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BucksburnDandy

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  1. This is how I would line up. As much as Gallagher hasn't been playing for Motherwell recently, hard to ignore his past performances for Scotland. I'd move McTominay into midfield to try to replace Jack and I would play McGinn as the 8 and let Armstrong push on to support Dykes and Fraser. I realise that Clarke won't drop McGregor but I would as bar Belgrade, he's barely performed in a Scotland shirt. Got a bad feeling about tomorrow sadly. Scotland 1-2 Austria.
  2. Anna Signuel absolutely doing a number on Shelley Kerr and her assistant over 180 minutes over the past few weeks. To not even get a playoff from this group and with the finals in England, Shelley Kerr should really be gone but the self isolation will allow her to stay. Can't admit to being Kerr's biggest fan before now and I was probably in the stick with Anna Signuel camp back in 2017. Really disappointed for the women tonight. Horrible to miss out in such a fashion.
  3. Disappointed and frustrated that we have blown two very good chances to win the group but overall, if you had offered me the Euros and a comfortable 2nd in the Nations League group back in August, I'd have bitten your hand off. The harsh lessons of the last two games are essentially poor final balls, poor finishing and overall just making incorrect decisions in the final third. However, once again the performance was far, far better than the previous two against the same opponent so that is a positive going into March. Presently, the only change I can see is Ryan Fraser coming in for either Ryan Christie or John McGinn as you get a bit more consistent end output from Fraser. However you can see what Steve Clarke is bedding in and he took us to a tournament. So the moon howlers on Twitter just need to wise up a bit. Roll on 7th December for the World Cup draw.
  4. Ultimately today was a weird one. Very deeply frustrated at losing the game as it piles on pressure for the game over in Israel. And yet the performance was not the worst at all, particularly in the first half. In terms of most of the changes, there wasn't a significant drop off in quality and we had the better chances in the match. However we did see a considerable drop off in quality up front and also in our final ball. On the latter first, our final ball was absolutely brutal at times, particularly in the second half where we were determined to float in a lazy cross without getting to the byline or try to thread a pass where none was on. On the lack of quality up front, I know Oli McBurnie is given a lot of stick. But it is thoroughly merited. He should have scored when threaded through by Armstrong and his header, while under pressure, was straight at the keeper. He does not win anywhere near as much as Dykes and the ball does not stick up front for McBurnie. In my mind, Naismith and Griffiths are better options when both are fitter than the bold Oli. Other than that, we missed McTominay and Tierney at centre half carrying the ball out into the midfield and we missed Jack to control the midfield. However, I think it is unfair to say any of the three centre halves did anything wrong, just that Cooper and Considine aren't as comfortable carrying the ball forward. The three centre halves did fine. Tierney was absolutely outstanding at left wing back today, superb display and Christie did well, as much as the final ball didn't come off for him. Ultimately it is a missed opportunity down to our own wastefulness, one which we may well regret come this time Wednesday night. And yet, there were more positives than negatives performance wise to take from the display. Onto Wednesday and restoring our strongest team possible to start the match.
  5. In all the celebrations, I hope that SSC can have the lads totally focused again on the game tomorrow as this is another big one, as mentioned previously by fellow posters and by SSC himself today. With Robertson sounding unlikely to play, the debate is whether to play Tierney at LWB knowing that he probably couldn't then play in Israel with the way Arsenal and Scotland are managing him, play Taylor at LWB and Tierney at LCB or Taylor at LWB and one of Considine, McKenna or Cooper at LCB. It is a tough conundrum for Clarke particularly to ensure that we are as strong as we can be tomorrow. If SOD is replaced by Palmer, I wouldn't want to drop Tierney. Further forward, it feels like McBurnie will replace Dykes up front but I would rather it was Griffiths myself. And in the midfield, McLean and Armstrong will likely replace Jack and McGregor to freshen that area up. As such, I would likely go: Marshall; SOD, McTominay, Gallagher, Cooper, Tierney; Armstrong, McLean; Christie, Griffiths, McGinn. But I think Clarke will go: Marshall; Palmer, McTominay, Gallagher, Cooper, Tierney; Armstrong, McLean; Christie, McBurnie, McGinn.
  6. Ah what a night. Magnificent, the boost we have needed as football supporters for so, so long. Hope everyone on here had a great night/day wherever you are in the world from New Zealand to Los Angeles. You all deserve it. What Steve Clarke has done is nothing short of remarkable. That group now turn up, believe in themselves and think we can beat anyone. We rarely concede and we have balls of steel. A stunning turnaround from previous regimes. I could list every player and say how magnificent they were. Special shout outs to Gallagher who dealt with Mitrovic well, Dykes and Christie again for their great work up front and David Marshall for a magnificent save in extra time followed by yet more penalty heroics. A perfect night, proud Scotsman today.
  7. Absolutely shitting it, and with a day off tomorrow, the day is going to drag like mad. In terms of team, I'd probably plump for: Marshall; SOD, McTominay, Gallagher, Tierney, Robertson; Armstrong, Jack; Christie, McGinn; Dykes. But I expect Clarke will play McGregor instead of Armstrong. As much hope as I have, I just can't see us winning. 22 years of utter nonsense has really left this 28 year old extremely cynical about our chances.
  8. Considine. Look it up on YouTube. Yes sir, he can boogie.
  9. Ultimately 5 at the back looks like the correct system going forward so well done for spotting it earlier than most. For me the reason it has successfully worked so far under Clarke but was a monumental failure under McLeish comes down to both the tactical knowledge of the manager and the players deployed. McLeish for being a defender has not been famed for overly strong defensive sides bar maybe his Motherwell days. When he deployed his three at the back, he left it unbalanced with McKenna deployed at LCB while the ball playing Mulgrew was stuck in the middle of the three thus expected to do the most defensive job of the three. The performance in Israel was one of the most woefully open defensive displays I've had the "pleasure" of watching in a stadium. The Souttar sending off was the culmination and if it wasn't for Allan McGregor, we'd have been buried 5-1. Compare that to now where Clarke has players drilled in with all the knowledge they need to play solidly. He identified the need for the more ball playing defenders to be the ones playing each side of the three while allowing McKenna and Gallagher to just defend in the middle of the three. The wing backs were significantly defensively more disciplined while offering some help to the attack. Any formation relies on a good manager to deploy it correctly and that is where Clarke is succeeding in comparison to McLeish.
  10. Full credit to Scott McTominay, been a standout in all three games this week. His attitude has been spot on, his awareness off the ball defensively has gotten better and the bonus of him carrying the ball forward is welcome too. Well done big lad.
  11. Considine, Gallagher and SOD this week have proven me totally wrong. Delightfully so too I hasten to add. Full credit to all three of them, honest lads who play with hard work and quality in their games.
  12. A massive result last night for this group of players who deserved the success they have had this week. They have bought fully into Steve Clarke's plan, they have tactically executed it to the letter to the point where we have chucked both Considine and Hanlon in at very little notice and both did fine. Indeed if anyone a month ago had said a back five at the end against the Czechs would contain 2 from Motherwell, 1 from Aberdeen, 1 from Hibs and Scott McTominay whilst keeping a clean sheet, you'd have been laughed out the room. Special credit has to be paid to SOD, McTominay, Gallagher, Considine, Cooper Robertson, Taylor, Hanlon and David Marshall over the last week. They have put together some excellent individual and collective defensive displays against three reasonable teams including the free scoring Eran Zahavi and a good Czech side and come out with three clean sheets. It's been an excellent building block. Fraser, Dykes and McGinn once again linked superbly last night until the former two understandably ran out of steam. They've been a delight of a triumvirate this week and you can see burgeoning confidence there. Also shoutout to Ryan Jack last night who again had a good game. Yes we rode our luck a couple of times but we deserved the breaks for the work that we put in. Czechs also had let offs when Fraser blazed over and McBurnie crashed his shot off the bar. Collective spirit and workrate of this group is making them even more endearing to watch and support, full credit to the players and Clarke. All in all, a great win and a superb end to the perfect week. The fact we have again taken the Nations League seriously and will reap the benefits of more glamour games and more importantly both better seeding for the next Euros and a better playoff route just adds to the positives.
  13. McTominay has played well this week at RCB. The positive thing about the shift to three at the back is we have seen McKenna, Cooper, Gallagher and Considine all look comfortable in it. Tierney did also in the game he played. Ultimately that is a very big positive moving forward
  14. Very content with tonight both in terms of result and performance. Yes it isn't pretty to watch at times but the 3-5-2 is the way forward for us just now. Our defence looks way more solid just now and unlike when McLeish gave it a half arsed try, Clarke drills and briefs the players down to the finest detail on how to play it. 2 goals lost in 4 games compared to the 19 we lost in the 8 non-San Marino games of last year. Better than that, the second half performance was actually reasonably decent. We looked a threat going forward with Fraser and SOD linking well for the goal and Robertson linking a bit better when McGregor came on too. Dykes really did well in his hold up play and McGinn was much more like his usual self. Well taken finish by Dykes who looks to be a very good find for us. Fraser was superb tonight, very good performance from him and looks to finally enjoy playing for Scotland. Even enjoyed McBurnie tonight who did well, was unlucky with his header and managed the game out superbly in injury time. The three centre halves deserve credit tonight too. McTominay really is growing very nicely into that position, and he did well stepping out tonight. Gallagher again strolled it as did Considine, whose many European games for Aberdeen shone through tonight with the ease of which he slotted in there. For once it is nice to have the better of the Irish in-laws watching their team try to play nice stuff and winning no games while we shitfest our way to wins.
  15. Being blunt it is difficult to watch. However I can see why Clarke has gone 3/5 at the back - we conceded 19 goals in 10 games (8 if you discount San Marino) last campaign which is never going to get you through. Indeed over our last three qualifying campaigns and the first Nations League, we conceded 47 goals in 34 games. That record has to be changed and the 5 at the back is an attempt to both do that and fit in Robertson and Tierney. So I can accept that and go with it, too often we have watched Ireland shitfest their way to major tournaments while we have sat at home. So Clarke has my support in this but there are a few issues that need addressed: 1) A better right wing back then SOD is a must, Palmer showed promise in Olomouc 2) The passivity of McGregor and Jack doesn't work if you are trying to attack a game 3) There needs to be more support from the midfield for both the wing backs and the striker(s) to ensure they are not isolated. Fraser made a huge difference last night and players like him will be vital. Ultimately having thought about it over the last month, as much as I dislike watching it, I think it is the right approach moving forward. We need to shut the leaky defence, this is sensible as an approach.
  16. Crocker is a dreadful commentator for sure - utterly patronising. However Provan steals the biscuit for me. Loves nothing better than willing it to go wrong so he can then revel in it.
  17. Late to the party but still absolutely over the moon getting through last night. To be one game away from a major tournament for the first time in 17 years is exciting. Being blunt it is difficult to watch. However I can see why Clarke has gone 3/5 at the back - we conceded 19 goals in 10 games (8 if you discount San Marino) last campaign which is never going to get you through. Indeed over our last three qualifying campaigns and the first Nations League, we conceded 47 goals in 34 games. That record has to be changed and the 5 at the back is an attempt to both do that and fit in Robertson and Tierney. So I can accept that and go with it, too often we have watched Ireland shitfest their way to major tournaments while we have sat at home. Where we struggled both last month against the same opponents and last night is the passive nature of the passing of our central midfield. Jack and McGregor do not pass the ball not carry the ball forward anywhere near enough, which allowed Israel to setup behind the ball with consummate ease. Only did we stretch them when Fraser came on. Couple that with struggling wing backs and it led to a total lack of creativity. SOD is a trier but an international level player he is not. Robertson struggled against Dasa who was outstanding last night. Dykes and McBurnie escape critical words from me due to the pitiful service they received. Positively last night, Marshall was superb and the three centre halves were outstanding to a man in snuffing out Zahavi and Dabbur. To cough up one massive chance in 120 minutes is very commendable. Even McTominay looked comfortable last night. The penalties by us were superb, great composure shown by all of them. Marshall was just fantastic. It was a night that will bond this team closer together and give them confidence. It may have been turgid but the same again in Belgrade would do me nicely.
  18. Took a few days away from here to reflect on things and try to gather some thoughts. Firstly as much as I was content with 4 points from 6, the performances left a lot to be desired. The players were not fully up to speed fitness wise which is understandable but what wasn't was the lack of ambition, drive and commitment. These lads are talented players but they just don't battle like Scotland teams of 15+ years ago, who were very committed to the cause. It seems an optional extra for these lads, and their performances so often have smacked of not caring for Scotland. As for the manager, he got it wrong in my mind in terms of the system. Last Autumn, you could see what he was trying to do in terms of a 4-3-3 system that was trying to be tight defensively but also encouraging wide attacking players to express themselves and get balls into the box. To rip 6 months of work up made no sense to me, as the way to fit Tierney in was left sided centre half in a 4 at the back. There is nothing wrong with 3-5-2 as a system but we don't have 3 top quality centre halves, Robertson is uncomfortable at right wing back and it takes away a lot of our attacking threat from wide areas. I would absolutely accept being bored to tears if the performances and results got us to a tournament but the performances last weekend were nowhere near tournament standard. In my eyes, SC should go back to his tried and trusted in October so that our players are more comfortable in how they need to play. Must admit to being more worried about Clarke than I was before the break but he is nowhere near a sack having not been beaten in 5 games. He just needs to believe in his team more and go for a system that helps get the best out of players who are comfortable with their roles.
  19. All the best to Scotland's number 1, my first football hero Jim Leighton.
  20. I'd go: Marshall; Palmer, Cooper, Tierney, Robertson; Armstrong, McTominay; Christie, McGinn, Fraser; Dykes. But long way to go until the next round of games. Bound to see an injury or two.
  21. Three points and top of the group while being generally pretty poor. Five games without defeat too. Not usually a positive guy but weirdly feeling decent tonight. A Scotland win is always a happy occasion no matter how brutal!
  22. Undeniably poor again tonight but the history books will only show a 2-1 win in the Czech Republic so let's be thankful for that. First the handful of positives - Marshall was superb, Dykes once again very good, Christie looked bright again, Armstrong was decent and McKenna again looked pretty comfortable, twice in a week for the big guy. In terms of players, really not sure how Kenny McLean lasted 90 minutes out there as he was brutally bad. Palmer was dozy tonight, McTominay isn't a centre half but that's not his fault that everyone wants to shoehorn him in there. The same faults as Friday in terms of the formation, it stunted any creativity we had going forward and once Clarke did his usual sitting back tactic once we got the lead, the centre of midfield was too light in numbers leading to an onslaught for the defence. Ultimately we are more comfortable playing 4-5-1/4-2-3-1/4-3-3 and I would like to see us revert back to that for the playoffs. A word for the Czechs who were a decent team and probably would be a good League C outfit if given time and preparation, better than a number of countries we've been beat by (Georgia and Kazakhstan to name two). Ultimately to play poorly over two games and get four points is a positive but we desperately need to see signs of progress soon under Clarke as it was difficult to take too much positives over the last two matches. However, top of the league and probably a point better off than I thought we would be so I'll take that as my positive viewpoint for tonight.
  23. We've done that in the last two years quite often but pretty unfair to label Strachan's entire time as a disjointed shambles. Yes I would agree McKenna did well and I'd certainly have no objections to him playing. I worry about Clarke and his ability to solve the Tierney and Robertson conundrum.
  24. I would go: Marshall; Palmer, Cooper, Tierney, Robertson; McTominay, Fleck; Armstrong, McGinn, Christie; Dykes. Get back to what we have done best over the last 7 years and encourage plenty of attacking play out wide, get Robertson in his best position, get Fleck and Armstrong into the team to see what they can do and try to attack the new Czech team and get the win. If we do, it would be 4 points from 6 which would be a point ahead of where I thought we might be and would nullify Friday's horror show. Hopefully Clarke will admit his error and revert to his preferred 4 at the back but who knows.
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