breeks_mctavish

Last week was horrible. It will only be forgivable if we learn lessons. Like not shitting ourselves when an opponent plays a high press and resorting to booting it upfield when we have good footballers in the middle of the park. And defending with more know how. I’m really thinking that McTominay at the back against better teams is too much of a risk. These are things we can improve in the short term. We are starting to see some good players coming through the performance schools but if each year produces 2 to 3 good players it will still take a good few years to really see the benefit of the system throughout the squad. Also, as a nation, we need to find our playing style. We should aspire to a play out from the back and press like fuck as a team when we lose possession. it’s what all the best teams do and we should have this in place at all age groups. I still feel that we are mixing the old with the new, with some technical players but often with old fashioned football. Compared to previous campaigns, we are still moving in the right direction. One thing we’ve had in the last few years is a lot of heart (mixed with skill at times as well). The players are in some ways lucky they have these games to try and atone for the bad performance last week so quickly.

Ah fuck! The computer room in the loony bin’s unmanned again.

He really is a dick! I reckon the saint should pin that to his bedroom wall to get him fired up before heading down to Hampden. I’m a bit worried his heart’s not really in it. We don’t need half hearted supporters on Wednesday night.

Haha! We all have them!

Aye he’s certainly never going to be N’Golo Kante! Maybe more James McArthur if he maxes his ability! Which would be pretty decent going.

I’m guessing that was a phone fart as it makes no sense! I watched a couple of Luton games towards the end of the season and Campbell was all over the pitch. A real all action midfielder. Championship football’s a fair bit below international standard but I’d be happy for him to get a chance in one of the Nations league matches. Pity Jack’s out because even though he was unlikely to start, he’s a good experienced player to come off the bench.

I just tried singing that to the tune of flower of Scotland!

Ok so I don’t think we’re actually disagreeing on too much here. Hickey fancies a crack at a big club. That might mean he’s not guaranteed a game for a bit. While I think I’d choose AC Milan over Arsenal myself if two offers were on the table (although I’d be kidding myself if Arsenal offered a lot more money), I don’t think there actually is an offer from Milan. At the moment, that’s just paper talk. So if the offer comes in from Arsenal, I understand why he’d go for it. Fair play to him, I hope it comes off. And hopefully Tierney moves to Madrid!

Ok well let’s say he moves to AC Milan. He’s not exactly guaranteed a game there. Their left back is Theo Hernandez, a 24 year old France international. Of course, he might force his way into the team, but I wouldn’t assume he’d go there as automatic first choice. Agree on the point that AC Milan are more likely to be regular Champions league qualifiers than Arsenal.

I hear you, but playing devils advocate, this next move could be the chance Hickey gets to establish himself at a top club. Say he starts off as backup but works his way into the team, this will mean Scotland in future have another player at a top club. He’s likely to be backup for Scotland for a while too. Maybe there is already a big club out there who’d want to throw him straight in the team as a regular. However, I’d reckon most big clubs buying 20 year olds have a longer term plan to integrate them into the first team. Of course, there are always exceptions. Where I kind of agree with you is that I don’t like the idea that he’ll be competing with Tierney as I’ll want both to do well but not at the expense of the other. Just as an example, if he was initially backup at Man Utd, you’d be delighted if Luke Shaw had been on the donuts again and turned up at training overweight, giving Hickey a chance. Whereas if he went to Arsenal, you wouldn’t wish any similar misfortune on Tierney!

I wouldn’t be so quick to write off a move for Hickey to Arsenal. Arsenal have missed Tierney a lot since his injury and will have identified left back as an area where they need to upgrade their backup as a priority. Tavares is a bit of a liability. So even if Tierney isn’t injured, given his injury record, Arsenal may be tempted to protect him more than other key players. if Hickey also acts as a backup at right back, he could easily play 20 games (cups and league combined) as a 20 year old for one of England’s biggest teams. That’s not so bad.

Haha! I’m no Rangers lover. Quite the opposite. But good to see a few talented young Scots get a game, even if a dead rubber. Seems like they did well, so maybe they’ll get more game time in future. In general, there seems to be a lot of positivity about young Scottish players right now.

Credit where it’s due, that’s good stuff

Some other performance school players playing… Archie Meekison at Dundee Utd, Liam Harvey who came on for Aberdeen, Billy Gilmour getting 90 minutes with Norwich getting pumped as usual!

You make an excellent point. Big clubs in other countries seem to blood a lot more young players than Rangers and Celtic as they aren’t scared of playing them in relatively low risk matches against lesser teams (Ajax, Bayern, Dortmund…)

McTominay was already very likely to play in the back 3 as Clarke has nearly always picked him there for big games. With Tierney probably out, McTominay is probably even more likely to play so that we have at least one player as assured at stepping out with the ball from the back 3. it has become an important feature of how Clarke’s Scotland plays. My money is on Cooper - Hanley - McTominay

Never been fully convinced by Jack Hendry. Personally, I’d have his squad place at risk if everyone fit. But I think Clarke likes him as an option for right sided centre back, probably behind McTominay

He’s made his fucking bed!

Sounds promising. The more options the better. Hope he gets some game time during the Nations League games in June.

I think I read he’s only recently converted to playing up front? Seems his strength is in pressing and winning back possession. Could be ideal for our style.

Haha! Fair enough to call me out on Gemmil. My memory of these years somewhat hazy! Clearly had a better club career than I remembered.

Steve Crawford, Barry Bannan, Scott Gemmill… plenty of folk that era won lots of caps and were of a similar ability to SOD. SOD has been lucky enough to have played with better players and has been part of a team which has got some decent results. He played his role in a number of good wins. No need for the drama around how shite he is. He’ll be moved on soon enough, but in the meantime he has played a part.

I think the answer's staring us in the face. Wales stand aside, obviously, and Scotland play Ukraine in Qatar on Monday 21st November instead of the opening ceremony in a winner takes all directly before the official first match. In fact, you can have the opening ceremony going on in the background while the game is played.

Hadn’t heard that but it’s a good idea. Draws kind of imply neutrality and nobody likes someone who doesn’t pick sides in a war

Yes, it was brought in to simplify after VAR came in wasn’t it They’re also thinking of points deductions for each drinks breaks. Reward teams for pushing on through. A show of strength if you like