Faroe Islands v Scotland

[bleedingums]

Played well and lost loads of times so will take not playing well and winning. Win against Moldova and we won’t care.
Thought the subs made a difference - we were better once McGregor came on and obviously Patterson got the assist - just wish they’d been made sooner.

McTominay is a weird one. He was immense in the europa league final and so he’s definitely got that in him, but then he has games like today (althoughbarely anyone played well today). I’ve been keen to see tonight’s midfield for a while, but am now more on the side of McGregor, McGinn, Gilmour.

Still a giant step towards the playoffs, though.

 

[Sortmeout]

1 hour ago, 19QOS19 said:

Has this VAR been on the bevvy? Took an absolute age with every call tonight.

Aye see on this point is the VAR completed from some UEFA headquarters location or is it someone at the stadium?

I was wondering if they were having technical issues.

[Ro Sham Bo]

Just now, just me 2 said:

Drawing at wembley meant f**k all in the grand scheme of things

At the time it was a crucial result. 

Winning tonight night not mean anything either if the Moldova game goes badly. 

[Fuctifano]

If I haven't learned a lot about football tonight I've learned more about Russian folk music 

[Mustafa_sheet]

9 minutes ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

Are you really suggesting that tonight's result is a greater achievement than drawing at Wembley?

It’s the result that matters. 1 point from the England game. 3 points from tonight’s match which keeps us in the hunt for a play off place. 
 

After all it’s a results driven business. No team ever won anything by drawing games!

Edited October 12, 2021 by Mustafa_sheet

[PB1994]

18 minutes ago, Binos said:

Not done the stats myself but all the chat in the media before Israel was that 9 points guarantees seeded play off

Not quite. Assuming we beat Moldova and lose to Denmark…

Portugal can’t be caught, they have to play ROI away and Serbia at home so Serbia will probably be second but they would have 17 points so would finish above us.

Switzerland are away to Italy and home to Bulgaria. You expect them to pick up at least a point from those so again above us.

Currently Spain but probably Sweden, they play each other in Spain in the last group fixture. Sweden play away to Georgia and Spain away to Greece so you’d expect both of them to win so they would also be above us.

Poland are away to Andorra and home to Hungary. A comfortable win should be enough for them to go above us. It would take a narrow win against Andorra and a loss to Hungary for them to stay behind but that seems unlikely.

Croatia are away to Malta and home to Russia. They should not have many problems against Malta which would have them ahead on goal difference.

That would leave us in the last seeded place…

Czech Republic are at home to Estonia. They are only second on goal difference to Wales so they will be wanting to score a fair few to remain in second place, which would also put them above us in the table. Wales play at home to Belarus and then home to Belgium and they really need 4 points out of that to be second which would also have them above us in the 2nd placed table.

Norway are home to Latvia and away to Netherlands. We should be fine to be ahead of them if they comfortably beat Latvia but also lose comfortably against Netherlands.

TL;DR version. We need a draw against Denmark to guarantee to be seeded.

[Ewan8472]

1 )  the defence is still a major worry. I              thought it would be o.k. tonight but it          wasn't.

2 ) could Hendry not have pretended to          be Franz Beckenbauer ? 

3 ) I thought McGregor did o.k 

4 ) It is not SSC's fault we do not have an        abundance of strikers

 

[Andy_K_97]

1 minute ago, welldaft said:

Listen I was not happy about the performance tonite. We were by and large very poor. 

But we have played better in games in the past and lost, so I will take it all day long.

As for Dykes. I love the big man. Does not hide. He may be technically limited but he gets in the right position. 4 goals in 4 games. What is not to love. 

We have a much better team than we have had for a while but I think two play off games will be a step too far. Our only hope is we seem to play better v the better teams. But can I see us winning two games v teams seeded above us. Sadly not….

Agree exactly with the points in bold. It was almost the antithesis of the match on Saturday in that we were able to play well in the second half against Israel because they came out and tried to have a go (and we were just too good for them) - but tonight the Faroes played defensively from the off, and were very well-organised. I think we made the subs about 20 minutes too late tonight but in the end we squeezed the win. While it might not be the most glorious win, on paper it's 6 points out of a possible 6 from the last 2 games and should we end up making Qatar nobody is going to care a jot how we got there. I would far rather be subjected to an agricultural brand of catenaccio that grinds out the wins and gets us to tournaments than a team like Strachan's that got plaudits for trying to play nice stuff but fell short when it really mattered. If anyone still doubts that Clarke knows how to get wins, even by playing ugly or badly, then they need to get their head examined or watch a different sport. It might not be they style you'd like to see but there's no right or wrong way to win - if you win 5-0 or 3-2 you still win.

Lyndon Dykes is absolutely crucial to our side with his goals. He might not be a traditional "proper" centre-forward but without his goals in this qualifying campaign we'd currently sit in 4th place on 5 points. Let that sink in. His hard work to get up the park and his hold-up play are crucial, and he always gives his all for the dark blue jersey.

Provided that we do get the win in Moldova - I hope and I pray - then our chances of qualifying will depend on the draw. You'd like to think that at Hampden in front of a full house we'd be able to see off most of the unseeded sides. As for the final, there's too much to say right now. Maybe you're right that it's one step too far right now, but I'm sure that there's people who thought that before the Israel and Serbia games last autumn. I have every faith in the manager who has done almost everything right so far to give us the best possible chance of getting to the World Cup. 

Win in Moldova, and maybe it is time to start dreaming again...

[Ro Sham Bo]

Just now, bleedingums said:

Played well and lost loads of times so will take not playing well and winning. Win against Moldova and we won’t care.
Thought the subs made a difference - we were better once McGregor came on and obviously Patterson got the assist - just wish they’d been made sooner.

McTominay is a weird one. He was immense in the europa league final and so he’s definitely got that in him, but then he has games like today (althoughbarely anyone played well today). I’ve been keen to see tonight’s midfield for a while, but am now more on the side of McGregor, McGinn, Gilmour.

Still a giant step towards the playoffs, though.

 

Bizarrely McTominay looked better once McGregor came on and he dropped back into defence. 

He also got back late on to make a crucial tackle when it looked like The Faroes were in down their left. 

Before all that he was horrendous though. 

[Left Back]

4 minutes ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

At the time it was a crucial result. 

Winning tonight night not mean anything either if the Moldova game goes badly. 

Are you now saying tonights result wasn’t crucial to our chances of qualifying?  

[nofixedability]

6 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

That's not how probability works though. Our probability of making the play-offs is now extremely high, probably well over 90%, 

Does this probability take into account that it is Scotland we are speaking about here? 

[Ro Sham Bo]

1 minute ago, Left Back said:

Are you now saying tonights result wasn’t crucial to our chances of qualifying?  

Of course it is, as was the England match. It was suggested that result was irrelevant because we never qualified and I'm saying the same could still yet be true of tonight. 

[craigkillie]

1 minute ago, nofixedability said:

Does this probability take into account that it is Scotland we are speaking about here? 

Yes. Even if we lose the next two our chances are probably above 50%.

[MarkoRaj]

Couldn't care less how shite we are if we are winning.

How many times have we seen us play worse and fail to win those games?

I'm old enough to remember absolutely scudding Ukraine and going to Georgia to secure second - turned over by a team far worse than the Faroes are now

Lithuania, Macedonia, Faroes further back, the list goes on and on

For us there are no easy games

[bleedingums]

1 minute ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

Bizarrely McTominay looked better once McGregor came on and he dropped back into defence. 

He also got back late on to make a crucial tackle when it looked like The Faroes were in down their left. 

Before all that he was horrendous though. 

Yep, that’s true. That was a great tackle and crucial at that point of the game. I still really rate him - just wish he was a wee bit more consistent because if he played to even 90% of that performance in the europa final alongside Gilmour and McGinn, we’d be laughing. Maybe not fair to single him out, though, because pretty much all of them were below par tonight.  But, we got the win, come rain or come shine.

[Jambomo]

1 minute ago, MarkoRaj said:

Couldn't care less how shite we are if we are winning.

How many times have we seen us play worse and fail to win those games?

I'm old enough to remember absolutely scudding Ukraine and going to Georgia to secure second - turned over by a team far worse than the Faroes are now

Lithuania, Macedonia, Faroes further back, the list goes on and on

For us there are no easy games

I was thinking of exactly that Georgia game when I posted earlier. These are the games games we usually draw/lose.

Edited October 12, 2021 by Jambomo

[greenockraver]

12 minutes ago, Fuctifano said:

If I haven't learned a lot about football tonight I've learned more about Russian folk music 

the tetris tune is a cracker

[welshbairn]

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.”

[D Angelo Barksdale]

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 ?

[Cardle is Magic]

33 minutes ago, Ewan8472 said:

Head to head w.r.t. ourselves ?

lolwut.

They’re seven points behind us with two games left.