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Lambert apparently on the point of going to Wolves...

Always hard to say what's going on when the SFA are involved, but this looks very much like a 'mutual consent' announcement after the England game... My guess is they're looking at Wembley as a write-off or a free hit and that there's nothing to be gained by having a new manager start with a skelping, especially there. Either defeatist or pragmatic... take your pick. Beyond that, only Lambert or Clarke (with reservations) make any sense, unless (dream on) they restructure what they pay on a speculate-to-accumulate basis... not convinced by Michael O'Neill, who's probably in exactly the job he should be in; no guarantee he can do something similar with Scotland (best part of their squad is probably central defence, for example).

Tell me that's a wind up?

Any manager currently employed in the EPL is out of the question (whether or not you'd want some of those mentioned)... Either somebody currently out of a job, or somebody further down the foodchain, somebody who'd take on an unpromising situation for a relatively low (for them) wage... so probably a Scot.

It doesn't... it has to be the best manager we can get. If there are foreign coaches who would come for what the SFA will pay who are better than Lambert, great. Said above that I'd love to see someone like Bielsa, but I think we're probably kidding ourselves on. In retrospect, we know we'd have been much better with Lagerback than Levein, but that ship's sailed. So... if not Lambert, who?

If not Lambert... who? Looks like it's become a non-question overnight, though... I've had a lot of time for Strachan, but failure to acknowledge he's done in this job is disappointing... managers know when they're done (as he did at Middlesborough... and as Lambert did, by the way, much quicker in different circumstances at Blackburn).

Don't think it is... there's no planet on which Lambert is even vaguely comparable to Levein... especially on the planet where we need a manager pronto who might stop this descending into all-time humiliation territory... What Lambert did in his three years at Norwich are something no current Scottish manager has on their CV and Villa -- like Sunderland -- is a graveyard for managers. Levein had moderate success at Hearts, then bombed at Leicester... and ended up doing the near impossible, taking us lower than Vogts and Burley had done. Strachan's done, so if not Lambert... who?

So you'd be OK with Lambert, aye? And if you're comparing Levein's time at Leicester with Lambert's at AV (quite apart from the rest of their careers), you really have lost the plot.

In what way does Lambert compare to Levein? Whoever we end up with, that's total garbage.

He did a phenomenal job at Norwich, his spell at Villa looks less and less bad with every failure that follows him... he's the best we can get, quick (rather than dream about a Bielsa, etc.) If that team tonight go a goal or two behind at Wembley under Strachan... well, we can all imagine what might happen. Forget the structure, the SFA, the long term for a minute (that's for a different thread): we need a new manager in right now who will help stop us degenerating into a total laughing stock. For me that's Lambert...

Thought I'd pop back in to say... Lambert, immediately... I'd love to see someone like Bielsa manage Scotland, but we probably won't be able to tempt that kind of manager... and this isn't the time. Lambert, immediately.

Reflect less, think more.

'No friends on the park'... RIP Dave Mackay, Scottish footballing legend.

Consistent 48% in official polls must give us the basis for a narrow victory... Over and out. It's been good. Scotland forever...

The campaign has been unbelievably sure-footed throughout, but my one really nagging concern is why, right from when Devo something or other surfaced last Sunday, Yes didn't respond by turning this into a referendum not on independence, but on _democracy_. Maybe that's the last big emotive push, saved for Wednesday, but it should have been jumped on sooner. Democracy, for or against. If the official campaign isn't doing it, we should. Twitters and FBers get a 48-hour deluge going: Vote for Scotland, Vote for Democracy, Vote Yes... Or just Scotland-Democracy-Yes... That's all that needs to be said from now to the close of polls. [p.s. If it's a narrow No after this, we're straight into constitutional crisis.]

First thing to say is that I don't have any issue with people wanting to defend the team, give certain players the benefit of the doubt, etc. That's good. Thing I'm not so keen on is our tendency - most of us - to get carried away even before the promising signs have turned into tangible results. On the specifics: 1. you can play well (really well, actually) for twenty minutes and still have big deficiencies in your team: is that not obvious? 2. The 'level' is, clearly, higher end international level, in and amongst the teams that are going to get to finals. Do you really think all our players in Dortmund match up to that? Really? Looks more to me that our increasingly impressive manager has at least a chance of getting the best out of some fairly limited players; my point is that we've still to see if that's going to be enough against the middle rankers, that's all. 3. (This is where I really don't agree with you) There was plenty wrong with that performance, whether we're playing Germany or not. Strachan admitted we weren't set up right in the first half and that we let them dictate the game. We could easily have been well beaten before half-time. Then when we changed it and began to force them to react to what we were doing, got level and looked comfortable in the game... we gave them a pish goal. It was almost, though not quite, like the England game last year: when it was game on, we either didn't have the mentality or the basic class to get something from the game. That might come, I hope it does, but we sure ain't there yet.

I've tried to be cautious at all times, thought it would be tight from the very beginning... but I do think we have every chance if we can get the vote out. The thing that makes me really nervous is the people (on here and elsewhere) who are convinced beyond doubt... How can you be? Yes vote probably can't be any less than 47 or 48 on the day, and it will take a revolutionary surge to push it above 55. So both results are still possible. Keep going...

Not seeing it...

p.s. Mogwai nearly killed about 3000 definite Yes voters...

Been on the verge for a week now, but Eddi Reader finally got me last night at the Usher Hall with a segue of 'Wild Mountainside' into 'Wild Mountain Thyme'. Anybody who wants to enjoy the song without ending up a wet pile on the floor should try this:

No words to describe this. Scotland will die of shame if we don't win.

Career over, win or lose...

Been there for a long time. He's apparently on at the Usher Hall, sharing a No platform with Danny Alexander... Keep talking...

I think what I said was that a. we played really well for twenty minutes in the second half (cause for optimism); b. some of our players are just not quite up to this level; c. there was a lot wrong with the performance overall (mainly in the first half, but not only). All of that is true. Doesn't mean we're terrible (we're not). Doesn't mean there isn't cause for optimism against teams less strong than Germany (see above)... but let's wait to see if we can turn the positives into points before getting too carried away.