In the taxi into Dublin and the debate is whether heading the football should be taken out of the game.

Apparently a youth tournament is running this and the feeling is the FA is looking at whether to bring it into the wider game.

I understand that if the evidence is overwhelming you can’t let people develop problems in later life. But no headers in football is a really hard thing to imagine or indeed accept.

This is Hibs last group match and lets hope they finish this first prep period with a decent performance and something positive to build on for the serious stuff coming up soon in the Scot Prem. I'm sure there will be a decent Hibs crowd showing up at ER Stadium esp during such a period of warm weather.

GGTTH

Shrewsbury Town winger Elliott Bennett is to have an operation on an ankle problem.

The 33-year-old, who agreed a new one-year contract last month, has missed their last two pre-season games.

"Elliott's had this nagging ankle since the back end of last season," Shrewsbury manager Steve Cotterill told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"He's seen a couple of specialists, he's had it injected twice and we don't feel as though he's kicked on enough."

Cotterill said Bennett's operation had to be delayed because the surgeon had Covid but added the club are hoping it will not result in a lengthy lay-off.

"It's disappointing really that we've got to this stage, but the last thing now is going to be a wash out (of the ankle) and hopefully that works.

"Maybe there's little fragments of bone that keep pinching him, something like that," he added.

"If it's just a wash out, it might only be two weeks which means he'd still be ready for the season."

Wrexham full-back Reece Hall-Johnson will miss the start of the National League season due to injury.

Manager Phil Parkinson confirmed Hall-Johnson will require surgery but did reveal the nature of the injury.

The 27-year-old did not feature in Wrexham's pre-season friendly on Saturday, a 5-2 win at Nantwich Town.

Parkinson's side travel to Spain for a training camp this week before facing Nottingham Forest Under-23s next Saturday.

This should be a fairly straightforward win for Hibs, but hopefully Johnson will give a starting place to some of our talented young players who are not gonna be playing too many truly competitive matches this season.

GGTTH

Hartlepool have signed forward Josh Umerah from Wealdstone for an undisclosed fee.

The 25-year-old scored 17 goals in all competitions for the National League side last season.

Umerah began his career at Charlton and joined Wealdstone from Torquay last summer.

"As soon as I heard about the interest and I spoke to the manager, there was only one place I wanted to be," Umerah told the club website.

EUGENE.

OREGON.

Centre of American Athletics. And quite a bit of dodgy stuff too. Watched a lot of the NCAA Championships from there. Brilliant, the depth of talent in American college athletics is difficult to believe. It's a way higher standard than our national championships.

Anyway the World Championships is starting TODAY.

We are trying to take no notice as we have very little chance of a Gold and few podium contenders. We're hoping the Commonwealth Games will show us in a better light.

We might medal in both Men's and Women's 800 metres. We might go close-ish in both 1500s too. In general our women are contenders to reach finals, our men travel hopefully.

I want to see the talent of other nations and if one of our athletes can get in the mix then great.

Major tip - if your son or daughter is showing a high level of sporting talent at any of the sports that feature over there, try for a scholarship at an American University.

Kipre of to Cardiff season long loan.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/...t-assessed

Only a friendly match v Liverpool in Bangkok, but a decent 4-0 hammering of their biggest rivals aint a bad start to Erik ten Hag's managerial career with the "red devils". Intriguing times ahead for the club and their Dutch manager!!

This is another match to gauge how things are progressing on the road to full match fitness for all the 1st team players after a fairly short summer break. We've had a good start to our PSC group matches. Now it's a case of consolidating our top position and trying to ensure qualification to the next round without too much fuss and hopefully a minimum of injuries picked up in the process. Note ticket prices are fairly reasonable for this match at the Falkirk Stadium - £12 per match ticket and £7 for a concessionary ticket. There should be a healthy Hibee turnout tonight.

GGTTH