AndyDD

Maybe. Hopefully. But the issue I suppose is just how fast moving this can be; it really is hard to say with any great confidence what the state of play will be this time next week, or the week after. As far as the science is concerned, there's no basis to call the game off or close the doors yet. Key word there, though, is yet. It's okay, the SFA have managed to swing it so that the very next game we are set to play, outwith the potential Euros themselves, is at home to Israel. So we will all be offered entry to that in place of entry to the March edition of the same fixture... No refund needed...

Oh of course, wasn't suggesting it was. I'd have had Souttar in the squad if not for the injury despite the shitshow that has been Hearts season. Wednesday seem to have had a pretty poor season, mind you, so like most of the team, particular in defence, he probably isn't doing well. I guess he could be one of their few positives in a disappointing season who is being let down by his team-mates, but I couldn't tell you. Certainly, we have little option but to include him in the squad, but that does not change the fact that we have a dearth of talented options in that area.

The discussion on Sportsound is usually utter wank during the week but they did have a decent feature on this- "The science says that large-scale events are not at risk just now and the science in fact says outdoor large-scale events are particularly not at risk. The virus doesn't tend to live long in that environment. There will be a time where we start to change our advice. We may never stop large-scale events. We will follow the science as it tells us what to do." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51824771 The professor they spoke to, there saying that large-scale outdoor events are actually less bad than you might think, given the (relatively) fresh air making it harder for the virus to survive for long. What they aren't taking into account there, though, is the fact that public transport gets much more full with people going to and from and these are obviously enclosed. Interestingly, it would likely be a lot safer from a scientific perspective to cancel public transport than to cancel outdoor sports events.

Aye, the right back options are horribly slim. Worth pointing out that our midfield is a good bit stronger than the Aberdeen one Jack was part of, of course. But still.

That omission of Hickey is unusual , wonder if that's an agreement with Hearts due to his injury problems of late. Look at what overplaying has done to Tierney, afterall. Campbell at Motherwell has aged out now, then? Surprised Turnbull isn't included, now that he is back in their playing squad. Looking forward to popping along to Tynecastle for a freebie. May as well get the moneys worth out the membership.

Presumably the squad won't be announced until Tuesday or Wednesday. Absolutely no harm in waiting to see how folk get on this weekend. Players have been named in under 21s squads then promoted to the main squad before, so there's no reason that his inclusion in Under 21 squad initially precludes him from being named in the senior squad next week. We shall but see. Hopefully he is included.

Forrest has been in decent form of late and has had a good season, adding a degree of versatility to his game and putting in some good showings in Europe. Beyond, that, though, Forrest scored a hattrick at Hampden against Israel. A little over a year later, we are due to play Israel. At Hampden. By and large the same side, same defence, that he put three past. You better believe I want him playing. I know if I was one of the Israel players, I'd be delighted if the guy who scored three goals against us last time we were here isn't playing. If Scotland were playing a team who had beaten us 3-2 in the same fixture last year and one player scored three against us, we would be hoping beyond hope that he did not feature in the upcoming rematch. It will be interesting to see how he and the other Scottish players come do in the Old Firm game. I see Shinnie and Martin started for Derby at the weekend, Martin scoring twice. Palmer played for Sheff Wed but they got a doing, 5 skud off Brentford. Would Paul Mcginn at hibs be an option at right back? Fancy Jack could do a job there but struggled of late for full match fitness and form. Mcginn surely better than O'Donnell, but not saying much...

The thing about Fleck is that it could (not definitely is, but could) be a matter of the right player in the right role at the right club. It is something we often do when looking at club performances; we expect that players will be able to replicate exactly what they do for their club side in the national team, but it aint necessarily so. Fleck will at absolute best be playing with one of his club teammates (a forward) and Sheffield have excelled this season on the basis of their entire squad working hand in glove together in a system they have worked on all season or over multiple seasons. He will not have any of his fellow midfielders with him and won't have a side as drilled in the same formation and tactics, even if we were to try and adopt them both, which we almost certainly won't. The way Sheffield play maximises Fleck's ability and he is doing wonderfully well in the role he is tasked with carrying out within it, but Scotland almost certainly won't play that way, or in that shape. It could be he is adaptable to multiple systems, of course, but the greater the difference in role the less likely he will be to replicate his club form with exactitude. Ditto anyone else who manages to perform certain roles for their club that we maybe won't be replicating against Israel. Griffiths has been working very well with Edouard. That doesn't mean we should necessarily put him up top with Naismith or with Shankland or with Mcburnie. They are not likely to have the same or even close to the same connection or interplay. So that's why for me he isn't a stick on and why i'd possibly be more inclined to play Mcgregor; I assume Forrest and Christie are likely to play, both of whom mcgregor has massive familiarity with. Armstrong and Griffiths could also play and he has also played a lot with each of them. He and Mctominay have played a number of times together for Scotland, as well. Is Fleck a better footballer than mcgregor on a pure one v one basis? Could well be. He is playing at a higher level and is doing very very well. But he has barely ever played with those guys, whereas Mcgregor knows their game inside out. That familiarity could be the difference between a pass going right into someone's path for a shot on goal and a pass to someone who is making a totally different run. It could be the difference between playing the pass without needing to stop and look, or having to delay and check and allow the opponent a better chance to cut it out or get their first, or the keeper more time to ready themselves or read the play.

Nah. Ajer, Jullien and El Ahmed as the 3 central defenders, with Forrest and Hayes as wing backs.

To be fair, I think he's probably right about that. Russia and Austria are better than Wales, for my money, so a toss up between them and Czechs for weakest in that pot. I'd fancy Czech Republic to beat Wales more often than not. Slovakia and Turkey are better than NI, so a toss up between the two Irelands for weakest in that pot. They are much of a muchness but NI will likely be in rebuild territory with a new manager and will suffer more from the loss of O'Neil and the broad swathe of retiring senior players who will likely follow in his wake than I expect the Republic will post-McCarthy.

Ach I don't know about that; Forrest played as wing back away to Lazio. Quite a bit better than Scottish domestic fare. He did it rather well against much superior opposition than Israel, against whom we will be doing a lot of attacking as well, if our 15 shots in the last meeting is anything to go by. So I'd not be overly concerned about it, but definitely a risk, no doubt. Problem is that playing Palmer or Jack at right back in a standard 4 is also risky, as neither are that good. The idea that Israel will tear us to shreds at Hampden if we play Forrest at wing back... suffice to say i'd be surprised. They are quite poor, and we are markedly better than under Mcleish, who's side wasn't torn apart at Hampden even with a central defensive pairing of Mckenna and Bates and with Callum Paterson at right back. We could narrowly lose to Israel, or go out in extra time or via a shoot-out after a frustrating draw. But I find it hard to envisage Israel coming to Hampden and tearing us to shreds. We'll probably save the extra-time or shoot-out heartache for the final.

Given the amount of celtic players likely to be in the squad and their recent propensity (and relative success) going 3-5-2, there might be more flexibility than we may have thought before now regards 'shape'. So maybe... Griffiths Armstrong, Christie Robbo, McTominay, Mcgregor, Forrest Cooper, Hanley, Findlay Alternatively, you could drop one of Armstrong or Christie and put a target man like McBurnie or Martin in beside Griffiths, essentially for Griff to bounce the ball off. It worked with Martin against England and in patches against Slovakia and Slovenia. Both are getting decent game time for their club so probably warrant looking at. Clarke has by and large stuck with 4-3-3 though, or variations upon that theme. Fraser, Griffiths, Forrest Mctominay, Mcgregor, christie Robertson, Cooper, Hanley, Palmer/Jack This is all under the impression, perhaps mistaken, that Mcginn won't be ready. With Mcgregor, Fleck, McTominay, Jack, Mclean, Armstrong, Christie, Fraser and Forrest, with potentially Phillips and Shinnie, we have a lot of options in the middle and on the right, but not much on the left. Especially if you wanted to play 4-4-2 or 4-4--1-1, it's hard to see if anyone other than Fraser could really go wide left. Could you maybe put Armstrong or Christie or Forrest out on that side? Tricky one. As ever, right back options are scary. Hell, playing 3 at the back might be viable for that reason alone; Forrest as a RWB eliminates need for a right back, which i guess would have to be Palmer or Jack. Let's hope that in 4 weeks time we are talking about who will be lining up in the final for us...

Austria, NI and either of Bulgaria or Romania would be lovely. Win or lose on 26th, I'd rather no get Israel two nations league groups in a row, especially since i'd again skip the away game. Romania or Bulgaria would be a class trip.

Give his 'performance' off the bench in Cyprus a watch. You'll have plenty more to slate him for. Rank incompetence, for instance.

Pure. Unadulterated. SEX. Gies it.

That entire article is toe-curlingly awful in so many fucking ways. Sickening tone of forelock tugging throughout. God almighty. Utterly dreadful. What a bunch of absolute crawlers. Belarus should have told us to get tae. Horrific.

Exactly. Very good value. A genuine reward for loyalty in the recent meagre years. I think they missed a trick not having this sort of info out at the start of the month, but the pricing itself is good.

Damn.

Did he play for them in a competitive match, or just friendlies? Could we possibly nick him back? He's as fast as Burke but can actually control the football and cross and pass the ball. He was injured the entire time Clarke has been in charge so not his fault Boyle was never selected before now... Obviously if he played a competitive game then that's that.

Haha, liberal definition of the word 'slightly'... He has in fairness been hot and cold this season. Scratch that; his entire career.

Eh? Guy has scored 7 goals this season, plus his other assists. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/scott-allan/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/60904/saison/2019/wettbewerb/SC1/verein/903

Yeah it can be a significant factor, and at this level sometimes it's the finest of margins that makes the difference. I think it would be quite reasonable to change things for the final should we get there, aye, as away to Norway or Serbia is a rather different prospect to Israel at home, in my estimation. Clarke has proven to be a horses for courses sort of coach and I think that's wise, for the most part. Like you say it might depend on how he does, I mean if he scores another hattrick he'd probably be impossible to drop haha. Bolded part is absolutely bang on and precisely the point. He won't even need to play particularly well to have a positive impact. His presence alone will command the attention of the opponents in the semi.

Put yourself in the mindset of the Israel dressing room when the teamsheet comes in. If you don't see the name of the guy who terrorised you with a hattrick just over a year ago in the exact same venue, you'd get an immediate boost. On the flipside of that, if Forrest were to play, Isreal will naturally be wary of him no matter what their coach might tell them. They will either back of and give him space, which he is often very very capable of exploiting, or they get too tight and either get turned or foul him over and over. This will give us set-piece chances, get us up the park and get them in the book. It seems quite odd to me, given the opposition in question, that anyone would contemplate dropping Forrest for our next game. Beyond that, as has been mentioned by many others, much as it might sneak up on us faster than we think, there is so much football between now and March. Who knows what sort of form these three guys will be in come that time. The initial question was about who you would drop right now, as in if the game was next week, so in that case I'd drop Fraser. Christie and Forrest both playing well for their club and both did well, or very well, in the last two games. Fraser in and out of the Bournemouth team a wee bit thus far this season (contract reasons, presumably) and hasn't quite hit the heights of last year as yet. All that could well have changed come March, of course. But at the moment, despite the fact I think that when all 3 are at their best his is the best footballer of them, Fraser is the one you use as a sub.

Oooft. Fair enough, I'll remain sceptical. Cheers lads.

Croc fiasco?