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First job for mcleish....


Malcolm

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1 minute ago, Caledonian Craig said:

But you do realize how much stick United are getting in recent weeks. They are getting panned from all quarters for how poor they've been in an attacking form. And that has been with McTominay in the side as well.

You don't need to be attacking to do well at international level. Just being strong at the back and nick goals from set pieces can be enough to get you there as Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland have shown last four years and even to a lesser extent Wales.

I read a while ago 60% of goals at international level are scored from set pieces.

The balance was finally corrected second half of the world cup campaign. Clean sheets were being kept and with Griffiths movement upfront more chances created.

Sadly too many points were squandered early on with the poor team selections like Lithuania at home.

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18 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Or how about going for the medium.

Be pleased he has agreed to play for us but cautious enough to realize he is still unproven and playing for a big club does not equate to us having a superstar on our hands.

My feelings exactly. Let’s hope he continues to get his opportunities 

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21 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

By all accounts that has something to do with the fact Mourinho has had a fall-out with Paul Pogba. Jose is not one for backing down so would sooner play McTominay than seen to be backing down. And so he's played in the Champions League whoopee doo. So have a plethora of other Scots in the last few years but it does not mean they will become superstars for us.

Has still only played the full 90 minutes 4 times and Man Utd have only let in one goal in that time. He could turn out to be a top class player when playing with other top class players, Scotland is an other thing all together.

 

Edited by ceudmilefailte
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1 hour ago, er yir macaroon said:

It’s not hard to see why we never qualify for anything. We’re the most negative nation on Earth.

That's ingrained in our minds as Scots. We always, always see things with the glass half empty.

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 We have produced world class sportsmen and women over recent years, unfortunately not in football. I'm not denying that there is a problem with the national psyche but it would be great if we could turn that around.  Why that negativity is there in the first place is another question entirely.

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5 hours ago, McExpat said:

This news is a bit of a result I suppose! I Wasn’t expecting it after he turned down an earlier call up and had Southgate coming to see him.

McTominay, 21, met Scotland boss Alex McLeish at United's Carrington training ground on Thursday.

England boss Gareth Southgate was due to visit United on Friday but it is understood McTominay did not meet him.

 

Does this indicate McLeish done such a good job of convincing him that he didn’t even hear Southgate out!? Seems hard to believe he didn’t even meet Southgate if he was there and wanting to see him. 

Lets hope he serves us well for many a year to come...

It could be just that

 good job to McLeish

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5 hours ago, Paulo2576 said:

Without trying to pour cold water over this either you’ve got to wonder if he will be a first team /squad member in the long term. You can’t help he’s been a pawn in the Pogba saga to some extent. But probably more importantly, I can’t see mourinho getting away with united playing they way they are for another season, they are brutal, you have to wonder if he’ll find space for McTominay with Matic, Pogba, Herrera already there. 

Matic thinks he's going to become world class

Edited by Bino's
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23 minutes ago, Bino's said:

Matic thinks he's going to become world class

Indeed!

"He is amazing," said Matic.

"He is 21 and to play like that [against Chelsea] and control the game like that is impressive. He will be a big player for Manchester United.

"I like him because he is a very nice guy and he doesn't have a problem to ask something before the game. I am always there to help him.

"When I came to Manchester, I saw within a few days he would become a top player.

"He is working very hard, but I don't want to say too many things about him because he is still very young.

"But he deserves all the good things."

 

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11270811/manchester-uniteds-scott-mctominay-to-be-big-player-says-nemanja-matic

Edited by McExpat
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I wasn’t overly enthused with McLeish’s appointment to say the least but got to give him huge credit for securing McTominay, we’ve lost numerous players over the years to other nations where the manager clearly didn’t convince them.

The merits of him as a player can be discussed further down the line but big credit to Alex McLeish and anything that increases the player pool and depth can only be positive.

Hopefully more young players will follow suit when faced with similar decisions.

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He's certainly grabbed the opportunity that's been presented to him at United this season, he's definitely impressed Mourinho with his attitude, work rate and ability. He's been fortunate that there have been a few injuries in the midfield that have meant he's got more game time, but as I said he's grabbed that opportunity and played some excellent games. I didn't think that he would play much this season, and to be fair it's only since the injuries to Fellaini and Herrera that he's been featuring more regularly.

I disagree that he's merely benefitting from the supposed "fall out" between Pogba and Mourinho. Rumours of this have been greatly exaggerated and Pogba has only failed to start one game that he would have been expected to start which was Sevilla away. In this case it was Herrera who replaced Pogba as McTominay had started the previous game.

In terms of how things could progress for him at United, Mourinho has already said that they are looking to sign two midfielders this summer. Whilst they will probably be replacing Carrick and Fellaini who will likely leave, it will mean that he's going to be one of 6 players playing for 2 or 3 places (depending on the formation). He'll almost certainly not feature ahead of Pogba and Matic on a regular basis so he could be fighting it out with Herrera and two others for a regular spot.

If he keeps applying himself the way he has been, and is willing to carry out the instructions from the manager to the letter (which Mourinho loves) then he should get a decent amount of game time.

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15 hours ago, JECK said:

That's the problem though. Folk will turn up at Hampden expecting him to perform monkey tricks. It's what happened to fletcher and he was never that sort of player. Way to many average games for Scotland I thought and took the crowd ages to understand what type of player he was. You can tell already what style of player mctominay is going to be and it's no going to be a match winner.

I am delighted that ST has chosen Scotland but agree with your post, Jeck. I think it is also fair to say that Kenny Dalglish suffered unfair criticism in a Scotland jersey as expectations were very high because he played for a trophy winning top flight English team. Fletcher played in a top quality club side with world class players alongside him too but when playing for Scotland had/has players of lesser ability with him so the expected miracles were never going to happen, particularly as you state because of the player's style of play. Delighted ST has chosen us but please, let's not hail him as a messiah; give him a chance and remember that our national team is likely to have lesser quality players than he is used to playing with at club level.

Edited by Jacques Hunt
ST SHOULD BE SM
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4 minutes ago, Jacques Hunt said:

I am delighted that ST has chosen Scotland but agree with your post, Jeck. I think it is also fair to say that Kenny Dalglish suffered unfair criticism in a Scotland jersey as expectations were very high because he played for a trophy winning top flight English team. Fletcher played in a top quality club side with world class players alongside him too but when playing for Scotland had/has players of lesser ability with him so the expected miracles were never going to happen, particularly as you state because of the player's style of play. Delighted ST has chosen us but please, let's not hail him as a messiah; give him a chance and remember that our national team is likely to have lesser quality players than he is used to playing with at club level.

For ST read SM

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6 hours ago, BraveheartGordon said:

I wasn’t overly enthused with McLeish’s appointment to say the least but got to give him huge credit for securing McTominay, we’ve lost numerous players over the years to other nations where the manager clearly didn’t convince them.

The merits of him as a player can be discussed further down the line but big credit to Alex McLeish and anything that increases the player pool and depth can only be positive.

Hopefully more young players will follow suit when faced with similar decisions.

Seems like it's more down to a combination of Scot Gemmill, Malky Mackay and Ricky Sbragia courting him over the last nine months that's seen him opt for Scotland rather than McLeish just rocking up and having a word. 

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22 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

Is anyone hailing him as the Messiah? Most people are having a non-specific greet about it, as is the want of a Scotsman on receipt of good news.

Figure ay speech. A messiah, not the Messiah. Point is that I hope we do not heap too much expectation on a young player. As stated, I am delighted he has chosen Scotland and hope he develops into a real star.

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29 minutes ago, Paulo2576 said:

I see Charlie Nicholas has plenty to say about him choosing Scotland!

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/12090/11277704/charlie-nicholas-surprised-by-scott-mctominays-decision-to-represent-scotland

He's talking utter bullshit and it makes me really angry. I've listened to this sort of crap so much it drives me nuts. Yes, there may well be players who choose their country on dubious grounds but who knows how anyone feels about who they are and what makes them feel English or Scottish (or whatever)? If you are born and raised in the same place as your mum and dad and grandparents then I can understand how there is little or no question of your identity. For many of us though there are many complex reasons why you'd say "I am X". I was born in England but I always so desperately wanted to be a Scot. Andy Irvine's penalties and Gordon strachan's goal in 86 all reinforced this. I'm an adult now and can say "I am Scottish" but also "I am English" (and to say anything else would be an insult to my mother) but I would still give my right arm to represent Scotland (football, curling, whatever...)

Excuse the rant but Charlie Nicholas can do one.

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