Diamond Scot

The worrying thing is Ramy is that you appear to actually believe this? Am I wrong in saying that the ref on Sunday was "celtic leaning" but you and Rodgers are upset because the VAR ref was "Rangers leaning"? The ref made the final calls. The sooner fans and people involved in the game move away from this nonsence the better. Refs are refs first and foremost.

Rangers scoring in the 2nd minute played a big part. Getting the 1st goal early as the OF quite often takes the life out of the opposition.

Thats a big part of the problem. Even current players and managers dont know the rules. The ex players etc in the studio give an ill informed position and then that feeds the masses. The host on clyde 1 is the only guy who consistently pulls up callers and pundits about wrongly stating the rules.

Handball rules are mental these days. Ruining football.

Football is done, you are right about that. I wouldnt give as a pen but then I wouldnt be giving most pens awarded it last few years. Im just saying there is contact by the hibs player. That appears to be enough these days.

I never said it was a penalty. I said I can understand why it was given. Especially the way the game is being officiated these days. What part of what I said was inaccurate? Did the Hibs player go for the ball? Yes, did he get the ball? No, Did the Hearts player move the ball out of the way. Yes. Did the Hibs player then connect with the Hearts players leg / foot? Yes. The only part thats poor is the contact isnt enough to make the Hearts player go down but that could be said of alot of penalties these days.

I heard it on the radio, saw the comments on here and was expecting to see an absolute shocker but I can see why the penalty was given. The Hibs players has made an attempt for the ball, the Hearts guy moves the ball and then the Hibs guy connects with the Hearts player. Its probably a foul outside the box and therefore can see why its a penalty. The problem is most people have grown up at a time when penaltys had to be more than just fouled. They had to be over and above because they are effrctively a goal. With VAR and the new way of reffing the game, those days are gone. Similar to the Hibs penalty conceeded against Celtic a few weeks back where nobody was even claiming for a penalty.

I dont think Taylor would start at LB. It would either be Hickey or Doig. Personally I really like Tierney at LCB. I just feel it gives us something unique thats so hard to play against. How does a team setup to defend against a centre back overlapping the LB. McKenna just wouldnt play LCB the same way. Similar to how Copper couldnt. They are centre backs. I think Clarke will have learned this from past games and im sure he will have a plan in place if Tierney isnt available.

Because Tierney playing LCB is key to our formation and also its such a unique role, the way he plays it that other teams find it hard to defend against. Anybody else we have tried to play LCB hasnt been a patch on Tierney and affects our entire team. Tierney would play LB just aswell as Robertson. Its losing him at LCB thats the issue. If Tierney isnt playing LCB for whatever reason then we could look at 433 with Barnes and Fraser as wingers. Leaving McGreggor, McTomminay and McGinn as the midfield 3 however this is pretty much untried and might have a negative impact on McGinn and McTomminays performances. One this is certain. Playing 451 results in a bombscare and shouldnt be tried again unless we get a dedicated holding midfielder.

Im pretty sure he has at some point in at least a game but cant recall him ever starting in a 2 with a back 4. Did he play CB in a friendly at Aberdeen or is my mind playing tricks on me?

The problem with that is Tierney shouldnt be playing LB even though he clearly can. Ie if Robertson gets injured during the 1st game. You dont want to move Tierney to LB and replace Tierney at LCB as nobody can play that role like he can. Likewise you wouldnt want to start the next game that way. Tierney should be a CB and a CB only unless we decide to try 433 in which case you have more flexibility to have Robertson / Tierney. Hickey / Patterson as its unlikely Tierney would be played centre back in a 2.

Im not sure leveling up is either far or required. Its generally accepted that those who go to the most games get the opportunity to go to the most sought after games. There was an issue identified where sombody could go to a handful of away games (say 4) but never attend a home game. This person would get priority over somebody who attended every home game and 3 away games. Thats the reason the home point was brought in. To reward attendence nomatter where the game is played. The big problem with the SSC at the moment is that those running it arent making things easier for the members. Simple things like recognising that unforseen things happen. As ive said elsewhere, allow a ticket to be transferred but dont allow the home point. Its easy enough to monitor if somebody was doing it for the majority of games in which case they could have their membership suspended. But even then the only real advantage they would be getting is securing a home ticket and even then they would be paying the membership for this priviledge. I also wish they would open up the entire stadium when tickets go on sale. The SFA have an idea of how popular games are going to be, there is no need to hold back sale of south stand lower etc when its always going to sell out.

Not over Patterson. Over Taylor. I think for 3 games minimum you need 2 full back for each side. I dont include Tierney as a full back as we should be keeping him at LCB unless of an absoulute emergency. With Fraser / Barnes in the squad you could probably get away with taking 3 full backs, Robertson, Hickey and Patterson and in an emergency using Barnes or Fraser as wing back.

There are a few who were already on the edges of the squad that will now be left out. Ryan Jack. If he was playing reguarly may have been included as he is our only real defensive midfielder but he has had practically no game time and thats unlikely to change. Personally id drop Christie back into midfield and leave one of the attacking mid slots free. Liam Cooper. We probably have 1 stand out centre back in Tierney (ironic given he isnt actually a CB). The rest who have played for us are pretty interchangeable. Coopers lack of game time means he wont go over others playing more often. The other one who I can see dropping out is Greg Taylor. He was only ever a backup anyway and his form hasnt been great. Assuming Robertson, Hickey and Patterson are fit then Clarke will likely take 1 more full back. Now would be an ideal time to transition to Doig. GK x 3 (Gunn, Gordon, Clark) Full back x 4 (Robertson, Doig, Hickey, Patterson) CB x 5 (Tierney, McKenna, Hanley, Porteous, Hendry / Souttar) Centre mid x 4 (McGreggor, Gimlour, McLean, Christie) Attacking mid x 4 (McGinn, McTomminay, Ferguson, Armstrong) Forwards x 3 (Adams, Dykes, Shankland) Having McLean as a centre mid may allow Clarke to just take 4 CBs. If Barnes declares id be tempted to take 4 CBs and not Doig. That frees up 2 spaces where id take Fraser and Barnes. Allows us to switch to a 433 but you would have to try it in the upcoming games to see if it works.

I think the bigger issue that is being missed by some on here is that being part of a supporters club / buying match day package deals etc should come with advantages / make life abit cheaper or easier than not being part of said group. The way the SFA have changed things over the years is moving further and further away from that position. I bought 10 tickets today, 7 adults and 3 kids and it took me nearly 3 hours. That isnt acceptable when I pay to be part of the SSC. I can accept a waiting room but the wait either has to be long and then you get lots of time when actually in the purchasing part or short and then you get less time. This morning was about a 40 minute wait each time and then you get 14 minutes to complete the transaction. Now 14 mins would be fine if there wasnt flaws with the system. 1st time round it wouldnt allow me to change 2 seats to kids seats. After that some of the other seats id selected werent available any longer. The seats not being available happened again on 2nd login. How is that even possible. When seats are selected it should mean that they are unable to be picked by anybody else until I am finished. This obviously isnt the case. Isnt an issue when buying a couple of tickets but when buying for a group is a nightmare. Buying a match package over several months but not allowing for transfer of tickets will result in less match packages being purchased in future. If they are worried about points then create an option for the point not to be awarded if ticket transferred.

Utter shambles. Every other ticketing system in the world freezes tickets when selected so nobody else can select them until your checkout is either complete or you time out and the tickets then become live again. 3 times I chose seats, changed to kids etc and by the time I went to check out the seats were no longer available.

I logged in at 9.40. Still trying to get tickets. Been kicked out 3 times. Trying to buy 7 adults and 3 kids. 1st time got the seats and all ready and it wouldnt go to checkout. Last time now of the section had 10 seats even close together. Do they tend to release sections at a time as surely the full south stand lower cant be sold out.

Wouldnt a fair and simple solution be, if you buy the 5 match package and cant make a game then you can transfer it but then dont get the home point? This wouldnt be hard to implement technology wise. The danger the SFA seem to be blind to is that this approach will discourage people from buying packages which obviously is likely to result in lost revenue. If I cant go to a game and have a ticket I phone round and get it shifted. Often to somebody who isnt a regular and wouldnt be purchasing a ticket off their own back. So if I choose not to buy the package and then cant go to a game then thats 1 ticket not sold that previously would have been. 1 less pie that will be bought etc. Often its a kid that gets the ticket. 1 less chance at a lifelong fan. Even though its always been in the T&Cs, its only really been a thing since home points were awarded. And even then im not sure any supporters actually care about somebody swapping a home ticket to a mate.

How is it proposed to work in practice for the 5 match package? When you get the package, do you download all 5 tickets at the same time and then from there they cant be transferred? How would that work if you change your phone over that time period which I imagine wont be unlikely for some given it will be several months inbetween games.

Scottish football needs to break away from copying the English model and try and be a seperate entity. There is a mindset in Scottish football that because English club football is so commercially successful then then thats the correct model however it competely ignores the fact that Scottish football is entirely different. Going down a Netflix / Amazon route would be a great 1st step. Embrace the "throw back the curtain, give full access" and people will start to see what makes the Scottish game great. We need to start thinking outside the box. Going summer football would also help as it puts our product on at a different time from England. People are desperate to watch football in the summer, how often have you turned on a random friendly knowing it will be rubbish but you just want to watch a match. If we were on Netflix and played in the summer then we could try and tap into the "2nd team" market. Have people from England have a team they like in Scotland. They might even come to the odd game etc.

When players get the other side of 30 they dont tend to play every international game either through injury, being rested for club games or through the manager trying out younger players for succession planning. Both will be key players for us for a good few years yet but I doubt they will play every game. Hopefully one of them break the caps record and McGinn the goalscoring.

Getting to the Euros reguarly will ve crucial for anybody to break the record. Adds another 5 or 6 games with the warm ups etc. Probably unlikely that Robertson or McGinn break the record but not impossible.

If Tierney and Robertson are fit we play 5 at the back. Thats our best system and causes other teams problems. If Tierney isnt fit we have a problem as no other player can play the role he does. (Id be tempted to see if Hickey could do it). The natural thing to suggest then is go to a back 4 however we have shown time and time again that our CBs arent good enough to play 2 in the centre, especially with full backs who like to get forward. This coupled with the fact we have no outright defensive mids means that we leave ourselves stupidly exposed playing 4 at the back and as weird as it sounds I actually think our midfield plays worse with 5 in there as opposed to 4. In an ideal world we would try out a 433 with wide players as an alternative when Tierney isnt fit however I dont think we currently have the players for this. Possibly if Fraser returns and Barnes commits however this would probably mean a midfield 3 of McGinn, McTomminay and McGreggor with the impact of McGinn and McTomminay likely being significantly lessened.

I think it depends on the circumstances and also the player. One thing I like about Clarke is that the doesnt give easy call ups or caps based on a purple patch of club form. Especially for younger players. Equally once you are in the squad and established there needs to be a proper reason for you to drop out, ie your form falling off a cliff or somebody who is clearly better and will keep the place coming along. That being said international football is unique in that you play very few games over a long period of time. Take Dykes just as an example, he has done well for Scotland but his club form has been poor for some time. The question is when or does his club form transfer over to Scotland. Getting that decision correct is what Clarkes been good at in his reign. Its a big ask for any althete to just turn on the tap if they havent been performing for a oeriod of about 18 months. For me Dyke's performances for Scotland have been getting progressively worse. He might still nick the odd goal etc but sometimes that masks the bigger picture.

Even though Brighton got beaten today, Gilmour was unbelieveable. Everything goes through him now and some of his passing was absolute elite.