Diamond Scot

Obviously there are loads more for the manager to consider but the team / level somebody is playing at is an extremely good starting point. Form for example is all relative. Shankland has been scoring a couple of goals per week for about 18 months. McBurnie hasnt been banging them in this season after scoring lots last year. If you just look at form then Shankland has been playing better and more deserving of a starting place but if you take into account levels then its a totally different situation. Shankland is playing against part time players or players earning very little whereas McBurnie is playing against internaional standard defenders week in week out. Logic would dictate that if you are looking at who is most likely to perform at a certain level then its the player who plays at that level every week does it not? Alot of whats said on here is based on "what if X moves next year and does well". The fact is the vast majority of players we speak about in the SPL arent moving to the EPL or even championship. If these clubs / scouts thought they were good enough players then they would have bought them by now. Using Shankland again (i actually lile him as a player btw), if the people paid to evaluate players, ie the scouts thought he was an international class forward would they not have got their club to buy him by now for about 2 million rather than have their club spend 20/30 milllion on somebody "not as good"? Im all for bringing young players with potential into the squad like McGinn before he moved to see how they get on against rest of the squad. If you listen to ex footballers talk they will tell you about training. They can tell within minutes if a players got it or not.

Ive never understood how some football fans cant grasp the concept of the best teams having the best players. There are the odd exceptions to the rule like when Larsson stayed at Celtic however it should be taken as a given that a player getting games at Man Utd will be better than a player in the same position playing at Norwich who will be better than a player at Hearts who will be better than Raith Rovers. Yet we continue to think for some reason that guys like Dykes should get called up over McBurnie, McLean, McGrefgor or Jack to start over McTomminey. Its madness. If Dykes looks good or is scoring goals its because of the level of opposition. No team in England rates him cause if they did they would have purchased him. They have the money. McBurnie has been poor for Scotland but would tear up the SPL. Can you imagine how good McTomminey would look playing St Mirren!!! I heard on the radio the other night that Gilmour was the same as other young Scottish talent. Ferguson at Aberdeen, Hickey at Hearts etc. This is just totally wrong. Its a million times harder to break through at Chelsea than Hearts. The core of our team should be players performing at the highest level. Hanley knows what its like to try and defend against the likes of Kane and Aguero. He might look like an idiot at times but thata because these players are top class. McKenna on the other hand wouldnt have a clue what top class players movement, touch or all round games like but we somehow think he will do better when we fling him in at Int level.

I challenge anybody to watch that video and say that Darren Fletcher wouldnt inspire players and fans alike. He earned the trust of the greatest manager of all time and he understands the game of football. He would have ran through brick walls for Utd and Scotland and I have no doubt players would do the same for him. Guys like Clarke and McInnes would certainly be a step up from McLeish but who would inspire players more? Them or Fletcher. Get him in with some decent coaches to run the drills and maybe somebody to provide some experience like a Joe Jordan or another assistant who has been there and done it.

The support always criticise the SFA for being stuck in their ways and not being forward thinking yet the suggestion that an inexperienced ex-player should be given a chance as manager has some running for the hills. International management is about a few things. 1) Respect of the current players and the clubs they play for. 2) The ability to pick the best players for a squad 3) Getting a starting 11 organised and setup different ways depending on the opposition 4) Very basic amounts of actual coaching for a few days per year. You do not need years of managerial experience for any of these things. 1) Fletcher us by far and away our most successful player this century and can lean upon his mentor for advice and influence should he need it. Ferguson doesnt need to be involved in an official capacity. We all know he wont be but as he has shown at club level, he is one hell of a number to have on your phone. 2 and 3) About 20 players in any given Scotland squad pick themselves. Same for the starting 11. Fletcher was one of the most disciplined players for Man Utd, carrying out specific instructions in the biggest of games. He knows the game of football at a higher level than any manager we could ever dream of getting. 4) Bring in a more experienced person as assistant and a couple of good coaches to run the sessions as Fletcher oversees. If its good enough for the likes of Germany the why not us. We will never attract an established manager with the wages we offer. So the alternative is managers nobody else wants or medium level ones like Levein or Burley. The likes of McInnes and Clarke arent any better thought of than the above 2 at the time of their appointments.

Lots has been said about how fans can bring about change. Would a petition to the government regarding the fit for purpose of the SFA and their use of public funds be an option? If so how could one be setup and distributed?

Fletcher has been our best and most decorated player in the past 20 years. Our only player to earn a place in a world class side in that time. If we had even a couple more player of Fletchers ability during that period then we would have made several finals. Any player capable of holding down a long term place for a top 4 side in any of the big leagues is a big asset for a country our size.

Obviously up against real top class forwards but tonight was the worst ive seen Tierney play. Could have done better on 3rd, 5th and 6th goal. Caught out of position, switched off at times which was punished by the movement and done very easily with pace. Has to be put in context but shows why he wont develop to his full potential in my opinion if he stays for much linger in Scotland. Simply put theres not 1 winger in Scotland was will test him defensively.

Im not laying the blame solely at McGreggors feet for the goal. Was just highlighting that ut was his very sloppy pass to Jack that gave the ball away that led to Holland counter attacking. Of course alot had still to be done at the point but it was the sloppy giving away of the ball that was ultimately punished. Similar to Englands 2nd goal when Armstrong gave it away. The point im making is that in the SPL when Armstrong and McGreggor give the ball away in similar situations then they arent punished and in turn they wont learn as much from their mistakes. I think both are good players but merely highlighting some of the issues with players playing at a lesser standard.

You do understand the concept of counter attack dont you? Cheap ball given away whilst players are commited. Good teams then break with pace and score as per last night . If you dont understand that then i cant help you

McGreggor did ok but it was his sloppy pass that led to the goal. For me thats the problem with guys playing in the SPL. If McGreggor does that same pass in the SPL then it doesnt result in a goal. Do it in the EPL then it does. Only by playing with and against better players do you get better. Nothing against McGreggor but perhaps people are being slightly selective in their reviews based on the flavour of the month as opposed to the current villians of the squad.

Its not logic, its fact. Go and look at some of the teams we have beat in competitive games when they have been playing. Are you trying to say we could beat those teams effectively a man down? If thats the case then the other 10 players cant have consistently failed to deliver as you suggest. Your logic doesnt stand up to facts. But instead of asking me another question how about you answer mine first. Is 8 caps, 5 of which come in competitive games with only 1 loss consistently failing to deliver? Is only losing 3 games in 13 competitive games all away to Germany Spain and Slovakia and being in the team that beats Croatia home and away amongst others consistently failing to deliver? If it is then we all might as well give up.

Matt Phillips has 8 caps for Scotland. 5 of these in competitive matches. His record in these matches are played 5. Won 3, drawn 1, lost 1. Id suggest that that record is quite good. Under no circumstances can it be described as not delivering the goods. How can he consistently fail to deliver when he has only played 8 times. I repeat 8 times!!!! 1 competitive defeat!!! If we dropped players who got defeated once then it wont be long before I get a call up. Bannan has 25 caps. 13 in competitive matches. 8 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats. The 3 defeats were to Spain, Germany and Slovakia. All of the defeats were away from home. Good point well made though. Get them both out!!!

What so called better players are Northern Ireland leaving out to play the Spfl players? That is was you are advocating. Leaving out Scottish players who play in the EPL to play Scottish players who play in the Spfl. As I have said, The Spfl has the odd good player and clearly these players can do a job in certain circumstances however better players play in better leagues and better players managed properly with the right attitude will be a better team. We have the option of playing guys who play at a higher standard but you want us to play guys who play at a lower standard. Northern Ireland dont have the option. Do Italy select players from Seria B, Spain from Liga 2 etc etc. No, they pick players from the best leagues. How many Belgium players play their football in Belgium? Why dont Belgium pick the leading players from Club Brugge over guys playing for Everton for example?

Northern Ireland pick the best players available to them and they have done very well. The best players they have available to them come from lesser leagues. How does that change the argument that better players play for better teams in better leagues? You would only have a point if Northern Ireland were leaving out guys playing for Stoke / West Brom etc and choosing to play guys playing for Partick and Hamilton. This isnt the case. Its a simple premise that I would challenge anybody to actually provide an position against. If a player playing in Scotland for any team outside Celtic is of international class quality then why dont scouts or managers of any team in Europe and that includes England come in and pay the buttons it would cost to buy them? Can we open our minds to the possibility that the answer is because in their professional judgement the player isnt that good. Please provide an alternative reason if you have one. I watch Scottish league football all the time. I enjoy it for what it is but to say its players are on a similar level to the top 2 leagues in England is laughable. The odd player is but not the overall standard.

Why not pick on form players from scottish league one or two then? If a forward for Alloa is banging in the goals then get him in the squad. Largely speaking the teams / leagues a player plays for / in represents what professionals think their standard is. Ie the better players play for better teams in better leagues. People talk about guys like Steven Fletcher being rubbish. If Fletcher played for either of the old firm he would be a goal a game striker. Likewise would guys like McGreggor get a game at clubs in England? If so at what standard. Most likely the championship. Its easier to look better playing against worse players and they dont expose your weaknesses or punish your mistakes. Tierney is a classic example of this. Personally i really rate the boy but until he plays for a side who are not heavy favourites and comes up against top wingers week in week out then we cant really judge how good he is.

McArthur has played in a higher standard of league with better players and against better players for years. McGinn plays in an average league having previously played in a very poor standard league. McGreggor plays for a good team but is mainly a sub. On what basis are either better than McArthur. If McGinn was so good a team would have paid 2 million for him in the summer. Can you explain why no scout or manager felt he was good enough to pay such a small few for if he is better than McArthur or as good as many on here make out?

Still game theme. Simple, fun, recognisable and Scottish.

From memory the side letters were found to show that Rangers breached the rule to declare all earnings of players to the SPL. This was a breach but its a breach that the authorities have already dealt with. Nothing new has changed since then in terms of that rule. Its all very well people wanting punishment and saying no precedent is required but the SPFL and SFA need to follow their own rules. Despite what people think they cant make it up as they go along.

Im not ignoring it. For what its worth I think its clearly wrong what has happened. I was just pointing out that there is no basis in law. The sporting advantage thing has already been ruled on by the authorities. Thats all I am saying here.

Feel free to point out how. In particular please point out where the basis for stripping titles in law is. Based on facts, process and law. Not on opinion. Any route that the authorities could have went down has been closed off. Ie they didnt rule on non disclosure of the scheme in a way that opened the door to the stripping of titles. No court has made a judgement about illegal behaviour.

Unlawful is different from illegal as you have pointed out. I have no strong opinion on the case. I just think that it weakens peoples arguments when they use incorrect terms. Rangers used a scheme that meant they could sign players they otherwise couldnt afford. I am saying that in real terms this is no different from clubs using money they dont have to sign players they cant afford. If Rangers had the money to pay back the EBTs after the authorities decided that tax should have been paid on it then they would have done so. As other clubs have done who used the same scheme. The problem here is that Rangers didnt have the money and subsequently went into admin and went bust. The authorities have already punished them for that. (Regardless of the severity of the punishment) There is no basis to strip Rangers of titles in law.

There's a difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion in terms of legality. Saying a scheme should have and is subject to tax is not the same as saying its illegal. Effectively the courts have ruled by saying the money should have been and must be repaid. There has been no ruling as far as im aware and I stand corrected if wrong to say anybody has acted illegally. So with reference to the original statement there is no real term difference to using EBTs than to running up huge debts. Both are operating outside the clubs means. For example if Rangers didnt go bust and this tax ruling happened today then Rangers would just have to pay the money back.

I think thats the plan with the formation but Rangers tend to have the wingers very wide or deep. If you compare with Celtic who on paper have the same formation. Armstrong plays the attacking mid and gets into the box more. Sinclair plays more narrow aswell which probably is a factor on the number of goals he scores. Rangers seem setup for crosses but dont have bodies in the box for either the original cross or the knock down / 2nd ball.

Rangers problem last night was the same as last season. They play with 2 holding midfielders and an attacking midfielder who drops deep so therefore doesnt get into the box. They dominate possession but teams get men behind the ball and hit them on the counter. They have attacking full backs and wingers who get into good positions but when the ball comes into the box only the centre forward is in there. Against the majority of teams Rangers dont need 2 holding mids. They could have 1 holding and Nico dropping to be a playmaker. Then either play an attacking mid who gets into the box or a 2nd forward.

Based on previous records at Chelsea he has a chance of becoming an elite footballer. At Rangers he does not. He will also earn multiple times the money at Chelsea and have access to the best coaching and facilities. Again something he would not get at Rangers. This concept of getting first team football is a red herring. For a start he wouldnt at Rangers and even if he did it would be in a lesser league. If first team football is so important why not encourage him to go to Livingston or somewhere that he would play every week from day 1.