They would have been cheered further with the news that a direct flight has been chartered for next week’s Norwegian journey.
The SPL season starts in three weeks and our preparations have gone to plan. There is now a guarantee of at least four competitive games before we face Hibs on Sunday 15 August. An early exit from the Europa League would have presented us with an embarrassing few weeks when the squad would have faced little but extended training sessions.
The win also provided some encouragement for the other Scottish teams in the competition. Hibs are next up as they join the action in the next round with an away trip to Maribor.
One factor that probably played a crucial part in our success over Breidablik was the thorough tactical analysis undertaken by Jocky Scott. An unusual amount of detail describing the process has been released (probably because Jocky is still looking for a job!). Under Craig Brown’s direction he was dispatched to Iceland and the detailed report enabled us to play a bounce game with our reserves simulation the opposition. Penalty practice was done, just in case.
The club can be pleased with progress to date and with a fair wind we might reach the last round before the group stage. The financial benefits that would accrue from an encounter with one of the big guns should be substantial. Of course, there is an outside chance that we might qualify for …….nah, let’s not go there!