Scotland v Israel

[G51]

56 minutes ago, Lurkst said:

Yep as long as Moldova don't manage to overtake the Faroes we should be ok for 2nd without winning there and it won't harm our play-off ranking (provided Israel don't win their last three games!)

The way it's shaping up to get a seeding I think we might need to take something from the Danes unfortunately. 

 

Looks like we might have some interest in the outcome of Group G. Looks to me as if Groups D, E & J have a decent chance of 2nd place finishing under 14pts.

So that means we’d need to better one of the other groups, and G looks like it’ll be close:

1. NED P7 16PTS

2. NOR P7 14PTS

3. TUR P7 12PTS

Remaining fixtures:

Latvia v Turkey, Netherlands v Gibraltar, Norway v Montenegro

Norway v Latvia, Turkey v Gibraltar, Montenegro v Netherlands

Montenegro v Turkey, Netherlands v Norway

Could do with Montenegro or Latvia doing something v Turkey and Netherlands doing Norway in the last game.

[Binos]

17 minutes ago, Otis Blue said:

After yet another Scotland rollercoaster last night I was thinking it must be so pish being an England fan ..... all that successful pass, successful pass, successful pass, retain possession stuff and going into games generally knowing that they're unlikely to lose, unlikely to switch off in key moments, unlikely to f*ck things up in spectacular fashion, almost certainly qualify comfortably for every tournament, confidently beat the minnows in a group, unable to sing Baccara songs ..... poor buggers ... almost feel sorry for them ..... almost ...

 

Also you'd be English

[Binos]

3 minutes ago, G51 said:

Looks like we might have some interest in the outcome of Group G. Looks to me as if Groups D, E & J have a decent chance of 2nd place finishing under 14pts.

So that means we’d need to better one of the other groups, and G looks like it’ll be close:

1. NED P7 16PTS

2. NOR P7 14PTS

3. TUR P7 12PTS

Remaining fixtures:

Latvia v Turkey, Netherlands v Gibraltar, Norway v Montenegro

Norway v Latvia, Turkey v Gibraltar, Montenegro v Netherlands

Montenegro v Turkey, Netherlands v Norway

Could do with Montenegro or Latvia doing something v Turkey and Netherlands doing Norway in the last game.

We have now entered prime Scotland f**k up territory 

Hope players are keeping feet on ground to get job done first on Tuesday 

[101]

8 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

You’re right, the scanner was good and rapid. Just the general organisation of the queue was piss poor. Having folk standing missing the start of the game - their own fault admittedly - whilst you’ve got about 6 turnstiles completely empty that you’re not allowed to use seems mad. I am absolutely holding my hands up saying we should’ve got there earlier. But using all the available turnstiles to get folk in is basic. 

Try and tempt folk to get to the ground early would be the obvious answer but obviously not everyone's cup of tea.

The rugger do pre match build up so much better albeit how many folk would turn up for the "show" if they couldn't get a drink, I'm not sure.

[101]

Apologies if it was discussed at the time but the handball for the second Israel goal looked stick on for VAR review, I know they dug us out once but would have been good to get that one taken off as well.

 

As for not showing the decisions on the big screen, that is absolutely chronic and surely can't be how it's meant to be done.

[accies1874]

Now that we have all but clinched a playoff spot, the bit in bold I think is going to be the most overlooked part of us throwing away a League A Nations League spot. A run of competitive fixtures against top quality teams would have been very useful for us.

I think that's fair but I suppose you could also say that losing a bunch of games would kill the momentum we've built up since Covid. Since then we've played a top side (England), a very decent one (Denmark) and a good one (Croatia) which have shown that we probably aren't there yet to pick up a big scalp.

[Guest Bob Mahelp]

9 minutes ago, GAD said:

Best thing about a big Scotland win is all the weirdos absolutely seething about it. The startling revelation that Scotland aren't as good as a top 15 ranked team is a good one.

 

Weird comment. We should be doing all we can to be competing with and beating top 15 ranked teams. Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland have managed it in recent years. 

But if you're happy to get pished, and accept wins against the likes of Israel as the peak of what we can manage, that's up to you. 

Some of us want Scotland not just to qualify, but to actually compete when we get there. And if we're going to get to that next step it seems obvious that we'll have to learn to defend better as a team. 

[Ewan8472]

24 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

Did you ever think that we might not play quite such an open style against a better team than Israel?

SSC's decision !

[CountyFan]

10 hours ago, Thistle_do_nicely said:

I haven't actually seen the game tbf thanks to fucking work but from this and other rave reviews - it's tricky to put into words as I'm knackered, but was it almost that kind of performance you see from players like Paul Scholes on their best day or someone like N'Golo Kante? I think I get what you're driving at, it's that kind of elite level knack where players just seem to end up here, there and everywhere and constantly have an influence on a game, rarely ever putting a foot wrong when they get the ball. Modric against us at Hampden probably a glaring example of that kind of performance, just making the game look incredibly easy even under pressure. If Gilmour can get anywhere close to that kind of level over the next few years then we're laughing.

Like a metronome. Jorginho style. Always available for the ball and literally never gives it away. 

[Mr. Brightside]

1 hour ago, accies1874 said:

Did anyone else notice that it looked for all the world that McLean was coming on at half-time? I wonder what happened to change that.

Aye I saw that, gave me the fear when I saw him doing a different warm-up to the rest of the subs. I wonder if Clarke had told McGregor or Gilmour they had ten minutes of the second half to show him something better? Either that or one of them had a knock.

[GAD]

3 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

Weird comment. We should be doing all we can to be competing with and beating top 15 ranked teams. Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland have managed it in recent years. 

But if you're happy to get pished, and accept wins against the likes of Israel as the peak of what we can manage, that's up to you. 

Some of us want Scotland not just to qualify, but to actually compete when we get there. And if we're going to get to that next step it seems obvious that we'll have to learn to defend better as a team. 

Yeah you are right mate, we should be a top 15 team now. Absolute disgrace we aren't. I mean, we just spent 20 odd years not qualifying for anything, but that certainly doesn't mean anyone should be even remotely happy with what we are seeing right now. Maybe if the fans demand it, it will just happen.

[Mr. Brightside]

Also, my voice is still posted missing.

[Ewan8472]

3 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

Weird comment. We should be doing all we can to be competing with and beating top 15 ranked teams. Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland have managed it in recent years. 

But if you're happy to get pished, and accept wins against the likes of Israel as the peak of what we can manage, that's up to you. 

Some of us want Scotland not just to qualify, but to actually compete when we get there. And if we're going to get to that next step it seems obvious that we'll have to learn to defend better as a team. 

This !

Henry's " need " to tackle to concede the foul for their first goal was shocking

 

The defending at the second goal was shocking,

.

We seem incapable of learning from some of our mistakes !

 

 

[Bing.McCrosby]

Just now, GAD said:

Yeah you are right mate, we should be a top 15 team now. Absolute disgrace we aren't. I mean, we just spent 20 odd years not qualifying for anything, but that certainly doesn't mean anyone should be even remotely happy with what we are seeing right now. Maybe if the fans demand it, it will just happen.

Has anyone said the fans shouldn't be happy?

[accies1874]

Aye I saw that, gave me the fear when I saw him doing a different warm-up to the rest of the subs. I wonder if Clarke had told McGregor or Gilmour they had ten minutes of the second half to show him something better? Either that or one of them had a knock.

Maybe Gilmour took a knock from the penalty incident but I thought at the time that Clarke just wasn't happy.

[GAD]

2 minutes ago, BingMcCrosby said:

Has anyone said the fans shouldn't be happy?

Yeah, mostly only the gibbering simpletons who were demanding Steve Clarke got sacked though, you know, the type.

[Big Fifer]

15 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

Weird comment. We should be doing all we can to be competing with and beating top 15 ranked teams. Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland have managed it in recent years. 

But if you're happy to get pished, and accept wins against the likes of Israel as the peak of what we can manage, that's up to you. 

Some of us want Scotland not just to qualify, but to actually compete when we get there. And if we're going to get to that next step it seems obvious that we'll have to learn to defend better as a team. 

This is probably the one thing SSC will have to address. We got away with it last night but you cannot defend like that at a set piece. Nowhere near good enough.

[CountyFan]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Brightside said:

Also, my voice is still posted missing.

Mine too and I was only in the fucking house. 

[Ewan8472]

5 minutes ago, BingMcCrosby said:

Has anyone said the fans shouldn't be happy?

Until we face a really good team , and Hanley is unavailable !

[velo army]

I think there are a couple of teething problems with the new entry system that may get ironed out as we all get used to it. I couldn't get any decent internet close to the stadium, so I had to leg it to Aikenhead road to get signal. I imagine if folk haven't downloaded the QR code well in advance (as I didn't) and are relying on slow internet to get it that leads to delays. There's also the "drunken numpty" factor where people become more easily distracted and less capable of dealing with novel problems when they're pished.

I actually thought the entry system worked well once I figured it out. Athough @BigFifer says that it's quicker than ripping a ticket, when you factor in the steward telling people what to do (I had to be told to put my phone in rather than scan it like a bank card) plus the added factor of telling it to your drunk da who can't work his phone at the best of times then I imagine that this is extra time.

I was there at 3.30. Nae messing about (although the pre-match nerves were much worse for being there early). 

It's the first time I've been to a full Hampden where I haven't gone to the QP social club afterwards, and you really get an appreciation of the size of the crowd when you're walking to get the bus and it's just a sea of people on the roads. Marvellous stuff.

And echoing @BigFifer earlier, G7 in the East Stand was rocking.