davew

this casts the whole Wotte episode in a new light

It doesn't paint the full picture, no. But that's why I always write the name of the website. "whoscored/Opta stats says so and so had a good game" so people know to take it with a pinch of salt

Maybe this is what we disagree about. Stats can be used to give a false impression, but combined with a little football knowledge and some common sense, stats are a useful tool.

I didn't say MK had a poor game, I said, from looking at the statistics, he didn't stand out. That is, he didn't see much of the ball, he didn't contribute much in an attacking sense, and he didn't make any mistakes. The highlights clip is here, you can see MK at about the 1 minute mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-js_wLTyemE My guess is, Cardiff had been terrible, but a new player comes in, looks like a decent signing and so gives everyone a wee lift. So he gets MOTM.

Here's the full quote from the daily mail: I thought I would bold the comments that IMO are cause for concern. It's practically all of it ffs 'Our concentration is on the opening game with Austria and we've deliberately got more height in our squad. That's one of the reasons why Jack isn't in. 'Unfortunately, I don't see enough of him in action. The last time he was with us, he did OK, but I wanted a little more impact. At Real Madrid he can float all over the place, which he does. But with us, he has to be more disciplined. 'He's an exceptionally gifted lad, but sometimes we can't carry him. He can be a luxury sometimes. In some cases, if it's going well, he can be a good luxury.' 'Listen, Jack's time will come. The last time I spoke to him, he wanted to really settle in at Real Madrid and find a place there. That's been a big thing for him. 'I've gone with the boys I've seen most in the last six months. We keep tabs on Jack and see video clips of him. We have people over there who keep their eye on him. 'There are others I've left out like Dominic Thomas at Motherwell who will have gripes that they're not in the squad. 'But I've picked a group of 18 which will hopefully do well for us. It's my opinion and I'm not saying it's right. But the squad I've picked is an extremely strong one. 'I can only pick 18 when I really could have picked 26 or 27. I've gone for a physical side and runners. Hopefully I'm right. 'It's purely tactical and there certainly hasn't been a lack of enthusiasm from Jack about playing for Scotland.'

I'm not sure why you think the difference between us is "religious faith". I'm using statistics to back up my own opinion which is that McDonald is good enough, and still young enough to have a Scotland career. I've not seem him play recently, but the fact that Strachan called him up recently also backs up my opinion. I agree with all of that. I'd never heard of moneyball, but it's a good comparison. From reading the wiki article, the gist of it seems to be that baseball stats were being misinterpreted, so they tried to come up with a better interpretation. I agree with this aswell. Although I think most managers in the bottom half of the EPL (and also the Championship) are strongly biased in favour of big, strong players. So Bannan not getting picked doesn't necessarily mean he's in-effective.

I know you have a distrust of statistics, but I don't know why. I would say it's a perfect illustration of how not applying common sense can lead to a misinterpretation. Even the most basic common sense would tell you that Jordan Rhodes can't be compared to Lionel Messi, so if any "statistic" puts the two together then it's obviously not an accurate interpretation.

I don't know what point you're making. I never said stats paint a complete picture.

No he's not. Top strikers play in top leagues.

Fair enough about Finnbogason. But Stranzl, even at 34, is exactly the sort of player that Scotland are lacking - a centre half good enough to play in the latter stages of the champions league.

Alaba at Bayern, Fuchs at Schalke, and Stranzl at Gladbach

Agreed. We don't have a single player playing regularly, for a team that wins more than it loses, in a top league. Iceland have two. Sigurdsson at Swansea and Finnbogason at Real Sociedad.

The statistics provide context. I'm not able to watch Championship games, so the opta stats are a good way to get a rough idea how well a player is playing, and what they're playing style is. There are plenty of Scottish players doing well in the Championship, but the statistics say Kevin McDonald is a great passer of the ball. IMO, that means, sooner or later, he's going to be a fixture in the Scotland team.

Like you're not obsessed about football?

I agree. Potentially the best passer of a ball we have. He now has 10 assists for the season (from defensive midfield), he's played more successful long passes than any other player in the league (barring goal keepers), he's played more successful short passes than anyone in the league, and he's played more successful throughballs than anyone too. He just needs to get back into one of the top leagues.

Arfield plays left or right midfield. In those positions we have: Maloney, Anya, Forrest, Bannan, and Ritchie. Then we have GMS, Phillips, Boyd, Burke, and Armstrong. In terms of Arfield's playing style, he is most similar to Bannan and Boyd. Bannan is technically a better player, and Boyd even harder working, and is much more of a goal threat. IMO the competition is simply too strong for Arfield to get near the team.

Rhodes also with an assist. rare occurrence.

with Craig Gordon playing the way he is, there's no need to worry

Bournemouth 1-0 up, Ritchie with an assist.

I think a pregnant woman is not allowed to fly after she reaches 30 weeks. So a car trip could be done, but not flying, unless you go home for 4-5 months.

The actual radio interview has been posted here already. He says "I've seen myself as English, but I'm half Scottish". WGS on the subject: I think you're over-reacting aswell. This is something that's been going on for 60 years (e.g. Alfredo Di Seffano, possibly the best player in the world at the time, "transferred" from Argentina to Spain). What measurable effect has it has in that time? However, Qatar are in a different league. There needs to be a rule change to prevent what they are trying to do.

You forgot Snodgrass, Phillips, and Bridcutt You could then add a few capped players that have fallen out of contention: Dixon, Wallace, Fox, Goodwillie, Cowie, Mackie, Mackail-Smith, Davidson, Broadfoot

That's a bit OTT. He's gotten more goals and assists this season, from midfield, than any of McCormack, May or Russell from further up the park.

I don't know who you're thinking of, because most of our outfield players are between 25 and 29.

goals from last week. Ritchie scores the 2nd and the 4th.