The_Dark_Knight

I'm telling you to IGNORE me (and that goes for everyone else who has a problem with my opinions). That's pretty much the opposite of attention seeking.

We won't pull out. So the very best scenario would be to promote players from the youth sides: Gilmour, Hornby, both Johnstons. I wouldn't even be against promoting a few from the 19/17s, like McPake, King, Morrison, Mebude, Liam Watson, Jadon Fairley. It's time to think about the big picture. We won't, though, we'll go onto the semi final, with the same old faces who have faied, the same old failed system... And shock-horror, we'll fail.

Talking of Oliver Mcburnie, this was your post in the McBurnie thread: "I think the hate wagon needs to get off him and more into the Micky mouse pre Madonna’s who can’t be arsed to turn up or pull out with little excuse." Do you see me asking why you're bringing Madonna into this? I'm not insinuating that you're deceiving people or lying to them by bringing a famous singer into a footballing debate. What Madonna has got to do with players pulling out with little excuse, is simply beyond me.

Thanks for your contribution. Kindly put me on ignore if my opinions are too severe for your delicate sensibilities.

Yeah. But he wasnt accepting the 0.002% jargon, so i decided to cut out the 0.002%.

We have zero percent chance of qualifying. Our chances are so small that, if I were in charge of the SFA, I would pull us out of the playoffs and tell FIFA "Thanks for the opportunity of qualifying for the European Championships of 2020 via the playoff route, unfortunately, we decline the offer". Will this happen? No chance. Should it happen? Oh, absolutely it should. In my eyes, this whole Playoff business is a complete waste of time for us. It's not a waste of time for Serbia or Norway, as it'll give one of those countries a backdoor route to the European Championships, and I say good for them! If they attend the Euros in 2020 then I wish either team good fortune. However, if by the slimmest of chances that we do win the semi AND the final... It'll be embarrassing beyond belief. Over two matches we've beaten Cyprus by two clear goals (letting in two goals), imagine how much of a nervous wreck our players would be in if they came up sgainst France, Germany, Brazil. It's actually stuff that nightmares are made of. If you want to fixate on percentages and numbers, you're allowed. But I'm talking about football here. You can accuse me of plucking random numbers from the sky, as well as lying, all you like. The cold, hard facts are that the chances of us qualifying for Euro 2020 is the tiniest, teeniest percentage known to human beings. Deal with it. Accept it. Move on.

Alright. If you want to go the long way with this and refuse to drop it, fair enough, I'll prolong it for as long as you like. If we're talking about real world statistics, we have a 50% chance of making the final. If we make the final, we'll then half a 50% chance. But that's only really because it'll be 1 v 1 scenario, over one leg ties. So yes, if you want to be basic and keep to script, then yes, we have as much chance as any of the other teams currently in the playoff scenario. However, if you wish to factor in the many variables, it'll plummet the chance of us winning the playoffs. Do you know much about football? I mean, you're on a football posting board, so it should be implied that you know something about football, but not necessarily, I've been here a while and I've happened upon some truly eye-raising opinions. So, just because a person is posting on a football opinion forum doesn't automatically lead to a conclusion that said person has even the most basic of knowledge about football. Our goalkeeping situation Is beyond dire. It's the worst it's ever been. We have two English League One goalkeepers currently in the mix. Defensively, we haven't got one center back who plays at a top level, we haven't got a right back that anyone is comfortable with. We have no midfielder who can anchor the midfield. We have no striker that plays at a top level, unless you count McBurnie, but you'll find that very few people around here rate him. Another variable is that our two best players: Tierney and Fraser, are forever pulling out of Scotland squads. Another variable is that two players have quit international football on the cusp of the playoffs: Ritchie and Snodgrass. Snodgrass is still playing, and scoring in the EPL, so there's no doubt that he would still have a lot to offer, plus Clarke still rates him very highly. Do you honestly think, for one solitary moment, that Robert Snodgrass would give up the opportunity of playing for Scotland at the European Championships 2020 if he thought we'd qualify? No. He wouldn't have. He was in the mix, he was behind the curtain, and yet he thinks that Scotland haven't got 1% chance of qualifying via the playoffs. Take from that what you will. Another variable is that we have a manager who simply does not have a clue about how to get the best out of the Scotland team. We're playing with a back four, even though it's glaringly obvious that none of our center backs are suited to playing in a two at this, the highest level. We're playing a double-pivot in midfield, even though we don't even have one anchorman, never mind two. The 4-2-3-1 system means that we can't really play with a box-to-box midfielder, and since central midfield is our best position (not saying much) then that's automatically hampering us before a ball is being kicked. Because we're playing with a double-pivot of anchormen who aren't really equipped to play in that position at international level, our wingers and second striker are starved of possession, so they have a natural tendency to drop back, essentially turning the 4-2-3-1 into a 4-5-1. Which means that the one poor sod of a striker is left feeding on hopeful long balls and pretty much trying to press the opposition defence single-handed. Our team is essentially set-out to soak up pressure and hit teams on the counter-attack. Cyprus had close to 60% possession against us, which is embarrassing. God knows what a decent, or even a good team will do to us. Against Russia and Belgium our 4-2-3-1 was turned into a 6-3-1 as we were defending so much. Taking all that into consideration, with all the bells and whistles and variables added to the mix, we have 0.001% chance. If you don't like my math or how I reached this number, I suggest you go back and read what I wrote. If you read all that and think, for one micro-second, that we have as much chance as the other teams of qualifying, all I can say is wait till May.... or is it March? I know that the month begins with an "M". If we draw Israel in the semi-final of the playoffs, we'll lose. I'm not sure how many more ways I can tell you that I think we'll not qualify via the Playoffs. One thing is for sure, though, if you want me to keep saying it, I will. I'll keep telling you and telling you and telling you and telling you and telling you and telling you till the cows come home. I'm giving you my honest opinion, that we will not qualify for Euro 202. I'm giving you football reasons. If you want to discuss math, mrbiaboc (Did I get that right?) is the resident mathematician.

Nah. I wasn't really trying to sell a "point". It's not based on fact. Not once did I sell it as fact, in fairness to me. Honestly, you're saying that I'm being disrespectful to people here, but in actual fact, by suggesting that I'm "lying" on here, you're pretty much saying that there are people here who would believe my "0.002%" thing, therefore, you're saying that there are truly some stupid people here. Try not to be so literal. I mean, if i said that i was "so hungry, i could eat a horse", would you call the RSPCA?

I'm conveying my opinion. I may be exaggerating a tad, but there's a gargantuan difference between exaggerating and lying. If i say that we won't qualify, that's not a lie, simply because it hasnt happened yet. However, in my opinion, we won't qualify. It's akin to my saying that our chances of qualifying are 0.002%, it's not fact, but it's not really a lie, either. It's an exaggeration that's based on my opinion. An opinion, whichevervway you want to look at it, cannot be a lie. If someone did take my 0.002% to be a solid fact, I have some "magic beans" available... Is this playoff a distraction? Yes.

I'm saying, without reservation, we will not qualify for Euro 2020. The maths and facts and figures are irrelevant.

He got busted for drink driving about a month ago.

I get it. I do. Mathematically my predictions arent accurate. Of course they aren't. Realistically, we do have more than a 0.002% chance. But football isn't played on chalkboards and on mathematic equations. It's played on grass. And for that reason, and for the reasons I have given, I'd actually rather see us pull out of the playoffs and focus on the World Cup qualifiers.

I try to turn the ol' noodle on from time to time... Even if some clever clogs goes ahead and proves me wrong. It's actually creating yet another chance for us to screw things up. Sometimes i really think the Universe is out to get Scotland, both in sport and in politics. I honestly don't myself being enthused when the matches come up. These matches are coming up, nothing we can do to avoid it, so I say that we promote as many players from the younger teams as we can... Assuming that they're ready.

I get what you're asking me. I suppose I am plucking a number out of thin air. There's no algorithm or math workings behind it. I truly think there's more chance of a UFO landing on the roof of my nearest RBS branch than Scotland qualifying via the playoffs. If people don't like it? Fine. Don't reply. Put me on ignore. Make a Voodoo doll of me and do horrible things to it, etc.

That. That's our chances of qualifying.

I wasnt being sarcastic. Ok. I'll try another way. Scotland is at it's lowest ebbe, the players are dropping like flies, pulling out of squads and retiring, etc. We have two goalkeepers who play in league one in England. Zero center back worth a damn. No right back. Zero strikers with any semblance of talent. We have zero chance of qualifying. Technically, that's not the case, as the playoffs are still to be played, but for all intents and purposes, we're making up the numbers. If you want a number, fine. Find out the smallest percentage known to human beings. That's our chances.

If you really want a reason why i came up with the number, fine, I'll give it a shot. It's a classic example of Munchhausen's Trilemma: either the reason is predicated on a series of sub-reasons, leading to an infinite regression; or it tracks back to arbitrary axiomatic statements; or it's ultimately circular: i.e., Scotland have 0.001% chance of qualifying because Scotland have a 0.001% chance of qualifying.

No. You claimed that I'm being provocative to start an argument. I'm doing no such thing. I really couldn't care less if no one replies to it.

It's a fair point, but it's either promote the kids, from u17/19/21 level, or continue soldiering on with players that have failed so badly in this campaign. I'd rather lose, and experiment, than lose with the same lot of players. I'm deadly serious when i say that, as a collective and individually, the u17s and u19s are technically far superior to the seniors.

"Pre Madonna" means before the singer was famous. "Primadonna" means a temperamental person.

Trying to provoke an argument? Mate, I'm not arguing about it. That's my opinion. The end.

That isnt even what the argument was about. It was more about my saying that we have pretty much zero percent chance of qualifying. As for the typo, would've been nice if he told me.

No. I got it. Been bone-tired all day. I'd be astonished if it my only grammatically mistake. Yeah, well, i got bored of his "It must be nice being able to look into the future" schtick. Twice he's said it to me, never once have i claimed to be able to look into the future.

Ok. Spotted it. But does the typo really make the sentence imposible to follow? He was being a bore.

I know you like to always put the blame on me, but in this case, spot my mistake.