Scotland tickets

[jez1971]

Well that has to be the final act of Strachan's managerial regime. I'm not an advocate of changing for changes sake however we cannot continue like this. Baffling team selections, amateur defending and a tangible lack of leadership from experienced professionals can only mean one outcome. I'm not buying into this argument about a lack of quality and depth of squad, this is essentially the core squad from the last campaign where we played some incisive and entertaining football, particularly against Germany and Poland. Something is clearly wrong and its a sad indictment on the management team when we are considering a draw at home to Lithuania as a step in the right direction.

It's also quite ironic that Slovakia had an ex Ross County player in their squad, maybe if Strachan actually made the effort to go to games where the "less sexy" teams play he'd understand and see first hand what playing for the jersey really means.

[babychunder]

Lets look at the Scotland team player by player.

Marshall - A couple of good saves but badly at fault for the first goal where he was standing out of position and parried it back across the goalmouth to the scorer.

Paterson - A carthorse who can't cross and was frequently caught out of position.

Hanley - Appallingly slow, won't come forwards when in possession, wastes 90% of ball by passing it square or back.

Martin - See Hanley. Crapped a tackle to concede a goal and should as a minimum have thrown his body in front to block.

Tierney - Put in a good cross or two, but clearly overawed by the occasion. One for the future but too early for him.

Bannan - Jinks and shimmies but does f--k all with it. Can't beat a man, can't cross. Specialist subject - being caught in possession and coughing up the ball.

McArthur - Was he playing?

D Fletcher - Too old, too slow in thought and deed. Not good enough any more.

Ritchie - Awful, just awful. Can't beat a man, can't cross it, no inspiration when in possession.

Snodgrass - Anonymous. Did nothing to justify selection. Didn't look up for it in either of the last two games. Drop to the bench.

S Fletcher - Had a better game than usual, but that's not saying much. Missed his chances as usual.

Griffiths - The one player who looked the part. Why didn't he start the game, can't believe he's behind Martin and Fletcher?

Anya - Looked capable of troubling their defence. Again should have started in place of Ritchie.

McGinn - Looked lively when he came on.

The main criticisms I have are that the selections look wrong; the subs proved that. Also our defence, surely we have better players than those donkeys - dropping Robertson for Tierney looks mad.

 

[Cagey]

 

Lets look at the Scotland team player by player.

Marshall - A couple of good saves but badly at fault for the first goal where he was standing out of position and parried it back across the goalmouth to the scorer.

Paterson - A carthorse who can't cross and was frequently caught out of position.

Hanley - Appallingly slow, won't come forwards when in possession, wastes 90% of ball by passing it square or back.

Martin - See Hanley. Crapped a tackle to concede a goal and should as a minimum have thrown his body in front to block.

Tierney - Put in a good cross or two, but clearly overawed by the occasion. One for the future but too early for him.

Bannan - Jinks and shimmies but does f--k all with it. Can't beat a man, can't cross. Specialist subject - being caught in possession and coughing up the ball.

McArthur - Was he playing?

D Fletcher - Too old, too slow in thought and deed. Not good enough any more.

Ritchie - Awful, just awful. Can't beat a man, can't cross it, no inspiration when in possession.

Snodgrass - Anonymous. Did nothing to justify selection. Didn't look up for it in either of the last two games. Drop to the bench.

S Fletcher - Had a better game than usual, but that's not saying much. Missed his chances as usual.

Griffiths - The one player who looked the part. Why didn't he start the game, can't believe he's behind Martin and Fletcher?

Anya - Looked capable of troubling their defence. Again should have started in place of Ritchie.

McGinn - Looked lively when he came on.

The main criticisms I have are that the selections look wrong; the subs proved that. Also our defence, surely we have better players than those donkeys - dropping Robertson for Tierney looks mad.

 

Agree with every assessment.

[south inch]

 

Agree with every assessment.

Agree also except it was said in the prematch that Robertson was not fit enough to start.

[SlickDT]

I'd love to hear of all the fantastic players that Strachan could replace these guys with.

Sure I'd have gone with a slightly different team to Strachan, but just about any combo of players we can chose from would get beat away to a team like Slovakia most of the time.

When I'm sitting at home thinking that Steven Anderson (who I think is a great player- but shouldn't be near any good international defence) should genuinely be starting then you know your defence is going to have major problems.

Our defence is going to let us down time and time again- yet who else do we have that's better..... Paterson is the best Scottish right back I've seen this season, yet he was out his depth last night.