Toulon Tournament

[jamboman]

Need to take hornby off. Maybe we will pass the ball then

[Malcolm]

Commanding performance from England.

[Auld_Reekie]

As I said lacking any kind of technical ability. Basic first touch shocking leads to a third for England.

[er yir macaroon]

Just now, Auld_Reekie said:

As I said lacking any kind of technical ability. Basic first touch shocking leads to a third for England.

No, half the team have great ability, but the rest don’t. Campbell has looked out of his depth.

[Squirrelhumper]

54 minutes ago, Auld_Reekie said:

Was just about to say we look pish but Johnstone  just scored a peach. First player to look good on ball for Scotland.

Aye Gilmour has been pish eh?

[jamboman]

We just dont have players with names like "Ronaldo Vieira"

[Auld_Reekie]

Ok. Ok. So I was exaggerating slightly. Relax. We have some players with technical ability but majority are massively disappointing including Burke. Kinda hoped to see a more encouraging standard across the team as a whole rather than one or two individuals who we knew were decent enough. 

[PASTA Mick]

33 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Fell to pieces since Wilson went off. Does a lot of donkey work. 

Yep. Burt has never impressed me. 

[mccaughey85]

6 minutes ago, Auld_Reekie said:

Ok. Ok. So I was exaggerating slightly. Relax. We have some players with technical ability but majority are massively disappointing including Burke. Kinda hoped to see a more encouraging standard across the team as a whole rather than one or two individuals who we knew were decent enough. 

I think it's been a positive tournament overall and given the population difference between us and the other countries we have done reasonably well. We have some technically talented players like Johnston and gilmour who I believe will be first team regulars in a few years. It is obvious that alot of the players in our team are not technically gifted but if we can utilise the good players like gilmour and help them reach their potential then we could have a decent senior team in the future.

[er yir macaroon]

Hornsby is 18 and has only been playing striker for one season. I thought he did well, then was knackered. It’s not his fault we missed out the midfield.

[mariokempes56]

21 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

No, half the team have great ability, but the rest don’t. Campbell has looked out of his depth.

Correct - big countries will always find 11 good or v. good at each age group - with a 11th of population we do very well do find 5/6.

Hard to be too critical but their still seems a tendency to choose big defenders rather than ball-players - maybe I am being too harsh.

I coached from P1 -> under 17s and tried (not always possible) to put 1 or more player(s) who could play out a wee bit. Very hard with a limited squad though.

[ceudmilefailte]

2 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

Hornsby is 18 and has only been playing striker for one season. I thought he did well, then was knackered. It’s not his fault we missed out the midfield.

He's looks like a player with a big future, seemed to cover a lot of ground so not surprised he looked tired. Not just a target man either he can play the ball on the ground too.

As for Gilmour, 17 in a couple of days it's hard to to see how he wont make it

[Squirrelhumper]

Ralston will never make it at Celtic. 

More Toshney than Tierney.

[Hertsscot]

2 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Ralston will never make it at Celtic. 

More Toshney than Tierney.

Disappointing we could do with a decent young right back.

[PASTA Mick]

5 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Ralston will never make it at Celtic. 

More Toshney than Tierney.

Totally agree.

Also worth noting our squad was younger than the England squad. 

[Hertsscot]

18 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

I think it's been a positive tournament overall and given the population difference between us and the other countries we have done reasonably well.

Certainly with our nearest neighbour that is only going to get worse.

Pop of Scotland in 1901 was 4,500,000: England 30,000,000

Pop of Scotland in 1961 was 5,100,000: England 41,200,000

pop of Scotland 2016 is 5,400,000: England 55,300,000

Over next ten years the population of England is expected to grow at twice the rate of Scotland.

Iceland can beat England so size isn't everything but a bigger player pool must help all other factors being equal.

[Malcolm]

4 minutes ago, Hertsscot said:

Certainly with our nearest neighbour that is only going to get worse.

Pop of Scotland in 1901 was 4,500,000: England 30,000,000

Pop of Scotland in 1961 was 5,100,000: England 41,200,000

pop of Scotland 2016 is 5,400,000: England 55,300,000

Over next ten years the population of England is expected to grow at twice the rate of Scotland.

Iceland can beat England so size isn't everything but a bigger player pool must help all other factors being equal.

8 times out of 10 England would beat Iceland...   but I get your point.  Even by maximising your team you will never win the World Cup if you are Iceland or Scotland but you might make the last 16 with a lucky draw and a good team.

[Hertsscot]

2 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

8 times out of 10 England would beat Iceland...   but I get your point.  Even by maximising your team you will never win the World Cup if you are Iceland or Scotland but you might make the last 16 with a lucky draw and a good team.

Yes, although in a knock out competition your chances should be higher than a league set up.  If player pool is weak then we need to step up our game in some respect, innovative tactics, technical ability, quality of coaching, winning mentality etc.

[er yir macaroon]

6 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

8 times out of 10 England would beat Iceland...   but I get your point.  Even by maximising your team you will never win the World Cup if you are Iceland or Scotland but you might make the last 16 with a lucky draw and a good team.

We have more chance at senior level than u21 as we have more players to choose from. To get 11 good players at restricted age ranges is tough for the wee countries. That said, Tierney only turned 21 yesterday.

[daviebee]

33 minutes ago, Hertsscot said:

Yes, although in a knock out competition your chances should be higher than a league set up.  If player pool is weak then we need to step up our game in some respect, innovative tactics, technical ability, quality of coaching, winning mentality etc.

Dinnae hold yer breath with the jobs-for-the-boys dinosaurs in charge of oor players.

[Hertsscot]

2 minutes ago, daviebee said:

Dinnae hold yer breath with the jobs-for-the-boys dinosaurs in charge of oor players.

That is precisely my worry! 

[SkyBlueScot]

1 hour ago, er yir macaroon said:

We have more chance at senior level than u21 as we have more players to choose from. To get 11 good players at restricted age ranges is tough for the wee countries. That said, Tierney only turned 21 yesterday.

I'm glad there are lots of folk putting this into proper perspective.  It's a disappointing end but there's a lot to take away from this and this point above is spot on.  Billy Gilmour looks like a player we do think will make it and he'll be hitting the squad as Robertson/Tierney/Fraser/McTominay/McKenna will still be in their mid 20s.  Johnston looked good and Burke showed what a talent he is capable of becoming.  A couple of others will also come through.

So, I'm positive.

[Super_Scotlandfan]

16 minutes ago, SkyBlueScot said:

I'm glad there are lots of folk putting this into proper perspective.  It's a disappointing end but there's a lot to take away from this and this point above is spot on.  Billy Gilmour looks like a player we do think will make it and he'll be hitting the squad as Robertson/Tierney/Fraser/McTominay/McKenna will still be in their mid 20s.  Johnston looked good and Burke showed what a talent he is capable of becoming.  A couple of others will also come through.

So, I'm positive.

Yes, I was about to make a similar point. Glad others realise is it’s very difficult for a small nation to have depth at age group levels. 

Thought our 2 best players were just as good, if not better than their best players. As long as we can bring 2 or 3 very good players through at every age grade plus 1 or 2 brilliant players we’ll have a squad capable of making tournaments. 

There are a lot of young players coming through at the moment, not necessarily at under 21 level but we don’t need them to be. 

Need to remember that McCrorie (20) was injured (would have played in Wilson’s position today and been a lot more composed). McKenna is only 21, Tierney is 21, Souttar is 21, Hendry is 23. McTominay is 21, Morgan is 21, Henderson is 22, Gauld is 22, McBurnie is 22. 

Think Jack Aitchison (18) would’ve played this week too if he wasn’t injured lately. 

It’s hard for us to select an under 21 squad, just because of our population, that will all end up being pro’s. We shouldn’t be too down we can’t  beat England. As long as we nourish our really good young players (and it seems to me we have a lot at the moment) we’ll build a successful senior team. 

 

[er yir macaroon]

4 hours ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

Yes, I was about to make a similar point. Glad others realise is it’s very difficult for a small nation to have depth at age group levels. 

Thought our 2 best players were just as good, if not better than their best players. As long as we can bring 2 or 3 very good players through at every age grade plus 1 or 2 brilliant players we’ll have a squad capable of making tournaments. 

There are a lot of young players coming through at the moment, not necessarily at under 21 level but we don’t need them to be. 

Need to remember that McCrorie (20) was injured (would have played in Wilson’s position today and been a lot more composed). McKenna is only 21, Tierney is 21, Souttar is 21, Hendry is 23. McTominay is 21, Morgan is 21, Henderson is 22, Gauld is 22, McBurnie is 22. 

Think Jack Aitchison (18) would’ve played this week too if he wasn’t injured lately. 

It’s hard for us to select an under 21 squad, just because of our population, that will all end up being pro’s. We shouldn’t be too down we can’t  beat England. As long as we nourish our really good young players (and it seems to me we have a lot at the moment) we’ll build a successful senior team. 

 

And Harry Cochrane could be just as good as Gilmour. 

[mccaughey85]

10 hours ago, er yir macaroon said:

We have more chance at senior level than u21 as we have more players to choose from. To get 11 good players at restricted age ranges is tough for the wee countries. That said, Tierney only turned 21 yesterday.

Yeh this was the point I was trying to make, but  if we can pluck out the really good players in this group and maximise their potential then we can have a decent team in the future what with the players we  already have who are in their early twenties like McKenna, mctominay, Tierney,Fraser, Robertson, Morgan etc.