Diamond Scot

Thats kind of my point. A few of our defenders are about the same level. Hendry and Porteous have a mistake or 2 in them but have more recently put in good performances for Scotland than Souttar has. If its a straight 2 out of the 3 then Souttar misses out for me. Thought Shankland played pretty well today. Had no real service but did the other bits of the game. Im a big fan of Gordon but thought he looked abit shakey today.

Souttar has never been better than average in terms of Scotland standard in my opinion. Theres not alot of difference between him and some of our other centre backs like Hendry or Porteous however these guys currently have the jersey and imo Souttar hasnt done enough to displace them.

I tend to agree with this. Pitch invasions should be reserved for historic achievements. Winning a league that you shouldnt even be in in the 1st place is not that. Celebrate a job well done but no need to go mad. Actually makes the club look smaller than it is imo.

The problem we now have is that it would have been unlikely for all the 6 players you mention to play the full 90 for all 3 games. Subbing off McTominay or McGinn for Armstrong or Ferguson is alot stronger than doing it for the likes of Turnbull. Even though the guys we have lost werent starters, they were solid experienced subs, more than capable of maintaining the standard of the starting players. We are now looking at the real possibility of a huge drop off in quality if we need to make subs or injury replacements during the tournament. For example if Hickey doesnt make it then its probable Ralston will start. That in itself is a massive drop off but if Ralston gets injured / tired / picks up a booking during one of the games then we are probably then looking at giving Max Johnstone his international debut or playing somebody out of position.

If we need a few players to pad out the squad id much rather take our best youngsters rather than guys who we know arent at the required level. For example as a back up id rather take Doig over Taylor. Doak over Turnbull Barron over Cairney The only exception to me is id be tempted to take Gauld purely because he hasnt ever really been given a chance and sometimes a wildcard with abit to prove just shines at the right time.

Ive not seen the different angle on the Johnston foul. Dont think they showed it on the TV. If its a foul then I suppose the ref could have been waiting to see if Aberdeen scored and then VAR could have intervened to say it was a foul but that would seem abit backward and not what it looked like happened at the time. The ref did point straight to the foul amd indicate the free kick straight after the penalty challenge. It was the fact he didnt do it straight after the "foul" that seems out of the norm. I heard that on the TV aswell. No idea if it it normal or not but I suppose if the VAR is meant to consider everything in the final phase b4 a goal its only natural to ask the ref for all the info which would include what the Aberdeen players were complaining about.

Whats the story with Barron. Did Aberdeen go big to try and get him to sign a new contract? Think he is a player with really good potential. If he leaves I hope he goes abroad.

Aberdeen shouldnt get drawn into debating whether it was a foul on Johnston or not. (It wasnt) What they need to concentrate on and demand answers on is why if the ref thought it was a foul, he didnt blow at the time. The game continues for a decent amount of time, the ref watches the play continue and only then the penatly foul is commited by CCV does the ref blow for a foul. There is no provision for this in the ref rulebook. He cant possibly be playing advantage as Celtic are defending their own box. Regardless of whether they win or not. Answers should be sought.

I think people tend to get abit misguided about players such as Ralston because they play for Celtic and therefore assume that they are competent. Ralston is a backup player for Celtic. He is more than capable of holding his own when filling in for the odd run of games when Celtic dominate and any mistakes arent punished however anytime he has come up against quality opposition he doesnt look like half the player. My big concern with him is he switches off / doesnt appear to read the game very well. An example of this was ROI 2nd goal in Dublin where he twice lets the goalscorer run off him but just doesnt recognise the danger until its too late. Ive not seen any of McCrorie when he has been in England but if he is getting regular game time then thats obviously a bonus over Ralston, Paterson and Johnstone who are getting very little. I wonder if Jack Hendry might be considered for RWB.

No consencious on this. Certainly nowhere near the body of evidence in respect of smoking. There will be an equal amount of publications saying moderate drinking has health benefits. You wont find any studies that say smoking is good for you.

Something feeling good / pleasant isnt an upside if the consequence of that is ill health. The difference between smoking and drinking is that smoking can harm regardless of volume. Alcohol doesnt. Smoking was introduced at a time when the health implications were really known. We have known about them for years now, attempted to inform the public to make good choices but the public for whatever reason havent done so. Its literally the role of government to make such decisions. It wont negatively impact anybodys life. For what its worth, they should be doing something similar in respect of fatty / unhealthy foods. I love a McDonalds and a chocolate bar but id much rather live in a society that not only promoted but more importantly facilitated healthy eating.

People have shown that they cant be trusted to make their own choices. Smoking has zero upside, massive downsides and costs millions to the NHS. The idea that free will equates to society being allowed to do whatever they want has never existed. If it did then why are certain drugs banned. Nobody can provide a single good reason for smoking. Its not like alcohol which is perfectly safe if consumed in moderation.

So do Israel then pay us back? Would seem strange if it cost us to defend Israel from an attack from Iran which came about because Israel attacked some Iranian commanders (rightly or wrongly)

When an RAF jet shoots down a drone / missle. Who pays for the fuel and RAF missle used to shoot down the drone? Does Isreal reimburse the UK or is it just chalked up to expenses of defending an ally?

If Hickey is back out on the grass doung light training now then he will be fine come the Euros. Brentford dont need to rush him back. If they were fighting for Europe or against relegation then it might be different. Hickey will just need to get his match sharpeness back but given how well he reads the game im not overly concerned. He also tends to keep things simple 2 friendlies and he will be good to go.