Scotland

[saintee in exile]

It's Scotlands loss for sure,such a shame that Ali obviously felt his only chance at international football was with NI and not Scotland.

 

 

[Broggy Man]

It’s always the same after a Scotland campaign.

to be fair mistakes were made but there was positives. 
 

wee billy robertson tierney looked a different class.

football is about scoring goals and that’s something we have never been that great at. I think Clark knows he got it wrong in the first game he changed at half time but didn’t go far enough. The England game he got spot on and well the Croatia game he got it all wrong. The midfield was so disjointed the space Croatia had was frightening. Modric is a great player but I think we made him look better with the space he was given. We needed to squeeze the game up shut space down but we got like for like changes but hey ho at the end of the day we did ok and we saw signs of young players coming through and maybe Clark needs to start looking around other clubs for defenders eg Saints 

[garydavidson]

3 hours ago, Broggy Man said:

The midfield was so disjointed the space Croatia had was frightening. Modric is a great player but I think we made him look better with the space he was given. We needed to squeeze the game up shut space down but we got like for like changes

I thought Armstrong looked very weak when he played in this tournament, far from the player he was.

Clarke got a bee in his bunnet about O'Donnell so would never sub him off but for a 5-10 minute spell before the second he really should have made a change - especially on that right hand side.

Not sure if anyone other than Saints fans thinks its nuts to play a top class midfielder on the right of a defensive three when there is a double cup winning captain, ex under 21 international sitting at home having commanded that position all season.

[blueheaven]

22 hours ago, Linky said:

And Steve Clarke getting all the stick - what are the other options? Neil Lennon? Derek McInnes? Or....be careful what you wish for as they'll come after Davidson next. He's done the best job of any Scotland manager for 23 years, and people are suggesting he's rubbish and should get the sack, it's ridiculous.

I wouldn't be against McInnes being Scotland manager at some point in the future. I think he'd make a good international manager. Share your worries that Davidson would be in the frame if Clarke left, though.

I've always liked Steve Clarke but have to say I think he got quite lucky in that the Nations League was introduced during his tenure. We finished 9 points off a Euros spot in our qualification group and if you look at the other groups, that was by far the biggest gap between 2nd place and 3rd place in any of them. Craig Levein, Walter Smith and Berti Vogts all came closer to getting to a finals through their qualification groups, and perhaps would have got there if they'd had the Nations League route to fall back on.

That's all four of the countries who qualified through the Nations League route now knocked out at the group stage (although Hungary gave it a bloody good go in a ridiculously difficult group). I just find it a bit pointless - although I'm perhaps biased because I think there's way too much international football on the calendar.

[Cagey]

12 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

I wouldn't be against McInnes being Scotland manager at some point in the future. I think he'd make a good international manager. Share your worries that Davidson would be in the frame if Clarke left, though.

I've always liked Steve Clarke but have to say I think he got quite lucky in that the Nations League was introduced during his tenure. We finished 9 points off a Euros spot in our qualification group and if you look at the other groups, that was by far the biggest gap between 2nd place and 3rd place in any of them. Craig Levein, Walter Smith and Berti Vogts all came closer to getting to a finals through their qualification groups, and perhaps would have got there if they'd had the Nations League route to fall back on.

That's all four of the countries who qualified through the Nations League route now knocked out at the group stage (although Hungary gave it a bloody good go in a ridiculously difficult group). I just find it a bit pointless - although I'm perhaps biased because I think there's way too much international football on the calendar.

Like all the mucking about with the Europa cup etc it's all about money for Uefa.

[Sheldo]

15 hours ago, garydavidson said:

Not sure if anyone other than Saints fans thinks its nuts to play a top class midfielder on the right of a defensive three when there is a double cup winning captain, ex under 21 international sitting at home having commanded that position all season.

YES! The McTominay in defence issue really really annoys me especially as he's regular with Man U in midfield. Its a waste of many players, both McTominay and the ones like Kerr that could be getting a chance.

[Sheldo]

5 hours ago, blueheaven said:

I wouldn't be against McInnes being Scotland manager at some point in the future. I think he'd make a good international manager. Share your worries that Davidson would be in the frame if Clarke left, though.

I Actually think McInnes would do a good job as Scotland manager. Davidson hinted recently in an interview that he would do it in future. In my view, if we were to lose him to another team, I'd rather it was to Scotland and not one side of the Ugly Sisters or some crud team in the English Championship that would punt him if he didn't get promotion within 3 months.  But I'd rather he stayed for a good while and won more with us.

[Cagey]

2 hours ago, Sheldo said:

YES! The McTominay in defence issue really really annoys me especially as he's regular with Man U in midfield. Its a waste of many players, both McTominay and the ones like Kerr that could be getting a chance.

He had at least 5 centre Half's in the squad yet he played McTominey & Teirney at centre half. I don't think that Gallagher who was a stand out in the play offs & I don't think he even made the squad in the last 3 games. Not that I was advocating Gallagher who I don't think had a great season.

He has to stop trying to squeeze Teirney & Robertson into the same team. I don't think it works.

[Sheldo]

19 minutes ago, Cagey said:

He had at least 5 centre Half's in the squad yet he played McTominey & Teirney at centre half. I don't think that Gallagher who was a stand out in the play offs & I don't think he even made the squad in the last 3 games. Not that I was advocating Gallagher who I don't think had a great season.

He has to stop trying to squeeze Teirney & Robertson into the same team. I don't think it works.

To an extent, it worked against England. But he seems petrified to try anything different as it would mean leaving one out. There is no plan B in that sense. On the centre back front, he left out Liam Cooper after the Czech game, who had looked OK and has been good for Leeds.

[Linky]

7 hours ago, blueheaven said:

I wouldn't be against McInnes being Scotland manager at some point in the future. I think he'd make a good international manager. Share your worries that Davidson would be in the frame if Clarke left, though.

I've always liked Steve Clarke but have to say I think he got quite lucky in that the Nations League was introduced during his tenure. We finished 9 points off a Euros spot in our qualification group and if you look at the other groups, that was by far the biggest gap between 2nd place and 3rd place in any of them. Craig Levein, Walter Smith and Berti Vogts all came closer to getting to a finals through their qualification groups, and perhaps would have got there if they'd had the Nations League route to fall back on.

That's all four of the countries who qualified through the Nations League route now knocked out at the group stage (although Hungary gave it a bloody good go in a ridiculously difficult group). I just find it a bit pointless - although I'm perhaps biased because I think there's way too much international football on the calendar.

Yes, I quite like McInnes. My point was that there isn't a top quality manager waiting in the wings ready to take over. You have to do the best you can with what you've got. Clarke has been lucky at times, and has had better players than many of the previous managers. However, I think he's got a bit of momentum going, and any set backs need to be put into perspective.

[south inch]

1 hour ago, Linky said:

Yes, I quite like McInnes. My point was that there isn't a top quality manager waiting in the wings ready to take over. You have to do the best you can with what you've got. Clarke has been lucky at times, and has had better players than many of the previous managers. However, I think he's got a bit of momentum going, and any set backs need to be put into perspective.

I agree Clarke has had luck and he has indeed got some momentum but the Scotland job has always been a poisoned chalice.  If we are still in with a reasonable shout of World Cup qualification at the end of September after Austria and Denmark away he should be OK for at least 6 months. 

[Shipa]

I think we as fans were, to an extent, guilty of what we often criticise England for, being over confident and over ambitious. In theory we did have a great chance to get beyond the group, and I do feel disappointed that maybe we didn't take that chance.

However, am I wrong in seeing qualifying for the first time in 22 years, and getting to the knockout stages for the first time ever, as a bit of a jump?

We're back on the scene, we now have a team with experience of playing in a tournament, let's build on that.

Baby steps!

[Sheldo]

2 hours ago, Shipa said:

However, am I wrong in seeing qualifying for the first time in 22 years, and getting to the knockout stages for the first time ever, as a bit of a jump?

See Wales at Euro 2016 and this year's too. Hadn't qualified for a tournament since 1958 before that.

Some folk definitely got overhyped. But when you have the chance to get the best 3rd place on 4 points and go through , I'd hardly say that's false expectations or overconfidence. Especially when you have home advantage, one of the sides is one you are capable of beating and the other is your biggest rival where you will give 100% no matter what. I actually think part of the issue is Clarke and specifically the SFA were just happy to be there with little actual plan or aim other than, In the SFA's case, brow nosing UEFA.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Sheldo

[blueheaven]

16 hours ago, Cagey said:

He has to stop trying to squeeze Teirney & Robertson into the same team. I don't think it works.

Have to say I thought they were two of Scotland's better performers in the positions they were used in. 

[Papa Jack]

1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

Have to say I thought they were two of Scotland's better performers in the positions they were used in. 

Yes, agreed. Tierney is perfect in that left centre back position. I think you have to get a system to get your best players playing in their natural positions. Exactly like Saints did last season..

[south inch]

Just watched Wales v Denmark, that's 1st place in our World Cup qualifying group settled.

[garydavidson]

On 6/24/2021 at 7:49 PM, Shipa said:

I think we as fans were, to an extent, guilty of what we often criticise England for, being over confident and over ambitious. In theory we did have a great chance to get beyond the group, and I do feel disappointed that maybe we didn't take that chance.

However, am I wrong in seeing qualifying for the first time in 22 years, and getting to the knockout stages for the first time ever, as a bit of a jump?

We're back on the scene, we now have a team with experience of playing in a tournament, let's build on that.

Baby steps!

I don't think so. You have to consider that it is now easier to qualify for the tournamnet, We took the back door into the competition on a penalty shoot out.

Once there only 6 teams out of  24 don't go through to the knock out rounds. As it turns out all we would have needed was 3 points and a 0 goal difference. Also, England only scored one goal more than us.

[Cagey]

O'Donnell not allowed into Denmark having hadcovid recently.

Wonder if Rooney will get s call up. No chance.

 

[south inch]

Clarke putting on a brave face despite only having 15 or 16 outfield players available.  Hope he is remembering that Zander can cause mayhem in the opposition penalty box.

[Broggy Man]

Same old Scotland zero shots on goal zero on target 

[Cagey]

I fail to see why McLean gets a game for Scotland.

Denmark miles ahead of Scotland. Fitter sharper. Even when they lose the ball they get it back before Scotland players even move.

[south inch]

Sad that the Media and Clarke himself are banging on about the Moldova game being a "must win".  The correct description for this game should be "foregone conclusion".

[sixties saintee]

Same auld same auld shite

[Cagey]

Just watched the last 10 mins of soccer aid & Darren Fletcher was class.We could have done with him tonight.

Nisbit should never be in a Scotland jersey . Did he touch the ball more twice.

McLean came on & was poor again.

At least the 2 young guys , Gilmour & Patterson look like they could be decent players for the future..

[Abernethy Saint]

Couldn’t be arsed to watch. Just not interested, these days. Used to be, even when we were shite, there was a lot of fight and commitment. Not even that, now, with the England game a very rare exception.