Valencia and all that

I didn't watch the Valencia game last night as I knew that I had get into the studio for a live Radio Scotland slot relatively early this morning (real football having started north of the border). I was rewarded with a classic cliché, 'It's fitba', it's physical, it's a man's game, and we lost, Jim' in relation to Andy Todd (not, I think,the Andy Todd) being sent off at Dunfermline.

Reaction to the Valencia game has been varied, gloomsters saying that it emphasises our weaknesses (as if the club didn't know that the central midfield need strengthening), others pointing out that Valencia are one of the top teams in one of the top leagues in the world and they are simply better technically than us. (Although our Spanish blogger, View from an Iberian Valley, tells us they didn't put out a full strength side). What's more Valencia is a bit different from the likes of Bray Wanderers or Oulu that we were playing on pre-season tours a few years ago, not to mention Torquay United.

I don't think pre-season friendlies tell you much about the season as they are a way of trying out different players and different formations. We're going on holiday next week, coming back in time to fly to Utrecht for the final friendly. That should give us some idea of what the starting eleven against the Irons will be.