velo army

Aye I wasn't referring to him in internationals, but according to those who do watch Hearts games, he had looked a bit ropey. I'd love to see him make a miracle recovery, but it needs to be understood that recovery from a broken leg takes ages, and I include the time when people who break legs come back and then suffer muscle strains. Happens all the time and according to my physio pals is to be expected. Gunn is our goalie going forward and is much better than Gordon right now, especially with the ball at his feet.

That Queens home one is a peach. I'm an absolute sucker for a proper collar. The Fiorentina one is a decent sponsor away from being utter sex. Decent effort.

@Monkey Tennis we weren't massively at the races, but we weren't complete rubbish either. We put in an under par performance and came away with a win that, honestly, we could have added to as Norway were absolutely done. That speaks to the type of winning mentality I've never seen before in a Scotland team. In games past we would have thrown in the towel with those last ten, or sat back after the equaliser. We're a smashing side who have found a way of winning even when not entirely at it. I understand you're accustomed to calamity, which has primed you to focus on the negatives and err on the side of extreme caution (the trauma response of most Scotland fans tbf), but we're a fine side, Georgia aren't terribly good, and we're not the side we were before. We're pumping them.

I know McLeod gets pelters here, but I love him. Always enthusiastic, but not in the try hard way that Peter Martin was, and erudite unlike that absolute tube Crocker. The strangled way he says "goal" here is wonderful. He's so caught up in the excitement, it's visceral. He's right too, there is something very special about this Scotland team. I honestly thought we should have gone after a third. Norway were done.

I hear you on that, but given you started this by saying that the reason we have good players now is because of (or partly because of) Rangers' demise taking money out of Scottish football I was wondering what players who wouldn't have otherwise gotten into the squad. I couldn't see a single player in that team who I thought would have been kept out by a foreign player. I think the depletion in numbers might be more down to Brexit denuding Scottish teams of their young players through EPL teams' inability to get young foreign players cheaply. The timing of both was the same, but I don't think clubs signing fewer foreign players makes sense with less money, they're not especially more expensive. I reckon it was more the Brexit effect. I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong, but I don't think there's as much supporting evidence for your theory. Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy imo. And I'll fucking deck you if you swear at me again

And what players from the current national team got games who otherwise wouldn't have?

Sir Stephen Clarke. He's a superb man manager who makes his players feel seen and appreciated. Hearing McTam talking after the Spain game and seeing him glow when talking about the manager where he says that Clarke said something really simple to him that struck a chord and since then he's been absolutely flying for us.

You'd find a fiver and be grumpy that it wasn't a tenner . Look at McGinn's body shape. He's obviously not shooting and is playing it back in. It's a splendid goal.

Happy to be called out on this. "Kenny McLean isn't the player you bring on when you're fucking losing" quoth a desperate and seething Velo Army .

Fixed

I think you take Cooper all day. Clarke has spoken of his incalculable value to the squad when he's there, even if he doesn't play.

That's crazy .

Maybe that's how he pronounces it. I don't think it's colonialist to not make the effort to learn players' names, I do think it's lazy and a bit unprofessional. There's only about 16 of them in any one game. It isn't hard and it also tells us watching at home a wee bit more about the countries we're watching.

The boy who gave up the first goal said afterwards that he couldn't control it because of cramp. The Norwegians were out on our feet by the end while we genuinely looked like we could have gotten a third. Our conditioning and fitness is superb.

I actually like Jonathan Pearce for pronouncing players' names correctly. It's professional and respectful and as important as knowing some stats and details about players. But aye, doing it inconsistently would be weird and lazy.

Friday night on Channel 5, about 10.45pm .

We'll ride Georgia over both games.

We're pumping these on Tuesday. I don't think it'll even be close. Robbo to run ragged and Wee Billy to pull them apart. 4-0 Scotland

Aye he's our best player (and we've got loads of cracking players) and consistently plays at a very high level. He'll absolutely roast Georgia's right hand side on Tuesday. I can't wait.

(Phone won't let me delete the quote, sorry for the false alarm NBB). Bought a kebab there and the lad in the shop was really busy with deliveroo orders. He gives me the kebab IKEA style. The chicken in a tub, the salad in a tub and the fucking pitta separate. You need a cutthroat razor to open a pitta without messing it up, which I ended up doing. An utter mess.

Oh aye, that was nonsense.

I haven't screamed with that level of abandon and ecstasy for ages. Even the Serbia game. I thought we could have gotten a third if we wanted it too. They're not a one man team. They're a three man team. I thought Berge was fantastic, but when Haaland went off (and Gilmour back to being the player we know he is) we looked super comfy. Bloody hell. I have no voice now.

Well aye, but not just that. It was under a manager who wasn't playing him aside from a few minutes at the end of the occasional game. It's perfectly reasonable. We want him to be playing regularly instead of stagnating on the bench. I'm glad he is getting game time, but it's easy to be smug in hindsight and obtusely act like it's wild behaviour to query whether a player not playing for his club (and not looking like there was any route in to the first team) should in fact be staying there.

I think we should just commandeer the Dundee one (changing the badge and denude it of a sponsor, obviously).