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Scotland v Israel


Frank Grimes

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30 minutes ago, ArabFC said:

I think we've proven by now that we have enough capable centre backs not to be shoehorning a midfielder in there.

The McTominay experiment must be over by now?! Play him in midfield where he plays for Man Utd pretty much week in week out or leave him on the bench.

Personally my midfield three would be Gilmour, McGinn and McGregor.

Same could be said for Tierney 

But manager will still play them there to bring the ball into midfield despite central defensive frailties 

Mctominay particularly has no positional sense at cb

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Our centre half in the middle of the three is usually our "meat and potatoes" centre half that we ask to do the simple things well and head the ball away. I'm not convinced putting Hendry in there tomorrow is the best idea. You're asking him to play completely differently from how he is as a player. I believe he's being played there at club level but I'd guess he's there beside two actual centre halves rather than McSauce who's guaranteed a mistake or two in that position and Tierney who plays as a wing back half the game.  

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53 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

 

How's it shite? 👀

It's shite when you come on to wind people up just to get a rise out of them 

However being a complete football nerd I don't mind your tables and such like you take the time to put together 

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4 hours ago, Tartan Blood said:
Although I agree that we have lacked a true anchorman lately, would Ryan Jack get back in the first 11 anyway?
Gilmour, McGregor, McTominay, McLean are all likely ahead of him. I'm not even convinced Gerrard will put him straight back into the Rangers first 11. 
I'd say there are 6 or 7 undroppable players at the moment: Robertson, Tierney, Hanley, Gilmour, McTominay, McGinn and Gordon. Trying to accommodate them is hard enough without adding Jack to the dillemma.


I like McTominay as a player but unlike the rest he has done nothing in a Scotland strip to make himself undroppable. I reckon I'd have him on the bench tomorrow.

 

 

Edited by craigkillie
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Israeli point of view.

Quote

But even a draw will not help Israel too much. In such a situation the gap will remain a point in favor of the Scots, both teams will later have games against the Faroe Islands and Moldova and assuming they both win twice, what will decide is the extra game. But Scotland's extra game will be in the final round at home against Denmark, which will arrive long after it has officially secured a ticket to the World Cup, and may not bring in its strongest squad. On the other hand, Israel will play an away game against Austria, where it has never won (three losses and a draw in four games on Austrian soil). Therefore, Rotensteiner will have to go for a win at Hampden Park. Any other result will significantly distance him and his team from the chance of reaching the playoffs and force the blue-and-whites to trust others to do the job

https://www.one.co.il/Article/392445.html

Will be an interesting game if Scotland go on the front foot at the start, but there will come a point in the game where Israel will try to win it. I worry if by going full throttle at the start it might play into their hands and we could get done like in the Czech Republic game if we don't take our chances.

Although the standard line is we have to win, I think a draw would be okay. 

 

Edited by 2426255
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"The team that will come down from the grass in Hampden Park next Saturday when it is in second place will almost certainly secure its place in the World Cup playoffs," Willy Rotensteiner told the Israeli national team players ahead of the match against Scotland this weekend. "So that means we have to win this time in Glasgow, that's our goal and we will meet it"

Willy Ruttensteiner, Israel Head Coach

https://www.ynet.co.il/sport/israelisoccer/article/sjya6cqny

Edited by 2426255
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42 minutes ago, craigkillie said:


I like McTominay as a player but unlike the rest he has done nothing in a Scotland strip to make himself undroppable. I reckon I'd have him on the bench tomorrow.

 

 

"Nothing"? That is ridiculously harsh. He's had plenty of good games. Has he replicated his Europa league final performance? No. Has he played a pivotal role in a dozen games for Scotland? Yes. Some of which in the wrong position.

I personally would have Gilmour, McTominay and McGinn as the midfield 3. McGregor is a near miss. Unless we are being ultra-defensive and want a very deep lying anchorman, I really don't see Jack getting back in the team. And, to be honest, I'd happily put a Tierney, Hendry or Souttar in the anchorman role.

(No disrespect to Jack, who I do like)

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9 minutes ago, Tartan Blood said:

"Nothing"? That is ridiculously harsh. He's had plenty of good games. Has he replicated his Europa league final performance? No. Has he played a pivotal role in a dozen games for Scotland? Yes. Some of which in the wrong position.

I personally would have Gilmour, McTominay and McGinn as the midfield 3. McGregor is a near miss. Unless we are being ultra-defensive and want a very deep lying anchorman, I really don't see Jack getting back in the team. And, to be honest, I'd happily put a Tierney, Hendry or Souttar in the anchorman role.

(No disrespect to Jack, who I do like)

I mean if you read what he said instead of jumping in two-footed at "nothing" you would have noticed he said that McTominay has done nothing to make him undroppable.

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10 hours ago, 2426255 said:

I'm not a betting expert, but I found this which could help explain why the odds set don't reflect the actual probability of Scotland winning:

So if most of the money is being placed on Scotland it would make sense for the bookies to reduce the odds for Scotland and so I'd say in this case the good value odds would be Israel which looks a good bet at 3/1 given our recent results with them, but who's going to bet against Scotland? So it makes sense for the bookies to make the price for Israel to be so attractive at 3/1.

I suppose you already know all that though.

https://www.onlinebetting.org.uk/betting-guides/how-do-bookmakers-set-odds-and-make-money.html

"Israel have something of an injury crisis for this crunch clash, with as many as four key players ruled out.

Defenders Eitan Tibi and Orel Dgani, sub keeper Ariel Harush and midfielder Omer Atzili are all out.

They have also called up defender Idan Nachmias, with his Maccabi Tel Aviv boss Patrick van Leeuwen insisting the player is nowhere near full fitness with a shoulder injury.

Scotland will have Scott McTominay back after injury and Celtic captain Callum McGregor is also recalled, despite missing the last four games for his club."

As someone who follows betting odds and trends, I can assure you that 10/11 to Evs is standard, and in fact even a pretty generous price on a home team in form who are the higher ranked team as opposed to their opponents, especially given the team News as presented above.

You may well believe that the 7/2 on offer for Israel is a "good bet" and only time will tell, however there's no conspiracy here or any sort of strange dynamic where the odds "don't reflect the probability" but merely the standard pricing given the situation.

Should Belgium have been 9/4 last night in a neutral venue v France ?? Well, you wouldn't have thought so at half time, that's for sure !!

As i say, given what we know and the history, 7/2 COULD be a great bet but by the same token so could the Evs on offer for Scotland but ultimately it's priced up exactly how I'd expect....

 

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It's mental that if you told me a year ago I'd be cursing the suspension of Grant Hanley ahead of a massive Scotland game I'd have told you to give your head a wobble. I think he'll be missed given he allows a good balance in our back 3.

Sounds like Israel are going to really go for it which could play into our hands. I think this is definitely the type of game for Christie as he is good at drifting into pockets of space that will no doubt appear if Israel are pressing. He can carry the ball pretty well and his defensive work-rate for us is usually really good, I'm just not sure where you fit him in if it's a given that we will start with 5/3 at the back, depending on what way you look at it. The way I could see it working would be if we used a sort of iteration of 5-1-3-1. Something along the lines of:

                                    GK

                 RCB           CB           LCB

RWB                      Gilmour                      LWB

           Christie     McGinn    McGregor

                                 FWD

That would be on the assumption McTominay either plays CB or is on the bench, and that McGinn is slightly more advanced to support the forward with McGregor and Christie dropping alongside Gilmour when we don't have the ball.

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17 hours ago, craigkillie said:


Lol at not picking John McGinn.

Yep, it was a hard one. He is our best midfielder but I have liked watching the way McGregor and Gilmour link up. They have played well together. I want to see more of that.

 

The swap is really Fraser for McGinn and there scoring records for Scotland aren't that far apart.

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