Dunfermline Don

Aye and there school children will need to be in on time as well now(they’re no on holiday yet)

Thank f**k! I can go back on Facebook now to see all my English friends tears.

I won’t relax until Spain are two or three up!

Was the Andy Murray ‘incident’ not explained as a wind up to Tim Henman. The two of them had been joking about football earlier that day and Murray had noticed Henman at the back of the press conference when he was asked the question.

I see that as more of a pro-Italian cover rather than the cringeworthy one they have this time. It shows the very worst aspects of nationalism and we as a nation should be much better than stooping to the level of the red tops from south of the border. I say this as a lifelong supporter of Scottish independence.

I was on shift when the Lionesses lost to Spain last year, so I am seeing that as an omen!

I think we must be pretty unique in the UK in having most of our media coming from a different FIFA/UEFA member nation. Imagine if the Austrians or Portuguese had their coverage via Germany or Spain. This can be exasperated by the fact that some of our southern neighbours have difficulty in differentiating between Britain/UK and England. Southgate himself has previously referred to the island of England! I have lived in England and have many great friends there who are just as passionate about their football as us Scots. The day after the opening game in Munich I was having a bit of banter with some English guys in a bar and ended up on an all day session with them. They knew we want them to lose and joked back that we are just like our food, battered all the time. Should worst case scenario happen on Sunday I will be thinking of those guys and the joy they will be feeling. I will also be thinking of the Villa fan I worked with in the 90s who contacted me as I was leaving Hampden after our 2-0 win over Spain offering congratulations. I am working this Sunday with the autistic gent who I look after. He is a massive football fan and will be cheering his country on, so a win would make my shift a bit easier. Having said that I will be avoiding as much of the build up as possible for reasons stated previously.

I just got this random email from Travelodge. I don’t know why their algorithms think that I might be interested!

Thought I would take my mind off all the hype and go out on Saturday night to see some comedy. Al Murray’s pub landlord at the Alhambra in Dunfermline. What could possibly go wrong?

The reason I am not going to start watching on TV until 5 minutes before KO. At halftime the bins need to go out and I might get everything ready for work tomorrow!

I have England in our family sweepstakes. Should I be making plans how to spend the money?

Andy Murray style comment ‘Englands men’s team!’

I have an awful feeling that our southern neighbours may finally click into gear today after their narrow escape in the last game. The resultant media frenzy that follows becoming unbearable as usual. However I then remember that Southgate is the manager.

We should have a referendum to decide this IMO!

In 1997 I was working on a cruise ship sail from New York to Southampton, we were close enough to the UK to get the TV coverage of the election count. I remember returning to my Cabin after a session in the crew bar in time to see Portilo go and watched the rest of the night with growing excitement. I was just starting the big school when Thatcher was elected, so had only really known a Tory government and was eager for a change. Tonight it all feels a bit meh! I may watch a bit struggle to get much enthusiasm for the blue tories being replaced by red tories.

Snap, that’s the only plus side to their inept performance and how jammy they have been with the way the draw has panned out. I would happily forgo my winnings though and have a toblerone instead.

The only positive is that this keeps Southgate in the job a few days longer!

Today is the first time I’ve watched any of the games on UK TV and I am already sick of all the updates from the England camp!

We stayed near Ludwigsburg which was just north of Stuttgart. It was the capital of the region and there was a palace designed to be similar to Versallies in France. We also stumbled upon the resort where the Belgian team was based. The host of our Airbnb also invited us join him around his fire pit on the Friday night for beers and a BBQ, we chatted for hours about football and politics. I have to agree that the actual city of Stuttgart wasn’t as impressive as Munich or Koln but I have to say they were quite exceptional.

Anyone else on the Amsterdam to Newcastle ferry on Wednesday night? I think the atmosphere may be a little bit subdued compared with two weeks earlier!

It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were reaching almost 1978 levels of optimism about this tournament, expecting to at the very least be able to get out of the group. Being over here has been great, meeting other supporters from all over Europe. Visiting Munich, Koln & Stuttgart and being welcomed by the locals. Enjoying the beer and the food. Driving on the autobahn and having other Scots and Germans tooting and waving at the flags on our car. The only downside had been the performance of the football team.

Already been in the ground for an hour, don’t want to keep drinking or I will be off to the toilet throughout the game. Though this is the Hungary end of the stadium there are plenty of Scots here as well.

One of the joys of being over in Germany is not having to put up with cringeworthy TV coverage back home. Its was actually fun watching the build up to the English game on local TV here and seeing the presenter effortlessly change from German to English when interviewing some fans before the match and the Leeds fans that were interviewed trying to figure out if they were taking the piss out of them!

Drove from IJmuiden (Newcastle ferry) to Wurzburg yesterday. My biggest moan about the autobahn was lorries overtaking each other and making it difficult to get out into the 3rd lane to overtake due to all the Audis and BMWs flying by. Plenty of TA also travelling on the road as well. Onwards to our Airbnb outside of Munich today.

5pm Newcastle ferry tomorrow night then driving down to Munich for the Friday.