Where does tonight rank?

[Stoo61]

For me at 35 year old it's right up there, and will be the best if we qualify, but not because Wee Scotland beat the Mighty Spanish.

Its because its the best Scotland team I've known (been going since 1998) and they were the better team, worked harder and did everything right with good management and great belief to get a well deserved result against the top seeds in a hard group. 

France was a smash n grab on both occasions, for instance....and we obviously didn't qualify. 

If we qualify it cements it as the best result in my lifetime....IMO. 

[YassinMoutaouakil]

1 hour ago, General dissaray said:

Don't understand where exactly your coming from,when it was the same players and squad?Strange reply man strange reply

The team that beat France lost away in Georgia

[General dissaray]

26 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

The team that beat France lost away in Georgia

Exactly why I was saying that they need to beat them to be better than that squad,what was so hard to grasp about that?

Our record in Tiblisi has been dreadful here is hoping we can beat them home and away but likr Isreal they'll be tough the boy at Napoli is a star

Edited March 29, 2023 by General dissaray

[effeffsee_the2nd]

3 hours ago, Stoo61 said:

For me at 35 year old it's right up there, and will be the best if we qualify, but not because Wee Scotland beat the Mighty Spanish.

Its because its the best Scotland team I've known (been going since 1998) and they were the better team, worked harder and did everything right with good management and great belief to get a well deserved result against the top seeds in a hard group. 

France was a smash n grab on both occasions, for instance....and we obviously didn't qualify. 

If we qualify it cements it as the best result in my lifetime....IMO. 

It's got to be one of the best for me for all the reasons mentioned. previous squads were at times too poor in strength and quality, which is fair enough for a small population like ours, others suffered from a stinking lack of belief that thought that a draw away to Estonia was ok. this team has neither.  the best group of players in my lifetime coupled with a genuine belief that we are capable of winning matches. Clarke might not get everything right, the ukraine playoff the tactics were all wrong for instance, but f**k it, all we had for 20 years before that was 1970's era  play for a draw away & a win at home shite.  this team actually feels different

[Jordo1872]

3 hours ago, Stoo61 said:

For me at 35 year old it's right up there, and will be the best if we qualify, but not because Wee Scotland beat the Mighty Spanish.

Its because its the best Scotland team I've known (been going since 1998) and they were the better team, worked harder and did everything right with good management and great belief to get a well deserved result against the top seeds in a hard group. 

France was a smash n grab on both occasions, for instance....and we obviously didn't qualify. 

If we qualify it cements it as the best result in my lifetime....IMO. 

Same for me. Been going since just before WC98. So many years of mediocrity with average players plucked from the second tier in England or a cobbled together rabble of Old Firm players.

France 06/07 was good and memorable because of the bang average squad that delivered those results, but we relied on luck on those occasions. Last night was an around competent footballing performance against a top side. We deserved it on merit, not luck and for me it proves Denmark wasn’t a fluke result but a marker for what we have now become.

Last night was a statement win for me. We’re been slowly progressing under Clarke for years and the squad has been getting stronger and stronger. We now sit in the Nations League top tier, and top of a qualifying group containing a very very good (albeit not exceptional) Spain. Last night should we can now position ourselves in the higher tier of the European nations with confidence.

[Archie McSquackle]

3 hours ago, ancientnoise said:

Best we've played against Spain since this, one of the first games I ever went to:

But I'm not getting carried away. I'm with Steve Clarke on that count.

Great to see that again. I said as I was leaving work yesterday that I'd seen us beat Spain in the 80's so, who knows, we might manage it again. Delighted to say we did and I was there to see it again.

I can still vividly remember that Dalglish goal as I was a small boy standing in the enclosure in front of the stand in line with Dalglish's run. Couldn't have told you Johnston scored the other two though.

[tree house tam]

8 hours ago, craigkillie said:

The older folk who saw us qualify for precisely zero European Championships before the 1990s?

The Euros weren't what they are now, the world cups were where it was at and we'd been to a few of those...

[Ewanandmoreagain]

4 hours ago, ancientnoise said:

Best we've played against Spain since this, one of the first games I ever went to:

But I'm not getting carried away. I'm with Steve Clarke on that count.

This is the benchmark !

[Captain_Sensible]

Beating reigning Euro Champions Czechoslovakia 3-1 at Hampden in September 1977 then Wales 2-0 at Anfield the following month to qualify for Argentina 1978 must be up there. I was only a boy but still remember it

Was at Hampden to see us beat Spain 3-1 in 1984

 

[Monkey Tennis]

10 hours ago, scottmcleanscontacts said:

I disagree slightly, in that coming up with a win like last night so early in the campaign is all the more impressive and puts us in a better position than we’ve been in for donkey’s years after a couple of games.

I get where you're coming from here.

I'm fed up of poor starts meaning we're trying to make up ground from the outset.  As such, it's great not to be in that position this time, and instead to have found the driving seat.

All I meant really though, was that last night's win came too early to be decisive in the group, so it's accompanied by less euphoria than it might be if it had a prize.

[H Wragg]

I have no recollection of this Belgium 1987 game that folk are mentioning.

[Monkey Tennis]

25 minutes ago, H Wragg said:

I have no recollection of this Belgium 1987 game that folk are mentioning.

2-0.

We were already as good as out though.  It genuinely wasn't memorable at all. 

[Boo Khaki]

2 hours ago, tree house tam said:

The Euros weren't what they are now, the world cups were where it was at and we'd been to a few of those...

I completely agree with you in terms of wider prestige, but for me personally I always felt that qualifying for the eight team Euro '92 finals was a greater achievement than any of our World Cup Finals qualifications, as it meant being one of only 7 to get through Quali v's the 8 UEFA nations who had to do so to get to WC'74, and 10 UEFA nations at WC'78. We were playing exactly the same pool of nations to get there, so for me it was objectively a more difficult proposition and a bigger achievement to do it.

I accept that my view is probably clouded somewhat by the fact that qualifying for World Cups back then was almost taken for granted, and by contrast getting to the Euros was something we had never successfully achieved, but nonetheless, I don't recall any sensation of 'Wow! We've actually gone and done it!' when we got to WC'86, or Italia '90, but that's exactly how I felt when I saw the Bulgaria v Romania result come up on Teletext in the pub 

[Mark Connolly]

It's merely our best result until we body them again in October

[Ewanandmoreagain]

On 29/03/2023 at 19:48, tree house tam said:

The Euros weren't what they are now, the world cups were where it was at and we'd been to a few of those...

IIRC , a very big if , Jock Stein said we were unable to qualify for one followed by the other.

I think the groups were.  usually.  harder back then , not always

 

[Crawford Bridge]

I'm 39 and for me it's the best Scotland performance I've seen. 

The majority of Scotland games in my time watching have been a gang of slow, plodding players that look 10 years behind their opponents tactically and not even half as good technically.

[BFTD]

Until 1996, you basically had to be top tier to qualify for the Euros. All the more remarkable that Ireland made it in 1988 (and I don't think they've ever thanked us for getting them there either).

I'd forgotten how weird seedings used to be; we were fourth seeds for Euro 88 (alongside Italy!) despite qualifying for Mexico 86, presumably because we finished bottom of our group for Euro 84.

[Mark Connolly]

4 minutes ago, BTFD said:

Until 1996, you basically had to be top tier to qualify for the Euros. All the more remarkable that Ireland made it in 1988 (and I don't think they've ever thanked us for getting them there either).

 

My dad's Irish cousin still insists his favourite ever player is Gary Mackay, simply because of that goal against Bulgaria

[BFTD]

9 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

My dad's Irish cousin still insists his favourite ever player is Gary Mackay, simply because of that goal against Bulgaria

Considering how unpopular Ireland is on P&B these days, I probably shouldn't link to this  

 

[Boo Khaki]

Worst shorts in the history of international football, and wearing them with red socks should have seen us banned from all UEFA competition for decades.