Scotland vs Slovenia

[Monkey Tennis]

14 hours ago, pandarilla said:

Once again we're at that stage when loads of so-called fans are openly hoping for a Scotland loss.

I don't know what anyone thinks this achieves, other than make you look a bit feeble.

Support the fucking team and then criticise/call for the manager to go. Or f**k off and watch something else.
 

No.

I supported the team in the games that mattered.

Because I want more of such games in future, I'm happy for failure in this unimportant match to be confirmed in a way that might bring about positive change.

Please don't tell me to f**k off - it's not nice.

[Monkey Tennis]

8 hours ago, hellbhoy said:

 

Our backs up against the wall usually produces the results

No it doesn't.

If that was true we'd have spent the odd moment playing in the finals of tournaments in the last 18+ years.

[BallochSonsFan]

This is a must win game for Strachan, although in the grand scheme of things Scotland were never going to be strong candidates to get out of this group.

Losing tonight might get rid of Strachan. What it won't do is kickstart the kind of change thats needed in our game. We can come up with all the completely nonsense programmes like Project Brave that we can dream up. Won't do one iota of good unless there is massive and long term change in our game.

[German Jag]

9 hours ago, hellbhoy said:

If it still were pay at the gate for tickets when they haven't all sold out I might have took my nephews to the game. So the SFA have lost out there, stupid fuckers.

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa_news.cfm?page=2986&newsID=16853&newsCategoryID=1

Portakabins, outside the West stand, open all day through to kick-off. (bottom of page in the link).

 

[MarkoRaj]

World cuppies, either singles or doubles. You had to pass at least once in doubles. Also, deflections never counted. Cue loads of shouts of 'I got a stud on it'.

We used to shorten it to worldy

If you had enough players you'd play worldy dubs.

If someone was penalised for handball or for 'porching' - making no attempt to play the game apart from standing near the goal hoping for an inadvertent chance to score - pens were awarded all round with optional rebounds.

Nothing more controversial than a keeper announcing porching penalties at a crucial stage in the match

This is my contribution to the thread. I literally couldn't care less about this game

[capt_oats]

If someone was penalised for handball or for 'porching' - making no attempt to play the game apart from standing near the goal hoping for an inadvertent chance to score - pens were awarded all round with optional rebounds.

"Poaching" surely?

[Guest DAVIDB69]

This is a must win game for Strachan, although in the grand scheme of things Scotland were never going to be strong candidates to get out of this group.
Losing tonight might get rid of Strachan. What it won't do is kickstart the kind of change thats needed in our game. We can come up with all the completely nonsense programmes like Project Brave that we can dream up. Won't do one iota of good unless there is massive and long term change in our game.

Wasn't there a confidence of second place when the draw was made

[Ya Bezzer!]

15 hours ago, pandarilla said:

Once again we're at that stage when loads of so-called fans are openly hoping for a Scotland loss.

I don't know what anyone thinks this achieves, other than make you look a bit feeble.

Support the fucking team and then criticise/call for the manager to go. Or f**k off and watch something else.
 

Since you were talking about me.

I supported Strachan when plenty on here wanted rid of him.  The improvements he made in the team initially warranted a second chance in my opinion but the recent results and performances have been garbage and when you connect those up with the second half of the previous campaign it's obvious the Strachan era is in steep and serious decline.

Even if we win we are going nowhere and time and matches will be wasted on a broken conception of what our national team is all about.

If Scotland win, Strachan stays in place, his Anglo-reserves stay in place, his rotten defenders that he picks every time stay in place, everything that is wrong stays in place.

I want Scotland to get better in the long run and if we have to lose what is effectively a meaningless match to do that - fine.  I wouldn't even need to do that if Strachan had resigned like he ought to after the Slovakia result.

Strachan's time is up.  End of story.  Take a look at the empty stadium this evening and tell me different!  It's embarrassing it's even got to this stage.

[Guest DAVIDB69]

I am one of the biggest critics of the national team , I will applaud if we actually take the game to opponents but we haven't done that for years outwith the diddy teams

[BallochSonsFan]

12 minutes ago, DAVIDB69 said:

 

Wasn't there a confidence of second place when the draw was made

 

If there was then it would have been entirely misplaced.

 

[Pearbuyerbell]

The group was actually winnable.   All we're hoping for is a manager to organise the defence and to select the correct personnel.   

We've been lucky with this draw - all the other teams are baws.   

[Scary Bear]

The group was actually winnable.   All we're hoping for is a manager to organise the defence and to select the correct personnel.   

We've been lucky with this draw - all the other teams are baws.   

Organise that defence anyway you like. It'll still be shite.

[accies1874]

Div is saying this is the team for tonight. He's usually pretty spot-on when it comes to these things.

[Pearbuyerbell]

Just now, Scary Bear said:

 

Organise that defence anyway you like. It'll still be shite.

 

 

A good manager can cobble together a defence.    A Walter Smith type manager worked with the likes of Caldwell, Ritchie, Wilkie etc.   

Strachan isn't that man. 

[Dunning1874]

45 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said:

If there was then it would have been entirely misplaced.

 

The draw was made in July 2015, at a time we'd been playing well and were as it stood the favourites for second place and automatic qualification from our Euro 2016 group. On that basis it was reasonable to have some confidence of competing well with Slovenia & Slovakia for second here. Of course, in our next game after the draw was made we lost to Georgia and it's been downhill since, without a single good performance or result. Any confidence at the start of the campaign was misplaced, but confidence at the time the draw was made was understandable.

[TheGoon]

I actually think we'll win tonight, but if we don't and it is indeed the end of Strachan, I'll be fine with it.

[paddymcp]

1 minute ago, TheGoon said:

I actually think we'll win tonight, but if we don't and it is indeed the end of Strachan, I'll be fine with it.

On what basis of evidence do you think we'll win tonight? 

[Dunning1874]

If that is the starting eleven, I really hope it's Snodgrass wide and Armstrong through the middle.

4 minutes ago, Pearbuyerbell said:

A good manager can cobble together a defence.    A Walter Smith type manager worked with the likes of Caldwell, Ritchie, Wilkie etc.   

Strachan isn't that man. 

Obviously it's an inescapable reality that our defence is extremely poor aside from left back and we'd all love to have better defenders available, but you're entirely correct. In the 2008 Smith/McLeish campaign, which people always hark back to as a fine example of a manager grinding out results with a limited squad, we used such talents as Steven Pressley, Graeme Murty and Jay McEveley. Yes, our centre backs now are poor and none are as good as David Weir or Gary Caldwell, but they're no worse than Stephen McManus and certainly better than Pressley or Murty.

Regardless of the standard of player in defence some good managerial organisation can go a long way to mitigating their weaknesses, and when you concede six goals from crosses into the box in two games you can only conclude that the manager is doing an utterly despicable job of organising them.

[TheGoon]

1 minute ago, paddymcp said:

On what basis of evidence do you think we'll win tonight? 

Nothing more than my gut. We'll win, Strachan stays in a job. We subsequently get horsed by England.

[Guest DAVIDB69]

Glad to see Armstrong playing, brown and fletcher is more of the same crap though, both offer zero

 

Griffiths hasn't looked great at international level and hasn't played much club football

 

Goals may be a problem as always