gonzohiggy

The players love him and he is clearly a very astute man manager. His job is in no danger whatsoever. He did however make some errors in the Euros that I hope he doesn’t make again. Team selection and failure to adjust in both the first and third games. Lot of room for improvement with performances, off the pitch he’s been tremendous.

Abject performance from us and high quality from Croatia. Yes we missed a fair amount of chances again tonight, McGinn the main culprit however our general style of play and lack of tactical adjustments early enough weren’t good enough. Completely bypassing the midfield over and over and just hitting balls to dykes and Adams hoping for scraps. Tierney very guilty of this as was the goalkeeper. Yes we got the goal from winning second balls but we need to be better than that to improve. The England game we were very good at building play through the middle, Gilmour obviously helps with this. We were also getting overrun in the middle of the park with our flat 3. Which allowed brozovic to drop deep between our midfield and strikers and slide passes through lines while modric floated around. We didn’t shuffle the midfield or drop one of the strikers to sit on brozovic. Part of the reason for the flat 3 I am sure was to protect O’Donnell out wide. He tries so hard and does fine but offensively he offered nothing and never looked likely to. So disappointed with how this has ended for us as feels like we haven’t grasped our opportunity. Now we will be retreating back into the glorious failure / happy to be there mentality which I hate.

That is the dream, for some reason I can see it happening😬 classic Scottish over excitement perhaps. They took Rebic off at half time which I hope means he doesn’t play next game as the guy they brought on was a big lump who did very little. Perisic can cause us problems and Vlasic looked quite dangerous on the right but I’d expect tierney and Robbo to deal with him. Kovacic was their main man, stop him and win the midfield battle and we win this game.

I was at the Czech v Croatia game and Croatia were very unimpressive and the weakest of the two teams. Was really looking forward to seeing Modric but other than a wee flurry at start of second half he was poor. Need to watch out for Perisic down our right but they are very beatable. We need to get after them with pace, energy and aggression and I honestly think we’ll win. Sit back and it is probably the toss of a coin.

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For me too early for Patterson and although I think Gilmour is ready, I think he will be on the bench to begin with. Marshall Hanley, Cooper, Tierney O’Donnell, McTominay, McGregor, McGinn, Robertson Adams, Dykes The only doubts I have on this team are whether he plays Armstrong and moves McGinn forward to support Dykes or plays Adams in support. Absolutely buzzing for it, regardless of the team!

That statement is a bit controversial. It is also a lot of rubbish.

Not guilty your honour!

I’m not doubting that at all. In fact I’m hoping he starts games.

He’s an excellent passer and I’m sure he’ll keep improving at it as well. Hes every bit as good at it as Jorginho that’s for sure. He’s not even remotely close to the Scholes and Pirlo level at the moment although very few players were / are.

Best passer? Not 100% sure that’s true however he is a special player. Fabulous awareness of space and manipulates the ball brilliantly.

Not sure strength is that big a thing in that position. His athleticism and composure are very important and he is certainly ahead of O’Donnell in those respects.

Yes perhaps. He has played in front of fans before but I take your point, given his age and the pandemic not as often as O’Donnell. An interesting call for the manager and one that could change right up until much closer to the game.

I think that is a really good point and I’m sure that imbalance is not something lost on Clarke. I know he is a loyal manager and it will be hard to drop O’Donnell at this point but as you’ve pointed out above, Patterson has absolutely everything in his locker other than experience. Although O’Donnell hasn’t really done much wrong, I still feel as if HE displays naivety in his positioning and pass selection, despite being more “experienced”. If Patterson does really well in training and friendlies I can see him forcing his way in. 🤞

I watched the game you mention and it was Wan Bissaka he was against and he got absolutely bullied, although in fairness that’s probably not a surprise. Watched Morgan a lot at Celtic and always thought he had potential but I was never sure where his best position was. Quick but not that quick. Nice touch without being overly tricky. Didn’t look cute enough to play in number 10 and was too lightweight to play up front. He’s a decent player who may be a worthwhile squad player in time ala Russell but nothing more than that IMO.

Id definitely bring him but he has a number of players ahead of him in attacking midfield. him and jack don’t play same role

Before this season none of these players have deserved a call up aside from perhaps Gilmour. All of us like young players to play but someone with high potential does not make them better in the present. We don’t need to be in a place where we are giving any young player with potential a game, our experienced players are better than that now. Even someone as talented as Gilmour at 18/19 would still be lacking in areas an experienced player won’t be.

There’s got to be a balance though, young players may have more potential but that doesn’t necessarily make them better in the present. I’m all for Gilmour playing and I think there’s a pretty strong argument for Patterson as well but not sure who else falls into this bracket?

Agree in principle and it’s hard to argue that Gilmour won’t become better than McGregor (if he isn’t already). for me it’s hard to see Clarke dropping McGregor who has played regularly for an uncapped 19 year old right before a major tournament. McTominay playing RCB might take that issue away though.

The boy has always been a star, it’s just been a case of him playing enough games. He plays with and against world class players and is completely unfazed. He HAS to be in the squad at the very least.

That’s pure conjecture to say they could be championship players the season after next. They are premier league players who have proven an ability to at the very minimum be on our bench. You dont pick adams because he rejected us / played for England. You don’t pick Armstrong because he gave the goal away against England. I like a some of your posts but you are petty and as I said it discredits the good things you do post.

You like to think you’re a deep thinking Scotland supporter but your immaturity and pettiness completely discredit almost every post you make. You have your reasons for disliking Adams and Armstrong which is fair enough but honestly what is the point in you picking a squad that has absolutely zero chance of being correct?

Don’t know him but lovely footballer. Head and shoulders too good for that level, a long way to go before being a Scotland player but fingers crossed

Dykes was poor again. Looks so heavy legged compared with Adams

I agree with you on McGregor and McLean. Both technical players who can take the ball under pressure and keep it. That is important in football and some fans don’t grasp that. Seem to measure players on just goals and assists from all players. I think Gilmour will be / is better than both but no doubt Scotland some fans will eventually dislike him as well😂