Czech Rep vs Scotland 30th May - Friendly [R]

[frasermc]

Scotland squad

Goalkeepers: Gordon (Sunderland), Marshall (Norwich)

Defenders: Anderson (Sunderland), Berra (Hearts), Caldwell (Celtic), Dailly (Rangers), Hutton (Tottenham), McManus (Celtic), McNaughton (Cardiff), Naysmith (Sheff Utd), Whittaker (Rangers)

Midfielders: Fletcher (Man Utd), Hartley (Celtic), Morrison (West Brom), Rae (Cardiff), Robson (Celtic), Thomson (Rangers)

Forwards: Boyd (Rangers), Fletcher (Hibs), McCormack (Motherwell), McFadden (Birmingham), Maloney (Aston Villa), Miller (Derby)


David Marshall has started the full season for Norwich but they've struggled all season long. Obviously don't get to see much of Norwich's matches so have no idea if his defence has been poor in front of him. one things for certain, he's bound to have had a lot of work this season.

i've read that McNaughton has been doing well at Cardiff this season so i'd like to see him get some time in this game. James Morrison will surely get his first cap in this match. would like to see Robson start as well as he's been outstanding for Celtic recently.

not sure about the Maloney inclusion. would hope that Boyd gets another game as his scoring record for Scotland is just as good as it is for Rangers. by McGhee's own admission McCormack has been a bit off the boil recently so Fletcher may get the nod in front of him although he may feature as a sub at some point to win his first full cap.

[frasermc]

calls offs so far for Friday's game -

Alan Hutton
Kevin Thomson
Steven Whittaker
James McFadden

David Clarkson has been drafted in and could make his senior int'l debut.

[celtic76]

calls offs so far for Friday's game -

Alan Hutton
Kevin Thomson
Steven Whittaker
James McFadden

David Clarkson has been drafted in and could make his senior int'l debut.

Should be a good test for us.

[frasermc]

add Kris Boyd to the call off list.

[Gordon EF]

.........................Gordon.......................
McNaughton, Caldwell, McManus, Naysmith
..........D,Fletcher, Hartley, Robson...........
S.Fletcher...............................Morrison..
.......................McCormack...................



That's the team I'd go with. Gordon, Caldwell and McManus should get as much time as possible as they'll be the last line of defence for the forseeable future. I'd like to see McNaughton get another chance.

That's a strong midfield 3 and a fairly experimental front 3.

[frasermc]

can't really argue with that. although i think Fletcher and Morrison would be switched. i think Morrison plays on the right more at WBA. we could do with a new face at left back but for the purposes of this match, and the players that are left to choose from then the defence almost picks itself.

i'd like to see Clarkson get a half in place of McCormack who seemed to fall away as the season went on. whereas i thought Clarkson got stronger as the season drew to a close.

[Scottish_Morton]

My choice would be:

___________________Gordon

McNaughton___Caldwell____McManus___Naysmith

Maloney___Hartley___Fletcher__Robson__Fletcher

____________________Miller

[celtic76]

My choice would be:

___________________Gordon

McNaughton___Caldwell____McManus___Naysmith

Maloney___Hartley___Fletcher__Robson__Fletcher

____________________Miller

I like this lineup a bit more imo.

[YankHibee]

Fletcher is out now too. This is getting bad.

[frasermc]

Fletcher is out now too. This is getting bad.

ouch.

we're running out of strikers fast. Burley should give Lee Miller a call up for this game.

[st mirren till i die]

time for burley to sneakilly cap james mccarthy before the irish drag him totally over to their side.

[Scottish_Morton]

time for burley to sneakilly cap james mccarthy before the irish drag him totally over to their side.

Don't see what all the fuss is about over that one, he isn't even a stand out at first division level. To be a solid player at that age is quite impressive, but he's nothing more than a decent first division player at the moment, and I've not seen anything to suggest he'll be any sort of superstar in the future.

[Gordon EF]

time for burley to sneakilly cap james mccarthy before the irish drag him totally over to their side.

Nope, don't think so. I was a bit worried he was going to turn out to be class but I doubt he will now, so Ireland are welcome to Traitor mark II.

There's all this talk about Liverpool, but teams like that snap up youngsters when they want them and Hmailton wouldn't stand in the way, therefore, I smell shite.

[frasermc]

why has he gone with only 18 players?

surely it would have been prudent to draft in a couple more, especially in areas where we are already threadbare due to the number of call-offs.

[frasermc]

Teams


Czech Republic: Cech, Pospech, Ujfalusi, Kovac, Jankulovski, Sionko, Polak, Matejovsky, Galasek, Skacel, Koller.

Subs: Blazek, Sivok, Grygera, Rozehnal, Kadlec, Plasil, Vlcek, Jarolim, Fenin, Sverkos, Baros, Zitka.

Scotland:

Gordon

McNaughton
McManus
Caldwell
Naysmith

Robson
Hartley
Fletcher
Rae
Morrison

Miller


Subs: Marshall, Anderson, Berra, Dailly, McCormack, Maloney, Clarkson.


Rae gets a start. Morrison debuts. so will it be Morrison on one side of midfield and Robson on the other?

[Gordon EF]

Scotland:

Gordon

McNaughton
McManus
Caldwell
Naysmith

Robson
Hartley
Fletcher
Rae
Morrison

Miller


Subs: Marshall, Anderson, Berra, Dailly, McCormack, Maloney, Clarkson.


Rae gets a start. Morrison debuts. so will it be Morrison on one side of midfield and Robson on the other?

That's probably the strongest starting 11 from the players that are left.

[st mirren till i die]

Nope, don't think so. I was a bit worried he was going to turn out to be class but I doubt he will now, so Ireland are welcome to Traitor mark II.

There's all this talk about Liverpool, but teams like that snap up youngsters when they want them and Hmailton wouldn't stand in the way, therefore, I smell shite.
it just disturbs me that the IFA seem to be better than the SFA at spotting talented scottish youngsters.

[Gordon EF]

it just disturbs me that the IFA seem to be better than the SFA at spotting talented scottish youngsters.

McGeady and McCarthy have never wanted to play for Scotland.

[Scottish_Morton]

Few thoughts:

Take off McManus, concede 3 goals.

Naysmith just seems to be getting worse and worse.

Christian Dailly was embarrassing, especially at the last goal.

Some great saves by Gordon.

Morrison has never impressed me for WBA, and he didn't impress me today either.

Great debut goal by David Clarkson.

Robson did ok.

We need to stop playing Fletcher out of position.

We passed the ball quite well at times.

[frasermc]

i only got to see the first 35mins. so what went wrong after that? we seemed to be fairly comfortbale. did we run out of steam or did the Czech's raise their game?

Caldwell impressed me in the first half hour. always willing to try and distribute the ball intelligently from the back. McNaughton looked a bit shaky again. these kind of matches suit Kenny Miller.