ALLY MCCOIST is delighted that Gers starlet Lewis Macleod is back in the Scotland under-21 set-up for this week’s Euro qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg.
The talented midfielder missed a lot of last season due to illness but has bounced back in style this term, scoring four goals from his seven competitive outings so far.
Returning to Billy Stark’s plans at international level has been another boost for 20-year-old Lewis who will be hoping to get more match action under his belt in the next few days.
The games against Slovakia and Luxembourg – which will be played in Senec on Thursday and Differdange next Monday – are the last in Group 3 for the young Scots and two victories could see them clinch second place. But with only the best four of the 10 runners-up from all groups advancing the chances of Stark’s kids progressing further are slim.
McCoist, however, is just pleased Macleod has been included in the squad. Speaking at Murray Park he said: “It’s brilliant. I saw Lewis here yesterday training with the 21s and it’s great to see him back in the international set-up. He deserves it. His form so far this season has been very, very pleasing and we are delighted for him.”
From the Rangers website

www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/7596-ally-pleased-for-lewis

Hibernian have signed up Celtic midfielder Dylan McGeouch and Southampton striker Jake Sinclair on season-long loan deals.
McGeouch, 21, spent time on loan with Coventry City last season, making just eight appearances as a substitute.
Sinclair, 19, made his Southampton debut in the League Cup last season.
"I'm delighted we have added both Dylan and Jake - they will offer us something different and strengthen our attacking options," said Hibs boss Alan Stubbs.
"Dylan comes to us with a high reputation earned at Celtic and we see him playing in a more central role in midfield.
"His energy and quality will give extra impetus to the team and we're looking forward to seeing him perform for Hibs.
"Jake will give us a few options in attack; through the middle and out wide. He is a really exciting player with genuine pace, who can hurt the opposition.
"He is an up-and-coming talent, who we've been aware of for some time."

A good bit of business for the Cabbage, and a much needed boost for their hard pressed fans. Sure Tynie will be pleased.

Hibernian have confirmed they have released Welsh international midfielder Owain Tudur Jones.
The 29-year-old arrived at Easter Road in May 2013 and made 19 appearances.
Jones had previously enjoyed a successful two-year spell with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

New signing Stefan Scepovic has insisted Celtic were always "his first choice" and denied saying he did not want to join the Scottish champions. This is after knocking them back at the last moment

The Serbian striker's move to Celtic appeared to break down amid reports he was signing for Getafe, but 24 hours later he sealed a £2.3m switch to Scotland on transfer deadline day.
"My first option was always Celtic," Scepovic said as he was unveiled by the club on Tuesday.
"I never said I didn't want to come."
The 24-year-old hitman, who netted 22 goals for Sporting Gijon in Spain's second tier last term, revealed he had spoken to Getafe but was not close to joining the La Liga outfit.
He said there was some confusion over the comments he made about his move and he is now keen to look ahead after penning a four-year deal with Ronny Deila's side.

Well, he has to say that, but he will HAVE to hit the ground running, or the fans will turn on him

SFA and SPFL appeal to Fifa over Celtic's move for John Guidetti. The SFA and SPFL are in the process of contacting football's world governing body Fifa to ask for dispensation to register John Guidetti at Celtic.
The SPFL is satisfied that all the paperwork was in order but as it was filed after midnight on deadline day, a case is now being made for the deal to be allowed to proceed.
Celtic attempted to sign the Manchester City forward on loan on Monday night.
The 22-year-old is in the final year of his deal at the Etihad Stadium.
A joint statement from the SFA and SPFL read: "The SPFL had a 23:00 transfer deadline in place for registrations while the Scottish FA had a midnight deadline.
"At 22:56, the SPFL received a request from Celtic FC to extend the SPFL deadline for registration of John Guidetti to fall in line with the Scottish FA midnight deadline. The SPFL agreed to this request.

Sounds like a bit of jiggery pokery in favour of Celtic to me, but such is life thee days.

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

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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!!