DG.Roma

Chris Lumsden, former teammate of Peter Murphy at Carlisle, might've given the game away towards the end of their BBC Sounds Podcast. He had met with him on Sunday and said something along the lines of "he's left that club in a good position for someone else to take over." Very much talking past tense as if Murphy had already left Annan.

This is a factor for me. I have older cousins who all tell me they regret not going to France '98, thinking they'd go to the next one. 26 years later and this is their next chance to go to a tournament with Scotland, and my first as an adult. I have faith in the future, but there's no way I was going to take the risk of missing out and waiting who knows how long for the next opportunity, especially with North American and Saudi tournaments coming up.

As much as I enjoyed that, it's worryingly annoying how all of Germany's best players seem to be finding themselves in great form just in time for the Euros, whereas most of ours are getting injured.

That's a shame if the 18th is set in stone as the home leg, just because that's the date of the Stranraer v East Kilbride 2nd leg at Stair Park. Would be good to get to Stranraer's game as well as the South winners' home leg, but looks like that's not possible

Tell me about it! Being childless puts me in a different situation to half my friends, and working in music means a number of other friends are weirdos with no interest in sport, or are absent minded creatives with commitment issues! Got tired of waiting for people to confirm so just booked flights and accommodation myself after the draw was made. Will be travelling solo but meeting people there. If I were you I'd still find a way to get to Germany. Stay just outside a host city to bring the prices down and travel in for the fanzones. They'll be full of like minded people and have a cracking atmosphere

As for me, I was busy this morning and afternoon. Tried to get in anyway but got hit with the blank Captcha image that loads of people are reporting. Had to rely on friends and one managed to get tickets for Turkey v Georgia in Dortmund. Delighted to be going to a game, especially in that stadium. Agreed. I wish the tickets were released at a more convenient time, or at least with more notice to allow people to make plans. I have been really lucky/have done really well getting tickets to hugely in demand gigs in various countries over the last few years, largely due to the timing of the sales and being able to manipulate my schedule to buy them, but have had no luck at all with these Euros sales windows.

Jump at it! The Ryanair prices will rise (they will anyway if you add bags and want to guarantee sitting next to your son.) Early start but it gives you a full day to get your bearings and watch Saturday's games in a fanzone. There's a lot to be said for direct flights and avoiding the hassle of changeover, either between flights or between airport and train(s) You might find cheaper hotels, but if you're willing to pay that for a Premier Inn then you know you're getting a comfortable and reliable place to stay, whereas a cheap local could be a bargain, or a risk. Well done on getting the tickets, delighted for you and the (now rather big) wee man!

Yeah when I first commented about him diving I was joking, because surely not, but the hands up in the replay make it look bad.

It's the arms that are the giveaway. If you are naturally falling, your arms instinctively go down to break your fall, they never ever go up unless it's to help you regain balance, something a diving footballer never does. This is something that I wish referees (and now VARs) would think about when deciding on penalty decisions

Can't believe he's taken a dive there! Reckon it's his default reaction when he gets in the box, even when he's got a tap in and no defenders near him?

Agreed. When you see a load of the away kits hanging up together, it's not a nice sight. It really does look like a washing machine accident. I thought of something about the home kit. If the colours were inverted - so the yellow bits were navy and the rest of the shirt was yellow, mad patterns included, and keep the navy shorts - it would make a really good away kit. Too much of a mess for a home kit.

Decent, but there's a significant difference in sound depending on where you're standing or sitting (don't sit, you'll have no view) Stand at the back and you'll get loads of bar chatter, there's speakers about 2/3rds of the way back to deal with this, but the sound is a lot better the other side of them, closer to the stage.

How about this then - who's been the best Left Back in the English Premier League since Andy Robertson left Dundee United? It's Andy Robertson. Around about the time Robertson joined Hull, Ashley Cole left Chelsea, they replaced him with an out of position Cesar Azpilicueta, and then Marcos Alonso. More recently they've had Ben Chilwell or Marc Cucurella. Chelsea, Man City and Leicester are the only other teams to have won the league since Robertson joined it. Leicester did it with Christian Fuchs. Spurs had Danny Rose and Ben Davies in 2014, Man Utd had Luke Shaw, Tyler Blackett and Timothy Fosu-Mensah. Arsenal had Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal. I don't think any of them have really had anyone significant since then, other than Kieran Tierney. Man City have won the league with Kolarov, Clichy, Mendy, Zinchenko, Delph, Cancelo, Laporte and Ake at left back, maybe more. Kolarov had his moments, Mendy was brilliant going forward but a liability on the pitch, never mind off it. Joao Cancelo was great for a while, but that didn't last. Laporte and Ake are good, but are centre backs, not full backs. Delph and Zinchenko are midfielders. I know I'll have missed some, but in the last decade, Andy Robertson is comfortably the best Left Back in the Premier League.

Certainly did. Got one goal and came close a couple of times. It looked more like it was going to be 2-2 than 1-3, but as I've said so many times this season, a lot of these players just aren't good enough. Ellis and Armer at full back are sadly out of their depth, Barclay and Lavelle at centre back are liable for a mistake at any time. Mellish, now playing in midfield, was back to his careless headless chicken mode rather than the chaotic wrecking ball he must've been at Peterborough. There continues to be criticism of Paul Simpson, but it's not the manager's fault when players run in to each other, or kick the ball against each other, take a 5 yard first touch and lose the ball, continuously pass to the ball boys, or needlessly push a guy in the back to give away a freekick at the edge of the box. On the plus side, Butterworth was lively again and the new striker Georgie Kelly looked good when he came on. If only he was fit when he signed. A bit of a clear out in the summer and some smart signings, and we can hopefully actually look forward to a good season at the top end of League 2.

If he was, I doubt they'd have loaned him back to the same level he was already playing at. Here's a thing though. Max Kilsby was really good at Annan, and by all accounts Oscar McIntyre is doing very well there now. That tells a story that won't need much explaining for Queens fans.

I did contemplate grabbing a late ticket, but for me and my mates it's the price for a friendly that's put us off. Added to the cost of travel from Dumfries & Galloway, the Nations League tickets, plus of course a wee trip to Germany in the summer, you have to draw the line somewhere.

You won't be short on offers for these, but please add me to your queue!

Cheers for the heads up, just got maself the home shirt in Dumfries. Low stock of both there, none of the away in my size. Watch the chancers though, they had the aways at £50

Really? I've been surprised in Germany about the amount of places that were cash only. Last time I was in Berlin was just before Covid, so maybe it's changed since. I was in Munich at the end of last year and a lot more places were taking card, but nowhere was card only.

I've heard it argued that the lower leagues are suffering from the presence of VAR because double the usual number of top level refs are needed in the Premiership, meaning there's a knock on effect with guys who really should be at League 1 or 2 doing Championship games, and Lowland or Highland league standard refs moving into Leagues 1 and 2.

No I meant after play has stopped. So for example, possible foul in the box, ref gives nothing, ball gets cleared out for a throw-in. Now, in Scotland, the ref tells the players to pause then waits ages for the VAR to advise either play on, or check the screen. In last night's Napoli game, pretty much as soon as the ball was out (a few seconds after the incident) the ref was told to go and look at the screen, and it looked like he and the VAR reviewed it at the same time, therefore the overall stoppage in play was very short compared to what we've become used to.

One of the things that annoys me is that if there's something to check, the ref will pause the game and the VAR will take a minute or two checking it, and then send the ref over who may take another minute to review it. Why not just bring the ref to the screen right away? Or maybe not right away, but if it's obvious it's going to take a while. In the Napoli v Juventus game last night Osimhen went down under a challenge in the box and play was waved on, a few seconds later the ball was out of play. At first glance, it was hard to tell what had happened so it was worth a second look. The ref went over to the screen right away and the decision to award a penalty was made very quickly. No momentum was lost, players weren't getting cold and seizing up, fans weren't getting bored or impatient. Much better.

I was there and was really enjoying the first 15 minutes. Yet again a great start deflated by clinical finishing. The 2nd goal was great work by their wing back, but awful from Armer and Mellish who were just too afraid to make a challenge incase they gave away a penalty. Poor defending again for the 3rd. Gibson and McCalmont were about to come on before the 3rd goal, but really Gibson should've been brought on at half time. Unlike the Cambridge game, Carlisle kept going and gave their best, but just weren't good enough. Can't fault effort, but Mellish, Armer, Ellis & Charters just aren't at this level. Mellish was better further forward but the others were too slow and clumsy in possession. Reading were sharp, fast and physical, and first to every second ball. Very disappointing. It was already in miracle territory but Tuesday's win gave some faint optimism. It's all gone now and been replaced with acceptance. Bring on the next transfer window.

It was an excellent win. A scrappy game on a poor pitch, but a real battling performance that proves that the players are still up for this and are giving their all. The defence looked much better with Huntingdon back. The keeper had the best game I've seen of his since he signed. Taylor Charters' deliveries, including for the goal, were sublime and Jack Diamond put in a power of work behind Armstrong, tireless effort.

I've no idea, but I think his contract is up in the summer, so maybe it's a loan for now and he's not being offered a new contract, so he won't be back. That might explain the mixed stories.