It's been a few weeks since I last posted, and readers will surely agree that it has been an odd time for football in general. Down south, for example, the final week of the transfer window turned into something of a silly season. Manchester City grabbed the headlines, of course, with their attempt to sign approximately 60% of the population of Europe on deadline day, though rumours of a last-ditch £50m bid for Kevin Motion proved to be unfounded. For me, though, the strangest goings-on were at Stoke City. I'm sure nobody was surprised to see a crowd of Manchester City supporters gathering outside their stadium when the Robinho signing was announced, but the sight of Stoke supporters doing the same for Danny Higginbotham - as broadcast live on Sky Sports News - was unquestionably a touch bizarrre.
Returning to more familiar circles, ex-Warrior Kenny Miller has been making headlines once again. Having achieved the unique feat of making himself equally unpopular with both halves of the Old Firm, last weekend saw him silence his critics amongst the Rangers support by doing what he does best - rising to the big occasion and socring goals. As the World Cup qualifiers approach, we can only hope that his rich vein of form continues: both Macedonia and Iceland are sides we should realistically be beating, but who nevertheless represent potential banana-skins. I'm especially looking forward to watching tomorrow's clash with Macedonia, or the 'Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,' as the intractable nature of Balkan politics obliges us to refer to them. One added incentive for the team is the very real possibility that two victories might take us ahead of England in the world rankings, for the first time ever: here's hoping!
The international break has, of course, fallen at a convenient time for the Warriors: our win over Cowdenbeath last week ensured that we would remain top of the league for at least two weeks. Such a disrpution to the rhythm of regular weekly matches is sometimes interpreted as a potential hazard for in-form teams, but as things stand just now, we have every reason to look forward with confidence to the resumption of league action on September 13.
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