rovers271194

Started a new save with Scotland during the last international break to see if I could do better than Steve Clarke with the squad he has. used the newest database with all new transfers in it but also declared Che Adams for us. Was going to try and play the same tactics as Clarke but soon decided there was better ways to get the best out the squad. Went with A 4-2-3-1 Qualified for the Euros and managed to make it to the semi finals before losing a 2 goal lead to Holland. Thankfully they went on to beat England in the final. Managed to top a World cup qualifying group ahead of Spain and have Mexico, Czech Republic and Qatar in the group stages to come. Thank god Qatar came out of pot 1 otherwise it could have been a very tough group. I am now ranked 18 in the world so was actually in pot 2 for the draw. Goalkeepers - A massive problem here. Gordon retired after the Euros so been between Clark and McCrorie with Clark probably just the better of the 2. RB- Been starting Tierney here with Patterson and Hickey in the squad to cover but both have played and performed well. CB- Hendry, Cooper, Souttar and Hanley have all filled the slots and still cant decide on a pairing but Porteous has since come and and done well LB - Obviously a no brainer here but have Hickey as back CM- Best pairing has probably been McGregor and McTominay but having McGinn and Gilmour as back ups has been great and could easily play any combination of the 4 and not have any drop in quality. RW - Forrest with Olly Burke as a replacement. Not great admittedly but hopefully get good younger players making a breakthrough LW - Christie generally starts with Fraser as a sub but Fraser can just as easily play on the right if needed AM - Between Gauld and Turnbull for starting but Ferguson has also come in and done a job ST - Che Adams all day long. He has hit 19 goals in 28 starts and if fit then he absolutely will start every game. The squad is actually very good and its also very young so will hopefully get better.

Scotland just hit 13 in my Hearts save and only 4 scorers. Never seen 3 hattricks in a game before but almost 4 in this

Started a new save with Hearts after the Scotland disappointment. Was interested to go back and see what happens with the new European competition and see if I can have an success. Had a cracking start to the season before coming undone at Celtic Park which was no surprise. Haven't signed a single player and relying heavily on youth.

Well here we go. Biggest match in a quarter of a century for Scotland. Lost our captain and Ryan Fraser to suspensions so in come Taylor and Burke. Got a bad bad feeling about this but I suppose that comes with years of following Scotland. 21 seconds gone and we are out of the world cup. Horrendous start and in truth it could have been worse. Started to come back into the match and were awarded what looked a dodgy VAR penalty but Billy Gilmour missed his big chance. Holding on by our fingertips. 4 big players missing before the tournament started and then two more before kick off. Don't think many countries could cope with that Yaaaaaa Beuaty. Down and out and now we are back in with a chance. Out of nothing. Brilliant goal from Mikey Johnston. VAR goal chopped off for Mikey Johnson in the 82nd minute to put us in the next round. Devastating. Horrendously disappointing.

In the middle of the World Cup the draw has been made for the Euro qualifiers. I've absolutely no idea how but ive been seeded 1st. Didn't realise that before I watched the draw and was beginning to think they forgot to put me in. Happy enough with that although on 2nd viewing I don't think we will have a single comfortable away game

A draw between Italy and Cameroon and a win for us puts us through. Worst case now is an Italy win against Cameroon because that outs the pressure on. Confident that a win against USA should be enough but that will probably come back to haunt me and we will find another way to fail to qualify.

Shame you don't because this guy has it in him to go anywhere he likes

Next up is Cameroon. If we want to qualify then this is a must win. Or certainly a must not lose. Kept the same starting 11 from the last match and hopefully have a similar performance Wow. That was everything that the 1st game wasn't. Absolutely all over the place at the back and Cameroon are so fit and strong that they are causing us all sorts of problems that no one else has. Could be 6-6. Really glad to get the equaliser and go into the last game with a chance. (better check the other score to make sure that's the case) Cameroon are a very good team. Very quick and strong and difficult to play against. Hopefully get a win against the US and hope that we can scrape through this

The big day has finally arrived for Scotland fans. 24 years on from the last World cup appearance. Good to get the hardest game of the group out of the way first I reckon. Cameroon have beaten the USA 1-0 in the groups other game in the early kick off. Kept the same line up as the Montenegro game and hopefully we can play with the same attacking flair Happy enough with the first half. Very even with very few clear cut chances but certainly not coming off 2ndf best. More yellow cards than I would like which could come back to haunt me later. Very happy with the result but denied a victory by a fantastic 88th minute save. Shows we can go toe to toe with the worlds best and come out with something. Hopefully not downhill from here

Montenegro next up at Rugby Park. Will try and start with the team I think will face Italy and hopefully get a morale boosting win. Pretty sure this is the team against Italy barring a disaster. Well that really couldn't have gone any better. Still no goal from a striker though. Thrilled with that performance and a great morale booster. Finally got a goal from a striker too

Starting line up for the game against Spain. Trying Leigh Griffiths up front after a bit of a break so hopefully he can get a goal. Great first half. Not too many clear cut chances but a great header by Ryan Fraser. Kept possession very well against a good team so very encouraging. That lasted all of 60 seconds into the 2nd half. Changing it up a bit to give the squad a bit of a rotation and see if I can get a goal out of a striker. Very happy with that result and performance. Very composed on the ball. Its a real shame we are missing so many big players because I feel this could have been a great World cup for us.

Thought I had misread this first time round. Only getting 25/1 on Scotland haha

So Finally time to name the World Cup squad. Also now lost Scott McKenna to injury as well. It really is slim pickings. So this is the matched we face in the next few weeks to try and take Scotland beyond the 1st stage for the first time. When the draw was made I was very confident but with the injuries we have had I'm struggling to see how we can qualify.

Did Scotland qualify?

Disappointing defeat but showing more and more that I can go head to head with the big teams and compete. Had so many chances to win the game. Since the game I've had the news that both Ryan Christie and Scott McTominay will miss the world cup through injury. Especially gutted for Christie because he is about the only striker I have that looks remotely likely to score.

Squad for the games away to Germany and then ending with Belgium at Hampden. Pretty safe from relegation which was about the best I could have hoped for. Win against Germany in Germany and we might win the group. Big ask. Missing Robertson, hopefully Taylor can step up . Completely outclassed in the first half but still level somehow.

Switzerland at Hampden which was my one realistic chance of a win before we started so hopefully we can collect the 3 points and make ourselves safe. Kept in the game so far by Harry Stone with at least two brilliant saves. Need a better 2nd half Brilliant 2nd half. This team has a chance when they play well and it makes such a difference when you have a goalkeeper you can trust

Squad for Belgium away and Switzerland at Hampden. A bit of an overhaul. Players dropping like flies so this is as strong as I can go. Fingers crossed. Hoping Christie can make a nuisance of himself an maybe get a goal before taking him off. Somehow leading at half time but Belgium been by far the better team Absolutely battered 2-1. No idea how many times they hit the woodwork.

Kept the same starting l11 for the Germany game. Will need to be at our best to get something but you never know at a sold out Hampden. By far and away the better team at half time. Should have had a couple so far but hopefully doesn't come back to haunt us. Well that went far better than I could have hoped. Completely in control. Brilliant performance all round Top of the group after the first round of games

Switzerland away first up. Need something from here to avoid relegation. Nightmare start but improved dramatically after that and were well on top before they got a goal late on. They actually had an equaliser chopped off in injury time. Watching this Scotland team would be really hard work. Gutted to not win the match but would have taken that at the start. Germany at Hampden next

Squad for Switzerland away and Germany at Hampden. Got a genuine worry here that a bad campaign would mean im sacked before the world cup

Also had the draw for the forthcoming nations league division and this couldn't have gotten any harder. Will take an absolute miracle to avoid relegation. Almost a certainty that I would get Belgium again too

Well the world cup draw has finally been made and I've got to say I'm not too disappointed at all. We are by far the worst according to the rankings but feel we have a chance of sneaking out of the group. Glad to be there

Hoping for a better outing and a bit of a confidence boost. Whirlwind start and great set up play by Hickey for the 2nd so he might be a starter at right back. Armstrong with two brilliant headers. Forget how good he is and is still only 29. Will make a few changes again as there are a few players that have only to play 45 minutes. Really disappointing 2nd half. Players were all over the place and it could have been much worse.

Given Fitzpatrick and McCrorie debuts. Hopefully McCrorie will push on and make the right back slot his own. Not a great first half, not helped by losing McGinn after 10 mins. McCrorie looks a bit lost so far and a dodgy penalty for the 2nd. Make a few subs at half time and hopefully get an improvement. 2nd half didn't get too much better but pleased to see Taylor come off and make a difference. Had a goal chopped off before scoring a brilliant team goal not long after. Really looked the part