Off The Ball - Is it good?

[DA Baracus]

47 minutes ago, Autistisches Nilpferd said:

Heard about 5 minutes of the show this evening. Cowan saying he'll get a ticket for the Norway game so he can see Haaland. As "you'd pay good money to see this players at Hampden". Also doesn't want him to get injured in the Spain game tonight (he's already injured).

Am I a weirdo for wanting as week a Norway team as possible to play us?

Sounds like the same sort of pish when pundits say they don't want players to be sent off.

I'm with you, hope Norway's best players are all out when we play them, especially Haaland.

[Quatermass]

15 hours ago, Autistisches Nilpferd said:

Heard about 5 minutes of the show this evening. Cowan saying he'll get a ticket for the Norway game so he can see Haaland. As "you'd pay good money to see this players at Hampden". Also doesn't want him to get injured in the Spain game tonight (he's already injured).

Am I a weirdo for wanting as week a Norway team as possible to play us?

I remember him saying something similar about Motherwell when we were having a poorer season in amongst the continuing good runs about 10 years ago. His point was if you weren’t up the top end of the league then instead of mid table mediocrity he fancied a wee shot at a relegation dogfight at the bottom as this would bring some excitement and the crowds to Fir Park as the season drew to a close.

All very well until you consider if you are at that end of the table your Club is likely to be in some kind of ‘crisis mode’, you are likely to be watching utter dug meat on the park, you have no guarantees of staying up and if you do go down you could be in real bother of ending up like Falkirk. Madness!

[tamthebam]

Anent Steve "Zorro" Maskrey.

Stuart said he was called Zorro because he had a moustache

I had a Saint Johnstone supporting mate who told me at the time he was called Zorro because his mazy runs carved a Z across the pitch 

Can you be petty and ill informed about your own team? Or was Cosgrove too busy running the Perth Celtic Supporters Club bus at the time (heh heh heh...get it up ye)

[Eednud]

36 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

Anent Steve "Zorro" Maskrey.

Stuart said he was called Zorro because he had a moustache

I had a Saint Johnstone supporting mate who told me at the time he was called Zorro because his mazy runs carved a Z across the pitch 

Can you be petty and ill informed about your own team? Or was Cosgrove too busy running the Perth Celtic Supporters Club bus at the time (heh heh heh...get it up ye)

Wouldn’t have thought Perth Celtic had many supporters otherwise 1987/88 might not have been their last in the Tayside Region Junior League Division 2. 

[Reidy]

Who was todays guest? Didn’t catch his name but believe he is a sportswriter. Someone texted in at the end of the show to clamp all the cliche wistful nostalgia by highlighting that statistically Adams and Dykes international goal return per game is actually more favourable  than Jordan/McCoist etc and his counter that “they didn’t play as many games in those days” unintentionally had me in stitches.  

[Lurkst]

28 minutes ago, Reidy said:

Who was todays guest? Didn’t catch his name but believe he is a sportswriter. 

Stephen McGowan. 

Usually ok to listen to but that is bonkers logic. Can only assume he was referring to the increased number of minnows these days and that the strikers of yore would have bagged considerably more goals if they were around at their time.

 

 

[Reidy]

1 hour ago, Lurkst said:

Stephen McGowan. 

Usually ok to listen to but that is bonkers logic. Can only assume he was referring to the increased number of minnows these days and that the strikers of yore would have bagged considerably more goals if they were around at their time.

 

 

Aye, I’m sure he was thinking something else in his head from what came out but it did make me chuckle. 

[BukyOHare]

Why dont Scotland produce any international class strikers was a subject discussed on today's show.

Anybody who watches their kids training sessions or been on youth coaching courses will testify that there's a huge emphasis on  passing the ball, probably because the SFA brains trust have thought "that's what Spain do".

You end up with players who pass sideways, backwards and occasionally forward, for me, you end up getting cloned, robotic, midfielders.

There's little, if any, emphasis on teaching kids attacking principles or structure in the final third, link up play around the penalty box, dribbling, crossing, off the ball movement, shooting, or any other attribute that actually goes towards putting the ball in the net.

Until the coaching structure and mentality changes we'll keep producing the same types of players, over and over again.

We have specialist goalkeeper coaching and training, rightly so, it's a specialised position. But so is defending and attacking, yet its all just lumped in together in the same programme in a sort of general malaise.

 

[Caledonian1]

21 minutes ago, BukyOHare said:

Why dont Scotland produce any international class strikers was a subject discussed on today's show.

Anybody who watches their kids training sessions or been on youth coaching courses will testify that there's a huge emphasis on  passing the ball, probably because the SFA brains trust have thought "that's what Spain do".

You end up with players who pass sideways, backwards and occasionally forward, for me, you end up getting cloned, robotic, midfielders.

There's little, if any, emphasis on teaching kids attacking principles or structure in the final third, link up play around the penalty box, dribbling, crossing, off the ball movement, shooting, or any other attribute that actually goes towards putting the ball in the net.

Until the coaching structure and mentality changes we'll keep producing the same types of players, over and over again.

We have specialist goalkeeper coaching and training, rightly so, it's a specialised position. But so is defending and attacking, yet its all just lumped in together in the same programme in a sort of general malaise.

 

you could argue that goalkeeping coaching in Scotland has been less successful in the last 20 years than those who coach forwards.  Our left back coaches on the other hand.......

[realmadrid]

On 26/03/2023 at 12:37, tamthebam said:

Anent Steve "Zorro" Maskrey.

Stuart said he was called Zorro because he had a moustache

I had a Saint Johnstone supporting mate who told me at the time he was called Zorro because his mazy runs carved a Z across the pitch 

Can you be petty and ill informed about your own team? Or was Cosgrove too busy running the Perth Celtic Supporters Club bus at the time (heh heh heh...get it up ye)

it was definitely the moustache

[realmadrid]

Steve Maskrey

Zorro

[tamthebam]

12 minutes ago, realmadrid said:

Steve Maskrey

Zorro

He'd be called Baz these days

[ScottR96]

On 25/03/2023 at 20:24, DA Baracus said:

Sounds like the same sort of pish when pundits say they don't want players to be sent off.

I'm with you, hope Norway's best players are all out when we play them, especially Haaland.

Don’t think there’s anything wrong with looking forward to seeing world class players in the flesh when they play against Scotland. If you’re a Celtic or Rangers supporter, there’s a chance you’ll get a Real Madrid or Man City in the CL but for the vast majority, international football is the only chance to see some of these players. I’ll be there tomorrow hoping for a win but I’ll enjoy being able to see Spain albeit they’re not the force they once were. Likewise with the Norway game, I’ll be there praying a win will send us through and if we did it with Haaland playing, it’ll be one of the all time great nights at Hampden. 

[Monkey Tennis]

On 26/03/2023 at 11:46, Quatermass said:

I remember him saying something similar about Motherwell when we were having a poorer season in amongst the continuing good runs about 10 years ago. His point was if you weren’t up the top end of the league then instead of mid table mediocrity he fancied a wee shot at a relegation dogfight at the bottom as this would bring some excitement and the crowds to Fir Park as the season drew to a close.

All very well until you consider if you are at that end of the table your Club is likely to be in some kind of ‘crisis mode’, you are likely to be watching utter dug meat on the park, you have no guarantees of staying up and if you do go down you could be in real bother of ending up like Falkirk. Madness!

I'm kind of with Tam on this one.

Football matches with high stakes have a certain appeal, even if they carry danger.

[VincentGuerin]

On 26/03/2023 at 11:46, Quatermass said:

I remember him saying something similar about Motherwell when we were having a poorer season in amongst the continuing good runs about 10 years ago. His point was if you weren’t up the top end of the league then instead of mid table mediocrity he fancied a wee shot at a relegation dogfight at the bottom as this would bring some excitement and the crowds to Fir Park as the season drew to a close.

All very well until you consider if you are at that end of the table your Club is likely to be in some kind of ‘crisis mode’, you are likely to be watching utter dug meat on the park, you have no guarantees of staying up and if you do go down you could be in real bother of ending up like Falkirk. Madness!

 

12 hours ago, Monkey Tennis said:

I'm kind of with Tam on this one.

Football matches with high stakes have a certain appeal, even if they carry danger.

I'm absolutely with Tam on this one, and so are most of the folk I go to games with.

Been ridiculed on here for it before, but I'd take a relegation every few years ahead of spending that time in the middle section of the Premiership. I'd definitely take a relegation battle (regardless of outcome) over a couple of years of coasting 6th-8th.

Firstly, I like a bit of excitement with my fitba, and secondly, I like a bit of variety with my fitba. Me and my mates go to enjoy ourselves, not to obsess over whether Hearts are being 100% as successful as they can be at all times. It's just a fitba team.

ETA: An explainer.

My view on it is that if Hearts are coasting in the top end of the bottom 6 or some such, what are we getting from this as a hobby? Dull trips to the same places for games that don't mean much, but don't get any cheaper? f**k that. If it's a relegation battle, then it's quite exciting and there are games to look forward to. If you go down, then you get a whole new array of away days and a complete change of scenery as well as winning more for a few months. 2013-14 and 2014-15 are probably the two most enjoyable seasons I've ever known. And even the covid relegation season was fun (and utterly miserable at the same time) in its own way. It's a shame we got robbed of the big games in the run in as it was shaping up to be fun.

It's different if you're within spitting distance of Europe, as European trips are amazing. But I pity anyone who'd rather watch their team just coast in the same place for years. Why?

I understand that Hearts' support and budget make long-term oblivion unlikely, so I can maybe take this view more easily than a Motherwell fan, but I think preferring excitement to boredom is fine.

Edited March 28, 2023 by VincentGuerin

[Squonk]

9 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said:

Been ridiculed on here for it before, but I'd take a relegation every few years. Me and my mates go to enjoy ourselves, not to obsess over whether Hearts are being 100% as successful as they can be at all times. It's just a fitba team.

^^^ Robbie Neilson.

[KingRocketman II]

20 hours ago, ScottR96 said:

Don’t think there’s anything wrong with looking forward to seeing world class players in the flesh when they play against Scotland. If you’re a Celtic or Rangers supporter, there’s a chance you’ll get a Real Madrid or Man City in the CL but for the vast majority, international football is the only chance to see some of these players. I’ll be there tomorrow hoping for a win but I’ll enjoy being able to see Spain albeit they’re not the force they once were. Likewise with the Norway game, I’ll be there praying a win will send us through and if we did it with Haaland playing, it’ll be one of the all time great nights at Hampden. 

nothing wrong with it all if you are a football fan. However if you are genuinely a Scotland fan who wants to see the team at the Euros or WC then you want every advantage going in the qualifiers. 

 

[DukDukGoose]

On 26/03/2023 at 21:14, BukyOHare said:

Why dont Scotland produce any international class strikers was a subject discussed on today's show.

Anybody who watches their kids training sessions or been on youth coaching courses will testify that there's a huge emphasis on  passing the ball, probably because the SFA brains trust have thought "that's what Spain do".

You end up with players who pass sideways, backwards and occasionally forward, for me, you end up getting cloned, robotic, midfielders.

There's little, if any, emphasis on teaching kids attacking principles or structure in the final third, link up play around the penalty box, dribbling, crossing, off the ball movement, shooting, or any other attribute that actually goes towards putting the ball in the net.

Until the coaching structure and mentality changes we'll keep producing the same types of players, over and over again.

We have specialist goalkeeper coaching and training, rightly so, it's a specialised position. But so is defending and attacking, yet its all just lumped in together in the same programme in a sort of general malaise.

 

What age group are you talking about here?

[Pens_Dark]

2 hours ago, KingRocketman II said:

nothing wrong with it all if you are a football fan. However if you are genuinely a Scotland fan who wants to see the team at the Euros or WC then you want every advantage going in the qualifiers. 

 

Part of the appeal for me watching Scotland was watching some of the world class players they were up against. My first Scotland match was as a 12 year old - the famous 1-0 win against THAT team from the Netherlands and one of the other games was the 3-2 Spain game. To say I've watched some of the best players to play the game on the hallowed turf of Hampden is a great feeling. I think it makes the win even sweeter. 

I know we don't exactly have the luxury of qualifying for every tournament so any advantage we can get is great but there will be some Scotland supporting kids who will never forget the day they saw the likes of Pedri, Gavi and Haaland knocking the ball about in their homeland. 

[BukyOHare]

2 hours ago, Merkland Red said:

What age group are you talking about here?

In old money, u10 through to u18.