Says boss
“It is very difficult because of television and because the sides all play at different times, but there is an element of me which thinks let’s draw the knockout stages after the group stages with, for instance in a 32-team tournament, the eight group winners in one pot and the eight runners up in another.
“They would have to stretch the tournament a wee bit to be fair about it because in this World Cup some of the teams were finishing their groups four days before other teams. Every team would need a suitable level of recovery.”