Brilliant! I was thinking about that earlier in the week with the whole England after '66 thing. Never knew there was an actual title for it!
I know it's OT but what is the opinion of the Scottish FA, supporters and players on the question of Scottish Independence? I assumed they are split like a lot of people are in Scotland or are they completely silent and cannot talk or advocate anything political???
There's a separate thread on the referendum http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/scotland-referndum.1997326/ You may be better asking this question there although there hasn't been a lot of chat on it as I don't think there are many, if any, Scottish people actually living in Scotland that frequent this board.
I know what you mean and I agree that it is too soon to be calling him up but he isn't passing McGregor or Marshall any time soon. I think GS just wanted him involved in the national team setup again. If he can get back to the level he was at previously (before injury/illness) then he'll definitely be a serious option for the no.1 spot again. As for his season so far I actually think he's been one of our better players. That's not saying much mind but, on his own personal performances alone, I think he's been pretty good. Steady and reliable. Still not great with the ball at his feet but then he never was in the first place.
Germany 2-1 Scotland A great second half effort after a nervy first 45mins almost harvested what would have been a most welcome point in Dortmund but it wasn't to be. Still, I can't help but feel encouraged with the progress our national team is making under Gordon Strachan. It was an excellent counter attacking equaliser. Great set up from Fletcher accompanied by excellent pace and composure from Anya. However the main worry I still have is the fact that we are going to have to score a lot of goals to finish 2nd in this group as we are going to concede plenty. Other than our fine array of keepers our defence is pretty much a complete write-off and doesn't look like it is going to improve any time soon. Other results in our group didn't go our way. Poland hammered Gibraltar 7-0 (as expected) but Ireland's late winner in Georgia is something we could have done without. A draw would have been far nicer for us.
Congratulations, you got some decent footballers coming through! You almost didnt recognize this team if you compare them to Scotland of old. Is there some revolution going on like Germany did? The equalizer was classy and quick, problem probably was Rudy played RB for the first time in his entire career. TBH, Ive seen England too and it seems like you guys are better at the moment.
Cheers. We did ride our luck at times which was always going to have to happen to give us any sort of a chance. Here's hoping you do the business against Poland, Ireland and Georgia as well. It's going to be a real dogfight for 2nd spot in this group.
Yep we were missing a lot key players that's why our offense didnt seem to click but good effort nonetheless. The German commentator said sth like "Naismith is one of the players you got to tell the game is over otherwise hed still be running".Here's our record: always tight games vs Scotland, we always win vs Poland, we most often win by much vs Ireland. So, I guess you have to a job to do vs Poland. But Im also pretty sure youd win the 3rd place playoffs. Pretty easy qualifiying mode this time.
It tells you something when I am gutted to come away with nothing from playing Germany in Germany! The defence is the weakness. Not sure what we can do about that. What impresses me the most is Strachan has us trying to play football. It's nice to see.
I'm pretty sure Germany will get better as qualifying goes on and the tweaks in terms of players changing falls into place. It really was the perfect time to play you.
True. The finals are being diluted down so much that they will lose a lot of quality but will give countries such as Scotland a chance of being involved again. Still, I'd much prefer it to have just been top two go through end of.
Totally agree. After that performance it would seem to bode well for the campaign. However it is Scotland and we have been known to have qualifying campaigns fall off the rails pretty quickly. I think the next game is home to Georgia. Needless to say 3pts are a must.
Yep, exactly my thoughts. Kudos to your guys for that great fight and impressive performance after the interval. They got unlucky not to be rewarded with a deserved point. Good luck for the upcoming games (even though I'll be also cheering for Ireland ;-).
Not quite the actual national team itself but Hampden has been selected as one of the venues for Euro 2020. Three group games and 1x round of 16 game. http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/about-euro/index.html
Scotland - Georgia - EURO 2016 Qualifying - Ibrox - Saturday 11th October 5pm KO Scotland squad Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Celtic), David Marshall (Cardiff City), Allan McGregor (Hull City) Defenders: Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town), Craig Forsyth (Derby County), Gordon Greer (Brighton and Hove Albion), Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers). Alan Hutton (Aston Villa), Russell Martin (Norwich City), Mark Reynolds (Aberdeen), Andrew Robertson (Hull City), Steven Whittaker (Norwich City) Midfielders: Ikechi Anya (Watford), Barry Bannan (Crystal Palace), Scott Brown (Celtic), Craig Bryson (Derby County), Chris Burke (Nottingham Forest), Graham Dorrans (West Bromwich Albion), Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), Ryan Gauld (Sporting Lisbon), Shaun Maloney (Wigan Athletic), James McArthur (Crystal Palace), James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion) Forwards: Steven Fletcher (Sunderland), Steven May (Sheffield Wednesday), Chris Martin (Derby County), Steven Naismith (Everton) Only the 2nd game of the qualifying campaign but it already has massive significance. After a very good performance away to the runaway group favourites in which we were unlucky to take a point confidence is running high among the fans, and I'm sure among the squad and management as well. So it should be but will it be another false dawn...? I hope not and I don't think it will be. We need to beat Georgia on Saturday and I believe we will and we will beat them well to put down a marker for the rest of the campaign. For the first time in a long while we have a lot of players who are on song for their clubs at the minute. I don't think there could be a better time for us to be playing such a crucial match. Gordon, Hutton, Robertson, Anya, Brown, Dorrans, McArthur, Fletcher and Naismith are all playing very well. The addition of the new faces (Gauld and May) will only help the overall ability in the squad. Gordon Strachan has, apart from in central defence, a multitude of options to pick from. I'd go for something along the lines of a 4-4-1-1 with Naismith playing in and around Fletcher up front. Gordon Hutton Berra +1 Robertson Dorrans D.Fletcher Brown Anya Naismith S.Fletcher We'd still have the likes of Maloney, May, Gauld and McArthur to call on from off the bench if required. I'm going for a 3-0 victory for us.
I have no idea how Georgia are rated these days. Do they have anyone of note? That there are so many more leagues with very good players these days makes it more difficult than it was 15 years ago.
They're currently ranked 110 in the world. I know, I know it's the FIFA rankings and they're a bit of a mess but I don't really know any of their players at all. I'm not slating Georgia and I don't think I'm getting ahead of myself. I just have a lot of confidence (at long last) in our national team with WGS at the helm and I really think we will turn them over at Ibrox.
I was at the match the last time Georgia played at Hampden. Good times, really good time. It was my introduction to the Tartan Army (and Glasgow, for that matter). God, I need to get back sooner than later.
Scotland team - Scotland: Marshall, Hutton, Robertson, R. Martin, Hanley, Maloney, Morrison, Brown (c), S. Fletcher, Naismith, Anya. Subs: Gordon, C. Martin, Reynolds, Whittaker, Bannan, Burke, D. Fletcher, G. Dorrans, Gilks, May.
A 1-0 victory. That'll do but it could, and should have been more. Still, I honestly never felt like we were going to drop any points at all from first whistle to the final whistle. Poland beating Germany is a bit of a blow. They'll have their tales up and we could really do with taking something from this game tomorrow night, although that will be far from easy. There will be changes to the team. One forced change at least as Grant Hanley has had to pull out of the squad after picking up an injury during the Georgia match. Do we bring in the experience Darren Fletcher offers for this tough away match? Do we bulk up and take wee Shaun out and bring in McArthur for instance...? Decisions decisions for WGS.
I'm more than happy with the draw. We needed to take something from the game and we did that. I reckon the aim was for 4pts from this double header and that is exactly what we achieved. We're doing well. Hell a couple of years ago if we'd gone a goal down in Poland after 10mins we'd have probably lost by 3 goals. Last night we came from behind to actually lead the game. I was sitting there watching again with belief. Even after we went a goal down I still believed we'd fight our way back into the game. As you say though the 3pts were there for the taking. Alan Hutton will have better games than he had last night. The first goal was the result of a shocking touch and the 2nd goal he was caught sleeping for just a split second. Still, both goals were good finishes from the hosts. We have Ireland at Parkhead in November. 3pts from that match would put us in a very tidy position with, arguably, our two toughest away trips in the group done and dusted.
I saw Hutton's first error, and that could happen to anyone. He's too good of a player to be having all the blame.
I'm not blaming him for the whole game but he is most certainly to blame for their 1st goal. It was a shocking touch, amplified due to the location on the pitch where it happened (edge of the D). As I also said above though, it was a neat finish from the Polish player.