Friendly Next Month

[GhostZapper]

On ‎13‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 14:10, Jason King said:

That the SFA have put that sexist racist poltroon in charge of the national team, even if  only for one game, says it all about the complete and utter cretins that are in charge at the SFA.

Its quite sad that football fans seem to want to hold managers and players at a much higher standard than themselves. Yes - what he did at Cardiff was wrong. He was punished accordingly. He lost his job, and had to go through an education process supported by the LMA and Kick it out.  But should that exclude him from working for the rest of his life? Of COurse not - everyone in life does stupid stuff, they pay a price at the time, then should be allowed a 2nd chance in life.  We've all done stupid stuff! but we've all had the opportunity to move on and learn from it!

Kick it Out, who were very vocal about his suspension and actions at Cardiff, have actually supported the move

“People learn from their mistakes and hopefully Malky has and will demonstrate on behalf of the people of Scotland and to the people of Scotland that he’s worthy of such a position. People need to move on. He is not Harvey Weinstein.”

As for being permanent manager, he certainly wouldn't be high on my list for the role Full Time. I think there are many better candidates out there! Hopefully it is only for one game.

[No_Problemo]

Its quite sad that football fans seem to want to hold managers and players at a much higher standard than themselves. Yes - what he did at Cardiff was wrong. He was punished accordingly. He lost his job, and had to go through an education process supported by the LMA and Kick it out.  But should that exclude him from working for the rest of his life? Of COurse not - everyone in life does stupid stuff, they pay a price at the time, then should be allowed a 2nd chance in life.  We've all done stupid stuff! but we've all had the opportunity to move on and learn from it!
Kick it Out, who were very vocal about his suspension and actions at Cardiff, have actually supported the move
“People learn from their mistakes and hopefully Malky has and will demonstrate on behalf of the people of Scotland and to the people of Scotland that he’s worthy of such a position. People need to move on. He is not Harvey Weinstein.”
As for being permanent manager, he certainly wouldn't be high on my list for the role Full Time. I think there are many better candidates out there! Hopefully it is only for one game.

It should exclude him from the two roles which he has now been given by the SFA, yes.

[GhostZapper]

5 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

 

 

It should exclude him from the two roles which he has now been given by the SFA, yes.

 

On what basis and for how long? Your are giving him a life sentence for sending some stupid/ignorant texts?

[Monkey Tennis]

1 hour ago, GhostZapper said:

You are wanting your National Team to get beat? What a sad idiot you are!

It's not remotely idiotic, if he thinks that winning this otherwise meaningless fixture might have the potential to help land an interim manager he doesn't rate, the job on a more permanent basis.

Real idiocy would involve overriding such a context in pursuit of a puerile notion of patriotic loyalty.

[LiviLion]

2 hours ago, GhostZapper said:

You are wanting your National Team to get beat? What a sad idiot you are!

2 hours ago, GhostZapper said:

On what basis and for how long? Your are giving him a life sentence for sending some stupid/ignorant texts?

Shut up Malky.

[Gordopolis]

So is there any reason why we're not playing a second friendly during this window? Wales and England are. Holland are and I'd wager the majority of non-playoff teams are. If we're building for the euros as Mackay claims, why not have a second game Vs a Cyprus or similar to get a better look at Christie, Cummings etc and to let guys like McGinn etc build up more experience at this level before it comes to the games that matter?

[gastropod]

Would make total sense to keep these guys together until next week and have a 2nd game at Tannadice or Rugby park..Try out the players that never got on , try another GK , try anybody up front that isn,t called Phillips..So much things could be tried out with a game on say Tuesday night rather than everyone just going back to their clubs..

[Gordopolis]

Yep, can't fathom the 'do f**k all' attitude

[HibeeJibee]

You've forgotten that everyone else plays prettymuch as many times as they can, but not us, presumably as we know better.

That or as we can't be bothered.

[Gordopolis]

You've forgotten that everyone else plays prettymuch as many times as they can, but not us, presumably as we know better.

 

That or as we can't be bothered.

Feels like we're pissing in the wind here. I think Vogts was the last manager not to be so profligate with opportunities to play.

We certainly don't know better.

The fact Mackay was banging on about players dreaming of 50 caps sums it up - that's the realistic total most of our players can hope to reach, whereas if you look at Belgium, France etc, it's not abnormal for players to reach that in their mid 20s. Guys on that radio last night describing our side as 'packed with youngsters getting their first or early caps' - 23/24 isn't young in football.

 

[gastropod]

I know international friendly games are not the most popular right now,  but for us  it  was a chance  to solve a lot of problems that are needing fixed.. At least one CB , a proper right back , a younger GK , a proper CF  ,  another LB if any of Tierney or Robertson are out .. McKay never did any of that and only used 3 subs from 6 ..To not have another game lined up is nothing more than bad f*cking management ..It meant a hell of a lot to the lads that played last night for the first time and  i cannot believe we.re not giving a few more a chance next week ..

[Savage Henry]

I know international friendly games are not the most popular right now,  but for us  it  was a chance  to solve a lot of problems that are needing fixed.. At least one CB , a proper right back , a younger GK , a proper CF  ,  another LB if any of Tierney or Robertson are out .. McKay never did any of that and only used 3 subs from 6 ..To not have another game lined up is nothing more than bad f*cking management ..It meant a hell of a lot to the lads that played last night for the first time and  i cannot believe we.re not giving a few more a chance next week ..

In fairness to Mackay, there was clearly an agreement with Advocaat to use three or fewer. Six substitutions per side ruins the second half of friendliest. That’s not to say I disagree, but that was a decision made on the fans’ behalf.

I have no idea why Archer and Cooper didn’t play, given the squad selected.

[Gordopolis]

At least the Nations' League will chase us out onto the park during future international windows.

[HibeeJibee]

Today's paper suggests March's mooted game v Argentina in Morocco will be our only outing before NL starts in 10 months.

[Gordopolis]

Today's paper suggests March's mooted game v Argentina in Morocco will be our only outing before NL starts in 10 months.

Myopic in the extreme.

So our hot prospects will be stumbling out into the first NL game after basically a year of cold storage?

Hopefully just the paper being pessimistic - and surely a new manager would feel uncomfortable about having 1 (very tough) game to bed themselves in with?

 

2 games in March and 2 in June please - and if not give us a good reason why.

 

[HibeeJibee]

My thinking is similar.

Nevertheless article does state:

"Mackay installed an almost entirely new support staff and considers all his changes point the way to the future for the next man, who will be in place before Scotland head to Morocco in March, for what will be their final build-up game(s) before the new UEFA Nations League competition starts in September".

[forameus]

If I was allowed some time with the people in charge at the SFA, but I only had time for one question with a detailed answer, I'd first try to stop from just screaming "WHY" at the top of my lungs while clawing at their faces to see what's under the mask, then ask them why they continue to treat friendlies with, at best, disdain and at worst utter disgust.  

It's the one thing that continues to baffle me.  Poor managerial choices I can accept are just their choice, as is their xenophobic fear of anyone foreign.  At least they have something behind them, even if they are ridiculous.  The friendlies stuff though, it's actively hindering us in a demonstrable way.

[JamesM82]

15 hours ago, Gordopolis said:

Myopic in the extreme.

So our hot prospects will be stumbling out into the first NL game after basically a year of cold storage?

Hopefully just the paper being pessimistic - and surely a new manager would feel uncomfortable about having 1 (very tough) game to bed themselves in with?

 

2 games in March and 2 in June please - and if not give us a good reason why.

 

Not playing games in June is probably to give the Celtic players (who do form the core of the side), and the players from other teams who qualify for Europe, a proper break next summer. This year those players had an international on 10 June (England) then were back in pre-season about 10 days later.

Also, playing too many friendlies depresses your FIFA ranking because of the low number of points available from winning one, even against top opposition.

[forameus]

1 hour ago, JamesM82 said:

Not playing games in June is probably to give the Celtic players (who do form the core of the side), and the players from other teams who qualify for Europe, a proper break next summer. This year those players had an international on 10 June (England) then were back in pre-season about 10 days later.

So play some without those available and treat it like a chance to impress for fringe players.  We shouldn't be treating friendlies like a Sunday morning 5s game when you cancel because you're not sure you'll get numbers.  Essentially you're saying we're not playing 

1 hour ago, JamesM82 said:

Also, playing too many friendlies depresses your FIFA ranking because of the low number of points available from winning one, even against top opposition.

You must have missed other countries actively - and publicly - gaming the friendlies system to make sure they improved their seedings.  Playing the wrong friendly can cost you points on average, but playing the correct friendlies is an incredibly powerful tool, particularly when every other country is actively getting involved.

[JamesM82]

1 hour ago, forameus said:

You must have missed other countries actively - and publicly - gaming the friendlies system to make sure they improved their seedings.  Playing the wrong friendly can cost you points on average, but playing the correct friendlies is an incredibly powerful tool, particularly when every other country is actively getting involved.

Yes, and the main point of the strategy is to play as few (official) friendlies as possible. The idea is quite simple. FIFA ranking is based on a points average. The number of points you get from winning a friendly, even against a top team, is relatively low. Play fewer friendlies => higher points average.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25134584

Unfortunately for the orange hordes of Dutch fans, that is exactly what their team did in June 2013. If they hadn't played that game they would be one of the top seeds, not Switzerland, who played fewer friendlies than most teams in the final 12 months that counted towards World Cup qualifying ranking points.

"It was on April 26th, I still have the email. I saw the fixtures they [the English FA] announced against Brazil and the Republic of Ireland and I realised that they were making a mistake with regards to the seeding for the World Cup. I wrote to the FA and I told them that they needed to do something about it. I said treat the friendlies very, very seriously or consider breaching one of the rules… basically making more than six substitutions."