are a regular poster elsewhere and would like to take this role on, we'd like to hear from you
  

Rangers loaned out seven fringe players until the turn of the year, most of them with first-team experience.
Robbie Crawford joined Morton on a four-month loan, while Calum Gallagher moved to Cowdenbeath until January.
Other deals included defender Luca Gasparotto going to Airdrie and striker Danny Stoney to Stranraer.
Tom Walsh makes the switch to Stenhousemuir, while Craig Halkett Barrie McKay go to Clyde and Raith Rovers respectively.

It is a bit of a shame as these guys should really be playing a part in this years matches. Many have the expierience to do this but as is the trend at Ibrox, Ally has little time for young layers, preferring older players. This does nothing to help the club either financially r in its attempts to be self sufficient in players.
If they cannot get a game in the Championship, what chance in the Prem, if and when they get there.