Scotland v England...

[The Grass Is Greener.]

Clyne, Cahill, Ox, Wilshere, Rooney were good.

Robertson was good again.

England outclassed Scotland in general though as was to be expected, i can't see you guys making it to the Euros unfortunately, players like Hanlon and Brown are dire, were you playing a striker before May?

McLeod could've helped with your creativity.

"You're British til you die" - Class night.

Oh yeah and surely England have every right to dislike the i.r.a. Disgraceful Woy actually apologised for that.

Proud moment for Paul Hanlon last night making his Scotland debut.

Pipe down ya fucking slaver

[Ross.]

Time will tell. I hope so, as I like Switzerland.

It's fair to say immigration has been kind to them. Football is probably the second or third most popular sport here, and it's no coincidence that the national team is made up for the most part of second or third generation immigrants. The facilities and attitude here, when mixed with folk who actually want to play football, should see them good for quite some time.

The current squad has 4 or 5 of the boys who won the U17 World Cup in 2009, and the teams at that level now are frighteningly good from a technical point of view. They seemed to have mixed that well with the almost insane work ethic that the indigenous Swiss are known for. It's no surprise that so many of the players are signed by German teams before they get near a professional team in Switzerland.

[forameus]

The FIFA rankings - as is always said - aren't worth much. They might be weighted over a few years, but two good results in competitive qualifiers can see you rocket up the rankings, and two more bad ones can see you plummet. The only positions that are probably unarguable are the extremes - Germany and Argentina are obviously the two best currently, and the ones at the bottom...well, obviously.

Beyond that though, it's all very arguable. Are England a top ten side? Probably not. Are they the 20th best? Probably not either. Looking at the current rankings, I'd have them at about 14th.

As for the game, I don't think there's any shame in losing to a side who would have beaten us on paper and 9 times out of 10, in a match that doesn't matter. It would've been nice to win, of course it would, but does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? England looked like they really picked it up, rose to the occasion of playing in a pretty hostile atmosphere. They'll be back to grinding out results for the rest of their campaign, finish unbeaten, then have a tournament that fails to live up to the expectations of the media, but probably end up being about the best they could have hoped for. And Scotland? We'll hopefully qualify, get a nightmare group, then end in glorious failure. And it'll be Grant Hanley's fault probably.

[IainMorton]

Can't believe i'm saying this but I can't wait till we are back at Hampden.Feels weird watching Scotland play at Parkhead and Ibrox.

After the last three games, I'd happily play every game at Celtic Park and Ibrox. The atmosphere at these games was much better than the atmosphere for the games at Hampden (big teams aside).

[Pull My Strings]

It's fair to say immigration has been kind to them. Football is probably the second or third most popular sport here, and it's no coincidence that the national team is made up for the most part of second or third generation immigrants. The facilities and attitude here, when mixed with folk who actually want to play football, should see them good for quite some time.

The current squad has 4 or 5 of the boys who won the U17 World Cup in 2009, and the teams at that level now are frighteningly good from a technical point of view. They seemed to have mixed that well with the almost insane work ethic that the indigenous Swiss are known for. It's no surprise that so many of the players are signed by German teams before they get near a professional team in Switzerland.

Are the Swiss famous for their work ethic?

[Ross.]

Are the Swiss famous for their work ethic?

The Swiss think the Germans are lazy and inefficient.

[Mastermind]

Think England will get shown up again at the next international tournament. Just like they always are really.

The intervening 2 years of positivies and enhanced hope make the crushing exit all the more enjoyable.

Their first choice is Jagielka, Cahill and Hart

Pace might get you somewhere against a small nation like Scotland, but teams like Italy and Germany will sweep past England like they always have.

Why on earth would Italy and Germany not sweep past them - England is a significantly smaller country. Germany's extra 30 million population would probably be a big help to them. It's a miracle England have ever won the World Cup given the population disadvantage they are at in comparison to Germany, France, Brazil etc, incredible really.

[BrigtonClyde]

Wasn't sure about starting line up after that bruiser on Friday, and after 15 minutes a few of them did look a bit jaded. But I think wee Gordon was looking at it from the pov it was only a friendly, the players wanted to play, so it was a little bit of man management.

Didnt think either side had a great first half although England shaded it and probably deserved to go in at half time 1 up. Half time changes were good from Strachan although we lose a daft goal which then gives England a boost and they come at us. But again I thought Strachan was good with his further changes, and after the hour mark I thought both sides played their best stuff

Scotland got it down on the deck, had more energy and players suited to a passing game and started asking questions of the English. They suddenly didnt look so clever, but over the piece deserved their win. Allowing for the likes of Hutton, Snodgrass & Fletcher to come back from injuey, added to the performances of those who came on, still think there's reason to be optimistic for when it matters further down the line

I don't buy into Jamie Redknapp's "gulf in class" assessment, mainly for reasons Ive said and the fact that we could just as easily have beaten the world champions away. It's a work in progress and been a huge improvement over 18 months or so.

[doulikefish]

I predict this thread will be full of alias the rangers accounts if we get beat

Did i win

[Gordon EF]

I'm not sure they are that much better than Switzerland, if at all. Switzerland performed better in the World Cup, and despite England winning the recent match in Basel there wasn't a great deal between the sides. I think Switzerland are still quite under rated by a lot of people.

I suppose you could say there is an argument for Switzerland at least. The Swiss were better at the WC but England beat then at home already and are sailing off into the distance in their group.

[F_T_Y]

It was a daft game to play and the only winners were the sfa.

What did we learn,england have better players and are a better team.We knew that before kick off.The players looked tired,not suprising after ireland kicked lumps out of them on friday night.Jonny russell made an impact and chris martin was poor.Stevie May done more in the 15 minutes he was on.

Fair to say darren fletchers scotland career is over.Rhodes must be called up for the next games.He is the best goal scorer we have available.

[HoBNob]

Nope. I'm with you there. He's horrible.

Yep, seen.

He was rotten last night, but that was the first time he's had a bad game in midfield for Scotland. He was excellent there on Friday night, he's far from a clogger.

"Excellent" you hold low standards, definitely a chubby chaser IMO.

[SANTAN]

Proud moment for Paul Hanlon last night making his Scotland debut.

Pipe down ya fucking slaver

Probably would've been better!

[Armand 2]

I could see why Strachan started with the same team, Martin aside, as Friday but it was a very tired performance and we were simply outclassed by a superior and fresher looking opponent.

I'm yet to be convinced of the longevity of a central defensive partnership of Russell Martin and Grant Hanley; I've never been terribly impressed with the latter and the former is a full-back by trade. Thought they were dragged out of position all night and never dominated their box when required. It's the one area of the team that we're lacking in proper quality.

I can't recall any player making such a meteoric rise as Robertson; he just takes everything in his stride. Had a tough job combining his attacking duties with the defensive work required to keep tabs on Oxlade-Chambelain but managed to showcase his qualities when given the chance. The English media seem to have taken notice of his performance last night and I won't be surprised to see him linked with even bigger clubs in the coming months.

Fletcher looked a good bit off the pace in the second half and Mulgrew bludgeoned his way about whilst not really doing himself any justice. Brown had a relatively decent first half and is a player who I'm increasingly impressed by - hope he makes the move down south soon. Martin was given a bit of thankless task up front and it would be very harsh to form any lasting opinions of him based on that. Encouraging cameo display from Russell and his club partnership with the aforementioned Martin is something that could be beneficial in upcoming games.

Anya was kept very quiet and his speed was nullified by the equally quick Clyne. I've seen quite a few folk, in the media and otherwise, suggest Clyne has come from nowhere but he's been tipped to be an international for quite a few years now, even when he was still at Palace. Thought he was very impressive and will be England's right-back for many years to come.

We won the match that mattered on Friday. This was a step too far against a side who have been too easily discredited in recent times and it shouldn't detract from what has been quite a successful couple of months for our international team.

[SodjesSixteenIncher]

Had some hope? I repeatedly predicted a defeat.

You're lying, and have been caught out.

Just for England, he seems to bottle it in international matches. He's decent, but no more for Chelsea, crumbles when Terry isn't there.

There's no way England are in the top 10 either. They had a horrendous world cup, a few qualifiers won't make up for that.

A top 10 team in the world wouldn't finish bottom with 1 point after three games.

He's playing CB every week for the most solid team in the league by a country mile. I don't what he needs to do for you to rate his performances as more than decent. Other than denounce his nationality.

[Carl Cort's Hamstring]

Cahill's a player I used to slag off, who's left me looking a fanny for doing so.

Quite clear in recent times that he's an excellent defender.

I felt pretty sorry for Cahill during the WC. He spent the entire time covering for Johnson, Baines and Jagielka. He's the only defender we have at the moment who looks at ease at the very highest level (although I have high hopes for Clyne).

In terms of his reputation, I think Cahill has suffered from spending a large part of his career at unfashionable clubs. He's a superb centre back.

[Half Rice Half Chips]

The Swiss think the Germans are lazy and inefficient.

Quite rightly too. Apparently Hitler "couldn't be arsed" invading them in WWII.

[PrestersKTID]

The FIFA rankings - as is always said - aren't worth much. They might be weighted over a few years, but two good results in competitive qualifiers can see you rocket up the rankings, and two more bad ones can see you plummet. The only positions that are probably unarguable are the extremes - Germany and Argentina are obviously the two best currently, and the ones at the bottom...well, obviously.

Beyond that though, it's all very arguable. Are England a top ten side? Probably not. Are they the 20th best? Probably not either. Looking at the current rankings, I'd have them at about 14th.

The world rankings are important for judging which pot you are in for world cup qualifiers. If we get into pot 2 it means you can avoid dodgy teams like sweden, england, romania, norway, denmark and switzerland who would be very difficult games. (those teams are normally there or there abouts)

Also a team like Germany who consistently win games wont lose much ground with 1 loss.

However a team that barely wins gets a big boost when a victory comes their way. Rankings take 4 years worth of results into consideration. So we're moving up in the world because George Burleys results are getting wiped.

Northern ireland barely won a game in past campaigns and now have 3 higher ranked scalps which with qualifier multipliers accounts to a lot of ranking points.

[forameus]

The world rankings are important for judging which pot you are in for world cup qualifiers. If we get into pot 2 it means you can avoid dodgy teams like sweden, england, romania, norway, denmark and switzerland who would be very difficult games. (those teams are normally there or there abouts)

Also a team like Germany who consistently win games wont lose much ground with 1 loss.

However a team that barely wins gets a big boost when a victory comes their way. Rankings take 4 years worth of results into consideration. So we're moving up in the world because George Burleys results are getting wiped.

Northern ireland barely won a game in past campaigns and now have 3 higher ranked scalps which with qualifier multipliers accounts to a lot of ranking points.

Yeah, should've been more specific with that. What I should have said is that they aren't worth much for judging how good a team is. For World Cup pots, they're absolutely crucial, and in that sense we need to dance to that tune.

[BFTD]

The World Rankings get a bad rap; they're not that bad these days. They're obviously not perfect, because everybody doesn't play everyone else every month, but there aren't any teams above England (for example) that you could say they'd obviously have beaten over the past few years, and plenty they've failed to beat.

I know people used to get upset over countries like Cape Verde being above us when we dropped down the rankings, but a bit of realism here; we were utter shit at the time, and a lot of the countries above us were playing well and beating teams higher up. Once again, it's really not obvious that we'd have beaten them. Most of the countries people get upset about are ones that most of us know nothing about, but assume they're shit because they have been historically.