Defeat at Wembley will make Scotland the best home nation

The latest FIFA Rankings were published today, and England sit in lowly fifteenth place (down from ninth last month), while Scotland have climbed a spot to reach sixteenth.

The drop has occured because the rankings are calculated by the last four year’s of results, and England’s relatively solid Euro 2004 performance has just fallen out of range. The biggest concern for England fans, however, is that Scotland could overtake them if they fail to beat the Czech Republic at Wembley on August 20th. On the same day, the Scots are hosting Northern Ireland, and only a victory against the Czechs will ensure the chaps from above Hadrian’s Wall don’t jump ahead in the rankings for the first time since 1995.

On the one hand, this is a potentially huge embarrassment for the English. On the other, the FIFA rankings are an irrelevant waste of time and nobody cares.

The Toad attempts to rationalise his treatment in the media

No one really expected Avram grant to be in charge of Chelsea at this stage, but he is still there and he still has a big ol’ chip on his shoulder:

“Some of the media here find it a little hard that a coach from a little country is showing them you can do things in a different way but still win”

‘Little country’, eh Avram? Here’s some stats for geography fans:

Population of Avram Grant’s home nation of Israel: 7.8million.

Population of Alex Ferguson’s home nation of Scotland: 5.1million.

Next excuse please, Mr Expressionless.

[Sky Sports]

The best sports on the telebox tonight

The last time England failed to qualify for a major tournament (that’ll be good ol’ USA ‘94), our boys went on to win their next two friendlies. Admittedly, these were against Denmark and Greece, and not our cultured friends from across The Channel, but a surprise could be on the cards tonight. Bookies are currently offering 21/10 for Beckham and co to topple the Euro 2008 qualifying nation on their home soil, a bet I fancy much more than the optimistic 15/8 being offered for Scotland beating Croatia. For the best odds on all tonight’s internationals, head to the oddschicken.

International Friendlies

Luxembourg/ Wales International (S4C, 7.15pm)
France/ England (Sky Sports 1, 8pm)
Scotland/ Croatia (Sky Sports 2, 8pm)
Spain/ Italy (Setanta Ireland, 9pm)

Six Nations, Sat 8 March, 3.15pm, BBC1, bet here

Over the last few years the sleek gentlemen who run English rugby have made much of the need for “elite performance”, untroubled by the fear that Director of Elite Performance is possibly the most pompous job title since Idi Amin started calling himself Lord of all the Beasts of the Earth and the Fishes of the Sea. If they are being honest, the performance of the England team has been not so much “elite” as “crap at times” and “frustrating.” In Scotland, though, their problems are graver, as they seem to have built themselves a Dr Frankenstein’s Academy to develop players - excellent at churning out creatures with huge necks and impressive musculature, but not so good at successfully carrying out instructions yet. England really should outwit the slow-minded monsters at the weekend, by a margin of more than 12.5 points - England have beaten Scotland in eight out of their last ten meetings, seven of them by more than a 12.5 point gap.

The statistics

* Scotland go into the game on a terrible run of form, having lost all three Six Nations games so far (to France, Wales and Ireland).