Dipped Flake Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 14 hours ago, GroundskeeperWillie said: The disparity between what a player down south is seemingly worth to what our top players are worth is completely mental and completely unrepresentative. While the likes of Souttar and McKenna are still developing, watching the likes of Maguire in the WC did nothing to convince me there's such a yawning chasm of a percentage in the difference between their values. Agree on MoM tonight, thought McGinn was outstanding, albeit he obviously felt the game needed added drama that only a carefully weighted backpass to hell would provide. His energy and determination were immense. Mulgrew to me appears to be in the side mainly as he is seen as a ball playing defender, which Souttar and McKenna aren't, and it fits in with the McLeish philosophy of trying to play out from the back where possible. But defensively, the last two games have done nowt to convince me he deserves continued game time merely for how well he's perceived to distribute the ball If you don't think Souttar is a ball playing defender then you obviously have never watched Hearts in the last year or so. Ball playing defender is exactly what he is. He constantly runs with the ball, starting attacks, while Berra is the no nonsense centre back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabinho Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Formation worked really well last night, Eck gambled in taking defensively minded McDonald off and putting Armstrong on but it worked a treat. I’d like to see McTominay start instead of McDonald. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BucksburnDandy Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Really pleased overall after last night. The performance was good and while not getting carried away, we should be pleased with our efforts.I was very sceptical of the team that McLeish picked but fair play, he got it bang on outside Kevin McDonald. Naismith was bright and worked hard to being others into play. McGregor was very bright and while not everything came off, the things that did come off were excellent. Armstrong was excellent when he came on and just brought that extra intelligent play around the edge of the box that we needed. McGinn pressed high up the park and did the pressing work that we needed.I was unconvinced about SOD before the game but he did well. Souttar as well looked assured so both of those were pleasing.The only real worry is Kevin McDonald. I just don't think he's up to international football. Too slow, too ponderous and ultimately gets exposed against better opposition.Great start to the section. Put me in a superb mood today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAFC. Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 I was more than critical of the team selection before the game started, but credit where it is due - that was an absolutely dominant performance. You expect it, of course, but I also expected Albania to be much better than what they were but they were absolutely hopeless. McGinn, 2 dodgy passes apart, was incredible. Taking off McDonald for Armstrong was 100% the correct decision as Stuart gave us the drive to go forward and made a huge difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabinho Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 He picked what was, to put it mildly, an experimental team. There’s no way that team was the strongest available. £20 is way over the top for any game at Hampden.He picked what was in his opinion his strongest team to win a competitive game, it worked.There’s no way he treated that as a friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 26 minutes ago, itzdrk said: £25 wasn't the dearest. My ticket for the same bit was £25, there were tickets for £30. Sorry, mine was £20 as I'm in supporters club. £25 was dearest for supporters club. Public sale was £25 & £30. Which considering I paid £26 for Aberdeen-Killie last weekend for the 2nd shitest away end in the SPL, it's too bad value! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londonwell Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 1 hour ago, Savage Henry said: Doesn’t matter whether that’s the most expensive, the cheapest or bang in the middle. £25 for a must-win game against Albania (albeit one which the manager seemed to treat as a friendly) is a scandalous price for the “Hampden Experience”. £20 is still way, way over the odds. How much do you think is reasonable if you think £20 is "way, way over the odds"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 24 minutes ago, Savage Henry said: He picked what was, to put it mildly, an experimental team. There’s no way that team was the strongest available. £20 is way over the top for any game at Hampden. Your shitpit was more than £20 last year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 14 minutes ago, Gaz said: See on games where Hampden isn't going to sell out, why not close off rows from the back instead of sections? Excuse the poor diagram, but close it off like on the right, and not on the left? Having empty sections looks terrible. At least that way all fans would be together, they could cover the back rows with something so it didn't look like there are thousands and thousands of empty seats. As the views from the back are better than the views from the front! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, Rabinho said: He picked what was in his opinion his strongest team to win a competitive game, it worked. There’s no way he treated that as a friendly. Correct. Picked in form players and wasn't afraid to drop out of form players (Griffiths) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesM82 Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 15 minutes ago, Gaz said: See on games where Hampden isn't going to sell out, why not close off rows from the back instead of sections? Excuse the poor diagram, but close it off like on the right, and not on the left? Having empty sections looks terrible. At least that way all fans would be together, they could cover the back rows with something so it didn't look like there are thousands and thousands of empty seats. The seats at the front of the two ends are the worst seats in Hampden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CM. Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 38 minutes ago, Savage Henry said: He picked what was, to put it mildly, an experimental team. There’s no way that team was the strongest available. £20 is way over the top for any game at Hampden. I'm assuming you didn't go to your league cup final against Hibs as that was £25 a ticket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coooombe Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Great result and performance, got me right in the mood to go to the Israel game. Aw wait, it's on a Tuesday night... never mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fide Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Form an orderly queue, ladies. An absolute ride of a boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtbahfm Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Very happy with the result and particularly the performance. Positives for me were: Midfield looked dynamic, pressed the opposition hard, were comfortable on the ball and McGinn, Armstrong and McGregor are all capabable of taking the ball past a man and driving forward. Compared to midfielders in the past like Fletcher, Brown, McArthur, Adam, Bannan, and while they had their own attributes, none of them were going burst forward with the ball. We had to rely only on wide players to do that. McGinn in particular stood out. I agree with the 'calm down' comments above, and clearly he needs to channel his enthusiasm into the good stuff he does and not giving away possession in his own half. If he can cut out the errors, he'll be a cracking box to box midfielder for us. We finally have central defenders I'm starting to have hope for. I would prefer McKenna or Berra to Mulgrew, but not much you can do when both are injured. On the negatives: Despite how it actually worked out, I'm really not sure why Eck started with Naismith up top. He's always been a decent option for Scotland in the number 10 role, where he gets lots of chances making late runs and wins a disproportionate amount of headers for his size, but he's never been a true finisher. He needs several goods chances to score, so if you are playing a bigger team or away from home he's an option to lead the line just to work hard and hold the ball up, but you wouldn't bet on him getting a goal. At home, when you're getting lots of chances, much better to have Griffiths and by all means play Naismith in a deeper role if he's in form. On that note, I was beginning to worry if we would get a goal – there was a lack of composure around the box, and being honest, Naismith was going to miss with that first one if it hadn't deflected in, so we need to be more clinical – Griffiths, McGregor and Armstrong should all be able to weigh in with goals in the future. McGregor got so many opportunities with the ball at his feet in the box last night, but didn't quite get it right. I'm hoping with more experience he'll calm down and finish the way he does at club level because his movement to create the space and chances was excellent. Not sure what the answer is at holding midfield. Clearly we didn't need that position against Albania, which was why Armstrong came on in the second half, but we probably will need someone to do it in the next too games. McArthur would be an experienced choice but has ruled himself out. McGinn can't be trusted just yet, McTominay is young and not getting games, while McDonald has not impressed so far at international level. Overall though, it was great to see us dominate a team so comprehensively. The one advantage of playing Belgium first was it made it look so much easier playing against 'normal' opposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1320Lichtie Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 I've seen nothing but praise for him? Funnily enough, I was actually reminded of Dixon last night. Hopefully O'Donnell can keep it up for a bit longer than him though. A conversation a couple of pages back on here ended with someone saying they hoped that was the last they’ll see of him in a Scotland shirt and taking the piss out of his shot at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkoRaj Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Honestly I think Naismith's link up play is far better than Griffiths. The way he comes deep and takes the ball in tight spaces, laying the ball off and getting into really clever positions was the catalyst for how we overran them in the advanced midfield areas and something we've missed. Don't see why he should drop out while he's still on form for hearts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshmallo Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 2 hours ago, Savage Henry said: Doesn’t matter whether that’s the most expensive, the cheapest or bang in the middle. £25 for a must-win game against Albania (albeit one which the manager seemed to treat as a friendly) is a scandalous price for the “Hampden Experience”. £20 is still way, way over the odds. It's 20 quid to watch Falkirk play a league game against Alloa. 20 quid for a competitive game at Hampden is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Doesn’t matter whether that’s the most expensive, the cheapest or bang in the middle. £25 for a must-win game against Albania (albeit one which the manager seemed to treat as a friendly) is a scandalous price for the “Hampden Experience”.£20 is still way, way over the odds.It’s £15 to watch Raith Rovers. What do you reckon is a fair price to watch Scotland in a competitive fixture?Given the Scottish Premiership pricing £25-£30 seems about right. Probably £25 given the opposition was Albania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charger29 Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 1 hour ago, The Moonster said: As for the game, we did well enough and got what we needed. I don't think I'll ever be convinced that 3-5-2 is the best suited formation and it seems to me we're playing that way to try and fit Tierney and Robertson down one side. I just don't think it suits either player. Tierney showed last night that he's quite capable of kicking the ball with his right foot, so I fail to see why sticking him at right back in a 4-2-3-1 or similar formation would be a problem. Yes, it's not his preferred position, but he's at least playing the same role that he's used to and it allows Andy Robertson to do what he does from his favoured left back. It's definitely an awkward formation for Tierney & Robertson. Over the past two games, there's been a few times where an opposition player gets a lot of space in behind down their side. Almost as if they expect the each other to pick the guy up. O'Donnell played better at RWB yesterday than I can remember Tierney ever playing at RB for Scotland so it seems silly to me to sit him on the bench so quickly. I know it's only one game though so he shouldn't be the guaranteed RWB for the next year+ just yet. Tierney looked more consistent attacking down the left for me yesterday than Robertson did so it might be a bit whac-a-mole like until we get it right. The 3-5-2 does seem to be help with getting more players forward though. I think almost every outfield player other than Souttar (and McTominay's last 10mins) had a shot last night. I don't think we were too bad going forward against Belgium either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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