It is now time to switch to a new Money AM football blog as the world cup is now over and we all look to the future.....World cup 2010 is over, Bravo Espana, and Forlan, once again and bring on the new season !.....I never expected the last thread to be such a success...thanks all.... so this new one might go on for years without the need to edit the title...we shall see...

Scotland match is getting interesting. Roy Keane is losing his marbles as per usual!

Good goal by Maloney, well worked.

Yeah Danny boy's getting his best form back CC, be hard to hang onto him after January.

Dobbo yes a great player for both clubs and should have played more then 5 times for England.. not bad for a free transfer from Bolton was he.

Certainly wasn't Stan.

Just wondering what people would think if England told FIFA to stick the World Cup competition and refuse to play in both Russia and Quatar.

Could we actually do such a thing technically?

If we did, could we kick off a brand new version of a world cup competition of some sort? Would other countries come on board or are the rep's of too many of them corrupt too?

It would not be possible for multiple reasons......clubs and country would be banned from competitions across the globe....they would have to go through the courts first...the problem is : Russia won..ok if that was without bribes and such which I doubt but without proof can't say...so now the war or troubles in Ukraine is a massive problem....and as it is it would not be safe to hold a world cup in Russia at the moment.....but it is three and a half years away.....if the war escalates ; Fifa would have to look for another venue....not yet, but the deadline might be in a years time...
Now how on earth did the vote swing Qatar's way ?....football or soccer as the Americans like to call it is for temperate climates !...not to be played in 40 celsius !...at the highest level of effort....it is obvious that big money has come into play here !.....now proving anything about "pots de vins" is going to be pretty difficult...so apparently the Middle East has a lot to offer the footballing world....frankly Australia should have won....but there you go....I doubt if England will get the world cup organisation before 2030 at the earliest !...

Difficult group with the Scots, Irish, Poles and Germans......at a guess...I say : Poland or Scotland might come first and second with the Germans and Irish fighting for the third and fourth place....unthinkable that the Teutons might not qualify....

I think it's a pity the England/Scotland/Wales/Ireland/Northern Ireland matches haven't been reinstated and I can't actually remember why they were discontinued in the first place. The Scotland v Ireland match was good last night, a bit lacking in quality at times but there was no denying the total committment from both teams.

The last Home Championship was played in 1983/84 season and Northern Ireland won it.

Would be great if it were re-introduced.

1967: Scotland become 'Unofficial World Champions'[edit]
The 1966–67 British Home Championship was the first since England's victory at the World Cup 1966. Naturally, England were favourites for the Championship title. In the end, the outcome of the entire Championship rested on the final game: England v Scotland at Wembley Stadium in London on 15 April. If England won or drew, they would win the Championship; if Scotland won, they would triumph. Scotland beat the World Cup winners 3–2. The match was followed by a large, but relatively harmless, pitch invasion by the jubilant Scottish fans, who were quick to jokingly declare Scotland the 'World Champions', as the game was England's first defeat since winning the World Cup. The Scots' joke ultimately led to the conception of the Unofficial Football World Championships.

1977: Wembley pitch invasion[edit]
Once again, the 1976–77 Championship came down to the final game between England and Scotland at Wembley on 4 June. Scotland won the game 2–1, making them champions. Like 1967, a pitch invasion by the overjoyed Scottish fans followed, but this time extensive damage ensued: the pitch was ripped up (although it was going to be relaid after the game) and taken back to Scotland in small pieces to be laid in back gardens, along with one of the broken crossbars.

1981: the unfinished Championship[edit]
The Troubles in Northern Ireland had affected the British Home Championship before, with things turning so hostile that Northern Ireland often had to play their 'home' games in Liverpool or Glasgow. The entire 1980–81 Championship was held in May 1981, which coincided with a large amount of civil unrest in Northern Ireland surrounding the hunger strike in the Maze Prison. Northern Ireland's two home matches, against England and Wales, were not moved, so both teams refused to travel to Belfast to play. As not all the matches were completed, that year's competition was declared void with no winner. It was the only time in the Championship's history, apart from during World War I and World War II, that it was not awarded.

Total wins[edit]
54 England (including 20 shared)
41 Scotland (including 17 shared)
12 Wales (including 5 shared)
8 Ireland / Northern Ireland (including 5 shared)

Wales are looking quite good this year, Gordon Strachan is knocking Scotland into some decent shape, Ireland and NI will always be feisty and I think the jury is still out on England!

We'll find out on Tuesday night db, but then it's only a friendly. Yeah right! :0)

db - Never realised Aiden McGeady was Scottish nor James McCarthy, wondered why the Scots were giving McGeady so much stick last night.

THE Krankies are confirmed 
for the SECC, Karen Dunbar at the King’s, Michelle McManus at the Pavilion – and Aiden McGeady at Celtic Park.

The pantomime season arrived a couple of weeks early in Glasgow last night and the Irish winger took centre stage to a cacophony of jeers.

Thankfully for Scotland’s Euro dreams, it was another former Celtic winger who had the greatest influence of all as Shaun Maloney stepped up to fire Gordon Strachan’s side a step closer to France in 2016.

It’s one Scotland, many cultures apparently, unless you happen to be a Glasgow-born footballer who chooses to represent the country of his grandparents.

Let’s hear the howls of disdain – mock or otherwise – from Scotland fans if and when Spanish-born Real Madrid attacker Jack Harper turns out in the next couple of seasons for the country of his parents’ birth.

McGeady didn’t even need a Mo-vember tache to twirl between thumb and index finger to be cast in the role of villainous baddie.

That cameo was his the day and minute he emerged as a player of promise at Celtic a decade ago and made clear his intentions to favour Galway over Glasgow.

He has not been allowed to forget it and the sign of all that was to come from the moment his name was announced before kick-off.

The Tartan Army were straight on the boos of a different kind – it was still heavy, nonetheless – as Irish supporters responded with lusty vocals in support of their adopted son.

Those shouts came from the Scotland end as well as the visitors were allowed to infiltrate on the back of an eccentric ticketing policy that saw briefs released sections at a time and, Tartan Army regulars claim, with few checks on who was buying and from where.

The controversy over ticket pricing also cost the game a sellout tag as occasional clusters of green seats were visible sticking through the dark blue hoardes, as if the arena had developed a strange form of alopecia. Thankfully, the ire directed at McGeady from all sections of the ground did not result in ugly scenes between rival fans sitting together as the camaraderie of Celtic cousins held strong.

McGeady’s last competitive appearance at Celtic Park was 
two years ago when he came off the bench for Spartak Moscow in a 2-1 defeat that saw Neil Lennon’s side win through to the last 16 of the Champions League for the third time.

Quite frankly, in the opening exchanges last night he had more to worry about than the reaction of fans as he toiled to match the energy of Andy Robertson down the left.

Not only did the Hull full-back have the mark of the winger in the tackle, he also had him on the turn every time he marauded into the final third, which was often. McGeady’s frustration at struggling to make an impact in the action was there for all to see when he was cautioned after 15 minutes for swiping the shins of Steven Fletcher, who later hobbled off.

McGeady was on the fringes of the game – thankfully – but after the interval all boos were preceded by a sharp intake of breath as he began to influence.

He struck a delicious volley that required David Marshall to dive brilliantly to his left to push the effort to safety.

However, Scotland regrouped and began to dominate again 
and with that one drop of the shoulder and curling shot off the inside of the right foot, Maloney made the difference.

Thereafter, on the rare occasions McGeady was given the ball to feet, the tenor of the boos had dropped.

The Tartan Army were back to doing what they do best – cheering on Scotland and all those who play for the honour of draping themselves in the famous dark blue.

Gary Ralston
Daily Record

Is that right that on form Danny Ings is still not playing today? when on earth are we going to some even half decent management in the Country?

Well what da'ya know another 45 minutes of England international incompetent dross!

Poor!

The president of the German Football League has warned that Uefa’s 54 member nations could take the ultimate step of quitting Fifa if Michael Garcia’s report into World Cup bidding is not published in full.

Dr Reinhard Rauball laid bare the tensions within Fifa over the split between the ethics committee judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert, and Garcia, the US attorney who heads the investigatory arm and spent 18 months probing the race for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Garcia has disowned Eckert’s summary of his 430-page report, which effectively cleared Russia and Qatar.

“The result was a breakdown in communication, and it has shaken the foundations of Fifa in a way I’ve never experienced before,” said Rauball.

“As a solution, two things must happen. Not only must the decision of the ethics committee be published, but Mr Garcia’s bill of indictment too, so it becomes clear what the charges were and how they were judged,” he told the German website kicker.de.

“Additionally, the areas that were not evaluated [in the report] and whether that was justified [should be published]. It must be made public. That is the only way Fifa can deal with the complete loss of credibility.”

He said that if the report was not published in full – and Eckert has already said that he will not do that, while Fifa argues it cannot intervene – then Uefa should consider its own position within Fifa. “If this doesn’t happen and the crisis is not resolved in a credible manner, you have to entertain the question of whether you are still in good hands with Fifa,” Rauball added. “One option that would have to bear serious consideration is certainly that Uefa leaves Fifa.”

Rauball’s intervention comes against the backdrop of Uefa’s calls for the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, to stand down, as he promised to do at the end of his current four-year term. Although the Uefa president, Michel Platini, has opted against standing against Blatter in next year’s election, Uefa is continuing to cast around for an alternative candidate to take on the 78-year-old Swiss.

Before the Brazil World Cup, a series of speakers at Uefa’s congress stood up to call for Blatter to make his current term his last, while the FA chairman, Greg Dyke, denounced Blatter for claiming corruption allegations in the media were motivated by racism.

Fifa confirmed on Friday night that it had received formal notification of Garcia’s intention to take Eckert’s summary of his investigation to its appeals committee.

Meanwhile, one of the two whistleblowers discredited in Eckert’s statement, Bonita Mersiades, the head of communications for Australia’s 2022 bid, was scathing in her assessment of Fifa’s handling of the investigation. “It’s an organisation that, in terms of governance, is just a farce,” she said.

“The only people that come out well in that summary report by Eckert is Fifa. [It says] they got their decisions right in respect to Qatar and Russia, and there’s even a sentence and a reference in there that Sepp Blatter ran a wonderful process. It’s almost like high comedy.”

The Observer
15 November

I am convinced that there is a criminal element amongst the commentating sports press.....some of these household names should be arrested and charged promptly !...

Tough match for Wales tonight, live on Sky now.