mccaughey85

Yeh perhaps sweden wasnt quite an elite team at that point although i think you are being unfair in terms of our win over denmark and croatia x2. I would consider them to be elite teams at the time we played them and just because they had qualified doesnt take the shine off a good victory over top opposition. Looking at the 90s on google and wiki it seems like our only victories over elite sides were a friendly win over germany in 99 and our win over england in 99. Not that impressive considering we were a decent side. Maybe theres ones i am missing.

I think they could be considered a big team at the point. Pretty sure they were ranked pretty high in the fifa rankings and had been getting good results up until we played them. I think if you consider what they went onto do then they could be considered an elite team. Saying that it didnt feel like a huge scalp/s at the time. Looking back at that group it was probably the worst group ever for us. Belgium were elite, croatia were about to become elite. Serbia had a really strong team on paper and wales were about to begin their successful period with ramsay and bale. Macedonia were no mugs either in terms of being considered the weakest team. Trying to get second place out of that group was near on impossible. I wouldnt expect this scotland team under clarke to get 2nd in that group.

We were probably due a win against a proper elite team although arguably denmark could be considered elite at the time we beat them. Beating denmark and even croatia twice doesnt have quite the same feeling as beating a proper heavyweight like spain. I think the best victories in terms of oppenents we have had in the last 20 years would be spain, france x 2, Netherlands, croatia x 2, denmark. Last nights victory should do wonders for the team and nations belief as i usually expect us to lose or struggle against genuine heavyweight nations like spain which is/was understandable considering how seldom we beat one. Interestingly enough i dont remember alot of victories over heavyweight nations back in the 90s and we were a pretty decent side back then. I remember the england win at wembley in 99. We did beat sweden who were a top side in the 90s but wether they could be considered a proper heavyweight is something i cant remember. Maybe someone who remembers the 90s better could tell us if we had any other big victories over top nations during the 90s.

Really need to try and keep him. Even if it means forking out unprecedented money for a scotland manager. Loads of clubs will be wanting him soon and offering him big money.

Under clarke i think hes been pretty good most of the time. I think hes earned his right to be in the squad at the very least and its good to see him do well after struggling in what were car crash teams when he first broke into national side. We dont exactly have stellar centre backs but if they can defend well as a unit then we should be able to build on that foundation until some top class ones come through(if that happens).

I am guessing your joking right. I thought ac/dcs angus was angus young and not angus gunn lol.

Its unbelievable that a spanish player can accuse any other nation of play acting and rolling about. Those fuckers invented diving and feigning injury. He should shut up and accept his medicine.

Considering we have strikers who dont score often the likes mcginn and mctominay getting goals will be invaluable to us. Mctominay certainly looks a better player when hes allowed to attack more and take up more advanced positions.

Brilliant result. Just gutted i missed it due to work committments but sounds like we played great. Mctominays been a hero tonight. We need to make sure we dont fuck up the upper hand we now have on norway.

Why are they doing that?

He needs a good couple of seasons playing football even if its just in the english championship or spfl. Hes far too passive in his play. He chooses the safe option too much and never makes things happen. Its mad how delusional ppl get over a young player breaking through in the epl. A couple of appearances and suddenly the players too good to drop down and gain experience playing at a lower level. I suggested about 2 seasons ago that gilmour play a season in the english championship to develop his game but that was rubbished by certain posters as being beneath gilmour. Now its 2 years on and gilmours only option is to spend a season or two in the english championship or spfl getting gametime. Gilmours development has stalled this last 2 seasons by not getting proper gametime. If you contrast that with hayden hackney or lewis ferguson then its obvious that playing a season or 2 lower league football can be very beneficial to a young player. I will say the same about doak. A season playing english championship or even a loan to celtic could be excellent for his career. Getting the odd few mins here and there isnt always great even if its at epl level.

If his team mates were too good for the spfl they wouldnt already be playing there. The spfl was good enough for guys like tierney, dembele, van dijk, armstrong, mcginn, ferguson, hickey. One of our best players right now is callum mcgregor who plays spfl. Rangers and celtic would be a great move for gilmour right now. I find it amazing ppl think that a guy who cant get a game for brighton and who was pretty terrible at times for norwich last season would be too good for celtic and rangers. Spending a couple of seasons playing european football and challenging for trophies would be great for him. Then he could move back to the epl at 24 having developed his game. Is gilmour better than the guys i listed?

Eh? What has he done that could possibly make you think hes too good for the spfl

Maybe long term we will be better having hickey replace robbo on the left and have patterson on the right. Then of course theres tierney and doig. Left back is just a stacked position for us in general.

I know results are not the be all and end all at youth level but surely we should be getting better results with the standard of players available. Losing 3 nil to wales and generally losing most games is not good enough. Maybe gemmell needs to go.

Thats impressive. Going to be very tough against them in georgia.

Lets hope its the right decision for the spain game.

Surprised we are back to 5 at the back. 4 at the back has looked alot better for us recently. Could that be the reason for the average performance.

Didnt watch the game due to being at a mates wedding. Seems like mixed messages here. Did we play well or not? I certainly would have taken 3 nil before the game. Good start to the campaign.

For me world class means being consistently in the top 10/15 in your position for several years. Gk Fullbacks Midfielders Wingers/forwards Strikers Each of those positions has about 10/15 world class players. Robertson has undoubtedly been a top 10 fullback the last 5 or 6 years so i would consider him world class. We havent had a player who consistently made the top 10/15 in any of those positions since dalglish imo. Mcallister, collins and lambert probably had brief periods where they were in and around the top 15 midfielders but i dont think they consistently made the top 15. Maybe some might disagree with that but imo they were just short of world class status.

Perhaps our u21s isnt that amazing when you consider countries like england and france have players regulary playing in the top leagues. Still it does look like a decent batch of players. Lets hope some of them make it big.

Gotta say both our goals were brilliant. The speed with which mebude side steps his opponent and drills the shot in the net is frightening. Fiorinis technique for his goal is brilliant as well, the way he catches/strikes the ball is similar to how scholes used to. Gotta say if gemmell cant get results with this group of players then he has to go. I know its not all about results at youth level but this crop of players is very promising and we should be looking at beating alot of the weaker nations.

It looked like he was there with his dad and maybe his uncle or dads mate. Either way its disappointing but i doubt clarke could justify calling him up based on the last 2 years form. Lets just hope he doesnt turn into cr7 or robben in the next year or 2.

Miller wasnt a poor player but average is probably the best description of him. Very much a championship standard striker. He did have some good games for us and he did his best but we really needed a guy who was a proper epl level striker.

From a personal point of view i am really disappointed as i felt johnston was a really big talent especially when he was 20/21. He was playing quite well for celtic and looked like he could be a big star in the future. If we had called him up around then and he played well in games then he could easily have been part of our present day squad. Hes the type of player we could need especially if we are playing with a back four. A winger who can make things happen is always going to be a useful addition for us. Its why i have always wanted morgan in the squad and still do. For what its worth i am pretty sure i seen johnston at a scotland game a few years ago which suggests he wanted to play for us and was a fan. He clearly wasnt going to get that chance and has taken his only route to international football. Good luck to him and hopefully he does well for ireland. Just not against us lol.