The UEFA cup qualifying round ended yesterday, and yours truly went 35-6 in terms of his picks. Note that I gave myself credit for picking the three Danish representatives to go through, despite the fact that they were different Danish teams than I thought they were. The draw for the first round proper is here, with my picks in bold:

AIK Solna (Swe) v Valencia CF (Esp)
Dinamo Buchurest (ROM) v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr)
Maccabi Haifa (Isr) v Publikum (Slo)
Torpedo Moscow (Rus) v CSKA Sofia (Bul)
Dundee (Sco) v Perugia (Ita)
Cementarnica (Mkd) v RC Lens (Fra)
Newcastle United (Eng) v NAC Breda (Hol)
Benfica (Por) v La Louviere (Bel)
Panionios (Gre) v FC Nordsjaelland (Den)
Heart of Midlothian (Sco) v NK Zeljeznicar (Bhz)
Udinese (Ita) v Austria Saltzberg (Aut)
Genclerbirligi (Tur) v Blackburn Rovers (Eng)
SKM Puchov (Svk) v Barcelona (Esp)
NK Dinamo Zagreb (Cro) v MTK Hungaria (Hun)
Hapoel Ramat-Gan (Isr) v Levski Sofia (BUL)
FC Kaiserslautern (Ger) v FK Teplice (Cze)
FK Sartid (SCG) v Slavia Prague (Cze)
Villarreal (Esp) v Trabzonspor (Tur)
Grasshopper-Zurich (Swi) v Hajduk Split (Cro)
Hertha Berlin (Ger) v Groclin Grodzisk (Pol)
Liverpool (Eng) v NK Olimpija Ljubljana (Slo)
Valerenga IF (Nor) v Grazer AK (Aut)
CSF Zimbru Chisinau (Mol) v Aris Thessaloniki (Gre)
FC Copenhagen (Den) v Ferncevaros (Hun)
NK Varteks (Cro) v Debrecen (Hun)
SV Hamburg (Ger) v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukr)
Bordeaux (Fra) v FC Artmedia Petrzalka (Svk)
AS Roma (Ita) v FK Vardar (Mkd)
Manchester City (Eng) v KSC Lokeren (Bel)
Spartak Moscow (Rus) v Esbjerg (Den)
Wisla Krakow (Pol) v NEC Nijmegen (Hol)
UD Leiria (Por) v Molde FK (Nor)
FK Austria Vienna (Aut) v Borussia Dortmund (Ger)
Auxerre (Fra) v Neuchatel Xamax FC (Swi)
FK Ventspils (Lat) v Rosenborg (Nor)
Gaziantepspor (Tur) v Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Isr)
Odense (Den) v Red Star Belgrade (Scg)
Sporting Lisbon (Por) v Malmo FF (Swe)
FC Utrecht (Hol) v MSK Zilina (Svk)
FC Metalurh Donetsk (Ukr) v Parma (Ita)
MyPa 47 (Fin) v Sochaux (Fra)
Schalke 04 (Ger) v NK Kamen Ingrad (Cro)
Real Mallorca (Esp) v APOEL Nicosia (Cyp)
Southampton (Eng) v Steaua Buchurest (ROM)
Feyenoord (Hol) v FC Karnten (Aut)
FC PAOK (Gre) v SFK Lyn (Nor)
Malatyaspor (Tur) v FC Basle (Swi)
Brondby (Den) v FK Viktoria Zizkov (Cze)

Ok, an amazing 13-3 for the last qualifying round of the Champions' Cup, for an overall record of 31-9. Here we go with the group stages!


Group A
Celtic (Sco)
Olympique Lyon (Fra)
Anderlecht (Bel)
Bayern Munich (Ger)

Yeah, I'm picking with my heart going with Celtic here, although their strong showing in the UEFA Cup last year could stand them in good stead. If Celtic falter, it'll be Olympique Lyon joining Bayern in the next round.

Group B
Dynamo Kiev (Ukr)
Lokomotiv Moscow (Rus)
Arsenal (Eng)
Inter Milan (Ita)

Fairly straightforward. I think the days of Dynamo Kiev causing upsets are pretty much over for now, and Lokomotiv Moscow are lucky to have reached the group stage. Plus, Arsenal and Inter are both appallingly strong teams.

Group C
PSV Eindhoven (Hol)
AEK Athens (Gre)
Monaco (Fra)
Deportivo Coruna (Spa)

This group's a mess. There's no real favourite, except maybe Deportivo, and definitely no underdog. This will be fun to watch.

Group D
Galatasaray (Tur)
Olympiakos (Gre)
Real Sociedad (Spa)
Juventus (Ita)

I don't think Turkish teams get the respect they deserve. Gala won 3-0 in the last round home and away, and I think they will get in ahead of Sociedad. However, if I'm wrong, look for there to be two Reals in the next round.

Group E
Panathinaikos (Gre)
Rangers (Sco)
VfB Stuttgart (Ger)
Manchester United (Eng)

After Man. U., this is a tough one. Stuttgart have had a relatively bright start to the Bundesliga season, but Scottish soccer doesn't suck anymore. Rangers then, to take second narrowly, with Stuttgart poised if they stumble.

Group F
FC Porto (Por)
Olympique Marseille (Fra)
Partizan Belgrade (Serb)
Real Madrid (Spa)

It's nice to see a Serbian side doing well in Europe again, but I don't think Partizan have the legs to get through this group. Porto have a decent chance of going through, but I've actually watched Marseille a bit this season, and been fairly impressed. Odd to think that not that long ago, they were Champions' Cup finalists, and equally odd to think that they lost that match to another Belgrade team.

Group G
Chelsea (Eng)
Sparta Prague (Cze)
Besiktas (Tur)
Lazio (Ita)

Another fairly clearcut group, although Besiktas may get involved. However, Chelsea appear to have built a side with Europe in mind, and Lazio, despite their financial woes, are still pretty good.

Group H
Celta Viga (Spa)
Ajax Amsterdam (Hol)
Club Bruges (Bel)
AC Milan (Ita)

I so desperately wanted to pick Ajax to go through here, and I'll be delighted if they do. However, Celta have been under-rated in recent years, and I don't think the Dutch revival in Europe has quite reached the stage where Ajax progressing will be anything but an upset.

Grandmother's treehouse ordered torn down

Sylvan Lake - A Sylvan Lake grandmother has been told by town council to tear down her grandchildren's treehouse because she didn't have the necessary building permit.

I'll be very tentative about this, since we don't know the full story, and more to the point I haven't actually seen any pictures of the treehouse, but it sounds to me like Grandma's getting a raw deal here. One anonymous complaint about the structure - it would appear that there's a pissant in the neighbourhood. I mean, couldn't they have issued the building permit retroactively? We'll see how things turn out.

So I sat there for a half hour waiting for one of the receiving programs to start up, and the first thing it did was boot me out. Sigh - Ah well, we'll make lemonade here, and put something up on the ol' blog. Millwall suffered their first setback of the season, a 1-1 draw with Crewe, who've always been a bit of a bogey team for us. Still undefeated though!

So, coaching problems... Yes, I told my head coach that I intended to keep on doing the little goalkeeping tutorial I had been doing, he was unimpressed, and we are consequently not speaking to each other. It actually was a bit more heated than that - gestures were made, short words were used, and so on and so forth. Ugliness. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

Yes, I do still exist! Anyway, Millwall are now 2-0 on the new season, and have signed a Belgian international and a guy from Juventus. On the other hand, we've been dumped from the League Cup by, wait for it, Oxford United. At the Den, no less. Anyway, in other exciting news, well, there's a possibility that I'll be actually playing soccer again this winter, 'cause it really doesn't look like I'll be coaching it! This is related to the littel kerfuffle that I alluded some weeks ago, but I'll provide the entire gory story (whew, a rhyme) later on, if I feel up to it. Anyway, back to work.

Well, the boys are away - Millwall won their first match of the new season 2-0 over Wigan, our nemesis back in the 2nd division. Wise and Cahill got the goals in front of 11,000 at the Den. Sadly, Mr. Ray Harford, one of the main reasons for the recent Millwall semi-renaissance, passed away before the match after a long battle with cancer.

Ooo, an impressive 11-3 for the Second Qualifying Round of the Champions' League, making 18-6 for far overall. Anyway, here's the draw for the Third, and final, Qualifying Round, with my choices in bold type.

Vardar Skopje (Macedonia) v Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)

MTK Budapest (Hungary) v Celtic (Scotland)

Rangers (Scotland) v FC Copenhagen (Denmark)

Austria Vienna (Austria) v Olympique Marseille (France)

Club Bruges (Belgium) v Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) v Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)

Lazio (Italy) v Benfica (Portugal)

Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

Rosenborg Trondheim (Norway) v Deportivo La Coruna (Spain)

Grasshoppers (Switzerland) v AEK Athens (Greece)

Zilina (Slovakia) v Chelsea (England)

Celta Vigo (Spain) v Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

Partizan Belgrade (Serb & Mont) v Newcastle United (England)

Galatasaray (Turkey) v CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)

Anderlecht (Belgium) v Wisla Krakow (Poland)

Graz AK (Austria) v Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Well, there you have it. I can't see any of the big boys taking a real tumble at this stage, and although it will be excellent if lightening strikes twice for Vardar Skopje, I just can't see it happening. I think both the Old Firm teams will make it through, but they will have to watch themselves, both of them. Newcastle have a tough test against Partizan Belgrade, but I don't think they'll lose it in the end. The Shakhtar-Lokomotiv tie should be fun, and I'm predicting the woes of Russian football to continue. And, if I'm correct in my choice of winner in the Battle of the Teams Named Dynamo (or Dinamo), there could be two Ukrainian sides in the group stage. This whole thing starts up next week.

Lame Moments in Sports #8

Dundee fans shouldn't pick team - SPFA

Team selection should always be the job of the manager or head coach - not the club's supporters.

That is the view of the Scottish Professional Footballers Association following new Dundee director Giovanni di Stefano's revelation that he wants fans to pick the team.

He wants to see a 'Pop Idol'-style poll introduced so that supporters can select the starting 11 from a pool of 18 players chosen by manager Jim Duffy each month.

Worst... idea... ever.

Well, it's going to be a messy messy week in soccer, as the Champions' League transfer deadline looms on Thursday, followed by the English leagues' kickoff on Saturday. So, through this week I'll be putting up a lot about soccer, and not too much about other stuff (betcha the worldwide right is breathing a huge sigh of relief right now!).

To begin with though, a couple of the European leagues did get going this weekend, and I was able to catch the match between Olympique Marseille and En Avant Guingamp on one of the high-end cable channels. It was a fairly entertaining match, with several hair-raising saves by the the Guingamp 'keeper. At one point, he dove over a fairly well-struck volley, but got enough of the ball that it deflected off him straight down, hitting the turf with enough force to send it bouncing over the bar. Later, he made a good close-range save, but could only watch as a lurking Marseille striker somehow managed to put the rebound over from about 3 yards out. However, it was all for naught, and it was ironically a poor goal that won it for Marseille - a bad-angle shot that deflect off the near post and wandered across the line in injury time of the second half. Marseille, who are expected to be title contenders this year, probably just about deserved to win in the end.