BraveheartGordon
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Posts posted by BraveheartGordon
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I really say without exaggeration that this is as bad as I’ve ever known it. Being outclassed at home in half empty stadiums for games against the top ranking sides in the group.
feel such an apathy now that I didn’t look forward to these games.
Hard to see how and when we’ll recover.
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21 minutes ago, scotlad said:
I'm genuinely sorry to hear that. There'll be at least one generation now with no first-hand knowledge of Scotland at a major finals.
I am old enough to remember Scotland playing in major finals and trust me, watching them crash out felt every bit as bad as tonight's result, and then some. And by the way, those Scotland sides were streets ahead of this current mob.
If you think you could tolerate tonight's kind of humiliation but on a much larger scale, then fine. Personally, I'd at least want a team capable of qualifying in style before going out with a bit of dignity.
I’d tolerate it 100 percent just to get the chance to actually support them at a tournament and for the anticipation for months beforehand.
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4 minutes ago, scotlad said:
I've held the opinion for a while that we'll qualify for a tournament when we deserve to. Unfortunately I don't think we're at that stage yet.
There have been better Finland teams than the one we might face in the play-offs and far better Bulgaria teams but I wouldn't fancy this Scotland team to go to Helsinki or Sofia and win, no way.
If we did somehow manage to sneak into the finals of a major tournament I imagine we'd resemble the Republic of Ireland in Euro 2012 or even Panama in last year's World Cup.
I don’t care what we’d resemble, I’m a grown men and I’ve never seen us at a major tournament. I’d give anything in the world to see us sneak into a major tournament.
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24 minutes ago, ErsatzThistle said:
Ryan Jack should be given a shot at right back against Belgium.
Good shout. He’d do a job there. Solid player. Seriously need to address central defence and rb long term though. But don’t know how.
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1 hour ago, The_Dark_Knight said:
(The 30 day exile doesn't start till a minute before midnight)
Not that i was excited before the match... I don't get enthused before Scotland matches anymore.
Before i get into it, i was DELIGHTED that i lost the bet (as I'm sure a couple people are), but there wasn't one moment in today's match i felt like we'd hang on.
I watched the game with my 23 year old nephew. To say that we was apathetic would be an understatement. His generation has never witnessed Scotland playing at a major finals, in his words he's just used to us losing from the jaws of victory or us just being thrashed.
At least my generation, and the generation before it, saw Scotland go toe-to-toe with the creme of football in major tournaments. I don't blame kids nowadays being apathetic. The players, the SFA, the clubs, etc, have given them nothing to cheer and nothing to be proud of.
I think i was still at School during Euro 96. The pride that i felt when we beat Swizerland, drew with the Dutch and just got beat against England. It's still an amazing memory. Then France 98, the build up the Brazil match is still a vivid memory and the match didn't let me down, we'll, the result did, but again it was a slim defeat.
This generation of kids just haven't experienced anything like that. Growing up we weren't the best team, but we were a fantastic unit and we had players like Collins and McAllister and Hendry that were true leaders. Now we have no one.
People might think that i want us to play 3-5-2 because i think it's some magic wand and some amazing system that's been pulled from a magic hat. It's not. I want us to have great center backs and play with a back four. But we don't have great center backs.
The SFA are a bunch of dinosaurs that are pretty much a puppet regime for SPL clubs. And since the SPL clubs don't care about the national team they will refuse to demand change when it comes to a limit of homegrown players, training facilities, youth structure, etc.
For some weird reason there's four leagues in Scotland, three of ten teams. Which means two or four efeats and a team could drop from 4th to 10th, which means that managers will be reluctant to throw their kids into their first XI, instead relying on older and more experienced players.
Scottish football is a mess, from root to branch, and no one with any power has any intention of addressing the matter.
As for players, no one can tell me, from watching tonight's match, that players like Forrest, McGregor, McTominay, McBurnie, etc, are good enough to play at this level.
Once again, we're outclassed, this time it was against a team just one place above us (last time i checked). There's a massive gulf in skill and technique between us and the team's close to us in the rankings. There's also a fragility in a mental sense that's impossible to ignore. Not that I'm forgetting that we had 3 out of the back 4 players in awful leagues...
And let me tell you, from watching the Under 21 match last night, there's no conveyor belt of stars coming through. The player coming through the ranks are no better than the senior players we have now.
People make excuses like "we're a small nation" and "it's expecting too much to think that we can produce top players" - I'm sick of the excuses. I'm sick of people making allowances for our failures. I don't blame the players, it's not their fault they don't have the foundation of skills that they should've learned as kids. I don't blame Steve Clarke, if anything, i feel so sorry for him. At least in the days of Vogts, Smith and McLeish we had real gems like Fletcher, Ferguson and McFadden. I look at this squad and apart from Robertson, i see nothing. Fraser is also really good, but a top fullback and a good winger can't carry a team.
People get mad at me for saying that our midfielders are awful. How many times are we going to watch our midfielders midcontrol the ball, panic, lose concentration and focus and pretty much chase shadows, at this level, before people stop fooling themselves?
The Scotland national team won't qualify for another tournament.
No one, it would appear, with any real power, has the appetite for change. The powers-that-be are comfortable. They're being paid. They're under no stress or pressure. They don't care whether the national team wins, loses or draws. So why should we?
I'm losing my care when it comes to the Scotland team. I don't see why the Tartan Army should care if the people in control don't.
I’m 25 and have never seen Scotland play at a major finals. Known nothing but pain supporting Scotland mixed with the odd big victory. It’s been a long time since we’ve enjoyed one of those though. Doesn’t feel the same anymore.
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13 hours ago, The_Dark_Knight said:
1. What strengths?
2. Israel beat us 2-1, the winning goal was an own goal and we were down to 10 mem. It was hardly a destruction. How about when we drew with England playing with a three? You give me one match against Israel, I can give you 19 years of being destroyed by teams ranging from Georgia to Kazakhstan.
3. Wrong. The 2-2 draw with England is one of our best results in the past three years.
4. I'd rather play an out-and-out 5 than the 4-2-3-1 system. And again, we don't have strengths in midfield.
1. Technically strong midfield players like McGregor, Armstrong and Christie, along with one of the EPL’s best Wingers last season in Fraser and a player in Forrest who scored 5 goals in our 2 most important games last year.
2. We got absolutely horsed that game. We were lucky to be 1-0 up, it was arguably an even worse performance then Kazakhstan given the individuals we had available And both goals from errors from the outside central defenders after getting overloaded in wide areas. Our performance against England was bang average apart from 2 outstanding set-plays.
3. See number 2.
4. I know you don’t rate any of them for some bizarre reason but it’s laughable if you don’t think McGregor, Christie, Armstrong, McTominay, McGinn, McLean etc don’t amount to a strong midfield. Especially in comparison to other areas in the team.
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19 minutes ago, The_Dark_Knight said:
No. It's totally related. SAF did the job of about four or five people. If you're weak in a position, you have to fill the gaps with more bodies.
If you play with a three, to combat an attacking fullback overload is one of the center backs m covering the empty space.
Exactly. We have to build from the back. The two anchormen formation is just footballing suicide.
We need to compensate for our weakness. You can't ignore the fact that we're shocking at the back and except us to get results.
1. Surely not at the expense of your major strengths like this would be though?
2.That second bit would sound great if we didn’t play it a year ago and get destroyed by Israel because the centre-backs weren’t good enough at supporting the wing-backs.
3. It’s hardly suicide when our best performances over the last 3 years have all come from that system.
4. Playing 3 central defenders turns into a 5 leaving us on the back foot and ironically exposes our weakness in that area more. Before we switched to that system we went a calendar year unbeaten playing 4-2-3-1 and playing to the strengths of our midfield and attacking players.
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8 minutes ago, The_Dark_Knight said:
The reason we ought to play with a three is because it's such a weak position. The reason why no top teams play with a 4 is because they have top center-backs.
Think about it in a different way. When SAF left Manchester United he left a gaping hole the size of the Grand Canyon. How many people do you think United will have to hire to fill the hole left by SAF?
SAF was more than a manager, he was a therapist, a psychologist and pretty much the DNA of Manchester United.
Ignoring your unrelated tangent about SAF not all of the top teams have top centre-backs.
The reason few of the top teams play 3 central defenders is because with the game advancing with such attacking full-backs the wide areas are such an obvious 2 v 1 overload.
So you think we have weak central defenders so we should sacrifice an attacking wide player (an area we are stronger in) to accommodate another player in a position we’re weaker in? Makes zero sense to me.
We should play to our strengths not our weaknesses.
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4 hours ago, The_Dark_Knight said:
There's not a chance in hell that Steve Clarke will play a 3 at the back. Doesn't mean that he shouldn't. He certainly should try something, anything, as opposed to sticking with the same formula that our players simply are not suited to play.
We have time on our hands to alter the system. I don't see us qualifying for a major tournament any time soon, so I say that we have tons of time to revert to a new system. All of our matches for the foreseeable future are dead rubbers, in my opinion. There's no better time than the present.
Yes, Kimmich and Alaba have had years of playing in those positions, but there was a time when the roles were foreign to them. I don't see it as a risk, at all.
We aren't loaded with talent in the anchorman role. Maybe Jack is, but I don't rate him. McTominay is best when he's playing a box-to-box role. And as for McGregor and McGinn, well, I'm not convinced.
Thanks for the video, I'll give it a look when I have time.
In essence, I just want a manager to think outside the box and to divert from the hipster formation of 4-2-3-1. I just don't think we have the players who are capable of playing in a four at the back at this level. I mean, how many players have we god playing in European competition? It speaks volumes. Our players aren't as good as their foreign equivalent.
I appreciate the articulate and thoughtful input. It's nice having a debate with a person who doesn't throw tantrums and insults every second word.
I’m not against 3 central defender systems but there’s zero logic in us playing it when our weakest position is central defence and it would stop arguably our best 2 threats - Forrest and Fraser from being able to play in their strongest position.
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7 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:
Bigoted connotations? Care to enlighten me?
His Twitter is full of Rangers pish, how's saying that being bigoted ya gimp?
Enjoy your enlightenment.
clearly lists hun as a sectarian term.
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6 hours ago, ParisInAKilt said:
That’s your problem
That’s not how it works actually. You don’t get to say whatever you like regardless of whether it offends someone or not. That’s not how free speech works.
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7 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:
Bigoted connotations? Care to enlighten me?
His Twitter is full of Rangers pish, how's saying that being bigoted ya gimp?
Well that’s not what you said.
you called him a “bitter hun cunt” calling one of our players that is a disgrace. The word is used offensively to describe Rangers supporters with connotations of their religion. Much in the same way a word beginning with F is considered sectarian by the authorities.
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43 minutes ago, ErsatzThistle said:
Bigoted connotations FFS geez peace.
Squirrelhumper is no bigot.
Well I find it pretty offensive that he used the term “hun cunt” really offensive actually and bigoted.
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13 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:
He's a bitter hun cunt.
Disgraceful post with bigoted connotations.Have a word with yourself.
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On 8/18/2019 at 12:12 PM, 0Neils40yarder said:
When did I say Turnbull was making a great move ya halfwit
If I’m a halfwit then you’re a quarter wit.
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On 8/15/2019 at 9:53 PM, 0Neils40yarder said:
The boy is now loaded... His career is fucked, but he's loaded
Funny how David Turnbull was apparently making a great move but Hastie has “fucked his career” no agenda there at all.
Hastie will get games, he started the first europa league qualifier and looked a bit overwhelmed tbh and other wingers performed when he lost his place.
He’ll probably play tomorrow and given a potential 60 game plus season he’ll end up playing a good number of games.
He’s incredibly raw and all of his reputation is based on a good 10 game spell with Motherwell.
But there’s good attributes there and Rangers will improve him, if he plays regularly in that Rangers team this season he’ll be at a level where he should be in Scotland squads every time, that’s the level now.
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I actually think Crocker was playing a game with a twitter user with the 66 references, I saw him replying on twitter to a fan praising him saying he’s “the only English commentator who never mentions 66” after the Cyprus game and it popped into my head when he said it.
in terns of commentators I liked Sky Sports English commentator who did most of our euro 2008 qualifiers, think he normally does the Wales or Ireland games now for Sky Sports but his commentary for some of McFaddens goals that campaign really sticks with me, some great lines.
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5 hours ago, aaid said:
He's made over 200 first team appearances and has 14 caps. He's not inexperienced.
Knew someone would mis-understand my comment.
14 caps is inexperienced at international level compared to far lesser players such as Corry Evans with NI who has 52 caps, you could argue the strength of NI is a lot of players with a lot of caps and experiences of dealing with tough situations.
We have a lot of players like McGinn with talent floating about on 10-15 caps who lack the international experience that playing club football rarely gives you.
Im not saying he’s inexperienced the way Olly Burke is, but we need to give people like McGinn a lot of caps and not chop and change and constantly have an inexperienced squad.
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1 hour ago, HandofRhod said:
Agreed, it was a stuid throw. I really like mcginn, think he uses his body really well and adds bite and strenght to our team and is calm on the ball. Id def have him in the team, it is just a little bit of a worry that he does seem to have a that 1 bad mistake per game in him. I think he done something silly in the 1st half aswell but cant really remember. Must have got away with it.
Although they both played well i can see forret or fraser being dropped for an extra midfield prob mcTom agasint Belgium... Also would imagine Burke will start.
Agree about McGinn I think the consistency and decision making will come with experience hopefully, he’s a pup in terms of caps, really gives us something.
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2 hours ago, aaid said:
Probably watch more football than you do champ.
No-one's downplaying his achievement and I'm not saying he's a bad player all I'm saying is that he didn't play well last night in what was a poor game.
I've just heard him give an excellent interview on 5-live where he admitted that it had been a poor game.
No you don’t champ.
Robertson was a solid 7/10 last night like he has been all season, remarkably consistent. If Moreno was at left back last night Spurs wouldn’t have lost 2-0. Didn’t have a bad game at all.
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7 hours ago, Texas Pete said:
He does. Not really much of an excuse though is it?
If I was a Scotland international I’d have booked my wedding in late June.
Clubs are all back in pre season in late June so that wouldn’t be possible, this period is pretty much the only time of the year a player knows they’ll be off now.
Quite harsh especially considering the qualifying fixtures weren’t known till 6 months ago as well.
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16 minutes ago, aaid said:
He may have been one of the least worst players on display, I'll grant you that but he didn't have a good game.
Neither team turned up last night.
Do you actually watch much football? There’s 2 sides to every game and Robertson’s 1 v 1 defending was outstanding especially against Son in the second half when Spurs were building momentum. He was rock solid and a key reason to Liverpool winning the game.
He also put in 2 or 3 outstanding deliveries and could easily have had an assist.
It was the Champions League final and these games are rarely particularly open affairs, and it’s consistency, concentration and mental toughness that wins big finals like this. Robertson showed all 3 and his achievement here shouldn’t be downplayed.
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————Marshall———
O’Donnell—Souttar—McKenna—Robertson
———McGregor—-McGinn———/
Forrest——-Armstrong——-Fraser—
—————Brophy—————-
As a side note I could see Russell on the right hand side and Forrest as a central striker against Belgium.
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On 5/19/2019 at 4:25 PM, Third Lanark said:
Just made his debut for Rangers. Puzzled how this lad can be eligible for Scotland when he was born in London to Nigerian parents. At least Karamoko can claim 5 years' residency. The eligibility rules at youth level need to be firmed up.
Do you have something against this kid?
He’s lived in Scotland for almost all of his life, feels Scottish and wants to play for Scotland.
Whats wrong with that?
Paterson
in TA specific
Posted
I think he’s our best option apart from maybe Tierney at right back but he’s always been sluggish in the right back position up against agile wingers.
if I remember correctly Neil Warnock saying on the radio that the one position Callum Paterson isn’t is a RB. So I don’t think he’s the long term solution but I’d take him every time over O’Donnell.