So, need a break from watching turgid, desperate fitba? It's Scotland on Friday. 

 

I am going for a jammy 1-0 victory courtesy of a bundled in corner kick.

 

Reckon we will go:

Marshall

 

O'Donnell

Cooper

Mulgrew

Robertson

 

Forrest

McLean

McGinn

McGregor

Christie

 

Naismith

 

This won't be pretty.

3 goal victory for Russia.

I stupidly agreed to go to the rugby on Friday without checking fixtures and going to miss the game against Russia. First home qualifier I have missed in a long time so probably means we will win.

 

Is Naismith not injured?

I stupidly agreed to go to the rugby on Friday without checking fixtures and going to miss the game against Russia. First home qualifier I have missed in a long time so probably means we will win.

 

Is Naismith not injured?

 

I don't think so. It just looks that was because he's shite.

Cant see them not playing their £20million striker, despite the fact he's fucking gowder and was hoping not to get picked for the squad anyway.

 

Actually think our midfield is as good as it has been in the past 25 years and cant not see us scoring. However the defence is just about as bad as it has been ever so can't see us not conceding either. With a bit of luck....2-1 win. Bad luck....1-2 defeat. Most likely.....1-1 draw

 

Devlin to suffer an injury playing pool in the hotel and out until after the January break

Excellent, saves me from having to start a dons match thread on my honeymoon 

 

That or have Jute complain that I forgot 

Excellent, saves me from having to start a dons match thread on my honeymoon 

 

That or have Jute complain that I forgot 

 

First it’s saying your to busy in your wedding day to start one now using honeymoon as an excuse. Where is your commitment. You’ve changed man.

FFS some of the decision making by this lot is shocking.

Liam McLeod on Radio Scotland made out as if Russia are one of the big teams in europe which seems to be purely based on their last world cup performance but they will win this if Clarke continues with this apparent 'Kilmarnock' tactic of sitting back and letting them take pot shots for fun.

 

The free kick they took from the wrong place and passed straight to two russian players was pathetic. 

Missed the first half hour but it's been men v. pre-pubescent wankers since.

 

Away win written all over it. Scotland are still very shit.

That didn't take long. Justice. 1-2.

John McGinn subbed off? Fucking joke.

Russia are light years ahead. Doesn't matter who the manager is. Scotland's footballers are shit.

FFS some of the decision making by this lot is shocking.

Liam McLeod on Radio Scotland made out as if Russia are one of the big teams in europe which seems to be purely based on their last world cup performance but they will win this if Clarke continues with this apparent 'Kilmarnock' tactic of sitting back and letting them take pot shots for fun.

 

The free kick they took from the wrong place and passed straight to two russian players was pathetic. 

 

Absolute pish performance and while you compare to Killie I thought it was also very similar to us versus Celtic, Rangers, Rejika etc. Far too much sit deep and long ball shite. Not sure what to think of Forrest too, absolutely shit every time I see him play. A fair reflection of the game would have been 3 or 4, even 5, they missed a fair few chances.

Absolutely dreadful performance. The back line were utterly out of their depth, O'Donnell especially utterly exposed as for what he is.....an SPL level journeyman who should be saved from further embarrassment by never getting selected for a squad again.

 

As for Clarke...…...was pretty much the unanimous choice of the punters. But his performance so far seems to be exposing him also. Not quite the tactical genius that everyone made out. Our squad might be described as "limited" in ability, especially in defence and up front. The least we should expect of them at home is to at least have a go at the opposition. After a taking the lead, what we saw was reminiscent of a Mcinnes team.....insipid game management trying to hold on grimly to a lead. We got exactly what we deserved in the end and tbh the result could have been worse had Russia taken their chances.

 

There's now a very decent chance we won't even finish third in our group. Unacceptable.

 

Have to say, we have been abysmal in defence ever since we got rid of Craigie Broon's 5-3-2 tactic. Yes, we weren't the prettiest to watch back then but we were hard to beat which is at least a start. Would be worth pursuing 5 at the back again especially with the lack of decent right backs. We could get away with playing someone like Jack or Armstrong as a wing back if you had 3 to cover in the middle.

 

Think I will watch the Belgium game from behind the sofa.

Pea-hearted shite. A disgrace to our country. First thing I'd do is drop all the plastic Scots. None of them want to be there and their play proves it. Some of them openly admit it ffs. Then get all the non-plastics to fuck who think they're above it or are embarrassed to be Scottish. I'd rather have lion-hearted players who are shite representing me than "good" players who are pussies.

Pea-hearted shite. A disgrace to our country. First thing I'd do is drop all the plastic Scots. None of them want to be there and their play proves it. Some of them openly admit it ffs. Then get all the non-plastics to fuck who think they're above it or are embarrassed to be Scottish. I'd rather have lion-hearted players who are shite representing me than "good" players who are pussies.

 

Pretty sure your criteria would still leave us with Stephen O'Donnell and that's definitely not a good thing.

The thing that confuses me about the Scotland manager (whoever they may be at the time) is the ability to rip up the script at any moment in time.  I see the "probable" team for tonight might show four changes from Friday.  Don't see how you can get any continuity doing that.  If the manager felt those players were good enough for Russia on Friday, and Clarke is no stranger to these guys, then why change so much for tonight?  Surely if you have an idea of your best team that you need to stick at it for a bit longer albeit we were rubbish the other night.

 

McBurnie in my opinion is never good enough to play international fitba but if he was deemed good enough on Friday then surely let him have another crack it at tonight.  Clarke has been in charge for three games and gone with Brophy as striker in one, then Burke then McBurnie and it looks like Phillips will get a go tonight.  Ridiculous.

 

 

The thing that confuses me about the Scotland manager (whoever they may be at the time) is the ability to rip up the script at any moment in time.  I see the "probable" team for tonight might show four changes from Friday.  Don't see how you can get any continuity doing that.  If the manager felt those players were good enough for Russia on Friday, and Clarke is no stranger to these guys, then why change so much for tonight?  Surely if you have an idea of your best team that you need to stick at it for a bit longer albeit we were rubbish the other night.

 

McBurnie in my opinion is never good enough to play international fitba but if he was deemed good enough on Friday then surely let him have another crack it at tonight.  Clarke has been in charge for three games and gone with Brophy as striker in one, then Burke then McBurnie and it looks like Phillips will get a go tonight.  Ridiculous.

 

I assume that you would deploy different tactics against Belgium than you would against Russia? Also, we have a squad, and it's an international squad so the variance between players shouldn't be significant. Phillips is pap, but is he much more pap than McBurnie? Similarly, Cooper vs Bates or O'Donnell vs traffic cone. Clarke was very new in the door for his first couple of games (a week?) and so this round of games should be a much better marker of what is to be expected. But then he's had injuries in defence to contend with and limited choices up front generally. Friday seemed to me to still be a bit of experimenting because of the injuries (in defence mainly), which is frustrating but you could see quite quickly that Cooper was pap for example. I wouldn't have McGregor near the starting eleven either and I'd be pretty ruthless about ditching Forrest if he was having a poor game as he's had only 3 good games in 25. You'd like to think that we could make 4 changes and happily have as good a team starting tonight as did on Friday.

sooo at the moment

 

Potential playoff opponents are

- Norway

- Serbia

- Bulgaria or Israel (supposedly this will be drawn out of a hat with one team in Group C playoffs and the other being put into the Group A playoffs

Perhaps its time to get Craig Brown back 

I assume that you would deploy different tactics against Belgium than you would against Russia? Also, we have a squad, and it's an international squad so the variance between players shouldn't be significant. Phillips is pap, but is he much more pap than McBurnie? Similarly, Cooper vs Bates or O'Donnell vs traffic cone. Clarke was very new in the door for his first couple of games (a week?) and so this round of games should be a much better marker of what is to be expected. But then he's had injuries in defence to contend with and limited choices up front generally. Friday seemed to me to still be a bit of experimenting because of the injuries (in defence mainly), which is frustrating but you could see quite quickly that Cooper was pap for example. I wouldn't have McGregor near the starting eleven either and I'd be pretty ruthless about ditching Forrest if he was having a poor game as he's had only 3 good games in 25. You'd like to think that we could make 4 changes and happily have as good a team starting tonight as did on Friday.

 

Injuries in defence, fair enough Rico but he played the same defence in the last couple games.  They're not great but that's not my point.  You surely need a bit of consistency in selection further forward.  You can still adopt different tactics using the same personnel.  The best international teams generally have hundreds of caps in their side, we have so many players with less than 30 games it's crazy.  People were singing the praises of the likes of Fraser, McGinn and Forrest before Clarke took over, now we are playing the best team in the group and they are sitting on the bench.  Do Bournemouth keep Ryan Fraser on their bench when they play Man City?

 

Up front, yes, the choices are pretty dire but at least give one more than just 90 mins before you decide if he can cut it at international level.  The hardest part of international fitba is that you only play a game every couple of months so surely cutting down the number of variables in your team is the only way you are ever going to get any kind of level of consistency.

 

 

Injuries in defence, fair enough Rico but he played the same defence in the last couple games.  They're not great but that's not my point.  You surely need a bit of consistency in selection further forward.  You can still adopt different tactics using the same personnel.  The best international teams generally have hundreds of caps in their side, we have so many players with less than 30 games it's crazy.  People were singing the praises of the likes of Fraser, McGinn and Forrest before Clarke took over, now we are playing the best team in the group and they are sitting on the bench.  Do Bournemouth keep Ryan Fraser on their bench when they play Man City?

 

Up front, yes, the choices are pretty dire but at least give one more than just 90 mins before you decide if he can cut it at international level.  The hardest part of international fitba is that you only play a game every couple of months so surely cutting down the number of variables in your team is the only way you are ever going to get any kind of level of consistency.

 

Aye, it's a fair point. Although I actually think that in the forward areas you can afford a bit of chop and change and a settled defence is the key. I'd have dropped Forrest but not Fraser. I'd have dropped McGregor and not McGinn. The problem Scotland have is that they are deficient in quite a few areas and so that lends itself well to not having a settled side. All the players are of similar standard in the areas that we struggle. Forrest vs Snodgrass, Phillips vs McBurnie, McLean vs McGregor or McGinn. Lack of standouts I suppose.

 

That said, Clarke has made a lot of mistakes up to this point and I don't think he's close to knowing his preferred team even before injuries and call-offs. We now have a series of non-competitive competitive games where players will take the opportunity not to turn up and we'll still be no closer to understanding our best team as a result. Clarke needs to do something that every manager since Brown (different era really) has struggled to do and that is to get our best players to want to play for their nation regardless of anything else.

Aye, it's a fair point. Although I actually think that in the forward areas you can afford a bit of chop and change and a settled defence is the key. I'd have dropped Forrest but not Fraser. I'd have dropped McGregor and not McGinn. The problem Scotland have is that they are deficient in quite a few areas and so that lends itself well to not having a settled side. All the players are of similar standard in the areas that we struggle. Forrest vs Snodgrass, Phillips vs McBurnie, McLean vs McGregor or McGinn. Lack of standouts I suppose.

 

That said, Clarke has made a lot of mistakes up to this point and I don't think he's close to knowing his preferred team even before injuries and call-offs. We now have a series of non-competitive competitive games where players will take the opportunity not to turn up and we'll still be no closer to understanding our best team as a result. Clarke needs to do something that every manager since Brown (different era really) has struggled to do and that is to get our best players to want to play for their nation regardless of anything else.

 

We'll see what Clarke time in charge is going to bring with those games you mention. I actually think the players will turn up to play for him as he seems to be a "players' coach", they seem to like his methods etc. If they don't turn up we'll know he's done for.

At least McKenna is safe in the knowledge that his injury won't have cost him his place in the team. It's a horrendous thought but in a year's time Tavernier from sevco will qualify for us on residential grounds. I think Logan might even qualify already but his form has been so sketchy for the past 2 years I don't think Clarke would consider him, but Tavernier definitely will be at least asked the question.

At least McKenna is safe in the knowledge that his injury won't have cost him his place in the team. It's a horrendous thought but in a year's time Tavernier from sevco will qualify for us on residential grounds. I think Logan might even qualify already but his form has been so sketchy for the past 2 years I don't think Clarke would consider him, but Tavernier definitely will be at least asked the question.

 

No he won’t. Despite FIFA’s eligibility rules, the “home” nations have agreed not to cap players based on residency unless they were at school in the country for the five years, which was the agreement made in order to help the great Andy driver play for Scotland.