Battle of Britain (CL/ EL Prelim Rounds)

[Jorge Porbillas]

The abundance of €1 tipping slots in Monaco makes it an obvious comparison

[EIM]

Ridiculous that football has started already.

[Patrick Thistle]

North Wales is its own country isn't it?

[imp]

No accounts of the Gers bringing nights of floodlit glory back to Ibrox with a result that must have sent reverberations around Europe? Or at least a mild vibration through one small part of Luxemburg.

[Duncan Gardner]

No accounts of the Gers bringing nights of floodlit glory back to Ibrox with a result that must have sent reverberations around Europe? Or at least a mild vibration through one small part of Luxemburg

Not good, but should be er Progress for Regress Barleycorn. No complacency though, as I mentioned above, Lux were the last team to thrash NI in Euro competition.

If Crusaders can defend that lead against Metalguru (Liepaja's now sadly defunct sponsor), they could play Soligorsk Easy Action in R2. Who knows, then a Ride to White Swansea by then managed by Telegram Sam Allardyce?

Good effort by the Welsh and Free State sides, sadly Coleraine and Derry got mullered.

[elguapo4]

Rangers 2 nil down in Luxembourg with only a few minutes left

[ursus arctos]

Not so Ready after all

[elguapo4]

That is embarrassing

[Mumpo]

Wow.

[Lang Spoon]

That's almost worth one of them newfangled smileys, Ursus.

Mibbees even a *Like*

[Antepli Ejderha]

Rangers 2 nil down in Luxembourg with only a few minutes left

And out.

TNS are almost certainly through. Fuck.

[Lang Spoon]

If it wasn't for the Scottish coefficient damage, I'd be rolling on the floor right now. Out before the 12th. The horror.

[Ray de Galles]

How did The Oswestry Franchise's opponents manage to get two players sent off at exactly the same time?

[imp]

Gers may be out of Europe before the Yanks have stowed away the bunting, but at least they don't have to endure the days when they'd be knocked out twice before Christmas. By the time the competition proper starts, everyone will have forgotten they were in it to start with.

[Lang Spoon]

Pedro won't. At least WGS's early humiliation was at the hands of a fairly large country and footballing nation in Scottish terms (the Artmedia debacle). I doubt the fans will let Pedro forget this shaming, he'll be out the door faster than you can say Le Guen. I wonder what money you'd get on them finishing fifth next season?

[EIM]

This is fucking marvellous. Still, they've got the DUP/Tory government to celebrate, and Linfield and Chelsea are still in Europe, so it's not all doom and gloom for the - ahahahaha - bears.

[Jorge Porbillas]

How did The Oswestry Franchise's opponents manage to get two players sent off at exactly the same time?

One sent off, the other received a second yellow for dissent

[Lang Spoon]

Good marching weather in Belfast for the weekend as well, apparently. Everything's coming up WilHuis.

[Satchmo Distel]

Is this the earliest date that a Scottish club has gone out of Europe? Is the SPL now one of the worst top tiers in Europe, perhaps in the bottom 10?

[Duncan Gardner]

I watched the last 15 minutes of La Fiorita- Linfield (live on youtube). My tourist Italian is limited so when the commentator kept saying there was nothing sinister about the Plues, it wasn't clear whether he meant their inability to threaten down the left channel or that they'd forgotten to ritually sacrifice a Catholic at half time. LF apparently the better team throughout, but pragmatic Dulse e Veda prevailed in the end.

Meanwhile, the Crusaders away support are flying off to Latvia shortly. If we hang on for the win, the Shore Road to be renamed Via Baltica (we saw off Lithuania and Estonia's finest in 2014 and 2015). EIM will be pleased that the first chunk of that billion quid bribe will be to replace the York Street traffic lights bottleneck with the Stanley Baxter underpass...

[Diable Rouge]

Is this the earliest date that a Scottish club has gone out of Europe? Is the SPL now one of the worst top tiers in Europe, perhaps in the bottom 10?

Celtic apart, the other clubs seem to be just on a par with the League of Ireland, at best, currently.

[blameless]

That's a wee bit unfair on Aberdeen, who in the last two years have bounced Macedonian, Latvian and Croatian clubs from the Europa League (and unlike Rangers, managed to beat Luxembourgish part-timers). Rangers and St.Johnstone though... hmmm, yeah.

And to add to a rotten 24 hours for Rangers fans, the courts have just found in favour of HMRC against Old Rangers too.

[Bill Bones]

That's a wee bit unfair on Aberdeen, who in the last two years have bounced Macedonian, Latvian and Croatian clubs from the Europa League (and unlike Rangers, managed to beat Luxembourgish part-timers). Rangers and St.Johnstone though... hmmm, yeah.

And to add to a rotten 24 hours for Rangers fans, the courts have just found in favour of HMRC against Old Rangers too.

The Dons also saw off Dutch opposition 3 years ago.

Hard to argue that the rest are above League of Ireland standard though. I see that summer football and early starts has been raised again by the usual suspect. Despite the fact the Luxembourg season starts in, er, August.

[Duncan Gardner]

Summer football gets trailed regularly in NI too. One factor arguing against it is improvement in facilities (eg the 4G pitches at Crusaders and Cliftonville, which have resulted in fewer winter postponements).

I can confirm that Crusaders supremo Stanley Baxter has even put off his usual July break in Florida to take charge in Latvia. He was enjoying a bacon sandwich at Glentoran Airport before they flew out this morning.

[Gangster Octopus]