The England football team has been without a manager for a couple of weeks now and already we have been inundated with stories linking everyone from Martin O’Neill to Sir Alex Ferguson with the job.

One by one, the supposed candidates have counted themselves out of the running, but then without a firm offer of work they would say that wouldn’t they?  Why run the risk of upsetting your own team’s fans and more importantly your current employer by openly courting another job in public?

But assuming the likes of O’Neill, Curbishley etc are all geniunely not after the job then who is really in the frame?

I’m a fan of Aberdeen FC when it comes to football, but in European competitions I will gladly support any Scottish team which is playing as their success is going for Scottish football as a whole.

This is easy for me as a fan of a non-Old Firm side, Rangers fans can find it hard to wish Celtic well and vice versa however.  I find this rather stupid, but there you go.

What is a contract worth?  Anything or nothing?

It is meant to provide security for both parties - if you employ someone to do a job for you then a contract with them would provide peace of mind that they will turn up and do what they are supposed to, and from their point of view it ensures that if they do that then you are duty bound to pay them fr doing so.

In the sporting world though, contracts seem to mean diddly-squat and that doesn’t really seem fair on anyone at all.

So, for the first time in 14 years, there will be no country from Britain or Ireland at a major football tournament.

Boo hoo.

From a personal standpoint, and this is something I never thought I would be saying, I think that the order of home nations who deserved to get to the finals given the way they have performed in the qualifiers is:

1.  Scotland
2.  Northern Ireland
3.  England
4.  Wales

Supporters may not agree on the exact order, but I think only the most ardent England supporter could argue against the fact that Scotland have performed much better than anyone expected - including us Scots it has to be said.

Sport - why on earth do we watch it?!

No matter what the sport is, the order that results happen is of paramount importance to how we feel and react as supporters - for example a goal scored against our favourite football team in the first minute isn’t greeted with as much dismay as one scored in the final minute.

Of course tonight, us Scotland supporters had to endure both of those scenarios!
What a rollercoaster of a game - I hate that cliche, but if every it applied to a game of football, it was this one.