RicoS321

That was class! Whatever you think of Clarke, we have to keep him now. He must be the luckiest man in football history. He got nearly everything wrong tonight. Hanley on his wrong foot was fucking awful (don't get me wrong, he defended well). It meant Robertson had to spend the evening a maximum of fifteen yards for him so he had an easy pass, that resulted in Doak being isolated on his wrong side. With the extra touch required for Hanley, Adams was never going to be in space, so was a complete waste of a jersey. Whilst it was the first time we have seen Ferguson and Christie together, it should have been clear that they are too similar in that role and always like to turn back, rather than Gilmour with his progressive passing. The press was all wrong the entire game (until Dykes pressed the goalie!), and we were just generally disjointed. He took fucking ages to make changes, only making them when the injury occurred, and it was clear that they were always scoring. We just got lucky with the offsideish goal, which wasn't a result of being lifted by their goal, or a change in momentum. It was just insane. But fucking hell it was good! Well done Clarke, you're difficult not to love.

Scotland: Gunn, Hickey, Hanley, Souttar, Robertson, Gannon-Doak, Ferguson, Christie, McGinn, McTominay, Adams BBC suggesting 4-2-3-1, with Christie deep, but I've a feeling that it'll be McTominay deep, behind McGinn central, with Christie left. Which would be the wrong decision for me, I'd go with the BBC suggestion.

There was a rumour surrounding Robertson's fitness, so I wonder if we might see them play a half each. I don't think that the back three, with those two left, has the same potency it did a few years back

I guess it comes down to the word "gifted". I didn't think Hignett was gifted for example, but he was very good. Calvin Ramsay was exceptionally gifted, but will likely have a shitter career than Connor Barron. Similarly, Clarkson is a gifted footballer, with his ability to see a pass and convert that vision into a released pass within a millisecond, which Maddison had in abundance. Karlsson's giftedness sits alongside McGinn for me. He looks like he's got the ability to simply drop a shoulder and send a player into a different universe. Gilhaus could do that too. Whether he converts that gift into a functioning footballer remains to be seen.

I'd argue that Niall McGinn, James Maddison, Leighton Clarkson, Calvin Ramsay are all ahead of him in the gifted stakes in an AFC shirt so far. However, there are definitely the signs that he might blow them all out the water if he continues to settle into it. He's working very hard for the team, as well as beginning to turn on the style. Edit: of course, the similarities with Gilhaus are due to the point in their careers at which we signed them, which makes him stand out.

Apart from the last two games..... Hanley and Souttar v Denmark, with McKenna coming in for Belarus.

I guess the difference is that the Tims are also needing last minute winners and look ropey as hell, and the Huns are a poor side who nobody in the league is frightened to play.

Not sure I'd go a back three. Tierney can barely play 60 minutes at the moment, and needs to be quietly sidelined. A great player on his day, but I think it'd be down to luck if we happen to get that day. Wouldn't mind seeing both Dykes and Adams start, as it's a good combination. Keep McTominay high up the park and we'll be fine.

You might get to fifty percent of the roasters though, or the folk that sit next to them, who might tell them to shut it. I think the "three year project" line has helped Thelin until now, and if we can say that we're implementing a strategy to give X number of minutes to young players, then the fans will at least know the justification for playing a youth team player that might not otherwise be afforded game time.

Great news, he looks the business. I thought Jensen was fine at the weekend, but he's in one of the roles that requires a lot of effort in our system, so Lobban could easily have played the final twenty minutes in place of him. Hopefully the new DOF will open up avenues for young players to make the first team more often, via a publicised strategy to ease pressure on the manager and player(s)

Dropping last season's player of the tournament is disgusting. I won't be attending.

Some people are just inexplicably despicable cunts.

I'd hate to see McInnes take the Huns job. I like McInnes.

Is that done with crayons?

It was more of a 3-4-3, but we can call it a 3-4-2-1 . It suited us.