Gordon Strachan

[DA Baracus]

Strachan is a tosser. That is all.

[TheScarf]

Yep, despite bring told numerous times on here he was retiring after the Euros he gets another gig.  Quelle Surprise.

[1320Lichtie]

This Lagerback the saviour stuff is a load of nonsense

[skippy2015]

He done a good job with Sweden and Iceland but was really poor as manager of Nigeria. There does seem to be a lack of affordable alternatives to Strachan. If sfa were to sack strachan they would have a short list then would have to consider - 1. Who would want to take the job? 2. Can they afford the wages based on our lack of success the past 20 years ? These two points usually rule loads of people who the fans want as manager and we're left with Leveins And Burleys of this world and back to square one!!! I don't however believe we don't have the players to compete and we have really underperformed under strachan the last two campaigns. If you look at teams like Costa Rica Iceland and N Ireland they have done well last two tourneys but in my mind Scotland have better players in depth.

[forameus]

7 hours ago, 1320Lichtie said:

This Lagerback the saviour stuff is a load of nonsense
 

Maybe not the saviour, but a man who has a huge amount of experience at taking largely average and unfancied international sides to tournaments would be an infinitely better choice than "let's-see-who-the-least-shite-scotsman" is routine that we always go through.

He would've been hard pressed to have done a much worse job than the two people who were picked in front of him the other two times he was interested, and I dare say he'd have probably had us in a better position had he started this campaign in charge.

[Ira Gaines]

Maybe not the saviour, but a man who has a huge amount of experience at taking largely average and unfancied international sides to tournaments would be an infinitely better choice than "let's-see-who-the-least-shite-scotsman" is routine that we always go through.
He would've been hard pressed to have done a much worse job than the two people who were picked in front of him the other two times he was interested, and I dare say he'd have probably had us in a better position had he started this campaign in charge.

Good post.

He had a fairly mediocre team punch WELL above their weight. Which requires belief. Something Strachan has not got and has proven multiple times.

Lagerback did say that the Iceland job was his last though, if memory serves me right. So the SFA wouldn't see him as an option. I'd say that's more unfortunate than incompetent.

[forameus]

Just now, Randy Giles said:

 

Good post.

He had a fairly mediocre team punch WELL above their weight. Which requires belief. Something Strachan has not got and has proven multiple times.

Lagerback did say that the Iceland job was his last though, if memory serves me right. So the SFA wouldn't see him as an option. I'd say that's more unfortunate than incompetent.

 

The way I see it, if all the players play to the best of their ability, then we have a team that can compete for a qualification spot.  I don't think Strachan has really been picking the wrong players largely, most of his squads - and by that I mean the starting 11 and the likely subs - have been pretty non-controversial.  There aren't any superstars being left out.

So at that point, you're already picking the best players you can.  Are our best players just not good enough?  Maybe partly.  Or are they just not playing up to their potential?  Who is to blame for that?  I'd put it equally between the players, who often look like they've forgotten what a football is, and the manager.  Some will put it more heavily in the manager's court, and that's fair enough and understandable, but I just hate that players can go out on a pitch with their instructions, be absolutely woeful at carrying any of them out, then get by largely unscathed.  

Anyway, if we accept that we're picking the best players we can, then it leaves us down to those two things.  We either need to get a manager in that gives these thick-as-shit players a reason to, you know, actually do their job, or one that can inspire that little bit extra from the squad we have.  I think Strachan was that at one point, probably up until that Ireland game.  Had we followed that up by going to Georgia and winning, it would be a hugely different story, but the puncture in Dublin turned into the wheels falling off in Tbilisi.  We know what's happened from there.

But still, we're going to see him punted probably after the England game when it's confirmed we can't qualify.  Should we beat Slovenia, he may well hang on to the end, and for me that would be the best case.  This campaign is fucked, so if we're going to get a new manager bounce, have it come at the start of a campaign, not halfway through an already dead one.  After all, once the England game is done, our hardest games are done.  I fully expect us to take full points from Lithuania and Malta, and the Slovenia and Slovakia home games could go either way.  Then let him go in the summer, and bring someone good (I shouldn't really have to stress that) in so that we really hit the ground running for Euro 2020.  As I've always said, if we miss out on that, we may as well just give up.

[AyrExile]

8 hours ago, forameus said:

The way I see it, if all the players play to the best of their ability, then we have a team that can compete for a qualification spot.  I don't think Strachan has really been picking the wrong players largely, most of his squads - and by that I mean the starting 11 and the likely subs - have been pretty non-controversial.  There aren't any superstars being left out.

So at that point, you're already picking the best players you can.  Are our best players just not good enough?  Maybe partly.  Or are they just not playing up to their potential?  Who is to blame for that?  I'd put it equally between the players, who often look like they've forgotten what a football is, and the manager.  Some will put it more heavily in the manager's court, and that's fair enough and understandable, but I just hate that players can go out on a pitch with their instructions, be absolutely woeful at carrying any of them out, then get by largely unscathed.  

Anyway, if we accept that we're picking the best players we can, then it leaves us down to those two things.  We either need to get a manager in that gives these thick-as-shit players a reason to, you know, actually do their job, or one that can inspire that little bit extra from the squad we have.  I think Strachan was that at one point, probably up until that Ireland game.  Had we followed that up by going to Georgia and winning, it would be a hugely different story, but the puncture in Dublin turned into the wheels falling off in Tbilisi.  We know what's happened from there.

But still, we're going to see him punted probably after the England game when it's confirmed we can't qualify.  Should we beat Slovenia, he may well hang on to the end, and for me that would be the best case.  This campaign is fucked, so if we're going to get a new manager bounce, have it come at the start of a campaign, not halfway through an already dead one.  After all, once the England game is done, our hardest games are done.  I fully expect us to take full points from Lithuania and Malta, and the Slovenia and Slovakia home games could go either way.  Then let him go in the summer, and bring someone good (I shouldn't really have to stress that) in so that we really hit the ground running for Euro 2020.  As I've always said, if we miss out on that, we may as well just give up.

 Picking the best players? If the best 11 players who don't start played Strachans first choice picks(mates) then imo it would be a very close game indeed. Could you say that about any other international setups? 

[Newbornbairn]

Quote

“For the good of Scottish football, we want Hearts, Hibs, Dundee, Dundee United in the league all the time playing derbies. We need that regularly and we need somehow to make sure these clubs are in the league because if we have Hibs-Hearts derbies, more crowds, Dundee-Dundee United derbies, more crowds, better television, more money, can buy better players. It’s quite simple really.”

Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/football-needs-hibs-in-top-flight-says-gordon-strachan-1-4357976

Putting aside the suggestion the league should be jury-rigged to keep these clubs in even if they're awful  (relegate the 8th placed team if these 4 are bottom?), how is "More money buying better players" good for Scottish football, specifically the national team? With no money, the clubs are forced to develop local talent. With a few quid in their pocket they buy foreigners.  Look at Sevco, a team stuffed with has-been pensioner English players. What's that doing for Scottish football?

[pandarilla]

“For the good of Scottish football, we want Hearts, Hibs, Dundee, Dundee United in the league all the time playing derbies. We need that regularly and we need somehow to make sure these clubs are in the league because if we have Hibs-Hearts derbies, more crowds, Dundee-Dundee United derbies, more crowds, better television, more money, can buy better players. It’s quite simple really.”

Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/football-needs-hibs-in-top-flight-says-gordon-strachan-1-4357976

Putting aside the suggestion the league should be jury-rigged to keep these clubs in even if they're awful  (relegate the 8th placed team if these 4 are bottom?), how is "More money buying better players" good for Scottish football, specifically the national team? With no money, the clubs are forced to develop local talent. With a few quid in their pocket they buy foreigners.  Look at Sevco, a team stuffed with has-been pensioner English players. What's that doing for Scottish football?


Your point is a legitimate one.

But clubs having money allows them to develop better facilities, better coaches, a better setup generally to improve the quality of their players.

And the point about big games, big crowds etc. It is more of a test for our players. They're learning in a more intense environment, handling those pressures.

I don't want to get into this whole debate again but there are no easy solutions to improving our standard of player. It's pretty complicated.

[No_Problemo]

How the SFA continues to allow Strachan to shout his disgraceful, deluded opinions is beyond me. He truly is an utter little cretin. Somehow I hate him even more than Levein. 

[pandarilla]

How the SFA continues to allow Strachan to shout his disgraceful, deluded opinions is beyond me. He truly is an utter little cretin. Somehow I hate him even more than Levein. 

What did he say in that interview that was disgraceful and deluded?

I think you're falling into the dark chasm of hyperbole.

[BFTD]

Strachan proving once again that he has absolutely no idea why people turn out to watch football.

I'd nothing against him before his tenure as Scotland boss, and you can argue that he isn't entirely responsible for how the national side has performed under him, but it's embarrassing to have the figurehead of our national sport actively campaigning to end one of the fundamental attractions of the league system.

It's not worth questioning why the SFA allow him to do so, however, as I don't think he's saying anything that they wouldn't broadly agree with.

[Dunning1874]

On 03/02/2017 at 23:50, Randy Giles said:

Lagerback did say that the Iceland job was his last though, if memory serves me right. So the SFA wouldn't see him as an option. I'd say that's more unfortunate than incompetent.

 

True. What was incompetent and unforgivable was overlooking him when they appointed Levein. How anyone could genuinely believe Levein was the better option

[AMMjag]

Letting himself go off on a complete tangent, in which he has the brass neck to take a swipe at Jurgen Klopp's record [emoji1]

Starting to believe that theory posted a few pages back that there might be something mentally wrong with him.

[HibeeJibee]

58 minutes ago, AMMjag said:

Letting himself go off on a complete tangent, in which he has the brass neck to take a swipe at Jurgen Klopp's record

Starting to believe that theory posted a few pages back that there might be something mentally wrong with him.
 

Thought that myself. "Managers need victories not performances", basically.

Says the man who's competitively only beaten Gibraltar and Malta in ~2.5 years.

[kenny131]

Well we will see what he is made of next squad as half his team from previous ain't playing at there clubs and players he over looks are hitting form.

With no right backs(Patterson gubbed and Hutton dropped again) he will have to change his formation that has worked so well (thank fuck).

Personally I think we have players that can open teams up if he picks them but to do that he will have to throw caution to the wind and be brave. But we all know what's coming anya drafted into RB with same old names producing the same old turgid shite.

Sooner it's mathematically impossible to qualify the quicker we get rid of the cretin. I hope the next appointment is young fresh manager with modern ideas, que Sbragia to get the gig

[Bobby Skidmarks]

Hutton has retired from International Football.

[Gordopolis]

3 minutes ago, Bobby Skidmarks said:

Hutton has retired from International Football.

Aye, strange how people keep assuming he might come back. Possibly because the whole retirement thing was a bit odd/not quite definitive. Hutton didn't even come out with a statement, did he?

[MarkoRaj]

Is Kenny a cretin or a troll? Or both I suppose