Scots_Wha_Hae
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Posts posted by Scots_Wha_Hae
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It seems like UEFA have come up with a (to my mind) reasonable compromise. None of the Home Nations will get an automatic spot and instead two spots will be reserved for Home Nations teams who fail to qualify. If more than two fail to qualify then the best two will get the retained spots. Not clear what happens if all 5 qualify but tbh that seems low odds.
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I just don't see it as credible, based on their performances so far, that Norway manage to go on a three match winning run where they beat both us and Spain. Equally, given our form over the last 12+ months I don't see it as credible that we go on a three match losing run where we lost to both Norway and Georgia.
It could happen but I really don't think it will.
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36 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:
😆 The Daily Mail. with a 37% truth rate. Its no like them to be controversial is it.
Cmon Scotlad you are better than that 😉
If it is in the paper - pretty much any paper - it is likely to be a lie, a half-truth or to be reported in some fashion that allows a certain agenda to be pushed. 90% of our media is owned by just 3 companies. The UK press is an absolute mess and it continually baffles me that in the world of instant news anyone buys these comic books full of yesterday's stories.
Sports news is all that on steroids - a cornucopia of lying, mis-direction and nonsense all of which you already heard about elsewhere hours or even days earlier. I as much as anyone like a wee bit of speculation but always assume anything you read is nothing more than fabrication.
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3 hours ago, Toepoke said:
The third goal was the most disappointing for me, we let their defence knock it about in our half for a couple of minutes. Why was that allowed to happen?
Because we spent the whole first half trying to press them high in their own half and they just passed it around, through and over us to create chance after chance. The idea is that they are unlikely to be as much of a threat if they have the ball in their own half and we have almost all our defenders and midfielders set well in our own half. Unfortunately their quality was such that even going compact like we did couldn't stop them, and Bellingham in particular, from finding the necessary space.
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Bellingham really is the dugs bollocks isn’t he? Ffs.
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A bit off topic but has anyone seen any comment on this game at all from either UEFA or FIFA? I had a look on their socials and nothing. Seems like it should be a big deal?
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I'm very much enjoying this thread
Oops, early post. I'm very much enjoying this thread, it is the complete opposite of almost every qualifying campaign I can remember when we were all doing the maths on unlikely scenarios to justify why we could still qualify. Now we are all trying to convince ourselves there is some mathematically improbable route to us not qualifying! Delightful!
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6 minutes ago, Big Ramy 1314 said:
That is spot on. They should implement that rule. Once you play for a country once, you cannot change, you are committed to that country whether you play or not.. End of !!! Fuck these glory hunting pricks.... Alba Gu Brath 🏴🏴.
Example. I am eligible to play for Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Canada. I would only ever represent Scotland. Even if Canada and Ireland made a World Cup final, and I was asked to join, I would never do it. I am Scottish and fuckin proud. I bleed neeps and tatties, play the great Highland Bagpipe, worship Kevin Bridges, and wear ma kilt with pride. I only bleed for one nation, and that nation is Scotland !!!!! I should have ma own fuckin song !!!!! 🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴💪💪💪♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
That’s you projecting your views into someone else though. The nationality of an individual is complex. If Andy Robertson’s kids (assuming he has any) were to want to play for Scotland some of the posters here would be against it because they would only qualify on parentage, they weren’t born in Scotland.
David Weir and Darren Fletcher were also both Scotland captains and both of them have kids who play for England youth sides. At some point they might decide they want to play for Scotland as it is possible for someone to have allegiances to more than one country. I am sure they are proud of their fathers’ achievements but equally they have their own lives which have largely been in England. Their mothers may or may not be English too. All this adds to a complex decision on who to play for and how they feel. They should be given the opportunity to make that decision themselves and should not have to prove or justify their decision to anyone.
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I understand the unease of plenty posters to an extent but for me eligibility is a complex thing. It is perfectly possible for someone to have/feel multiple nationalities perhaps even some more strongly that others. For me it’s really about whether the player will improve on what we have and I think all of those being talked about as potentially wanting to play for us add something to our squad.
There’s a scenario here where by next year we end up with Barnes, Gordon, Doak, Fraser and to an extent McGinn and Anderson (depending on where each is to play) fighting it out for starting spots. That can never be a bad thing.
The same applies to Livramento, he may or may not get into our squad in any given international window but having him fighting for a place is surely a good thing.
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48 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:
I'm not sure we need this guy.
We have plenty of midfielders and we don't use out and out wingers.
He's got one full england cap too
on the basis of the above its a no from me
The system concern is fair but we have gone with 4 at the back recently and played well. If one (or both) of Robertson and Tierney are out then a 4-5-1 would be worth looking at, I think it would work especially well with Dykes in the middle:
Gunn
Hickey - Hendry - Porteous - Robertson
McGregor - Gilmour
McGinn - Mctominay - Barnes
Dykes
McGinn plays a kind of attacking wide right role and Barnes the same wide left with McTominay playing box to box through the middle and McGregor and Gilmour playmaking from deep. The real beauty of this system is it gives us a shape to integrate Doak into the squad once he is ready. We have to accept at some point soon we are going to have to start leaving extremely good players out though, much more so than we already do.
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10 hours ago, Dillinger said:
Keep coming back to that third goal. A lot of lovely passes before it. The pick of them for me is Gilmour's. Its played inside to him in our half and first time he absolutely whips the ball up to Hickey. Its from there we start the move. We are absolutely blessed to have him in the middle
It was quality. That Gilmour pass was fabulous but for me it was Hickey’s intervention I enjoyed the most. It was such a perfect exemplar of why this system works as Gilmour played him the ball from inside our own half to where Hickey picked it up sitting in the inside right channel. That positional flexibility and the pendulum across the back is just so hard for opposition teams to deal with.
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14 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:
Some highlights of Gilmour.
That was a bit of a mixed bag tbh. Lots of sideways passes that are obviously important for recycling possession but quite a few of them were a bit lazy. He also gave the ball away with some very poor passes through the lines that were never really on. His touch is immaculate in most instances but he does seem to lose concentration on occasion. His assist for the second goal is a good example - he stabs through the assist I would say luckily after almost losing possession due to a poor touch under no real pressure. On the positive side he appears to be his own biggest critic so I am sure he is actively working to iron out what are fairly minor quibbles.
His good passes were very good though. It's hard to tell from a supercut but it seems a lot of the play is dictated by him too though which is great to see.
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19 hours ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:
U19s been Scudded 3-0 against Belgium this afternoon
The Billy Stark effect.
It was a young team, but nevertheless a young team with 4 players getting significant first team football (McKenna, Miller, Watson and One). It was also a young team that has one of our top prospects at any level playing (Rory Wilson) and a number of other extremely highly thought of young players at some huge clubs (McArthur, Jackson, Rice, Frame). There isn't a single 'who' player in the starting line-up, which is notable for a Scotland team given they are all under 19s. That team should not get scudded 3-0 off anyone.
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25 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:
The Scotland midfield is also very difficult to break into. We were in far greater need of an attacking player. I’d much rather have Anderson than Hackney. Hackney did nothing in our u21s.
It is, although clearly not as strong as England’s. It’s quite possible though that he watched a few games of Lennon Miller and thought over the long term he has more chance with England 😜
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24 minutes ago, romanticscot said:
Exactly my thinking.
Not really tbh, Burke is an athlete with elite physical tools trying to be a footballer. He appears to have no understanding of the game at all (at an elite level) and therefore is unable to use the advantages he has effectively.
One is definitely a footballer and has an understanding of the game. When I say I am not sure about him technically I mean in the sense of whether that part of his game is well enough developed at this stage for him to have an elite ceiling. He is probably already more game aware than Burke and is probably also more technically developed IMO. -
2 hours ago, syecosse said:
Ryan One joined Sheff. Utd permanently not sure of the fee.
Looks to have all the physical tools (strong and very fast) but I'm not too sure on his technical ability yet. At only 17 he has time to improve on that though. His physical make-up is pretty uncommon in a Scottish player so hopefully he can continue to progress.
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15 hours ago, Diamond Scot said:
England have Rice and Bellingham who will play the next 10 years in that position. Phillips will be ahead of him even if he is only a bit part player at City.
England has a conveyor belt for every positon. Id be very confident in saying that Hackney never getting a cap for England.
Unlike the Anderson situation where many were judging him on what they believe rather than his actions, Hackney has gone into the black book.
I agree. England, and I say this with great sadness, have an exceptional squad. Hackney is up against:
Jordan Henderson (33), 77 caps - Some Saudi club [will probably drop out soon]
Declan Rice (24), 43 caps - Arsenal
Kalvin Phillips (27), 27 caps - Man City
Jude Bellingham (20), 24 caps - Real Madrid
Mason Mount (24), 36 caps - Man United
Conor Gallagher (23), 7 caps - Chelsea
James Ward-Prowse (28), 11 caps - West Ham
James McAtee (20), uncapped - Man City
Arguably, depending on where in midfield he plays, also James Maddison, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Harvey Elliot. Coming behind there are guys like Lewis Miley at Newcastle, Archie Gray at Leeds (fingers crossed he is competing to get in the Scotland squad sooner or later) and Jobe Bellingham. Obviously they don't all play in the exact same way or position as Hackney, but with the money England have invested over the last 15-20 years I think they are becoming an absolute conveyor belt of world class talent.
I just struggle to see where Hackney, who looks like he could be a really good but not absolutely exceptional EPL level player fits? I can't see him being any more than occasional squad filler, if even that.
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Interesting situation possibly arising for Ben Doak - not necessarily good nor bad. Al-Ittihad have reportedly bid £150m for Salah - whilst I don't think Liverpool will sell that is a huge fee and any increases to it might temp them. Salah is 31 now and will miss a chunk of the season for AFCON. Liverpool would surely seek a replacement; it would take time to bed one in which might give Doak more chances but equally it is likely to be a younger player who will hang around longer limiting Doak's chances. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
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Incidentally, Josh Feeney who was on the bench for Villa previously played for us at U16 but switched to England at U18. His dad is Scottish.
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2 hours ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:
Weird that Villa had a 17 year old striker starting last night, but it wasn't Rory Wilson. Even this season he's off to a flyer with their u18's - both goals in a 2-0 win over Southampton and a hat trick against Spurs
Kellyman? Is he not a midfielder/winger - did he play as a striker? Wilson is an out and out striker. He has played, as you note, for the U18s this season so not likely to see any first team action until he has some U21/reserve starts. I presume Villa think he has something specific to work on in his game for them to drop him down to the U18s as he is clearly too good for that level.
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4 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:
Really hope hackney sticks with us as its unlikely he makes it with england. Good chance that mcgregor will retire in 3/4 years and that leaves hackney with an open spot to partner what will probably be gilmour in central midfield.
Saying that its his choice but hes still only a championship player and until he becomes an epl regular the england senior team won't look twice at him.
And realistically he has to be an EPL regular for a team in the top 5 to get a sniff. If you look at the quality and age-profile of their midfield (or any area of their team really) then you are typically looking at guys with 100 career appearances at top teams breaking in at 22ish. Guys like Skipp (60 games for Spurs, 50 for Norwich), Jacob Ramsey (almost 100 games for Villa), Curtis Jones (more than 50 games for Liverpool) and Harvey Elliott (almost 100 games split evenly between Blackburn and Liverpool) are starting in their U21 midfield - I can't even see him getting anywhere near that to be honest.
Hackney is, at this point, kidding himself I think if he thinks he is breaking in to the England (youth) setup in any kind of sustained way. I am pretty doubtful that is the reason though, I expect he just doesn't want to spend a week with the ball getting punted over his head by a Scot Gemmill team.
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U21s
in TA specific
Scot Gemmil has named his latest squad. The big talking point is the absence of Hackney - not clear at this point why he is not in it (injury, club request or switching nationality). Fiorini also not picked (due to injury) and Liam Smith doesn't seem to be playing for Swansea even at U21 level so is out. Given the absence of good midfielders I am surprised not to see either of Watson from Kili or Miller from Motherwell. Even Rice from Rangers or the very much more attacking Josh Adam from Man City might have been sensible additions - but it is a Scot Gemmil squad I suppose.
Tommy Conway is still injured so not in - it's surprising another out and out striker has not been called up (i.e. Rory Wilson who is with the U19s). Presumably Bowie will play up front or perhaps Mebude with Doak supporting.
I would go with:
Slicker
Johnston - King - Morrison - Doig
Cameron - Lowry - Barron
Mebude - Doak
Bowie
https://twitter.com/ScotlandNT/status/1696432535700492385?s=20
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U-17s
in TA specific
1 hour ago, syecosse said:U19s Rory Wilson, Callan Mckenna,Lennon Miller, Bailey Rice, Louis Jackson, Charlie Mcarthur, Ryan One and Dylan Reid amongst others called decent bunch called up for the age group.
The 19s have a really strong midfield group. Pick 2 or 3 (depending on formation) from Lennon Miller, Dylan Reid, David Watson and Bailey Rice.
Wilson, One and Bavidge is a good selection of forwards too. MacArthur and Dylan Smith should be a strong centre back pairing.
Unfortunately they are managed by Billy Stark so they’ll be shite despite the talent on show.
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On 8/19/2023 at 11:53 AM, noctonjock said:
Everton have bid 12m for Che Adams. Be good if he stayed in the EPL
I watched Everton yesterday, I definitely hope he doesn't go there. What they need is a whole new defence - absolutely shocking. Adding a striker that can score 1 in 3 when you are conceding 3 or 4 a game is not going to end in anything but relegation.
"UK and Ireland" Euro 2028 bid - Hampden Park
in TA specific
Posted
As soon as this is confirmed there should be serious and significant pressure put on The Scottish Government, the UK Government and the SFA to commit to a proper rebuilding funding package for Hampden. The Millennium Stadium in wales was about 30% funded by UK gov through the Millennium Commission. The Olympic stadium got about £600m all told IIRC for construction and refurbishment. The new Wembley got a huge chunk of government cash too. Football is the top sport in this country by miles, a rebuilt stadium for a landmark competition like this is the least we should expect. What should actually happen is a complete rebuild including a set of proper transport connections like Wembley got.