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Squad face Slovenia and Slovakia


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Guest DAVIDB69
The only saving grace for picking Darren Fletcher is the sense of 'one more big performance'.

He's been a brilliant servant for Scotland. There's a part of me that thinks he's earned this. But it needs to be a massive improvement on his recent form.



He has never been a brilliant servant he has about five decent Scotland games in his career
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Guest DAVIDB69
We nend energy in midfield as we play much better those advocating to put Darren fletcher and snodgrass in are deluded they have failed us in these games time after time.  Mc Gregor and mcginn for me.



Yes we have looked quicker and more mobile in recent games.


These two are the complete opposite of that
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He has never been a brilliant servant he has about five decent Scotland games in his career


That's not true David. He's just not the type of player that a lot of fans wanted (from a Manchester United regular). He was always a strong holding midfield player - but quite often in a poor Scotland team. Easy scapegoat.
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For me Mcgregor can't play in one of the sitting roles he is better as one of the 3 behind the striker,his best position is the auld fashion in-side right were he finds little pockets of space in and around the box,looking at the 2 games Strachan needs to use his squad he can't play the same team twice like he did in the last double header,for me he needs to use at lease 18 players for the 2 games.

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46 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

 


That's not true David. He's just not the type of player that a lot of fans wanted (from a Manchester United regular). He was always a strong holding midfield player - but quite often in a poor Scotland team. Easy scapegoat.

 

Fletcher has been part of the Scotland side for 14 years and in that time mainly played beside Ferguson and then Brown. Both of those players have always out performed him and have been better leaders for the country.

He was a Manchester United regular so should of been our star man, but has never produced for the national team. Playing in a "poor team" is no excuse when you see the likes of Bale, Robbie Keane, Ibrahimovic, Lewandowski, Hamsik who have all regularly lead their teams with great performance, Fletcher has never done that for us. 

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Why would being a Man Utd regularly automatically mean that he should be Scotland's star man?  He was a dependable but unspectacular midfielder for Man Utd, so why would he suddenly become a creative mastermind playing alongside worse players in the Scotland team?

Literally every single one of the other guys you listed are attacking players - it's obviously much easier for them to stand out for their countries.  Fletcher was a very consistent performer for Scotland between making his debut in 2003 and picking up his illness in 2011ish.  He hasn't been great for us since then, but has still turned in some decent performances when called upon.  This revisionism about his Scotland career has to stop.

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Why would being a Man Utd regularly automatically mean that he should be Scotland's star man?  He was a dependable but unspectacular midfielder for Man Utd, so why would he suddenly become a creative mastermind playing alongside worse players in the Scotland team?
Literally every single one of the other guys you listed are attacking players - it's obviously much easier for them to stand out for their countries.  Fletcher was a very consistent performer for Scotland between making his debut in 2003 and picking up his illness in 2011ish.  He hasn't been great for us since then, but has still turned in some decent performances when called upon.  This revisionism about his Scotland career has to stop.


The only point I'd take you up on is that for a couple of seasons he was absolutely vital for man utd. I think it was round about 2008-2010. He was always picked for the really big games.
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The only point I'd take you up on is that for a couple of seasons he was absolutely vital for man utd. I think it was round about 2008-2010. He was always picked for the really big games.

Pretty sure he got into the PFA Team of the Year around that time too. It’s a shame for him that he ended up missing the 2009 CL Final as he could’ve made a difference to that United side.
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The absolute morons in our support back out in force to deride Darren Fletcher for not being Gareth Bale. Absolutely bizarre behaviour.

I wouldn't be starting McGinn and McGregor, we need someone with at least an ounce of defensive awareness considering Hamsik is around, Fletcher is the obvious shout, or Mulgrew.

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10 hours ago, wastecoatwilly said:

For me Mcgregor can't play in one of the sitting roles he is better as one of the 3 behind the striker,his best position is the auld fashion in-side right were he finds little pockets of space in and around the box,looking at the 2 games Strachan needs to use his squad he can't play the same team twice like he did in the last double header,for me he needs to use at lease 18 players for the 2 games.

Yeah we struggled to perform after 20 mins of the Malta game, and i worry we *might* beat Slovakia then be really flat in Slovenia. Shame the squad has been riddled with injuries as we'll need to use them as you say.

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I still remember the fans behind me, screaming at Fletcher over the course of three home games for not taking the ball past two or three opposition players, as 'He plays for Man Utd, so he should be doing that'.  I've always liked Fletcher and he always gave his all to the team. Like various posters have put already, if he starts on Thursday, I can see this being his 'last big Scottish performance for us'. 

As for Forrest, I am normally against the including him in the side. But he definitely has helped the team over the last couple of games. I would definitely start him on Thursday and bring Fraser or Snod on if/ when needed. 

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8 hours ago, craigkillie said:

Why would being a Man Utd regularly automatically mean that he should be Scotland's star man?  He was a dependable but unspectacular midfielder for Man Utd, so why would he suddenly become a creative mastermind playing alongside worse players in the Scotland team?

Literally every single one of the other guys you listed are attacking players - it's obviously much easier for them to stand out for their countries.  Fletcher was a very consistent performer for Scotland between making his debut in 2003 and picking up his illness in 2011ish.  He hasn't been great for us since then, but has still turned in some decent performances when called upon.  This revisionism about his Scotland career has to stop.

Each to their own if you think he was a consistent performer, but for me I think I can only count on one hand the amount of times I've seen Fletcher put in a good display for the national side. With the team he was playing for and the performances he was putting in (as someone said, there was a period where he was arguably one of the best midfielders in Europe, consistently performing in the big games for United around 2007-10) he should of been the talisman of the national side. It's one of the most baffling things I've seen in football where a guy who was a regular for one of the biggest clubs in world football, couldn't bring those performance to the international stage.

I could list some defensive players if you wish? Even though at Fletcher's peak he was never a sitting midfielder, and actually a box to box midfielder. Look at the likes of Modric, or Marquez at Mexico, even Davis and Jonny Evans for Northern Ireland. The best players in their own nations in terms of what team they were playing for and the performances they were putting in, and they all showed when they were playing for their Country that they were the best player in the squad. 

Fletcher was the best Scotland player for the best part of 5-6 years at club level, and by a distance, yet when he stepped out and onto the field in a Scotland strip He never once performed like he was the best player in the team.

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14 hours ago, No_Problemo said:

Pretty much this - I've not really seen him in the Prem recently but he must be doing something right to still be playing at that level. He's pretty much the only option available in that position that plays consistently at that level.

He had a howler against Chelsea the other week playing as a make-shift centre half. Apart from that, I think he's been fine for them.

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I've always been an admirer of McGregor, but in more of an 'I'd love him on loan at Thistle' kind of way. This is a huge game for us and I can only really remember McGregor's best games for Celtic coming in routine league games, so it would be a bit of a gamble. That said it's a gamble I would take given our situation with injuries, he's a natural fit for the attacking midfield role, has very intelligent off the ball movement around the penalty box and should work well with Griffiths in theory.

 

I'd start Fletcher ahead of McGinn though. In the big end-of-campaign games we've played over the years he's always turned in a performance, it speaks volumes for the stupidity of many Scotland fans that they haven't seen this.

 

 

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34 minutes ago, AyrshireOwl said:

Anyways, moral of the story is, there's no chance Fletcher should start on Thursday.

He was carried by Bannan in Malta and at home to Lithuania, and then his performance in Slovakia was inexcusable.

Barry Bannan. If he starts we will almost certainly lose.

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1 hour ago, Bonksy+HisChristianParade said:

Barry Bannan. If he starts we will almost certainly lose.

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He's had a great start to the season ala McGinn and McGregor. It's just gone unnoticed as many Scots don't pay attention to the Championship.

Would happily start MacArthur, Bannan and McGinn in a midfield three.

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