Scotland down in world rankings
SCOTLAND have slipped to 54th place in the FIFA rankings after the 6-0 defeat in Holland. Berti Vogts' side had risen eight places to 50th after the 1-0 win over the Dutch at Hampden, but the six-goal thrashing put them back four places.
That means they are now ranked alongside African minnows Mali and below Kuwait, Honduras and Zimbabwe. The Republic of Ireland move up one place to 14th, but England remain eighth while Wales and Northern Ireland slide to 66th and 122nd respectively.
No players for the Hearts defence
CRAIG LEVEIN, the Hearts manager, could be without four first-choice players for Saturday's trip to face Rangers.
Steven Pressley and Mark de Vries are ruled out through injury, while Andy Webster and Alan Maybury are suspended. Levein said: ''We are struggling a bit. We knew we were going to be without Alan and Andy, but to go to Ibrox without Steven and Mark will make it even harder.''
Grady uses fear factor as a spur
JAMES GRADY will attempt to scare his Partick Thistle team-mates into ending the slump which has left them nine points adrift at the bottom of the Bank Of Scotland premierleague - by telling them all about life in the first division.
The 32-year-old striker, who was at Ayr United until last summer, said: ''It's a massive difference from the SPL to the first division. No disrespect to clubs like Inverness and Ross County, but when you travel away up there and there's 1500 people there, it's hard. I'll tell the players that, let them think about it a wee bit, and hopefully that will spur us on.''
Williamson upset by contract talks
BOBBY WILLIAMSON, the Hibernian manager, has admitted his protracted contract talks have had an unsettling effect on him this season. Williamson, who is confident a new deal will be signed soon, said: ''Everything has basically been agreed. However, it has been a distraction. I would be telling lies if I said it hasn't been.''
Raith could add to Spanish colony
ANTONIO CALDERON, the Raith Rovers manager, Antonio Calderon, will run the rule over two players in Barcelona this week with a view to bringing them to Stark's Park next month. Calderon has taken his players to Spain for a three-day training camp and will take a look at the duo in a bounce game.
Peterhead ready for a Brash move
PETERHEAD may be set to sign sacked Dundee midfielder Kris Brash. The 20 year old was farmed out to Montrose at the start of the season, but that agreement fell through when the Dens Park side went into administration and he is currently available on a free transfer.
Chelsea appeal over Cole ban
CHELSEA have appealed against the two-match ban imposed on Joe Cole for his part in a fracas at Bolton while he was still a West Ham player. Chelsea's acting chief-executive Paul Smith said: ''We're being punished for something that happened when Joe wasn't a Chelsea player.''
Healy in frame for a speedy recovery
FORMER Celtic midfielder Colin Healy could be walking unaided a month after breaking his leg while playing for Sunderland. The 23 year old has had a special frame fitted which uses computer technology to stimulate the damaged area and speed up the healing process.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article