KingRocketman II

you don't like to bother yerself too much with boring stuff like tactics or set-pieces, I guess.

So you now agree there were some pretty wild takes. Got there in the end.

this took a 2 min skim and just a flavour I Imagine. If you think these are all reasonable reactions after a disappointing friendly performance/result that follows one of our best qualifying campaigns in decades, then fair do's.

It is not nice to lose, particularly to pretty poor teams like Northern Ireland who just set out to defend. I guess that is the point of friendlies to test ourselves against such opponents and it is clear we still struggle against doggedly defensive teams and to a certain extent teams who initiate a high press. However the difference now compared to 2 years or so ago when we would more regularly turn in a performance like last night, is that we have the evidence in terms of numerous performances/results that can be achieved when team selection and tactics click. We didn't have that evidence before - therefore am pretty relaxed about Clarke and remain optimistic about our Euro performances and chances. Plenty of lessons to be taken from and built on from last night. As most know, the path to improvement and making gains is rarely a straight line (:). As for reactions to these friendly results, there have been some wildly spectacular takes on here. Too numerous to post or reference. I guess that is social media permeating its way to behaviours and attitudes - its is either fantastic or shite; black or white; massive win or a massive fail etc. Context and nuance as well as wider/mitigating factors are inconveniences as they take a view into an area that requires more thinking beyond immediate reactions.....

case closed.

don't agree. His time has undoubtedly been a success - two qualifications after years in the wilderness. I was critical of Clarke going into the the Euros and immediately afterwards (inc our abject WC qualifying play-off) as we were still really disjointed on the park and I didn't think he was getting the best out a talented group of players at his disposal. However a second successive qualification, numerous fantastic performances inc Spain at home, and even barring last night's late collapse, some of the football we were playing, away to the Netherlands it should be noted, was really top drawer stuff. I If you consider everything, and particularly our record since 1998, he has undoubtedly been a success - that stands regardless as to whether we make it past the group stages or not in the summer. When he does decide to pack up and perhaps a return to club management, I believe the calibre of clubs approaching him will be testament to that. I doubt he will elect to go Birmingham City.

Clarke does seem to effortlessly trigger a certain fanbase....

"no where near" a top tier national side if you just ignore inconveniences like results, tournament records and rankings.....

A more nuanced assessment to perhaps take away would be overall a fantastic performance away to a top team but a bad result in the end. - Shankland did well and don't think there would have been much difference in terms of team performance if that had been Dykes or Adams; - Shankland's miss was a one on one, which you would have expected to him to score - hardly a "shocker" or a "sitter" as it has been described; - if we play like we did for 75 mins, and we take any of the Christie, McGinn, McTominay or Shankland chances - which based on previous performances and goal tallies is likely - we will do well in our group games; When you see stuff like "reality check" etc getting banded ahead of us going to our second successive Euros, you just wonder where folks have been for the past 20 odd years......

Shizzlemanizzle awaiting a response:

not withstanding the cringe, I have absolutely no idea what it means......

"footy" is mainly the sole preserve of those who happily use terms like "pen" and "lino". They also invariably think that any ex footballer with a nickname (ie just adding a y" to the surname) is hilarious with their "bantz" which is largely derived from tales of dressing room japes and training ground bust-ups. The use of "mate" is a core part of their lexicon.

"footy". But I like the Belgian one if that is indeed it. On the whole, the Belgium national team have great kits....

me too. but with the red socks (not blue):

meh. yellow card pre-VAR....

can also put Ryan Hardie in the Conway camp.

yeh also saw that in a Guardian article and surprised to see he as anything but a complete no hoper ala his London mayoral campaign. Just shows that if you are in the grift for the long haul it will eventually pay off.

Finding it increasingly difficult to open things. The top items for me are: - Mouthwash - Little sachets of coffee or milk in hotel rooms despite tearing at the "perforated"/open part - little sauce packets in pubs - razor packs that use that see through plastic coating on the front - anything that comes with that plastic coating Loads more that I will remember when I next struggle with them. Sometimes a minor irritant - a petty thing getting on my nerves. Other days throws me into a full blown rage.....

a mob. Honestly - I know opinion on Sweeney is split and he can utter nonsense on account that he feels his tenuous Clyde/shipbuilding links give him a unique perspective and solidarity with the working man. This plus the fact he was claiming Universal Credit when he got punted as an MP, though you would question his need for doing so on the basis it seemed a comms exercise. However, his stuff on Glasgow redevelopment is really good and he takes a genuine interest in seeking to maintain old Glasgow buildings, support sustainable redevelopment, and never seems partisan about his pursuit of this (would be difficult to do I guess as Labour in GCC are responsible for the majority of the rot of many a once great building). But the above just shows him as a shameless Labour careerist, towing the party line, blurring lines between lies and misrepresentation to justify the deceitfulness of the party head. With Sweeney and many Scottish Labour MSPs/MPs it is Labour first, Westminster second with constituents and Scotland appearing way down their list of priorities.

You were a different person back then.

That's just lazy. Not even a pal or relative's car which would prevent you from changing station. Must do better.