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Caledonian Craig

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Everything posted by Caledonian Craig

  1. You do not seem to grasp we do not have a goalscoring forward at international level. The nearest we have will be Shankland who I think will start in Germany but I do not expect bucket loads of goals from him. When we were on a winning streak last year it was without a prolific goalscorer and if we refind that form then similarly, unless Shankland surprises me, we will do it again via goals from largely midfield with the odd goal from strikers and defence.
  2. No its called playing to our strengths and being realistic. Our midfield is our strength. McGinn almost has as many goals for us as Ally McCoist. After Dykes our next top scorer is McTominay. Our attackers are what they are. They try their very best but we cannot rely on them to transform into prolific international goalscorers. Harsh but realistic. The closest we have to it I'd say is Shankland but would you bank on him scoring a hatful in Germany?
  3. Well there was actually a Plan B. When Robertson went off he was replaced with Lewis Ferguson. If no Plan B he could easily replaced him with Greg Taylor. So we went from 5-4-1 to 4-5-1. It took time but we faired better with the four at the back with no Robertson there. Perhaps something Clarke learnt. However, I'd maybe have liked to have seen us start with two strikers but there you go.
  4. As I said we have shown we can get big results with goals from all over the pitch. It is far more important to score goals less important who scores them. We simply do not have the greatest strikers available to us but as long as goals come from other sources we can still be competitive. At present I'd say we should start with Shankland up front in the June friendlies and go from there.
  5. Actually, I disagree. On our good run of form and results our goals were chiefly coming from midfield with McGinn and then McTominay weighing in with our goals with the odd goal from strikers and it got us by. I do not care who scores and it really doesn't matter who does as long as we do.
  6. The crux of the matter is we have a far smaller pool of quality players to call upon than the European superpowers so to compete if our very best players are not available and/or off-form we have problems. I do not think any manager is able to sort problems like that barring increasing our international standard player pool which just is not there at present.
  7. Just to add too that although John McGinn came in for pelters in both games I thought he played very well V Netherlands but granted was poor against Northern Ireland. He is probably our most influential player and if he is off his game that pulls our level down even more.
  8. I suppose Clarke gambled hoping Patterson and Dykes could use the opportunity to find a bit of form which they need whereas Shankland does not need that but more experience for him would have been good.
  9. Instead of rounding on Steve Clarke I prefer a bit of realism. We are a real good side when things fall for us. When all of our key players are fit and in a rich vein of form we have shown what we are capable of but going into these latest friendlies it was clear everything was not falling for us. Aaron Hickey and Callum McGregor both of whom have been key players for us were out injured. Hanley and McKenna who I am sure would both have got plenty of game time and have played in our big game wins were misses. Also look around on certain Liverpool fan sites and Robertson's form since coming back from injury has been questionable and I'd say they are better placed to judge than us. Tierney is not long back from injury and has a run of sub appearances for his club so obviously not in sparkling form. Porteous has been in and out of the Watford side - not ideal. Cooper has not had any meaningful game time in weeks. Patterson is similar and confidence is clearly low. Dykes has been in a poor run of form too. So you see plenty is not falling for us at present and that cannot happen at the Euros. There is a couple of months for that to change for injured players to get their fitness back and bolster our squad and for players to play themselves into club form and boost their own confidence which in turn is of great benefit to Scotland. Those are the issues, in my opinion, and not Steve Clarke.
  10. No it was exactly like this. From not just one person and not just on one occassion:-
  11. It wasn't just chanting though. Every time I looked over at them there was at least one with arms out-stretched towards us in a confrontational manner. Chants like I mentioned, at a stretch, you could pass off as banter but you see the ulterior motives of their chants in their body language. Arseholes who seem to have time warped from the 1970s and 80s.
  12. Doak is out injured until the end of the season so it won't be him. Extra three players would probably be one of the central defenders who otherwise won't make it so either Cooper or Souttat, a midfielder most likely Ryan Jack if he is back and fit plus an attacking midfielder or striker so Ryan Fraser or maybe curveball striker like Conway as Jacob Brown is also out injured for the season.
  13. For us we have it in us to be a good side capable of getting through to the knock-out stage but it requires a few things to happen for that to happen such as:- We must have all our key players fit and available. We need all our key players to play at their highest level or as close as possible to it. We need to settle on what our best side is and best formation. We need to be more clinical in front of goal when chances come about. At present, Sadly, none of that is happening.
  14. Suits me fine. And we leave the tribal pish to NI fans who were full of it last night. Have a good day.
  15. And no I don't. If you can bear it watch the game on iPlayer and listen for yourself. Fuck the SFA was the giveaway aside from booing of Scottish Celtic players and applauding the Ex Gers players.
  16. And if I were Gers Northern Irish I'd be more worried about when they'll next play in a major championship. No worries about our support. It is welcomed and loved around the world.
  17. I go solely to international matches now. I have seen various visiting fans who have been loud and very supportive of their team and players without resorting to antagonistic pish or aggressive posturing. As I said earlier nastiest, confrontational, total arsehole nobody supporters I have witnessed with absolutely no national identity of their own.
  18. Doak is out injured until the end of the season. Doig is an option but he has not been getting regular first team football either. Plus Robertson/Tierney cover that left-back/left wing-back role si is there a need for a third?
  19. Jeez a heck of a lot of fuss being made over why four goalies in this squad? It is crystal clear. He wanted to see for himself where Craig Gordon is at fitness-wise and sharphess-wise and no doubt learnt far more watching him first hand in trainng. No big deal at all.
  20. And you could counter Spanish player's slip with Hickey's slip away to Spain. We deserved to qualify - no two ways about it.
  21. No as I understand it he will nameva squad for those friendlies and then trim.it down after the matches for the Euro squad.
  22. We do not go from being a good team that qualified to a shite team in a few months thst much I am sure. Clarke's job is to sort out what has gone wrong and rectify it. I think there are a few factors in.play here. For some time we had a very settled line-up and we became a well-drilled compact side getting good results and confidence built up. But over the last few months we have missed key players through injuries and that knocked us out of our stride and we never worked out a fix. We have also resorted to a dangerous trait. Still selecting players out of form or not getting games for their club and it has cost us. I look at Patterson, Dykes and Cooper (but to be fair to him he did fine last night). Too many players have got comfortable with the idea they are going to the Euros and have let their standards slip. Clarke should call-up some fresh faces in the next squad even if just to worry some players into raising their standards again. We have had a run of games where, as we qualified with a couple of games to spare then had friendlies the competitive edge has been lackibg too. That needs to change also. At present our chances of getting out of the group stages have diminished a lot given these issues we have and a severe lack of confidence that we must have now diminishes our chances even more.
  23. Yes and That analogy sums them up as Celtic and Rangers are renowned for the poison they bring to matches with bigotted and confrontational chants in a bid to solely aggravate people. That sums up their support perfectly. They were more interested in aggravating. Their interest on the pitch was and is minimal given how much hope there is to be excited about on the pitch. What chants were aggravating:- Everywhere they go Scotland get battered....confrontational John McGinn what a w***er what a w***er....confrontational Something along lines of Euros your having a laugh.....confrontational Lots more today before we even get into the Rule Brittania and Dambusters pish. Wtf that has to do with Northern Ireland god knows. They done a lot of singing but right now I cannot thing of one chant about their players or team even after they scored. Detestable tossers. Worst bunch of nobody and no-hoper supporters to grace Hampden.
  24. Horse shit. They are the only supporters I know (even England do not plunge to their depth) that were chants based around aggravating confrontations. I was right next to them and they were constantly glaring over with arms out wide in a confrontational manner. Their chants were only confrontational. I could count in one hand the songs they sung about their team or their players. Poisonous bunch of tossers. If they float your boat then it just sums you up.
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