Faroe Islands v Scotland

[Left Back]

Clarke just came out with something in the interview they showed on Sportscene.

This time last campaign we had 6 points and were behind Cyprus and Kazhakstan.  We must be doing something right.

No idea if it’s true or not but would assume he wouldn’t be saying it if not.

[Big Fifer]

3 minutes ago, Left Back said:

Clarke just came out with something in the interview they showed on Sportscene.

This time last campaign we had 6 points and were behind Cyprus and Kazhakstan.  We must be doing something right.

No idea if it’s true or not but would assume he wouldn’t be saying it if not.

If he said it before the game tonight then it would have been correct. 

[Thane of Cawdor]

1 hour ago, Gordopolis said:

Dykes... fecking love the big ride.

I think he's probably the worst player, technically, in the squad, and seems to need 3 or 4 goes on the ball to make something stick ... but he's also proving to be vital to how Clarke sets us up. His physicality and attitude mean we are always in with a chance of bulldozing the opposition defence.

Shame be couldn't have avoided that yellow, played, scored then picked the yellow up Vs Moldova instead.

Don't know about that. One of the more memorable bits of skill in the Israel Game involved his controlling a high ball on his chest, squaring up the defender, going past him and getting in a left-footed (not very convincing) shot that the keeper saved for a corner.

More worrying is the suggestion by someone in this, or the Israel thread, that we were fine for the foreseeable because he and Adams are in their prime. Now that's a dispiriting thought, that we won't produce better strikers while these two are playing. 

[AMMjag]

Tonight was this campaign's 'Georgia away' - an awkward opponent in an awkward stadium, not playing at our best. The wins against Austria and Israel were great, but allowing myself the feeling of that demon being put to bed it feels like it might be a turning point despite the poor performance.

We basically have 2nd sown up which is an improvement on every qualifying campaign since probably 2008 qualifying (where 3rd in that group was probably an equivalent achievement). I really don't see a thing to be upset about.

Edited October 12, 2021 by AMMjag

[Gordopolis]

Don't know about that. One of the more memorable bits of skill in the Israel Game involved his controlling a high ball on his chest, squaring up the defender, going past him and getting in a left-footed (not very convincing) shot that the keeper saved for a corner.
More worrying is the suggestion by someone in this, or the Israel thread, that we were fine for the foreseeable because he and Adams are in their prime. Now that's a dispiriting thought, that we won't produce better strikers while these two are playing. 

Yet in the Israel game he also smashed their defence apart with his goal. His forte seems to be the flashed chance as opposed to the ones where he has to beat a man and deliver a composed finish.

Nobody would argue that he is Messi, but right now he is delivering consistently, and statistically moreso than any striker we have had in decades. Definitely be needs several chances per game, and that can hopefully be improved upon.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

5 minutes ago, Left Back said:

Clarke just came out with something in the interview they showed on Sportscene.

This time last campaign we had 6 points and were behind Cyprus and Kazhakstan.  We must be doing something right.

No idea if it’s true or not but would assume he wouldn’t be saying it if not.

He is technically correct. On the 12th of October 2019 we were on 6 points and behind Cyprus and Kazahkstan

 However we had played only 6 games out of 10. Right now we have played 8 out of 10. We pumped San Marino 6-0 on the 13th of October 2019.

 

[ropy]

44 minutes ago, Gordopolis said:

Would be quite happy with Austria in the playoffs (should we make it there) - a known, beatable quantity.

We’ll get Israel 

[Donathan]

2 minutes ago, ropy said:

We’ll get Israel 

Israel won’t be anywhere near the playoffs if we are in them 

[Gordopolis]

Israel won’t be anywhere near the playoffs if we are in them 

Whoooooooooosh!

[afca32]

32 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Piece about the ginger bearded no 15 for the Faroes from the Herald.

 

Odmar Faero: Remarkable tale of Faroes international who rose through Scottish amateur leagues

By James Morgan @jaydeemorgan



IMAGINE you run a football team, let's say it's a university side. The usual motley crew are there but, one day, a 6ft 1ins Scandinavian approaches you and tells you he would like to play; then he tells you he has won underage caps for his country and he certainly looks the part: a physically imposing he-man possibly hewn from volcanic rock.

You've got a game that night and immediately he offers himself up for selection. Five minutes into his debut, you realise he's good, actually he's not just good, he's the best player you have ever seen.


This is how Filippo Antoniazzi describes the first time he met Odmar Faero or 'Oddy' – as he refers to him affectionately – at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University (RGU) in 2011. Over the next couple of years, the young business studies student would become a regular feature of his teams. Faero – then on loan at Highland League Keith from B36 Torshavn – would play for Antoniazzi's team on a Wednesday, his club side on a Saturday, then – having been promoted from his national under-21 side – take off on international weeks to play in whichever corner of Europe the Faroe Islands were scheduled for a fixture.

“He'd be marking Zlatan or Mesut Ozil and then the next week he would turn up and play against whoever we were playing, I don't know Abertay University, or whoever,” says Antoniazzi, the director of sport at RGU. “He didn't mind. He didn't dominate the team talks, just mucked in – and as a leader as well. He was just a team-mate, he wasn't a big-time Charlie.”

“That was the joy of it for all our lot: he was the best player they ever played with. All the boys have got stories, and are in WhatsApp groups and there will be messages saying 'Oddy's starting' or 'he's got 60 minutes again' – whatever it is. There is still that enthusiasm to follow his story.”

The RGU old boys WhatsApp group will have been particularly busy of late. Yesterday Faero – whose father Oddmar (correct) was also a Faroese international – was part of the Faroe Islands squad that hosted Austria while last month he was in the rearguard action that kept runaway group F leaders Denmark at bay for 85 minutes before succumbing to a Jonas Wind goal in Torshavn's compact Torsvollur Stadium. On Tuesday night Faero, who spent his youth growing up in Aberdeen courtesy of his father's dental practice in the city, is poised to line up against Scotland at the same venue.

It's a career route that borders on the incredible and the unconventional nature of it is accentuated by Antoniazzi's next comment which conjures up images of Pele's starring role as Luis Fernandez in war time football epic Escape To Victory when he points to the tactics board and tells Michael Caine: 'Boss, I go here, here, here, here . . . goal!”

“I used to say 'Oddy, you're a centre half, just do what you want with it',” continues Atoniazzi. “We had this stupid system where if Oddy got the ball we stopped being a back four and went to a back three; he just went and played where he wanted to so that he got on the ball as much as possible.”


He subsequently played for Scottish Universities, winning a BUSA championship and later on Antoniazzi would set up Faero with a contact from an SPFL side.

“I put him in touch with Ross Campbell, whose dad Dick was managing Forfar. Ross was involved with university football and I knew him and he went along there and immediately started playing for Forfar as well.”

While his tale wound its way down the A90 to Station Park – where Campbell was a team-mate – it also entailed regular criss-crossing back to his homeland to play for B36 Torshavn when term time came ended and the Faroese championship – played to the summer calendar – recommenced.

“It was the first time in our history that we got some money from FIFA and UEFA for having an international player on our books,” recalls David McGregor, the Forfar secretary. “But he probably spoke better English than some of the Forfar people.”

Campbell, now director of sport at Heriot-Watt University, remembers Faero flitted into the town, spent two seasons there playing more than 20 games before, almost imperceptibly, drifting away again.

“He played for us at Scottish universities and he was really solid, really robust, he played centre half but could step into midfield. He was mostly really good, a lovely guy, and had that kind of Scandinavian style about him. He was comfortable at our level, it was more just his availability. He just went quietly away into the ether. I can't even remember how he left, I think he just went for an international match and didn't come back. Sometimes our league would have continued and he would have missed a game because he was playing against Germany. I loved that, it was great to see a university player, somebody studying, playing professional football and international football. It was really cool at the time. I remember him holding Ozil in regards because after a game [his debut against Germany], Ozil came over to him when he was with his family and gave him his top after the game.”


Campbell laughs at the recollection then guffaws at the revelation that a year after departing the Angus club, Faero ended up playing for junior side Banks O' Dee in the North Region Superleague.

“Odmar was very friendly with our co-manager at the time, Sandy McNaughton,” says Brian Winton, the erstwhile Montrose chairman, who now occupies the same position at Banks O' Dee. “They met at the university, Sandy ran that team as well as being co-manager of Banks O' Dee. Odmar came into training, liked what he saw, liked the tempo of the training, liked the whole atmosphere. It was a big commitment for him – he had been at Forfar and he could have gone back and played at that level – but he felt it was the right thing for him.”


“Because their [the Faroese] season was staggered we were able to get international clearance for him during the windows in which we needed him. We did a lot of work with the Faroese national executive, and they couldn't have been more helpful from when I made the initial phone call. I was wondering how it was going to be, out of the blue phoning them up to say 'we want to sign one of your international players for Banks o' Dee in Aberdeen'. However they got all the paperwork in place and we signed him up. He was a standout in every game. We've got a lot of good players but Odmar was unique. He looked like a Norseman, the big beard, blonde hair, he looked like a Viking.”

A league title, a McLeman Cup medal and the Banks o' Dee player of the year award duly followed but that wasn't the only impression Faero made on the club.

“He was a lovely lad,” adds Winton. “He didn't come in and say 'I'm Billy Big Time, I'm a Faroese international. He just fitted in with the team, there was no hierarchical thing. I think that's why the whole thing was a success and why he enjoyed his time with us and we enjoyed him being with us. I had a lot of conversations with his mum. She was there the night he won player of the year and she just said how happy he was playing for Banks O' Dee and that we have created a family environment and he fitted really well into that.”

With his studies at an end (he graduated wearing the Faroese national dress of white shirt, fine wool waistcoat and knee-length trousers) Faero returned home in 2016. Now 31, he plays for champions-elect Klaksvik having had a spell in Norway with HamKam – and, of course, still performs with distinction for the national team – as Winton is well aware.

“He left Banks O' Dee and the next game I saw him playing was against Portugal and Ronaldo,” he says laughing. “Which is slightly different to the challenge that we have got.”

A mate of mine played with him at RGU. I saw him playing against Aberdeen Uni once. He was good but didn't particularly stand out, even with Aberdeen down to 9 for the majority of the game. He certainly had license to roam though as mentioned, often carrying the ball large distances but rarely doing much with it.

[Skyline Drifter]

58 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

They're 7 points behind us so unless it's changing to 3.5 points for a win that's not a factor.

Even if it was we have a better head to head record anyway. Whole post's a debacle.

[welshbairn]

7 minutes ago, afca32 said:

A mate of mine played with him at RGU. I saw him playing against Aberdeen Uni once. He was good but didn't particularly stand out, even with Aberdeen down to 9 for the majority of the game. He certainly had license to roam though as mentioned, often carrying the ball large distances but rarely doing much with it.

Maybe so, but did he look like he was hewn out of Viking granite?

[AsimButtHitsASix]

We've had games v Czech Rep, Slovenia, Israel and England recently where we played well but never scored and it cost us. This is just the other side of the coin tonight and v Austria. We're always gonna be a team of small margins. The wild mood swings between depression and jubilation when the performances in all these matches are pretty similar is great craic tho.

[Clown Job]

1 hour ago, Cptn Hooch said:

I believe he's suspended for the Moldova game. Canny believe there's still folk out there that don't want him in the team. He's not the best player in the world but he's EXACTLY the type of player this Scotland team needs.

You’ll still get c***s arguing Leigh Griffiths should be in the team cause “He’s a natural goal scorer” despite being pretty pish for Scotland 

[Gordon EF]

Could be worse lads. Could be Republic of Ireland.

[kingjoey]

1 hour ago, Meeniedee said:

a win is a win but christ that was a hard watch far too slow doing anything,lucky not to be behind at the break...70 mins gone needing a goal and he brings on macgregor....terrible.

At the time I thought it was a good substitution. Take off Hendry, move McTominay back and replace with McGregor. It worked as well.

[Donathan]

McTominay was much better in the back 3, which has been the case for the last year or so.

 

The thing is our 3-5-2 formation replies on the central midfielders to push forward and not really play as holding midfielders. If we were playing some variant of 4-5-1/4-3-3 then McTominay would be perfect for the holding midfield role (As he does for Man Utd) but he doesn't belong in the midfield of a 3-5-2 formation.

 

The RCB position should be his own until the time comes when we decide to move to a back 4.

[Ewan8472]

1 hour ago, Namond Brice said:

We're a win against the bottom seed away from finishing 2nd and qualifying for a playoff with a game to spare. It's going to be our best qualification campaign for 2 decades.

Why are some people on the verge of tears ?

Natural reaction to the " stress   " of watching the game

Edited October 12, 2021 by Ewan8472

[Ewan8472]

10 minutes ago, Donathan said:

McTominay was much better in the back 3

against the Faroes !

How was Ryan Jack so good for the team when he was playing ( as a holding midfielder ) ?

It is crazy but is partly due to having to play Robertson and Tierney together

Edited October 12, 2021 by Ewan8472

[Ewan8472]

5 minutes ago, Ewan8472 said:

Natural reaction to the " stress " of watching the game