As the draw has been made for the World Cup in Russia next summer I'll start a separate thread for it. GROUP A: Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia GROUP B: Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco GROUP C: France, Peru, Denmark, Australia GROUP D: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria GROUP E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia GROUP F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea GROUP G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama GROUP H: Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan Not a bad draw for England. Belgium are a good side but a lot of their players play in England so they'll know all about them.

Quite right. Well done Sweden. Italy weren't good enough. Topping Spain was always going to be tough, but the performance in Madrid by them was woeful. Classic Italian defending may have got them a draw.

Flemish is Dutch. An equivalent would be what American English is to English.

What language to the Belgium team speak when they are together? Training? Games? Team talks? The national languages are Dutch and French. Head coach Roberto Martinez is Spanish, but has lived more of his life in England. His assistant is Thierry Henry, a native French speaker who has spent more time away from France than in it. Most, if not all of the squad don't play in the Belgian league either. I'm curious. PSG is another one. There's not much native French in that dressing room.

Is it me or are tattoos more popular than ever? When I was young (80's) tattoos were the realm of old men. Usually unremarkable in design, recognising events of the past. Now there's all sorts. I don't have any but who on here does? Why did you get one? Who'd consider more?

Here's an interesting article in the Guardian regarding club youth players; https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/06/football-biggest-issue-boys-rejected-academies?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Fiver+2016&utm_term=246909&subid=6923483&CMP=EMCFTBEML853#comment-106370893 It mentions Huddersfield who have indeed scrapped their u8-u16 set up. They did an extensive review and found that the last person who played in those age groups for Huddersfield who then went on to play in the Premier League was Rovers own Jon Stead, in 1999. Relating this to Rovers, I don't see how the club can keep funding a cat 1 academy that isn't producing players. No manager installed at Ewood would be willing to bring up youngsters, they want proven players who are known commodities.

the 2016-2017 Puskas nominees have been announced. The winner will be decided at the end of October. Puskas award - top goal of 2016-2017 I liked Mandzukic when I saw it live.

We were. I bet that it took Butterworth a long time to get over that game. Man handled from beginning to end by a relative youngster. I was at the game and didn't know until watching those highlights that both Wegerle and Shearer missed absolute sitters that could have made it even more.

Interesting post. Professional football development has changed massively since my youth - early 90's. Back then it was YTS forms, manual labour, boot cleaning, training, games, and the odd cup competition. 15-30 players per year is a lot. Do they have teams to support all those players? I do agree that Cat 1 academies are churning out more technically savvy players than past eras who are capable of playing league football. However, my theory is the drop out rate is so high due to the fact that they've been used to top class everything. Once they leave that environment disintegrates and they're forced to motivate from within. That gets harder and harder the longer they are gone from their former elevated stature. Clubs care about the diamond. The parts that keep the diamond shiny are easily discarded.

Agreed. It was typical Mourinho. Stifle the opposition, play it tight, nick a goal. Man U were streets better than Ajax. Alexi Lalas was the 'expert' commentating on US TV. The other commentator mentioned the words "tactical masterclass". Lalas pointed out that it's only a masterclass if the opposition warrant it. Ajax were no Real Madrid.

I'm in the Huddersfield did nothing wrong camp. I also agree that the rule is a farce. The club manager should have discretion on what team he puts out. The rule falls down on the definition of full strength. Professional players at a club on contract should be deemed good enough even if they don't play every week. They have a contract with that club hence they should be in the reckoning to play. What if Wagner had come out and said that his first XI were hit with food poisoning after a dodgy lasagna the night before the game? Rovers predicament is nothing to do with Huddersfield playing a "weakened" side against Birmingham. Home losses against the likes of Barnsley, and the common occurrence of conceding goals late on under Coyle are far more significant than another team's performance.

Unfortunately your proviso relies on Rovers having some sort of form in them. As of 43 games they are bottom 3 material. I don't see how it will change in 3 games, considering an insipid performance against Barnsley, and a woeful first hour yesterday. Redknapp is no sure thing either. The Birmingham players may have been underperforming all season but they may be too far gone to fix in such a short space of time. He didn't save Southampton from relegation a few years back.

All 3 clubs you list have terrible owners. One would think that someone buying a football club would so some research on how to run it once purchased. It's no surprise that West Brom are doing well this season. They have the best chairman in football running the show with an experienced manager sorting the football team out. Rovers need to pull out 2 wins from 3 games. Nail biting stuff. However, it reads much differently than the last 2nd tier relegation struggle. Was it Easter Monday when we beat top of the table Oldham, all but sealing safety? I agree with those that say that staying up this season puts off the inevitable. Rovers will be odds on next season to go down. No money, no players, no management, no hope.

An interesting article in the Guardian about Sporting Kansas City striker Dom Dwyer; https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/23/dom-dwyer-usa-kansas-city-usa-football-team?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Fiver+2016&utm_term=209840&subid=6923483&CMP=EMCFTBEML853 Born and raised in England he went to the US at 18 to play at university. He's now married with a kid and is going for US citizenship. He's hoping for a USA call up once it's all sorted.

Went last weekend. Excellent. Good food, reasonable prices. It certainly does the job.

For those who fear the end of football, this article won't to much to dissuade you; https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/13/atlantic-league-fc-copenhagen-director-scotland?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Fiver+2016&utm_term=194692&subid=6923483&CMP=EMCFTBEML853 This quote from the article is, sadly, how the game is viewed now; "Last month the president of Spain’s La Liga admitted he is considering proposals to form a breakaway competition to rival the Champions League because it represents a “greater opportunity to generate more revenue”.

I agree with everyone's comments on this year's Ryder Cup. The Americans were stronger and it showed yesterday. Excellent putting. Willett's brother caused all sorts of problems. From riling up the fans, to forcing Clarke to drop Willett who in turn lost his form. A bit silly, but I don't think he knew how severe the reaction would be. McIlroy was emotionally spent in his singles match yet he almost clawed back a half. Clarke should get another go at it. He is nowhere near as bad as Faldo. Westwood will be long gone next time. I hope Garcia waits around for another one. He can't win a major but cleans up in Ryder Cup events.

I've just seen this. I had no idea that the combination had shut down. I read the article comments. Reasons range from laziness, high fees, to bad pitches. I spent my youth and early teenage years watching games at King George's and Wilson's. I loved it. A sad end indeed.

He bagged another 4 tonight. The second time in a week. An amazing talent. But a complete nutter. Barcelona, Real, and Atletico are quality sides. They are 20+ points ahead of Villareal in 4th. Overall though I don't think that La Ligament has the competition or quality of the premier league.

That triggered a memory. It's been a long time since I've heard Colne Dynamoes mentioned. Graham White was the money behind them. http://www.wsc.co.uk/the-archive/101-Non-League/4366-the-colne-dynamoes-debacle

Coleman should have a statue crafted for what he has done at Stanley. He got them into the league during his first stint. Left for bigger things at Rochdale of all places. Didn't recreate the magic there then came back. To have them challenging for promotion is amazing. Stanley are a club who will never have any money. Those thinking that they can compete with Rovers are wide of the mark. As has already been said Accrington and it's surroundings are split between Rovers and Burnley, Stanley are an afterthought. Would they be able to go up if they did get promoted? Is the ground up to League 1 par? I've heard that teams get changed at the Dunk as the changing rooms are still awful.

I was surprised too. Only Faldo had done it previously, and he won it 3 times. If Westwood's short game and putting was 10% better he'd have about 5 majors. His grey hair makes him look like Darren Clarke. The crowd noises are daft but that's what American golf crowds do. It's all part of them trying to get a laugh; just like the comments people make at football matches. However, I'd say that on the whole Americans aren't as imaginative. US TV coverage was up to its usual tricks. It prides itself on annoying the viewer with pointless "human interest" stories about the perceived winner. They'd been salivating over Spieth since Thursday. I'm sure they had story after story lined up. However, when Willett won it was a quick nod to his newborn son then it was off the air. I missed the green jacket ceremony. If Spieth had won they would have kept it going for another 20 minutes.

Danny Willett has become only the 2nd Englishman to win the Masters. It was a cracking last round. Jordan Spieth was 5 shots up after 4 straight birdies with only the back 9 to play. He bogeyed the 10th and 11th then he quadruple bogeyed the 12 after hitting the water twice. All this as Willett birdied 2 in a row. Great golf. I think that Spieth will take some time to get over this one.

I just watched a Youtube video of a bloke making one. Now I know what they are. Maybe they are a Blackburn only tradition.

3 players have joined Chinese clubs this week for big figures. Ramires for £25m. Jackson Martinez went for €30m Alex Texeira for €50m The ones not named Ramires were touted for big money Premier League moves during the January window. Are they mercenaries or Beckham like visionaries?