Texas Pete

No prizes for guessing who that is

Can’t say the thought of Fraser’s likely withdrawal would excite me very much.

Yeah we are strong, strong favourites to qualify. It’s only natural for people to be wary though given the number of times we’ve been disappointed in the past. As long as the players and coaching staff are 100% confident then that’s all that matters.

It really is. Any gambler from outside of Scotland would happily put a decent amount on Spain getting a minimum of 4 points from their 2 games in October. If they do that then we are on our way.

You disagree that it’s possible for Norway to beat Spain? I remember a few folk saying that to me about about Norway being able to beat Brazil in France in 1998. Not that it mattered in the end up since Morocco battered us but my point is this - assume nothing. I am fully preparing myself for the fact that we very well may need to go to Georgia and win. If Spain do us a favour then great but if not the it’s over to us to prove we have the stones to go and take what we are all desperate for.

We’ll be fine. If Spain don’t beat Norway we will go to Georgia and win. You heard it here first.

Yeah I wasn’t being serious. I don’t think you’re sexist. Although I do think you’re an old man. 😂

If we can beat Spain at Hampden, Norway can beat them in Oslo. It’s probably less likely for a few reasons but it’s hardly impossible. We can’t rely on it anyway so we have to be prepared to potentially have to go to Georgia and win if we don’t take anything in Spain or if Spain don’t do is a favour in Norway.

Crazy what being in a brilliant position does to your outlook. When the draw was made we would probably all have been delighted if we had known we could have qualified by having to beat Norway in our final game. Now even the thought of having to draw with them to book our place sounds horrific.

What age are you ffs? Sexist old man. I suspect most of the pissheads that used to take 6 cans and a half bottle of Whyte and McKay to games were no more knowledgable than the pissheads that go to the games today and plenty of people who do go today, including women, are very knowledgable about the game.

Yeah if he’s playing regularly for his club Clarke will have no option but to pick him. Do the U21s have important games next month and in November? Clarke might prefer him to play in those rather than sit on the bench in Spain and France.

That doesn’t mean he’s going to pick a 17 year old with a handful of appearances off the bench for his club. Clarke didn’t select Billy Gilmour until he was 19 (nearly 20) even though he was playing sporadically for Chelsea for at least a year before that. If Doak gets more game time at Liverpool over the next couple of weeks then I could see Clarke picking him to give him exposure to the senior squad but the squad will be announced quite soon so I’m not sure how much opportunity he’ll have to play between now and then.

Sounds familiar

He could well be but I wonder why he wasn’t in this squad? Surely Clarke won’t select him just because he had a very good first half against Spain U21s? If he gets some minutes for Liverpool over the next couple of weeks then you may well be right and hopefully that’s the case.

I didn’t say otherwise. I just stated what I thought Clarke would do. Young players who are “good enough” do tend to play more regularly for their clubs than Doak is at the moment though. There’s no doubt that Doak will be a huge player for us in future but that doesn’t mean Clarke will promote him to the senior squad next month or even in November. He may well do but I’m not convinced.

If we do qualify next month our last 2 games would still be very important in terms of our seeding at the finals so o I doubt Clarke would be using them to try anything new. That doesn’t mean Doak won’t be in the squad of course but it would probably limit his involvement to a couple of late sub appearances.

I think the most likely is Norway failing to beat Spain. That’s the safety net we provided for ourselves by beating Spain at home. If Norway match that achievement and also beat Spain at home then the next most likely one is for us to win in Georgia. I fancy us to win in Tbilisi. If we fail to win in Georgia then the pressure on is in the Norway game at Hampden will be incredible but what a night that would be. If we were offered the chance to qualify by avoiding defeat in our final game at home to Norway we’d all have jumped at that chance. The fact we are all hoping to qualify at least one game before that shows how well we have done so far.

I don’t think any of those guys were 17 though were they? I have no doubt Clarke will call Doak up when he is still a teenager but I would be (pleasantly) surprised if it was next month.

Doesn’t seem likely from what Clarke has said in the last couple of days although the papers are suggesting that may be the case because Clarke praised his performance against Spain. He also said your need to let these players “grow a bit” which would suggest to me he’s not planning on picking him yet. I hope you’re right though.

I hadn’t checked but yeah that’s right. Norway play Spain on 15th and we play France on the 17th. Yet another reason we should have avoided playing France if that was the only day they are available. I suppose the squad being together for an extra couple of days couldn’t hurt.

Well aye Spain being 5 goals up at half time would be the best thing for our nerves but a draw would do us just fine. Norway v Spain must be on at the same time as we play France? I didn’t even hear the Norway v Georgia result until I was in the queue at Mount Florida station so I’ll hopefully avoid the Norway v Spain result until full time as well.

I don’t think we’ll get anything in Spain either. Not because I’m pessimistic it’s just that most teams would struggle to get anything in Spain. Anything is possible though and I’m hopeful we’ll get something rather than expecting to. Getting a draw in Georgia won’t be enough though. We would need to win in Tbilisi to guarantee qualification (if Norway beat Spain). If Norway do beat Spain I’m hoping it’s because Spain’s confidence has been dented by getting pumped at home by Scotland. 😂

How does he still get work?

I read it several times as well. 😂

If this does happen (or anything like it) I’m giving up and never going to a Scotland game again.