Scotland v Ukraine

[DiegoDiego]

Who is Matt Targett?

[craigkillie]

If Targett is able to play LCB in a three then he's worth having. Always struck me as a fairly average player but he's had a good season with Newcastle I think.

[paddymcp]

Good player performing regularly in the EPL. He could feasibly play RWB also - just the way wingers play on different sides more commonly now. Thinking certain sided players can only play on their traditional side is outdated. 

[lubo_blaha]

Good player performing regularly in the EPL. He could feasibly play RWB also - just the way wingers play on different sides more commonly now. Thinking certain sided players can only play on their traditional side is outdated. 

I think it’s still vital for full-backs and wing-backs to be strong on the the side they’re playing on which isn’t necessarily the case for wide attackers. For Scotland especially, the width in the team comes from the wing-backs so we can’t have someone checking inside onto their stronger foot in that position.

No idea if Targett’s right foot is any use mind.

[KingRocketman II]

11 hours ago, DiegoDiego said:

Who is Matt Targett?

in answer to your question, which is the same as mine, he is an English full back:

Targett represented Scotland at under-19 level before electing to play for England under-19s in September 2013.^[24] On 17 November 2014, Targett scored his first goal at international level in a 1–1 draw against Portugal for the England U-20s, followed by a goal in the penalty shoot-out.^[25] Targett made his debut for the under-21 side on 27 March 2015, starting in a 1–0 win against the Czech Republic in Prague.^[26]

He was part of the team that won the 2016 Toulon Tournament, their first such win for 22 years.

[The Moonster]

18 hours ago, craigkillie said:

If Targett is able to play LCB in a three then he's worth having. Always struck me as a fairly average player but he's had a good season with Newcastle I think.

Won Aston Villa's Players Player of the Season a couple of years back too I'm sure. Don't think he's ever played at centre back as part of a 3 nor am I sure he's suited to it. 

[Donathan]

I actually think Andy Robertson could play in the back 3 with Targett/Hickey/Taylor at LWB.
 

When Robertson and Tierney play together, they often play flexibly during the game. Tierney is listed as the LCB and Robertson as the LWB, but quite often Tierney will push up the flank and Robertson will tuck in, which he’s more than capable of doing.

 

I’d prefer Robertson at LWB with Cooper/McKenna/Hendry in the back 3 but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Robertson plays LCB, especially if Matt Targett gets the call up. 

[hanleys socks]

Does anyone know what the ticket situation will be for Wales should we beat Ukraine? Presuming it'll be treated as a Wales home game for attendance (which is a joke - should be 50/50), but do we know when we'll get any clarity on that.

Good to know if I'll have a chance of a ticket or not....(I'm just under 5000 in the list at last count)

Edited April 22, 2022 by hanleys socks

[Marshmallo]

21 minutes ago, hanleys socks said:

Does anyone know what the ticket situation will be for Wales should we beat Ukraine? Presuming it'll be treated as a Wales home game for attendance (which is a joke - should be 50/50), but do we know when we'll get any clarity on that.

Good to know if I'll have a chance of a ticket or not....(I'm just under 5000 in the list at last count)

They gave us about 1,500 initially for the friendly last month. Would imagine it'll be similar for the playoff.

[2426255]

1 hour ago, Donathan said:

I actually think Andy Robertson could play in the back 3 with Targett/Hickey/Taylor at LWB.

I think Andrew Robertson could do a good job there too as a short term replacement.

[Richey Edwards]

On 19/04/2022 at 12:51, accies1874 said:

Kenny McLean is suspected to have broken one his toes.

Good job he's got another 9 then.

[Quentin Taranbino]

I think one of the more likely options Steve Clarke will take (if KT is out), might be a first call up for Kal Naismith.

Him and his team are having an excellent season. Left footed centre half, ball playing, loves to get forward (he used to be a winger I think so no surprise here).

Think he has six or seven assists this season and a couple goals which is pretty good going from that position. Although I think he also has played holding midfield at some point for a few games, bit of a utility player.

I cant say I have seen a huge amount of him this season apart from the odd game here and there and he has looked solid enough without being spectacular. Definitely likes to get forward.

Others will have a better opinion on him and whether it's just a purple patch like a lot of Championship players go through at some stage or whether he could be a genuine option. But 'on paper' he certainly fits the bill

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by DavidMcG

[hanleys socks]

34 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

They gave us about 1,500 initially for the friendly last month. Would imagine it'll be similar for the playoff.

That'd be grim - hopefully will be more for this game. It shouldn't be treated as a true 'home game' although expecting it will be.

[DA Baracus]

15 minutes ago, hanleys socks said:

That'd be grim - hopefully will be more for this game. It shouldn't be treated as a true 'home game' although expecting it will be.

Why not? That's how the draw was made.

[velo army]

28 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

Why not? That's how the draw was made.

I suppose it isn't a "true" home game in the sense that there won't be a corresponding away fixture, as in a two legged knock-out tie or group stage game.  I'd be grand with us only giving Ukraine 1500, so I don't have a great issue with us only receiving 1500 for the smaller Stadio della Cardiff City. 

[craigkillie]

We earned home advantage against Ukraine, Wales got theirs by pure luck. This set-up is dreadful and hopefully they can find a fairer way to do it.

[Donathan]

1 hour ago, craigkillie said:

We earned home advantage against Ukraine, Wales got theirs by pure luck. This set-up is dreadful and hopefully they can find a fairer way to do it.

I think they’re trying to drive up TV ratings by doing away with the traditional home and away playoffs and replacing them with 4 teams competing for a single spot over two single legged fixtures. Replacing the first leg with a semi final means that you get double the number of countries interested in the playoffs, which should drive up TV numbers. 

[craigkillie]

It's not some cynical marketing ploy, it's just the only way of making the play-offs work while they want to involve Nations League teams. Fortunately for the next World Cup they'll be able to just have 12 teams playing off for 6 places under this exact system. They need to look at it for the Euros though - if they are going to have these one-off matches then they need to make it so that the higher seeds are at home. That's two consecutive sets of play-offs where Scotland have been the highest ranked team out of the four semi-finalists, and yet have been drawn away from home in the final.

[Donathan]

7 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

It's not some cynical marketing ploy, it's just the only way of making the play-offs work while they want to involve Nations League teams. Fortunately for the next World Cup they'll be able to just have 12 teams playing off for 6 places under this exact system. They need to look at it for the Euros though - if they are going to have these one-off matches then they need to make it so that the higher seeds are at home. That's two consecutive sets of play-offs where Scotland have been the highest ranked team out of the four semi-finalists, and yet have been drawn away from home in the final.

I have a feeling that for the next Euros, they’re going to do away with having an explicit path for league A, B, C and D and just put the 12 highest ranked teams who don’t qualify from the normal qualifying into the playoffs (or maybe still reserve a spot for group winners, but without the protection of not having to face anyone from a higher league)

 

Reducing league D to 7 teams feels like a pre cursor to that. League D is atrocious now and will surely lose its automatic spot to make room for Germany as hosts. Maybe league C still keeps an automatic spot but I’m unsure. The expansion of leagues A and B means that more teams at these levels will miss out on the main qualification this team.

 

A few ideas to replace the current system for deciding home advantage in the final:

 

- Give it to whoever wins the semi final that the highest seed is in, even if the away team wins that. At least then, the low ranked team will need to win a very tough Away game to gain home advantage in the final.

 

- Give it to the higher ranked SF winner. The problem with this is that it means 3 teams would have to be prepared to play a home final on very short notice, but to be fair, 2 teams need to be prepared for that just now.

 

- Play the finals on a neutral ground. Maybe even have a single country bid to host all the playoff finals as a sort of mini tournament. 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Donathan

[craigkillie]

1 minute ago, Donathan said:

I have a feeling that for the next Euros, they’re going to do away with having an explicit path for league A, B, C and D and just put the 12 highest ranked teams who don’t qualify from the normal qualifying into the playoffs (or maybe still reserve a spot for group winners, but without the protection of not having to face anyone from a higher league)

Reducing league D to 7 teams feels like a pre cursor to that. League D is atrocious now and will surely lose its automatic spot to make room for Germany as hosts. Maybe league C still keeps an automatic spot but I’m unsure. The expansion of leagues A and B means that more teams at these levels will miss out on the main qualification this team.

I very much doubt the first part will happen. League D losing its spot is inevitable given that the hosts are involved, but I'd expect to see an A, B and C as previously.