Should Strachan Go?

[54_and_counting]

Of course we were ludicrously jammy twice against France in that campaign. Of course, luck matters. If you wish to fixate on Ireland getting some, then be my guest. Strachan and his underachievers will be delighted.

and why are scotlands players underachievers, given they finished in the position they were expected to

maybe calling them honkingly bad which id agree with would be more correct,

[dogmc]

This has been as enthralling and exciting qualifying tournament as I can remember. Certainly in the past 15 years. We still had hopes of qualifying until the last kick of the ball in the second last game. Frankly, we had no luck whatsoever, we got everything through hard work and determination. We were undone by a poor performance in Georgia and the cruellest of luck against Poland. I want Strachan to stay.

We have had no luck whatsoever? ?? How many deflected goals have we relied on ffs? Georgia v nearly took a draw at home....Poland hit post late on away....roi hit bar late on....we equalised v deflection in Dublin....we've had far more good luck than bad....spare a thought for Iceland who were drawn with dutch Czechs n turkey....n decided to not moan about luck but just get through with a squad if average players

[dogmc]

You honestly think we've had more luck that Ireland in this campaign? Well I'm not really sure how to continue this conversation.

You make the point about Scotland fans / media / manager not mentioning luck when we get it; I completely agree. Of course they don't, no football team does (with some very odd exceptions). But that doesn't mean to say it's not true. When we beat France twice in 2006/07 (or whenever it was) we were jammy as f**k. Both games, up against it and sneaked a goal. Now we defended like lions but at no point could we say we deserved either win.

Luck matters massively in international football.

We got our share in this group, but the Irish really went to town.

Re France at home we were v lucky but away they passed across us most of game....Gordon had only one save to make n Gary O'connor ( yeah I know Stephen Pearson came on to!!) Missed a decent chance to make it two nil....they did v little with their possession that night

[Ira Gaines]

Aye, the home game against France wasn't luck. They got exactly what they deserved from that and so did Scotland. My memory of the away game is a bit hazy, but was it not essentially more of the same?

[Diamonds are Forever]

Why is scoring a late goal any luckier than scoring an early one?

[Doc Sportello]

Why is scoring a late goal any luckier than scoring an early one?

Because there is less time for the team that has been hammering you all game to hitback than if the goal was scored in the 1st minute.

The Irish are absolute dung, and deserved about 1 point total from their games against Poland, Germany and Georgia away. To say they've had anything but outrageous luck this campaign is untrue.

[Paco]

Even with a defeat in Georgia we've ultimately been done by Ireland getting four points from six against the reigning World Champions. It's not quite a "what can you do" situation, but it does mean we were given no second chances which some countries will benefit from in this campaign.

I do think we'd have beaten Poland if Ireland weren't leading Germany too. Hampden was absolutely flat for the final 20 minutes, and Martin admitted chatting with Marshall about why that might be in the thick of the action. It put the players off a bit, rightly or wrongly.

We've come within an absolute whisker, with not a lot of luck along the way - you could maybe argue we were lucky to leave Warsaw with a point, but aside from that the other disputable matches (Dortmund and Georgia mainly) are ones where we could've done better rather than worse. We were in a very difficult group, were we in Wales or NI's I've little doubt we'd have made it.

I'm happy to see Strachan stay, and I'd be very disappointed if he left. There isn't a glaringly better candidate out there at all. Give him another campaign, we have Malta away, Lithuania at home and Slovakia and England away before the turn of the year in the WC qualifiers. Any less than six points, sure get rid, but I'm confident of at least six and a result in Bratislava a;alongside that would leave us in a very strong position.

No doubt we've improved over the course of the campaign in my mind.

[Guest DAVIDB69]

No I don't think Strachan should go. Despite his slightly annoying media interviews its like night and day from watching Levein's Scotland, which was undoubtedly the most I've ever hated watching football. I personally think EURO 2016 was a tournament too soon and Strachan will take us to Russia if given the chance.

You honestly see him getting second in the group and defeating a very good side over two games play off.

There are only 13 places from Europe for the World Cup, we could not get one of 24 places for the euros

[pandarilla]

Aye, the home game against France wasn't luck. They got exactly what they deserved from that and so did Scotland. My memory of the away game is a bit hazy, but was it not essentially more of the same?

If a complete neutral watched those two football games do you think they'd come away saying 'aye fair's fair, 2 Scotland wins'? If the answer to that question is yes then you're not right in the head.

They were shit (really shit in Paris) but for us to win a lot of luck was needed. Faddy scored from 80 yards for f**k sake.

[Ludo*1]

DAVIDB69, on 11 Oct 2015 - 23:43, said:

You honestly see him getting second in the group and defeating a very good side over two games play off.

There are only 13 places from Europe for the World Cup, we could not get one of 24 places for the euros

England are winning our WCQ group.

The second spot up for grabs is between us, Slovenia and Slovakia. Slovenia have done very well in recent times, but were beaten by ten man Belarus just the other night.

It may well be tougher to get into the WC - but our group is significantly easier - Gibraltar aside.

[Gordopolis]

England are winning our WCQ group.

The second spot up for grabs is between us, Slovenia and Slovakia. Slovenia have done very well in recent times, but were beaten by ten man Belarus just the other night.

It may well be tougher to get into the WC - but our group is significantly easier - Gibraltar aside.

Yeah and we'd NEVER lose against Belarus

[Ira Gaines]

pandarilla, on 11 Oct 2015 - 23:48, said:

If a complete neutral watched those two football games do you think they'd come away saying 'aye fair's fair, 2 Scotland wins'? If the answer to that question is yes then you're not right in the head.

They were shit (really shit in Paris) but for us to win a lot of luck was needed. Faddy scored from 80 yards for f**k sake.

We took chances and they didn't, and plus, they were absolutely honking. They got exactly what they deserved from both games.

[Fifa]

Even with a defeat in Georgia we've ultimately been done by Ireland getting four points from six against the reigning World Champions. It's not quite a "what can you do" situation, but it does mean we were given no second chances which some countries will benefit from in this campaign.

I do think we'd have beaten Poland if Ireland weren't leading Germany too. Hampden was absolutely flat for the final 20 minutes, and Martin admitted chatting with Marshall about why that might be in the thick of the action. It put the players off a bit, rightly or wrongly.

We've come within an absolute whisker, with not a lot of luck along the way - you could maybe argue we were lucky to leave Warsaw with a point, but aside from that the other disputable matches (Dortmund and Georgia mainly) are ones where we could've done better rather than worse. We were in a very difficult group, were we in Wales or NI's I've little doubt we'd have made it.

I'm happy to see Strachan stay, and I'd be very disappointed if he left. There isn't a glaringly better candidate out there at all. Give him another campaign, we have Malta away, Lithuania at home and Slovakia and England away before the turn of the year in the WC qualifiers. Any less than six points, sure get rid, but I'm confident of at least six and a result in Bratislava a;alongside that would leave us in a very strong position.

No doubt we've improved over the course of the campaign in my mind.

Good post, disagree with the last paragraph though. I think we started a lot better and performances have declined as we've went on

[Ludo*1]

Gordopolis, on 11 Oct 2015 - 23:53, said:

Yeah and we'd NEVER lose against Belarus

What's your point? I wasn't commenting on Scotland's ability, more that our group isn't anything special and isn't as good as the group we've just faced off against even if it is easier to qualify in terms of numbers for the Euro's.

[Gordopolis]

What's your point? I wasn't commenting on Scotland's ability, more that our group isn't anything special and isn't as good as the group we've just faced off against even if it is easier to qualify in terms of numbers for the Euro's.

Simmer down. You just gave me a flashback to 2005. Scotland 0-1 Belarus.

[54_and_counting]

Good post, disagree with the last paragraph though. I think we started a lot better and performances have declined as we've went on

did we start better or are we simply blinkered by the fact that the jerry's were brutal for the first 3 or 4 games including one against us

[accies1874]

did we start better or are we simply blinkered by the fact that the jerry's were brutal for the first 3 or 4 games including one against us

In my opinion:

Our performance in Dortmund was better than the one at Hampden.

Our performance at home to Georgia (albeit poor) was better than the one over there.

We probably played worse in Warsaw than at home.

We played better at Park Head against Ireland than in Dublin.

We played better away to Gibraltar than at home.

So, all in all, I reckon we did do better at the start of the campaign.

[dogmc]

If a complete neutral watched those two football games do you think they'd come away saying 'aye fair's fair, 2 Scotland wins'? If the answer to that question is yes then you're not right in the head.

They were shit (really shit in Paris) but for us to win a lot of luck was needed. Faddy scored from 80 yards for f**k sake.

80 yards.....really??? How many times was Gordon troubled over in Paris....we robbed them at Hampden....over there....they flattered to deceive....could easily have been two nil to us.....

[dogmc]

did we start better or are we simply blinkered by the fact that the jerry's were brutal for the first 3 or 4 games including one against us

Actually kinda think that's right....we scraped results rather than really performed well....it had come off us doing superbly against Croatia so hopes were high....too high as it goes....we assumed only way was up....

[The Master]

No I don't think Strachan should go. Despite his slightly annoying media interviews its like night and day from watching Levein's Scotland, which was undoubtedly the most I've ever hated watching football. I personally think EURO 2016 was a tournament too soon and Strachan will take us to Russia if given the chance.

The best we can hope for in the next qualifiers is the play-offs and no further. With only one automatic place up for grabs from each group, the play-offs will be flooded with huge teams that even during a "good era" we'd struggle to beat.