JandC

Important thing now is winning against the Faroes on Tuesday. Home advantage in the playoffs should be the goal as it’s achievable but the playoff will be tough with just 3 teams going through from 12 so there’ll be some really decent teams that miss out. Will be interesting to see what Clarke does on Tuesday now with his team selection as Hanley will surely go straight back into the side. He might just play with one striker and load the midfield. Looking forward to it even though I never really enjoy these types of games as we never look that assured in them. Hopefully last night’s 2nd half performance will continue and we get at them from kick off.

Tartan Chris - FIFA rankings don’t have any bearing on the seedings for the play-offs. It’s basically the top 6 2nd place sides with the most points from the group games who will be at home against the bottom 4 2nd placed teams plus the 2 highest Nations League qualifiers. We need at least 2 wins from 3 to have any chance of being seeded. A draw against Denmark could tip things in our favour but we could also do with a few draws in the other groups to help us out.

It’s the top 6 x 2nd place teams against the bottom 4 x 2nd place and the 2 x Nations League qualifiers so if Wales or the Czechs do qualify for that route then they’ll be away against one of the top 6 2nd place finishers. Its not the draw I’d like but at least it would be at Hampden if we do play them

Some decent results last night with Iceland drawing with Armenia and Romania losing which means that group, along with Ukraine’s group, will be one of the 4 with the lowest 2nd place finisher. Wales’ group looks like it’ll be in the mix for that as well. Obviously there will still be twists and turns and this is all irrelevant if we fail to win tonight and against the Faroes or Moldova but it’s something to aim at.

Some cracking results tonight for potential 2nd place teams dropping points. Sweden losing to Greece Poland drawing with England Wales drawing at home to Estonia North Macedonia drawing with Romania NI and Switzerland drawing

Even though out away form may be better, I’d still take a home match against Armenia or Austria over an away tie against Norway or Sweden.

Yes. We really need to get into the top 6 of the 2nd place (if we make it) as home advantage would be huge for us. At the moment Group D looks certain to have one of the lowest points scoring for 2nd place (Ukraine with 5 draws from 5 games). We just need another 3 groups to beat! Ireland getting it hat draw against Serbia was good for us as well and it would also be good if England could beat Poland tonight. Looking for as many draws as possible for teams in the other groups and at least 3 wins for us.

It’s a cliche but we need to be on the front foot from kick off and don’t let them settle. We seem to give teams far too much respect and sit off them in away games so I think we need to be more positive. I know recent performances and results haven’t been great but we actually have a decent set of players and if we play to our strengths and have some belief then we should really be competing against teams like Austria. A positive result will set us up nicely for the game at Hampden against Israel next month.

Top 6 from the 10 2nd placed teams get home advantage so we’re looking for as many draws as possible in the other groups from now on! Well probably need at least a draw tomorrow and something from the final game against Denmark along with 3 wins against Israel, Moldova and the Faroes to get into the top 6. If we don’t then we’ll end up with a tricky away tie in the semis.

The second round (play-offs) will be contested by the ten group runners-up and the best two Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking,[39] who finished outside the top two of their qualifying group. They will be separated into three play-off paths, with each path featuring two single-leg semi-finals and one single-leg final. The semi-finals will be hosted by the six best-ranked runners-up of the qualifying group stage, while the host of the final will be determined by a draw.[40] The semi-finals will be played on 24–25 March, and the finals on 28–29 March 2022. The winners of each path will qualify for the World Cup.

Good to see Gilmour in the starting line up again so surely he’s got to be in the Euro squad now, especially with the injury to McLean.

I’ve honestly not been so annoyed by a Scotland performance in a long time. Why do we continually approach games like we’re a pub team playing in the Scottish cup against a premiership team. We have better players than Israel so why did we sit off them in the first half and let them dictate the play. If I hadn’t seen the opposition, I’d have thought we were away to Germany or Belgium with our approach. The 2nd half was better but got a feeling it’s too little too late as Austria won’t go to Tel Aviv and let Israel dictate the play. We now need to beat Austria away and probably Denmark at home to have any chance of even 2nd place. I honestly don’t understand the mentality of our approach to these types of games where we should be on the front foot from the start and taking the game to the opposition.

Chelsea forums have Gilmour as the stand-out in an overall average team performance. Will be interesting how much game time he gets and if he does get a run in the side then should be a definite pick for the March games. As an aside, I’m really surprised that Havertz has struggled to settle in as he looked absolute class for Leverkusen.

Cheers Taylor.

I’m just glad that Steve Clarke took my advice on Dykes! He was excellent last night and just shows that we shouldn’t write any player off

Yes, I think the odds are very generous as would expect them in a pre-COVID away game. They’ve only won one home game in a the last 4 which was against Luxembourg so it’s not as if they’re in form. The criticism that their fans seems to have of the team is that they although they have some really good individuals, the players don’t seem totally focussed on the national team so I think if we can get the first goal then there’s a good chance their heads will drop.

McTeeko - Sorry to hear about your Dad. I lost my Dad last month and it was strange time with the restrictions on the lack of mourners at the funeral but in many ways it made it much more intimate as it was just close family so we were able to share stories between us. Hope everything goes well and that Scotland can do your Dad proud on Thursday night.

I was having a look in the bookies yesterday and was surprised to see that Scotland are 9/2 to win. I know Serbia are favourites and are ahead of us in the rankings but I think that price would be generous even if Serbia were playing in front of a full house at home. However, we’ve seen that the current restrictions mean that home advantage has been significantly if not totally removed. I’m sure quite a few will be backing Scotland at those odds and will be interesting to see if they change in the run up to the actual game.

Brilliant stuff - really well done.

Much better tonight against a better side but need to get more service to the forwards. I know Serbia will be tough but Norway had another great win with Haaland getting a hat-trick so bit of a blessing we didn’t get them!

If other countries like France, Spain and England can play 18 years olds in their first teams then why not us? I’m not saying he should be nailed onto start but given the way he played and his potential then at least get him in the squad and have a proper look at him. Clarke was at Stamford Bridge last night and given the way Gilmour played and the way that Lampard talks about his talent and attitude, he deserves a chance to show what he can do for the national team, regardless of his age.

Hat-trick now!

Seems that EURO 2020 isn’t in the bracket of a ‘major’ tournament so they’ll be in. Will just have to do it the hard way! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50563736

New article on the BBC football site about this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/50551384

Apparently the hosting status will be revoked as well.