Squad face March

[lanky_ffc 1,624]

1 hour ago, Stellaboz said:

Kazakhstan are a total gang and if we don't win, McLeish should seriously f**k off.

Yup. Israel shitshow aside, we've won at all the teams we should be beating in the last year and a bit (Lithuania, Albania and Hungary). Anything less than 3 points and the campaign is humped IMO.

Edited March 13 by lanky_ffc

[Jeremiah Cole 136]

He's 31! 

 

He’ll be 32 in a couple of weeks, will be 33 by the time of the finals. Getting on a bit for a striker and has struggled to fully establish himself as number 1 striker at Hillsborough.

 

Maybe just wants to concentrate on that.

[ScottishZizou 113]

Bain

------

Tierney

Mulgrew

Mckenna

Robertson

-------

Mctominay

Armstrong

-----

Forrest

Mcgregor

Fraser

----

Burke

[The Moonster 9,549]

13 hours ago, DAVIDB69 said:

Squad looks horrendous is Bain suddenly our number one now

Have you ever said anything positive about anything, you utterly depressing c**t?

[BingMcCrosby 99]

Bates came in and played the last couple of games and did well. Forming an exciting young partnership with McKenna. 

He's a key player for hamburg who have just won their league to go back into the bundesliga. 

Why in the name of God are people wanting him dropped for a past it Charlie Mulgrew??

[Jaggy Snake 873]

Steven Fletcher is "managing an injury", has "ongoing issues that him and the club feel need to be addressed" and of course " the plastic pitch in Kazakhstan wouldn't have helped". Basically, throw enough meaningless phrases out there and hope something sticks.

I was sorry Fletcher wasn't in the squad after playing very well against Israel, and he is the ideal kind of striker for our other attacking players to play off, but if he plays 84 minutes away to Bolton the night the squad is announced don't claim he's been omitted due to injury. Quite happy for him never to get a call up again, but I doubt McLeish is strong enough to do that.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47551253

Edited March 13 by Jaggy Snake

[Enigma 2,744]

Bates came in and played the last couple of games and did well. Forming an exciting young partnership with McKenna. 
He's a key player for hamburg who have just won their league to go back into the bundesliga. 
Why in the name of God are people wanting him dropped for a past it Charlie Mulgrew??

Absolutely beats me. Mulgrew is pish.

[Rodhull 337]

26 minutes ago, BingMcCrosby said:

He's a key player for hamburg who have just won their league to go back into the bundesliga. 

Glad Bates is doing well but they're not that cut and dried for promotion yet. Sitting in second place with nine games to go and another couple of sides still close enough they could catch them.

I do agree that Bates and McKenna showed promise and would hope that the two get a chance to play together in at least one of the games.

[C. Muir 1,106]

31 minutes ago, BingMcCrosby said:

Bates came in and played the last couple of games and did well. Forming an exciting young partnership with McKenna. 

He's a key player for hamburg who have just won their league to go back into the bundesliga. 

Why in the name of God are people wanting him dropped for a past it Charlie Mulgrew??

Eh?

beaten to it

Edited March 13 by C. Muir

[accies1874 3,429]

Why do folk just make stuff up?

[Gordopolis 1,385]

3 hours ago, Jeremiah Cole said:

 

He’ll be 32 in a couple of weeks, will be 33 by the time of the finals. Getting on a bit for a striker and has struggled to fully establish himself as number 1 striker at Hillsborough.

 

Maybe just wants to concentrate on that.

That's fair enough on Fletcher's part, but it looks like weakness from McLeish's side - letting players pick and choose their games and trying to gloss over it with unconvincing patter about injuries. 

[Jeremiah Cole 136]

49 minutes ago, BingMcCrosby said:

Bates came in and played the last couple of games and did well. Forming an exciting young partnership with McKenna. 

He's a key player for hamburg who have just won their league to go back into the bundesliga. 

Why in the name of God are people wanting him dropped for a past it Charlie Mulgrew??

I actually agree with you.

For my own part, I was trying anticipate what team McLeish might pick rather than the team that I would pick.

In saying that though, Mulgrew is a big threat from set plays. 17 goals in the last 2 seasons.

We don't really have anyone else with that ability in the squad.

[Jeremiah Cole 136]

3 minutes ago, Gordopolis said:

That's fair enough on Fletcher's part, but it looks like weakness from McLeish's side - letting players pick and choose their games and trying to gloss over it with unconvincing patter about injuries. 

I disagree. If players want to play then they will want to play. I doubt they'll be influenced by what is happening with other players.

If they don't want to play then they are no use to us anyway.

[Gordopolis 1,385]

2 minutes ago, Jeremiah Cole said:

I disagree. If players want to play then they will want to play. I doubt they'll be influenced by what is happening with other players.

If they don't want to play then they are no use to us anyway.

You don't think some players will see Fletcher or whoever getting an easy ride and being allowed to skip a long-haul trip and not be influenced by it? 

If I saw my boss letting one guy go home an hour early every night, I'd either be livid or demanding the same rights myself. 

[TheScarf 6,765]

Dave Bates was been solid for Scotland.  it should be him and McKenna as the centre backs for all qualifying games.  Get a partnership formed.  None of this sticking 47 year old Charlie Mulgrew in because 'he takes good free-kicks'.

[The Moonster 9,549]

1 hour ago, Gordopolis said:

You don't think some players will see Fletcher or whoever getting an easy ride and being allowed to skip a long-haul trip and not be influenced by it? 

If I saw my boss letting one guy go home an hour early every night, I'd either be livid or demanding the same rights myself. 

I don't see it as an issue.  If any player doesn't want to play a certain game they'll find a way out of it anyway.

The bigger issue for me is that professionals are perpetuating the myth that plastic pitches cause career threatening injuries. There isn't really any evidence pointing towards it, or at the very least there is conflicting evidence.  

[Oleksandr 325]

On 12/03/2019 at 14:05, Oleksandr said:

No Antti Niemi? 

Never gets old 

[Christophe 2,456]

2 hours ago, Oleksandr said:

Never gets old 

Shouldn’t do, seeing as you already tried this chronic patter on this thread just this morning to zero reaction...

 

Edited March 13 by Christophe

[RandomGuy. 10,836]

2 hours ago, The Moonster said:

I don't see it as an issue.  If any player doesn't want to play a certain game they'll find a way out of it anyway.

The bigger issue for me is that professionals are perpetuating the myth that plastic pitches cause career threatening injuries. There isn't really any evidence pointing towards it, or at the very least there is conflicting evidence.  

Steven MacLean was told by a doctor that the tear in his knee was exacerbated by plastic pitches being firmer, and to avoid making it worse he was to avoid competitive matches on them, so it's not unknown for players to be told to stay off it.

[The Moonster 9,549]

51 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Steven MacLean was told by a doctor that the tear in his knee was exacerbated by plastic pitches being firmer, and to avoid making it worse he was to avoid competitive matches on them, so it's not unknown for players to be told to stay off it.

I get that, the studies don't really support that conclusion though. Various studies have been done now and the differing conclusions they reach suggest to me that people get injured playing football and it doesn't really matter if the surface is plastic or grass, even more so now with the plastic pitches being vastly improved from when they were first introduced.