The_Dark_Knight

Agreed. It's weird, we have the same problem at both ends of the park. We need to play more players in the heart of defence as well in attack. If Clarke persists with the 4-2-3-1 he might as well quit.

I'm amazed that we're holding onto Steven Naismith for so long. Tierney's on the bench against Leicester.

Good thread. For the majority of people, it would seem that the 90s didn't exist and 96 and 98 were just figments of imagination. Some people want to completely rewrite history. I'm glad that someone else is guiding the formation narrative. Once we start producing top center backs then fine, we should definitely play with four at the back. We aren't producing quality center backs, so it's time that we started going back to three/five at the back. It's a strange one, it's just one reason why I question the football knowledge of the general fan here. a 4-2-3-1 relies on two good center backs (we have none), two good anchormen (we have none), zero midfielders (we have a few decent midfielders) a good second striker (we have none) and a good striker (we have none). It's a strange one. It's like fans are wanting us to play to our weaknesses. I'd actually take a 4-4-2 over a 4-2-3-1 as at least we'll be playing two players in central midfield (our strongest area) and it would allow us to play two strikers (taking the workload away from the lone striker).

In the previous generation Gauld and Burke and Danny Wilson joined major European clubs, all three failed. However, thanks to the Performance Schools players like Morrison, King, Banks, Thomson, etc, have more of a chance of making it... Simply because they're better. Gilmour is one recent example.

(It can be home or away... or third) http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/international/scotland/scotland-2010-2019.html Favourite: 1st: 94/96 Home (Euro 96) I'll always have a soft spot for this one, as 96 is the first tournament that I can remember 2nd: 98/00 Home (France 98) Soft spot, as 98 was the first World Cup that I can remember us qualifying for 3rd: 67 (Home) Class and simplicity Least favourites: 1st: 2019- The ugliest shirt I've ever seen. It looks like parts of several shirts sewn together. Horrible. 2nd: 2002/2003 The ugliest shirt I've ever seen released... till tomorrow... 3rd: 91/93 (Away) Proof that Adidas hate Scotland fans and players

I was thinking that. I think it'll be alright. Celtic played Tierney pretty much non-stop from the age of what, 19? McTominay is 22, so it's definitely different in this case. At this stage in McTominay's career, the more matches he gets under his belt, the better. Tierney's case was crazy, Celtic completely over-worked him and relied too much from him, even though, obviously they didn't need to. They could've unretired Tom Boyd for the previous 3 years and they still would've won the SPL.

2016-17? Is that the one we had with the white sleeves? And because of that we had to play England in pink... that alone is enough reason to revile it. I agree. In the previous 8 home shirts, that's the one I avoided. The 1988-91 away one I can give or take, saying that, though, I'm not really a fan of yellow, or stripes. One plus point, though, is that Umbro were making it. Kinda wish we would sign a deal with them again. The 95/96 away "lightening" one was alright. I'm probably the only Scotland fan who will have a fondness for that strip, but I thought it was alright, it was certainly better than the 91/93 away top, the weird purple/red top where it looked like someone had torn it. And the 14/15 one, I'll agree with you, under the hating yellow and stripe thing. *shudder*

Duly noted. I can just about get away with a small, when I want skintight clothes, so I think a medium would be fine, even if the sizes were bigger. Thanks for the head's up, though. Have you seen the new Scotland top? It's probably the worst Scotland shirt I've ever seen. I've dubbed it "Adidastein's monster", as it looks like it's been stitched together from multiple shirt. I'm jealous of the Scottish GAA fans as they have a shirt that makes the football shirt look like a dish towel.

Cool. Thanks for that. I'll bookmark it. Ideally, I'd get one from eBay for peanuts, but if I can't get a medium (I've seen several small and large shirts, but very few mediums) then I'll probably end up biting the bullet and buying it from your link.

Initially he tried to walk/run it off for about five minutes, as he's a tough lad and he just wants to play, but he just couldn't. I hope he misses the Brighton match. OGS is over playing him. He's starting in the league, cup matches and in Europe. God know how bad the United midfield will be in absence.

I'm never shy in my criticism of Old Firm players, but looking at the stats, McGregor had a pass success rate of (97.7%), which is incredible. However, stats don't tell the full truth, they could've been all back and side passes. Still, though, it's impressive... The rest of game, not so. If nothing else, it'll show Steve Clarke that Forrest, McGregor and Christie can play in a midfield 5.

You can tell from his face, when he was on the ground, he was in loads of pain. It was more of a muscle injury than an in impactful one. He went over on his ankle. Knowing injuries like that personally, he may be able to heal in time for Sunday, if he does, he'll probably meet up with our squad

PhD? Right you are.

Is this when you were saying nothing but "I'm done" for six posts in a row or when you were saying that an international team's quality is determined by hairstyle? Yes. The aforementioned would suggest one too many shandys. I categorically didn't call you a drunk, though. And as far as calling you an idiot goes. I didn't use that exact word. But yes, someone called us the same person, in front of you, and you claimed they were joking. The people who think that aren't joking. Those people are obsessed with me and paranoid, on a serious scale. But yes, generally, I treat people with respect, unless they lose my good opinion.

Great addition and very good research! A couple people (including the OP) laughed my original assertion. I'm still not clear why. I mean, it only stands to reason the more players you have playing (and winning) at the top level, the more successful your international team will be. As you said, we are where we are because of the standard of our players. We can't keep blaming the manager.

Spot on. It's no coincidence that since our players haven't really won any major honours we've stopped qualifying for tournaments. Look at 96 and 98, we had plenty of players winning tons of major trophies. But now? One. This calendar year I can only see Robertson in the mix to win major trophies. Maybe Tierney and McTominay, if Manchester United and Arsenal get their act together. However, it would still pale into insignificance to the eight our players collected in the 97/98 season.

I didn't actually vote. I said A and then B. Dude, if you look at a certain thread ("TAMB, where did it all go wrong...") there are a small amount of people who think I have between 5-50 accounts. Over the years, what happened in this place to make people so paranoid?! It's only a small handful of people, but still. It's like some people have been here for so long that it's driven them crazy. Reminds me of "Lord of the Flies".

I think so. No doubting his love for Celtic, but there's no doubt that they stretched him to his limits. The only thing we can do is wait till he's 100% fit and see how many squads he pulls out of.

It actually looked quite bad. He was reaching and he seemed to pull up and get caught. He tried to play on, but he ended up on the turf. He ended up limping down the tunnel. Might be out of commission for a couple of weeks.

There should be no criticism under the law of "Don't shoot the messenger" To be honest, the only player of the ones you listed who have spoken about playing for Scotland is Caulker. I'm a bit surprised he isn't in the squad, to be honest. Barnes will probably be called up by England at some stage in the near future.

I could not agree with you more there, mate. It doesn't take much effort to be respectful and treat people how you would like to be treated. That's one lesson that's been lost, especially when people are online, they have the protection of distance, so it gives them the freedom to talk to people in a manner that they would never do to their face. Fake bravery is a thing. Cool. Thanks for the link, mate. I'll give it a look. I tried eBay but no luck, I'm afraid. I actually don't mind spending good money on a shirt if it's durable and is good quality. I have a fair few Under Armour compressed shirts, so it'll make a nice change of pace running and lifting whilst wearing something a wee bit different.

Played 75 mins. Back to his normal self - another top European performance. He came off after 75 mins after hobbling for about 5 minutes. He took a few meaty challenges.

And lock your doors.

lol. When I turned 39 last year I got my name and a number on the back... But hey, I still look like I'm in my 20s, so I can get away with it.... I think... Oh really? I've just had a look. They actually look quite cool. I might skip the upcoming Scotland top and buy the GAA one. Is it the one with the tartan down the sides/hip? Kinda reminds me of the Euro 96 shirt, but inside of having the tartan on the sides, it's on the chest.

Also, I wouldn't take it personal, mate. A few strange people here think I have about a dozen aliases, they probably think you're one of them. (No. I'm 100% serious) The really scary is that those same people are out in society... unless they aren't.