-
Posts
1,441 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Reputation
859 ExcellentProfile Information
-
My Team
Scotland
Recent Profile Visitors
2,445 profile views
-
Strongest 11/McGregor/Ferguson conundrum
HuttonDressedAsLahm replied to The SandDancer's topic in Tartan Army Ramblings
This whole thread is a bit weird. Some seem to be writing McGregor's obituary, and as far as I can tell he's barely put a foot wrong for us in recent memory. Ferguson will get his chance soon enough, and it won't be at McGregor's expense. I don't think Ferguson's been given a real shot at it yet, but neither has he lit the heather alight in a blue shirt. Hickey looked a bit out of place initially, and is now probably our best right back in decades. McTominay (even after the CB experiment) took a bit of time to find his home. Ferguson might well be the same - we'll find a way that works for him and works for us, but right now we've got the best midfield we've had in living memory, and there's only 2-4 spaces available. -
Strongest 11/McGregor/Ferguson conundrum
HuttonDressedAsLahm replied to The SandDancer's topic in Tartan Army Ramblings
Agreed with the shout on Christie - think there's a chance he plays deeper in one of the games for at least a period. I'd expect the only two midfielders to start both games to be McTominay and McGinn. I'd be surprised if Gilmour and Ferguson don't start one each, with possibly McLean also getting a start. Armstrong seems to be the perennial sub, but he played well against Norway so might fancy him making the first XI against NI. Prediction would be Adams subbed by Dykes for the Netherlands (or vice-versa), and Shankland to start against NI. As others have noted, no wildcards or unexpected call ups, so it's just SC sets up differently against Netherlands/NI, and any game time/chances he wants to offer out. The only obvious ones fans will want to see are Ferguson, and Shankland given game time, and perhaps see what Christie can do deeper. The defence is much of a muchness - as ever, the hope is to keep Tierney fit and get 60+ minutes out of him in both matches if we can. -
Whoever was looking for McGinn to have a rest got their wish. Today’s red card could be a few games off. Means he’s more likely get more game time for us I expect.
-
Strikers coming through
HuttonDressedAsLahm replied to Chimter-boys's topic in Tartan Army Ramblings
As unexciting as McBurnie is, he does have 16 caps and is scoring occasionally for a terrible team in the Premier League. We’ve those three ahead of him so you’d assume there’s no room later this month, but if you lose one ahead of June then better to have someone with decent experience than picking someone with zero but performing well in the Championship (e.g. Hardie). Seems like sensible planning from SC. -
Acknowledging the danger in dragging it on... You're not wrong, and it's an aspect of refereeing that can be overlooked. Referees are taught to consider point of contact (POC), level of force, brutality, endangerment of safety, whether leading with studs, did the player attempt to pull out the tackle etc. Level of force matters of course, and sometimes too much attention is spent on the POC. However, some degree of foot-on-foot contact is expected given the nature of the game, and so sensibly there is a greater 'allowance' for such challenges. Serious injury and endangerment increases substantially above the foot, and players have much greater ability and responsibility to control their tackles/bodies at those heights. At least we've 'mostly' got away from the "but he won the ball first" arguments (though the G.Shinnie one in Ross County(?) last year demonstrated that it's still not widely understood/appreciated). I do agree with you - I've seen too many discussions focussing on POC, when the sheer level of force effectively makes it irrelevant.
-
Full back (right & left)
HuttonDressedAsLahm replied to Craigieboy86's topic in Tartan Army Ramblings
BBC reporting The Mail (urgh) rumouring Bayern to be interested in Robertson. If their loss of Alphonso Davies is correct, they’ll need a new left back. -
One of my biggest frustrations with refereeing and the LotG is that there is near-universally understood and accepted guidance/training for elements such as Serious Foul Play and Violent Conduct that isn't written down anywhere publicly available. The guidance provided is that a tackle of the same force where the 'point of contact' is above the boot/foot and onto the ankle is almost always a red card, whilst a near-identical tackle where the boot makes contact with the opponent's boot/foot is a yellow card. Now, if you hit someone hard enough any tackle can/should be a red, but the above distinction is used at all levels of refereeing (or at least it should be if grassroots officials go to their coaching classes). Don Robertson rejected an OFR for downgrading a red card for Rangers a couple of weeks ago with a foot-on-foot challenge as he deemed the force to be high enough, but typically challenges like Maguire's end up in the yellow card camp. Gilmour's on the other hand should be a red card because it's a clear example of endangering safety - the ankle is an incredibly vulnerable position and so making direct contact with studs (not mentioned in Law but part of guidance) into the ankle (again, as per above) is likely to be deemed excessive force/endangering safety. Also worth noting, a tackle that is boot-on-boot and where the player's ankle might 'bend' isn't in itself indication of a red card challenge. Point of contact and sheer level of force/brutality etc is what referees and VAR are considering when determining careless (nothing) reckless (yellow) and serious foul play (red). That may be of some help, or it may just confused things further.
-
It’s a red card at every level and has been for at least a couple of decades. Unfortunate, but losing the ball and trying to regain possession is how these types of fouls occur.
-
I’d have agreed with you 3 years ago. Less so now. That 14-0 game was the most egregious example of real-world stat padding since Australia started Viduka and Kewell against a bunch of Pacific fishermen.
-
Obviously SSC has a decent wager on McGinn getting to 31 goals.
-
That’s my take - he’s stubborn and idealistic. Pragmatism has a role to play, and I’d argue the very very best managers are able to adapt on the fly to deal with imperfect situations. I’d counter the other Guardiola point - he improves and rebuilds players into what he wants far more than he rejects them. Either way, the whole discussion is academic but my take on Arteta is that he’s overly inflexible, and partial to using scapegoats to hide both his own inadequacies, but also the inevitable losses of form and variation that happens to everyone.
-
No one is immune to criticism, and managers like Arteta are wedded to their philosophies like artists, professors, and those at the top of their game. The worst of them continuously double down even when it becomes plainly obvious to everyone else that their setup has weaknesses being exploited. Some perceive identifying weakness or admitting to weakness is a weakness in itself. The very very best adapt and change with the game. They manage complex, varying, and difficult squads and get the very best out of their players. They freeze out players only when they have to - irrespective of their individual value (think SAF with the few he did it too). I’m not at all convinced by Arteta. His freezing out of players is odd, and quite counter to how Guardiola works. The way he whines about referees also grates with me. Either way, I’m quite happy at the prospect of Tierney staying out of Arsenal. No doubt decisions to be made in the summer, but completing the season in Spain is surely the optimum outcome.
-
Scots abroad 2023/24
HuttonDressedAsLahm replied to Pie Of The Month's topic in Tartan Army Ramblings
A few very positive comments in the match summary from the weekend -
Scots in the Championship 2023/24
HuttonDressedAsLahm replied to Ewanandmoreagain's topic in Tartan Army Ramblings
I swear I’ve seen him score that identical goal before. edit: maybe it is a re-post after all -
I like the Netherlands game. 12 sides are out for playoffs, and 3 more for the Euros. You also lose England, Spain, France, Turkey, and Cyprus for recency issues. Probably the same situation for a side like Austria, or Poland/Ukraine/Israel if they were available. It also depends on who is available to come play us away, as most sides don’t want two away games (NI aside apparently). Given all those restrictions, and taking out the real minnows: 53-12 playoffs-3 Euro sides-6 recent sides, remove the worst 11 sides from the UNL then divide the remaining by 2… leaves ~10 sides to choose from. Not a huge number all things considered, unless we start looking outwith Europe. Edit: I never like playing the home nations in any match, so it’s a bit of a ‘meh’ choice. Still, if it was Kosovo/Iceland/Bulgaria/Lithuania we wouldn’t think much different either. I suspect it’s a combination of availability, cost, and pragmatism. If nothing else, we should dominate the ball and can try a couple of changes in formation/players if someone’s making a push or the Dutch game forces a response in some way.