I'm looking forward to hearing how the TV boys handle England's absence. Will we get the 'what might have been' stuff, especially if the teams who knocked them out do well? Or maybe they'll jump on Sepp Blatter's bid to curtail foreign players and demand a more significant English presence in the top Premiership teams. They can't shy away from the harsh fact that England are not included in the top 16 in Europe. Us Scots have long since got used to the idea of missing out on the big occasions and it is no consolation that our team came so close to qualifying but down south they seem to think they have a God-given right to be there and I'm wondering if they'll pick holes in the quality of the football, then bore us senseless by maintaining it would have been so much better if their team was there.
Thankfully, we won't have to listen to Alan Hansen or Mark Lawrenson referring to England as 'we', somebody has finally realised what a tosser Ian Wright is and moved him on, we'll get more even coverage of events, instead of a heavy pro-England focus, and it will be very interesting to monitor which nations the 'experts' fancy to emerge as winners.
Greece's surprise success in Portugal four years ago should warn them all against writing any team off so this could be the most open major competition for a number of years. All the usual front-runners like Italy, Germany, Spain, Holland and France will be well fancied but the Czech Republic, Russia and Croatia will be worth watching and the noises coming out of Poland and Portugal suggest that they fancy their chances. Normally I wouldn't seriously consider Switzerland or Austria but, as joint hosts, they'll have a wee edge. Greece won't give up their title without a fight, look out for some clever stuff from the Turks and the Romanians and Sweden will be hard to beat. There you go, all sixteen finalists talked up in one paragraph!!!
Rangers connections will be pretty thin on the ground. Our old pal Rino Gattuso will be doing what he does best for Italy and, on the evidence of Friday's performance against Scotland, Libor Sionko could be a big player for the Czech Republic and no doubt all Bears will be growling when the Bigot Goalie breaks into his specs-belt-wallet routine (or does he just do that when he plays against the Gers?), with big Thingmyjig of Whereveritis making us question our usual backing for Holland. And with Henrik Falldownsson making yet another comeback to the international scene, I suppose we can get down to Ladbrokes to check out the odds on Sweden getting a few penalties.
Scotland's sole representative at the tournament is referee Craig Thomson but his involvement will be limited to acting as fourth official at a few games. It is hard to make a right Noel Hunt of such an easy job but I wouldn't bet against Thomson doing it. I can see it now, him getting himself in a strop if things get tasty in the dug-outs, an absolute nobody trying to tell major figures like Leo Beenhaker, Marco Van Basten, Roberto Donadoni, Luis Aragones or Big Phil Scolari to 'sit down and behave yourself'.' And expect at least one big cock-up with substitutions. Or am I being too cynical?
Throughout this week, I'll take time out from stocking the fridge with provisions (spiced rum, irn bru, lager and a few micro meals) to look into each group in detail, FFers can agree or disagree with my thoughts on who the heroes and villains of the thing will be and I might even get round to tipping the winner. Who will that be? Well, it won't be England. LOL!
LITTLE BOY BLUE