thplinth

The only game you can say we should have won but did not is Georgia. And had we won 0-1 the minimum win possible we would have got the playoff spot. Expecting 6 points off Ireland or a win against Germany is unrealistic but beating Georgia was not. We broke even on Poland and that was better than expected. It was the Georgia game that cost us.

We could not even hold onto him for 12 months. He was gone within a year. I said at the time he was the best manager we had had for at least the previous 20 (or 25) years. That is the power of doing well managing Scotland. Club owners think if he can do that with Scotland he must be shit-hot. The fact the SFA are cheapskates means the manager will always be easy to poach. We will have this problem with anyone who turns out half decent. It is bit of a catch 22 situation we are in with this.

Is it correct that had we beat Georgia 0-1 and not lost 1-0 we would be third equal on gaol difference with Ireland? Would we then would have gone through as we beat them head to head? If yes then yes that crucial one game is what made the difference between success and failure this campaign. (Still think we would have lost the play off but thatstill would have been better than this.)

For a while there it was looking really promising. And overall it can hardly be described as catastrophic as campaigns go. Much like McLeish's campaign it failed but we had a decent go. Something about Georgia away but...That was the one game I watched where I felt very frustrated at the level of urgency and interest shown by the players. It was horrific viewing. Other than that every other game I saw we had a go. What does worry is whether Strachan is picking the right squad and team from what is available. I was surprised he relied so heavily on Maloney throughout. He does seem to have his favorites rather be open minded. Then when it is not working he is too slow to change and the changes are too conservative. McLeish was much better at changing things when it was not working, much better. .

If we had beat Georgia as we should have and got just one win out of the four games with Germany & Poland (instead of two draws) we would be in third. It was pretty close in the end but the loss in Georgia is hard to swallow it was the manner of it. To get so close and get into such a good position (versus Ireland) to just threw it away without any real fight was a massive kick in the balls. It was like being transported back in time to the worst of the Levien times. That is what makes it so hard to swallow.

I think we have to give some credit to the Irish. Us taking 4 points and them only getting 1 point out of our two games together really put us in pole position (to end up 3rd if that makes sense). Even when we slipped up against Georgia that only put us back to neck and neck for 3rd. The fact is they then went out and got 3 points off Germany in their second last game. That is what gave them the lead at the last bend. They took 5 points out of their 4 games with Poland & Germany and we only got 2. They won it against Germany as much as we threw it away in Georgia. edit the Irish redeemed their failure against us in our two games with success against Germany, we however did not redeem our failure against Georgia. As for failure well it is undeniable we failed to get a play off spot.

That is astonishing what Iceland have achieved given their tiny tiny population. Truly amazing results. But equally depressing because I know there is no chance at all the SFA will do a damn thing. Even if we started today to implement what they did it would still take 10 years or so for the players to start feeding through. Instead we will be having this exact same discussion in 10years and the same kunts running the SFA today will all likely still be there.

GS has done McGhee a massive favour by effectively rehabilitating him after the Aberdeen job. I was convinced he would never get another managerial post after that farce, considered him unemployable. Maybe he will prove me wrong but I think this will end very badly once again and after that he will be back to where he was post Aberdeen. That weird interview is indeed very weird.

When you look through all the results in Group D the only surprises were us getting beat by Georgia and Ireland taking 4 points off Germany (and maybe also the Germans getting beat by Poland but less so). Scotland taking 4 points off Ireland was as good as we could have hoped for at the start and should have seen us finishing third after that. But then we lost to Georgia. That was the absolute killer and I knew after that we were ed. Shocking performance from the players that night, perplexing to be honest. As for the campaign it was hugely refreshing to see us having a proper go post Levein (georgia away excluded). But overall I have been disappointed with GS's selections and tactics (just too conservative, too safe). The press conferences don't help neither. Meh.

Sorry that second paragraph was not directed at yourself.

Because no pain no gain. Deny yourselves Scotland for one year and like a field left in fallow.... Seriously this do ah deer loyalty is clawing sickly and time to go.

Think of scotland as a family in a neighbourhood. Are we producing athletic high ambition children ready to 'make the team' or outshine the other kids in other sports? I think not. We are the ones who eat too much drink too much don't have a learning tradition (or at least not any more). All the excuses are running out... with what can be done like with Iceland. It is us, our team reflects us. Germany has a 'team weight' that punches above their 'individual weights' combined. Scotland is a team weight that punches consistently and well below their individual weights combined. The difference IMHO is a people who see (but actually feel) themselves as genuinely one people versus folk that pretend to be one people edit: sorry pushed the button there by mistake, so to cut a long story short. we are getting worse not better...20 years optimistically.

the share are still cheap and that is after they have bounced a third back from lows. fill your jack boots.

I know. My heart sank when Strachan gave him a job. Made me think almost instantly I'd ed up thinking Gordon was the man for the job. Kept that to myself though until now.

Ahhh. Was McGhee the boss during the 9-0?

24th(?) March 2016 is the one I am not looking forward to. Booooak.

C'mon man you know it is not as simple as that. You supporting the team by showing up and well supporting them is fine. It is the putting the hugely expensive ticket revenue into the hands of the SFA that is the problem. Cruel to be kind is the situation we are now in. We have to ruthlessly starve the SFA of oxygen (i,e, money) by withdrawing our financial contributions until we get nothing short of complete regime change. Idiots on here will try to mix that up with not supporting the team. But the two issues are completely distinct. In the context of deep structural failure that we are in now in Scottish football forcing out the SFA management is supporting the team but not in the short term in the long term. FFS the SFA will never change if you keep feeding them your money. And they use your loyalty to milk you like big fat rich teats. To be fair you make it so easy for them. Kill the s (edit metaphorically speaking), you would have them on their knees in 12 months and I mean on their knees. You are all waaaaaay too nice, it sickens me.

Watching what is being done in the middle east I wonder if the same thing was effectively done in Europe in the first half of 20th Century. Bring about two wars and by the end of it global power has fundamentally shifted and Europe is in ruins. I look around now and the mass media is almost universal lies. They are very much part of the problem now. The attack dogs of the folk really running the show. How long has that been true, a recent thing or has the alternative media merely exposed it in the internet age. I very much doubt the working man about to be conscripted was getting real truth back then anymore then we get fed it now. somehow.

Dear oh dear Angus you need to chill out mate, it's only a message board pal, don't take it so seriously.

Maybe because every team we put out has a few Alan's in it. We are hardly a cohesive nation are we so why should our football team be anything other than a reflection of it. Historically all the folk with any fight in them emigrated to the new world or were killed. What is left in Scotland is 300 years of distilled shit pantery combined with a huge fitfh column of self loathing spanner in the works bawbags. (Not you Alan obviously)

In my years observing their recent behaviour (last 10 years) my strong impression is the SFA have no interest in making Scottish football a success. It is like they have been infiltrated by people with a brief to drive the national game into the ground. Barry Hearn recently pointed it out. It is glaring how bad they are. They all need ousted.

If the Scottish government intervened in the operations of the SFA FIFA would ban the team from international competitions. And that is not likely to be a vote winner for the SNP. No, it is down to the Scotland fans to clean their own house because know this the SFA will NEVER do it themselves. Blah blah blah we need this we need that... same old chat every time this happens but when anyone actually suggests you do something tangible like cut off the money to the SFA until every one of these corrupt whankers steps down and is replaced by reputable replacements you get these uber fans on here shouting them down and saying "you must support the team no matter what"... well you are not supporting the team you are putting money into the SFA. The SFA are at present a cancer in our game and they survive and grow on your money. You could have them all sacked in 12 months if you decided to do it. That is the power of the fans but divide and rule works on this level just the same as it does on all others.

Maybe Olas or one of the more techy Tambers can enlighten me... When I joined this board (with six`n half thousand members) you would post a thread on Anything Goes and if no one replied it would be on page two in a couple of hours. That was normal. No joke. Now when you look on AOB you have a "spread" of days... i.e. I could post a thread and be confident it would not slip off the front page for days versus 1.5 hours. The board has 80,000+(?) members now. Yet AOB is dead versus when it was 6,500 members? WTF?

G41 or G42 for the best boozers? (Looking to buy.)

Of course they are taking drugs. I'd be amazed if you could play and not be taking drugs. edit: to change dugs to drugs