Diamond Scot

If we are to play with the same style against Georgia then I hope Kingsley at Hearts gets called up. He is the only LCB we have that plays the same way as Tierney. Obviously to a much lesser level however we have seen previously that Cooper and McKenna cant play the Tierney role. If they are to play then we need to move to a back 4 maybe with a proper holding midfielder. 41221

Neither did Anderson. It looks like he wont end up playing for us but lets not distort the truth. He would have known Englands position before he accepted a call up from us. Southgates comments came days after he pulled up "injured" and likely was only asked because England were playing us in the next game.

The article says its a mock up based on the colour info. So basically somebody has confirmed it will be dark navy blue and everything else is just mocked up from the adidas templates.

There isnt a limit to the squad size but there is a limit to the matchday squad. Thats why Shankland was in the squad but not on the bench for Cyprus. So for Doak to be on the bench against Spain he would be taking the place of an existing member. In years gone by id be all for an exceptional youngster doing that but outlr squad is very strong atm. Effectively you would have to leave out somebody like Christie, Armstrong or Ferguson. As much as I believe Doak will go onto become miles better than all 3, we might need them against Spain and he is not currently better in terms of actual performances. As I said above, id be all for him getting involved in every training session. Personally id rather give Ferguson game time against France. He has earned it more than Doak currently. This isnt me being against Doak btw. Im super excited by him however when trying to evaluate where he is currrently at I just dont think he is there yet.

If I owned Rangers at that time I would have purchased a financially struggling English side already in the league and relocated them to just on the English side of the border. Changed the name to Glasgow Rangers and trained at the usual training ground. Everything could be based in Glasgow but a stadium could eventually be built just over the border. Its not a long drive from Glasgow and probably easier for all the buses coming across from NI. Sell it to the masses as a one up on Celtic who are stuck in Scotland witg the SFA and clubs who all hate Rangers and couldnt wait to try and kill them etc but now Rangers are going to get the riches of England and compete at the top tier etc. Imo the masses would have lapped it up. Investment wise it would have made sence, whatever the outlay would be would be nothing compared to the price you could sell Rangers in the EPL at.

Cheers, different ffom Scotland which has a more robust system by the looks of it.

I suppose it depends on the definition of doing well. Based purely on the minutes he has played for Liverpool both last season and this season he hasnt done well (if you are comparing him to a finished 1st team standard player). If thats the test then he has done ok. The reason everybody including myself are so excited about him and his performances is the potential, the flashes of brilliance, especially at such a young age. He is getting some game time at Liverpool atm not because of his current performances but because Klopp knows he requires it to become a top top player. However international football is different. Especially in our current situation. There are normally 2 games per international break and both games normally are must win / get a result. Doaks current level of ok performace could actually do more harm than good to his overall development especially given the expectations that would be placed on him. If our situation was different and we were similar to Wales or ROI currently then yes call him up, play him and allow him to get experience. However we are fighting to get to a championship and potentially be a top seed. There is no room for giving experience without return. Give Doak another 6 months and hopefully he will turn some of the potential into match changing performances. Thats the time to call him up.

Watched Liverpool game to see more of Doak. Based on tonight and the Europa league game last week I dont think he is quite there yet in terms of a call up. I have zero doubt that he will be a great player but needs more experience which it looks like he will get at Liverpool. I wouldnt be against him training with the 1st team etc though. Mentioned it above but it just saddens me that most English clubs see no issue with playing a couple of youngsters in these games but in Scotland its basically still seen as a really sought after, must win trophy. I can understand it from non Old Firm sides but other than 1 part of a treble, it should be a competition that the OF use to blood their best prospects. Im not even saying dont put out a good side but take Rangers tonight just as an example. Would Rangers have been at risk if they had started Rice or Kind rather than Lundstrum and Davies?

Watched the last 15 mins of the 1st half of Rangers game. Somebody asked the other day if young guys like Rice were likely to break into the team. If Beale doesnt put Rice on at half time in this game then if I was Rice id be asking serious questions. Livi have offered nothing. Rangers have 70% possession, 9 corners etc Absolutely no need to have both Jack and Lundstrum play the 2nd half. Put Rice on and see if he can unlock defences who sit deep whilst they still have something to play for.

He isnt as quick or even remotely as quick as Adams over any pace and Adams isnt even lightening fast at the very top level. Im sure Dykes was injured prior to the Cyprus game and had only played limited minutes for QPR since his return. As I said, I dont think Dykes is a bad player so not disagreeing with you on his worth to Scotland. However i this set of games he would only really have been useful in the Cyprus game and likely missed that due to fitness. His game isnt suited to playing England imo as it was always going to be a game where we were going to hit on the counter. That said his ability to hold the ball up would have been an asset given the way we ultimately played. However Englands defenders were likely much better equiped to deal with Dkyes style than the likes of Spain or another top continental team.

Dykes offers something for Scotland but he does not have pace. Although they are obviously computer games, its widely acknowleged that they are very accurate with many top clubs using the scouting system data to aid their own systems. EAFC (formally FIFA) has Dykes pace at 66 and Adams at 79. (Out of 100) Football manager has Dykes at 11 and Adams at 15 (out of 20). Dykes is an old school target man. Those are his qualities and as I said they are useful for Scotland in certain situations. (Imo off the bench or when teams are sitting very deep)

Adams creates the space that the attacking mids like McTomminay and McGinn run into. This can rarely be seen on the TV or even at the game unless you are looking. Dykes is a different type of player who in my opinion is much better suited to coming on as a sub when he can bully defenders and lay the ball off to midfielder runners. One thing I would say is that top level defenders usually would rather play against a Dkyes like striker than a striker with any kind of pace.

As much as most people think Celtic should have just been doing the right thing and "owning up" / getting this sorted ages ago, there is a process that they have to go through. They will have been acting on the advice of their solicitors whose initial stance was never going to be, just accept all liability and pay out. Legally there is a case to say that the boys club and Celtic werent the same entity. Even if that stance is taken just to limit liability then its a sensible approach to take. I suspect that the current course of action is now being taken as they have got a better understanding on the number of individuals and the total amount that they are likely to settle for. People need to remember that like it or not, football clubs are businesses, more often than not with shareholders who boards are accountable to. Due process therefore needs to be followed.

Was great to see Doak start at his age. He has bags of talent but obviously he has things to work on. It will take a while for his teamates to trust him with the ball and also to recognise what he is going to do and make the runs that will turn some of his good work into assists. For example, twice last night he squared up the full back, went on the outside and drilled the ball across the face of the goal. If Diaz starts running as soon as he see's Doak squaring up the defender then he has 2 tap ins and Doaks performance is being hailed. If we had a decent U21 coach id like to get him gametime in the U21s but as things stand id call him up to the main squad but probably just for training experience. On a side note, why the youth sides dont play the same system as the full squad I have no idea. We basically have 2 formations. These should be the template for all the youth sides. All coaching should be taken from the A sides playbook in terms of phases of play etc. Id be all for getting rid of managers at these levels and just employing really good coaches like Ian Cathro.

The reason there are so many young Scots on the bench in Europe is because Rangers have very few home grown and club trained players therefore it significantly reduces the number of normal players that they can list in their European squad. All of the young Scots you see dont need to be included in the squad so are effectively free and are very much filling out the bench. Id wager that none get any game time in these games. Rice looks like a great talent but also remember that Leon King was talked about as the next majorly talented player to come through the academy and he has been shunted because he had a few iffy performances in a makeshift defence, one of which was against Liverpool. Instead of trusting him and providing a platform for him to fulfil his potential they resigned a 35 year old Balagoun who was never 1st team standard even when he was younger. Given their track record Rice will hang about Ibrox for another few years, getting very limited game time, waiting for his chance, having to wait even more even when he has played well and eventually be deemed not Rangers standard. Mainly because he wasnt given the gametime to develop. See Patterson, Lowry, Devine and King for the template.

Thats interesting and tbh not surprising to hear. Unfortunetly being slightly ahead of the other OF team is all that really matters to a large percentage of fans. When you say infrastucture do you mean invest in the stadium / training ground or will it include youth academy? If real money was put into youth system then at least that might be worhtwhile. Ie adopting a Ajax system.

Very impressive financial results but will only serve to fuel the portion of support who think more should be spent on the squad. I must say, im surprised Celtic didnt spend more in this window. Mainly because I didnt think Rodgers would return and potentially be given worse squad than Ange had last year. Rodgers will largely be judged in Europe, many said that was his motivation for returning and yet on the face of it this squad would seem ill equiped to give him a fighting chance. Would be interesting to know if they expected and went big on targets and just didnt get them.

Not sure how different the appeal process is in England to Scotland but I wouldnt think it would be dramatically different. In Scotland you can only appeal the outcome of the trial if there has been an error in a point of law, ie the Sheriff / Judge has erred in a decision / part of the speach to the jury etc or whats called an Anderson appeal. Which is if the defence solicitor has been so incompetent that a fair trial wouldnt have been possible. An Anderson appeal is an extremely high bar, really rare, especially at high court level where the defence will have gone through each and every step with the accused. The other thing you can appeal is the sentence which can then go up or down.

Clarke said before and again after the match that he was specifically looking for things against the top sides. Id much rather he learned this now and was able to communicate it to the squad and hopefully they can improve on it rather than win against a similar standard team and then get gubbed by Spain , France and any other top team should we get to the Euros. We really struggled to get up the pitch last night. Hopefully thats something that can be looked at. I think against the top teams we currently lack a ball carrier. Maybe Doak could be that for us in the not to distant.

The video is slightly misleading. In the game he basically had nobody to pass to. When he had the chance to pick somebody out he normally did.

Something I was thinking about earlier. Would a different English anthem be booed as widely? Ie if they sung Jeruselum like they do at the rugby. Personally I wouldnt boo that but I do boo GSTQ

Said it many times that I think we will qualify as I dont see Spain losing to Norway. (Am I correct in saying a draw puts Norway out, even if we lose the rest of our games?) Just looking at ourselves though, chances are we lose in Spain regardless of our prerformance. My concern is the Georgia game. We have been amazing for a long time now so hopefully that just continues and if it does we will win however my fear is that a performance where 4 or 5 of the players drop standards and we could easily draw or lose. Ie if we play as flat as last night we wont win. Yes England are lightyears better than Georgia but from the very start last night we had no tempo or fight. My point has always been we are potentially one bad game away from a crunch match against Norway. Against the backdrop of us being "there" and Norway being "out", thats a difficult one mentally for the players.

Loch Lomond is a cracking song but its been overdone. I could be wrong but it seems to me that the entertainment seems to be set before the campaign and then its just the same throughout. I believe we should be playing different songs everytime, changing depending on the game and how we are playing etc. Theres something more enjoyable about hearing a song that you havent heard in ages that encourages you to sing along. Ive never left a game early in my life and I dont really understand the "advantage" that it gives you but at the same time ive never been under any pressure to get home by a certain time. I live near Glasgow so travel isnt the same for me. You do get people who just arent bothered by watching the full game though. A not insignificant part of the north stand comes in after the start of the game because they were having another drink in the pub. Ive never understood things like that. Nomatter where I go etc, the game is always the biggest thing. Even when we are getting humped, its 2 hours out of a X number of days trip. Id rather be there to the end, even if its just to see something that otherwise I would have missed.

The Hampden roar is present when the moment dictates. Noise during anthems was as loud as you are likely to hear. Many top pros have said that a bouncing Hampden isone of the loudest stadiums they have played in. Im sure Gary Neville recently said that he has never been in a stadium that shock like Hampden was during the 2-2 game. Wasnt about in the 60s etc when there was 100k but id be surprised if there was 90mins of constant noise back then. Like most things in modern day society. The minute something gets a name and the name becomes useable / sellable / marketable then it losses something. I find it cringey when the announcer asks to hear the Hampden roar, in the same way I hate when people talk about the "tartan army".

Support were fine tonight. Loudest booing of GSTQ ive heard. Wonderful rendition of FoS. When game kicked off the Scotland fans treated the game for what it was, a friendly. You arent ever going to get non stop vocal home support singing in these games. When things happened on the pitch the crowd reacted accordingly. Didnt hear the Harry Kane song but no reason to doubt that it was sung. Stupid song as are many and you have to question any grown adult singing it. Same as the adults who play hard man to the away support knowing theres about 50 yards and 100 police between them. As others have said, some fans left at 3-1. Not surprising and wasnt a mass exodus. On another note. Half time is getting worse every campaign.