So, here was Craig's original squad selection for the crucial opening double header on our way to Rio - Gilks (Blackpool) McGregor (Besiktas) Marshall (Cardiff) Berra (Wolves) Caldwell (Wigan) Fox (Southampton) Hanley (Blackburn) Hutton (Aston Villa) Martin (Norwich) Mulgrew (Celtic) Webster (Hearts) Adam (Liverpool) Cowie (Cardiff) Dorrans (West Brom) Forrest (Celtic) Mackie (QPR) Maloney (Wigan) Morrison (West Brom) Naismith (Everton) Phillips (Blackpool) Snodgrass (Norwich) McCormack (Leeds) Miller (Vancouver Whitecaps) Rhodes (Huddersfield) Latest has it that Mulgrew, Martin and Fox are all carrying injuries of some sort. Obviously there is still time for all three to recover but we are short in defence at this minute in time. It may be worth looking at bringing in someone like Crainey as a back-up for the LB spot as a short term measure. Obviously Darren Fletcher is nowhere near returning for national team duties but why wasn't Scott Brown and, more importantly, Kris Commons, considered for this double header. Commons is one of the form players in the SPL so far this season and has also been one of our best performers in Champions League qualifiers. I am absolutely miffed that he isn't in this squad. Fitness could come into contention for both of the above named players but considering both were rested on Saturday and there is no travelling involved for either match, it would surely be worth considering at least Commons for inclusion. We've only named 3 strikers, but we only usually play with 1 up front. Still, after watching MotD highlights I can't help but think both parties (Levein & Fletcher) should be doing a damn sight more to bury the hatchet and get on with the important stuff. Namely qualifying for our 1st World Cup finals appearance in over a decade.
I'd honestly be hoping for the maximum. Is that stretching it too far...? Even with only 1 striker up front we've got plenty of options either in the hole or out wide to supplement him. I believe we can get goals against both teams, especially at Hampden. Whether we can keep the back door closed as well is a different matter altogether.
Scotland being Scotland, I'm expecting an outstanding effort against Serbia and a let-down against Macedonia. It'll be Levein's job to make sure that isn't the case. I'm hoping Maloney will get to play in the "hole", as he's looked really good in the early season for Wigan.
This group will probably be ultra-competitive so I'm really looking for full points from these two home games. As Fraser says, I'd love for the Fletchers to be in there but hopefully Darren will make a full recovery and Steven won't be in the squad while Levien is manager. The other big question for me is Milller of Rhodes. I suspect Levien will go with Miller, at least initially and I suppose that's sensible. I'd line up... McGregor Martin Webster Berra Fox Caldwell Mackie Morrison Adam Snodgrass Miller I like Caldwell sitting deep in midfield and it gives possibly our strongest area of the team 9attacking midfielders) a lot more licence to get forward. We've got plenty attaking options from the bench of things aren't working. Don't know too much about this Serbia team but their old manager was saying in the paper on Sunday that their defence is brilliant, midfield's OK and they're rubbish upfront. The key to this one will be concentration and patience I think. What we don't want to do is let them in front and have to try and break down their defence from a losing position. We're probably not going to get many chances which is why I'd like to see Rohodes play a big part, he seems a real predator.
Each to their own but I'm not sure about that line-up. I fully understand your reasoning for deploying Caldwell in midfield but a CB pairing of Webster-Berra gives me the creeps. I'd also look at playing players in form hence why I want Commons in this squad, but in his absence I'd want something like this ... McGregor Martin Caldwell Mulgrew Fox Forrest Adam Morrison Naismith Snodgrass Miller With Caldwell at CB we would at least have someone who could organise the defence efficiently. We're a little light on DM's at the minute so it may mean Morrison playing slightly deeper than he is used to (again if Brown was in the squad this wouldn't be as big an issue). I'd give Miller 60mins to run the legs off the CB pairing and bring Rhodes on for the last 30mins or so. Snodgrass gets the no.10 position. If he isn't cutting it then Maloney and McCormack are both viable options off the bench.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19463788 Paul Dixon and Gary MacKenzie have been drafted into the Scotland squad after Danny Fox and Russell Martin were ruled out of Saturday's meeting with Serbia. Scrap the above. Martin and Fox are injured. McGregor Hutton Caldwell Berra Mulgrew Forrest Adam Morrison Naismith Snodgrass Miller
i am sure this has been covered many times. But i still do not understand what the issue is? He would make a big difference to us.
Scott Brown most probably wouldn't have been able to play both games in the double header even if he had been selected -
Mulgrew is out as well now. Should we think about inverting the pyramid for this game...? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19463788
Any of you going to the match tomorrow? It'll be live on Espn Deportes here in the States. Should be entertaining.
0-0 at HT. This has got stalemate written all over it unless we change things. I'm sure the Serbians will be quite happy to leave with a point. It may be a case of taking a risk and putting Caldwell back into defense and bringing on another attack minded player as we look short of numbers most times when we go forward, which in turn is restricting the amount of chances we are capable of creating. Other thoughts on the 1st half Paul Dixon has done very well. Charlie Adam infuriates the hell out of me. One minute he picks out a great pass and the next he's surrendering possession in a vital area with a wayward one. (some of his set pieces have been v. poor). James Morrison is totally anoynmous. The 1st 45mins have just passed him by completely. Either bring on Maloney or Forrest. I'd put on Forrest on the right and push Snodgrass into the no.10 spot behind Miller. Rhodes for the last 30mins or so. Christopher Berra is a bomb scare waiting to happen. Alan Hutton could easily have seen red for that tackle around the 40min mark. Both feet were off the deck when he went in with the full weight of his body behind him.
I'm fast running out of patience with Levein. A blind man could have seen how that was going to end up. He refused to change tactics and focused on not conceding any goals. Will someone please explain to him that chances need to be created in order to score goals to WIN football matches. Dull 0-0 home draws will do us no good in trying to get to Brazil in 2014. How the hell did James Morrison manage to play 81mins of that game?! Why is Charlie Adam given a free reign to ruin 4 out of every 5 dead ball situations we win?! A poor start to the qualifying campaign although I can already see how he'll(Levein) spin it to make it sound like a wonderful beginning to his tactical masterplan. While I'm on the subject can anyone explain to me what his tactics are...?
Hutton was once a player who bombed up and down the wing and could cross a ball, but is now the token hatchet man, Adam isn't far behind him in the 'clugger' stakes....Rhodes is easily our most natural goalscorer and should have started instead of being brought on with 15 or so minutes to go, Levein should have went with two up top but instead opted for the 33-year-old Miller on his tod.... Overall there wasn't much between the sides, but the Serbs were below par and there for the taking. Levein's tactics were clearly set up to avoid defeat rather than to win, and when we're at home with a capacity crowd behind us against a side that, while decent, are by no means world beaters... I won't be surprised if he opts for much the same formation and play-to-avoid-conceding tactics against Macedonia, and if that's the case and we fail to beat them, then it'll be bye-bye yet another international tournament and bye-bye (hopefully) Levein... The only positive I can think of is Levein swapping his usual shellsuit for an actual suit. Looking like a bedraggled schemie is not becoming of any manager of a professional football team.
Totally agree. Serbia's strengths are in defence. That's where their best players are and a manager with any sort of idea would have been concentrating the majority of his efforts into how to break them down, not how to stop them scoring. Hell, a quick google search shows they have failed to score in 7 of their last 9 international matches!
Yep, Levein is far too cautious. We've got this awful tendency to think every international team is much better than they are (compared to us) and I can't help thinking this has gotten into the heads of the Scotland management and players. Not a disaster by any means but yet another very winnable game where we didn't try hard enough to win and Serbia will definitely have been content to take the point. I'd like to see Rhodes start against Macedonia and I'd like to see us play with a lot less respect for the opposition. We're a better team than they are. Let's go and show it for once.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...sist-clamour-to-start-with-Jordan-Rhodes.html I shouldnae be surprised...
I think his mindset is hugely detrimental to the players. "We'll keep it really tight and try to sneak a goal"... it's almost an admission of a lack of belief in his squad. I think the entire nation would prefer a "get right into them. Don't be afraid of them. You're better than they are" attitude. I think he would get a much better response from his players as well. He talks about players missing the opportunity to make the killer pass or take on the shot early. Well maybe the players don't believe in their own ability when playing for their country. Which is quite understandable with the way Levein sets out the team for these matches. The 2pts dropped, and that's what it was, in the first game are due to the manager and not the players imo. Any chance he's bluffing...? Nope. Didn't think so either. But I hope he is. I don't know what I'll do if we trot out with a 4-1-4-1 formation for a home match which we MUST WIN against Macedonia.
That was the worst result we could have got. A win, any kind of unconvincing win would have left us with the feeling we had gotten off to a reasonable start to World Cup 2014 qualifying. A defeat and maybe, just maybe, they might have gotten shot of Levein. But as it stands we're now almost out of the equation after the first 2 matches and still stuck with Levein. Does anyone seriously expect us to take points off of Belgium and Croatia after witnessing the last 2 matches...? I cannot believe he started with a 4-1-4-1 formation again. Is he really that thick?? I counted maybe 3 real chances in that game for us. At a push. The goal, Rhodes near post header and maybe Caldwell's header from the keepers flap at a corner. Maloney's free kick and Dixon's long range shot don't count as real chances. So to win we need to convert at least 67% of our chances created. To win by a comfortable margin we need to convert 100%. It's absolute lunacy. 32,000 fans at Hampden last night for only our 2nd match of the qualifying campaign. That should have the beaks worried enough already. As for Levein, this guy is clearly way out of his depth. Lets forget about friendlies, in 10 qualifying ties he's won 3. Two of this victories were against Liechtenstien! It's pitiful. And what exactly did he do as a manager to get the job anyway? Cowdenbeath, Hearts, Leicester City, Raith Rovers and Dundee Utd were his previous posts. I would suggest Dundee Utd are a better team with Peter Houston in charge now. He has no experience of any kind of football outwith the UK. I know he was probably one name on a very small list when he got the job but please, lets get rid and try and tempt someone out of self imposed management exile such as Gordon Strachan. He's got far more experience and I'd bet he'd be far better at handling the players. (and the media) I cannot bare seeing us slog our way through this whole campaign with Levein at the helm.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-sacked--John-Greechan.html?ito=feeds-newsxml Game's up for Levein the loser: It is now a matter of time before Scotland boss is axed
I didn't get a chance to see the Macedonia match. The result is disappointing, but was the play that bad?