Judith

IF we can win tonight and beat Cyprus away, qualification is almost certain as Norway would have to beat Spain AND Georgia at home to catch us which further damages both of them. I wouldnt be giving up on points in any of the other games though. There is always the chance we could throw in a stinker at some point and spoil our chances. But equally, where we are just now, we should be targetting topping the group.

I have to agree it wasnt a great look. It was so hot inside the stadium the stewards were handing out bottles of free water to stop fans dehydraring in the heat. It was only a few bottles, but still a pretty poor show to literally throw that back in the stewards faces. The fans down the front did apologise and the head steward acknowledged it, but said if it kept happening they would have to stop handing water out. Thankfully the message seemed to have been "understood" pretty quickly.

I think the team for tomorrow night depends very much on how the players recovery has gone. Very difficult to peak twice in 4 days, especially after playing in that heat on Saturday. Id be all for freshening it up a little to get more legs back into the team, but ulimately, Steve Clarke will be the best judge of that after training today.

Not really in my nature. I do think we was wrong about Clarke last June off the back of what were admittedly 2 very poor results, but my intention wasnt to wind anyone up. Anyway, glad we are all happy campers again. Until tomorrow night at least!

Not long back in the door, so havent had a chance to read back the full thread, but my reading of the game for what its worth. It was very hot in the stadium. The sweat was running down my legs just standing there, so plenty sympathy for the players before we even kicked off as conditions were very difficult. Felt Clarke had instructed to team to play conservatively and be disciplined in their positioning to stop Haaland getting any space to run in behind, but also to conserve energy. There was no way we could have played a high tempo in that heat. As a result we had to concede the majority of possession to them. I didnt think our play on the transistion was as effective as it could have been with McGregor and McTominay having pretty quiet games. But I felt a lot of that was to do with the foregoing, with Hickey in particular appearing quite reluctant to bomb forward in support, leaving them outnumbered in midfield a fair bit. The tactics worked to an extent. It was a game of few chances. They only had 5 all game and only 3 of them were on target, one being the penalty. We had 3 chances, all 3 on target and 2 of them resulting in goals. I felt we were always in the game and were a little better on the ball 2nd half. My one criticism was that when we did go behind it took Clarke quite a while to change it. Felt we should have tried to chase the game a bit more at that point so I would have made the subs earlier, but Ive heard Clarke say he didnt want the game to get away from us and lose another, which could well have happened with Haaland still on the pitch. Overall, got to give Steve Clarke a lot of credit. It may not have been the best performance, but he got the big decisions correct and we got the 3 points we needed that all but eliminate Norway. The team continues to develop, but there is a trust and a bond forming between them the supporters and the manager that we havent experienced in a while.

Sorry. Never meant to upset anyone. I had no idea who the original poster was, far less trying to ridicule them for something posted a year ago. Im havent been a regular poster on here for a number of years, so Im not really up to speed with who posts what. I just happened to be bored one day and was clicking on unread posts and thought it was amusing how much things had changed in a year. Kumnio, please accept my apology.

There is a middle ground where you dont chuck the baby out with yhe bath water!

That we be great! We should have a lot of players hitting a bit of match fitness after a fairly light season. Better position than we were in, in March.....

Not sure what the current status is. If not we have a number of players who can fill in there without upsetting the applecart too much. Jack, Gilmour, Armstrong, Ferguson even Turnbull would all do a job.

Absolutely. Im certainly not travelling over there expecting to get turned over. It will be a tough match. But one we can get a positve result from. A draw suits us more than it suits them. So hopefully that will add a bit of pressure.

Gunn Souttar Porteous Tierney Hickey Robbo McGinn McGregor McTominay Christie Dykes or Adams(if fit)

I think Odegaard needs as much respect going into this game as Haaland. Norway might not be world class all over the pitch. But they are more than a one man team........

Clarke has created a Scotland team we can trust. The Ukraine and Ireland games last year were sore ones. But there were plenty of mitigating factors around those results and the fact that we have bounced back since then won our Nations League group and started our Euro campaign so positively bodes well. Yes, the wheels could come off the bogey again in the upcoming fixtures as nothing can be taken for granted, but if it does we need to learn from last year and be ready to go again in the Autumn. Rome wasnt built in a day, bit this Scotland squad has made huge strides forward under Clarke. Anyone who cant see that has a problem....

This thread aged well! 😆

Who admitted he gave up management as he realised he didnt have the temperament for it......

100% this. The scars of '78 run deep...... 😆

Certainly was the sensible option in Skopje! Problem most fans have though is that most travel on budget airlines with the contents of a rucksack that fits under your seat! Not always room to bring "civvies". In Skopje, I had a pair of white shorts and teainers. Had to go to the nearest tourist stall and by a Macedonia t-shirt! It did the trick, and as you say, the game was pretty shit. But we still had a better exoerience in the shade than the Scotland fans in the official end stood in the blazing sun with no access to water.....

Morelos was a decent player. But he has a stinking attitude and exactly the kinda guy Stevie Clarke wouldnt want near the squad so comparisons are futile. FWIW, I think Dykes would be very good for Rangers, but Id be surprised if they were interested as he isnt the kind of signing likely to get overwhelming approval from their support right now.

I dont doubt many rage about such things. But I do doubt those doing the raging would be those desperate enough to follow Scotland away and buy tickets in the home end because they couldnt get them through the SFA. As long as away fans arent being absolute dicks and trying to noise up the home fans, I really wouldnt have an issue with it and I dont think most who follow Scotland away would....... Been in the away end a few times when I couldnt get tickets. Never had any bother. The most difficult was in Macedonia first time round, but that was because we had to go disguised as Macedonians to get past the police! Thankfully the SFA had got the message out and given us the heads up. Once we were in the ground the Macedonians were brand new. Even met one dressed in Scotland top in a kilt. He had swapped clothes with a Scottish guy he met in a bar as he knew the guy wouldnt get in. When challenged by the police he could obviously speak fluent Macedonian so they had to let him in!

Max is a good player and a very decent prospect, but far too early to say if he is going to be Scotland material. He has done very well thru the Motherwell youth teams and his development was no doubt stunted like so many other young players thru Covid. But he has been farmed out to QoS last season and Cove Rangers this season and has done well enough to be recalled straight into the first team. Since coming baxk he has impressed greatly, but, as is the way with these things, timingnis everything. His contract is up at the end of the season and although he has been offered a new and improved contract at Motherwell, it looks like bigger clubs with more money to offer will win the day. Its a risk for Max, but he will obviously baxk himself to make it wherever he ends up. We will just have to make peace with the development fee.

It was added to counteract the usual comments about how we are going to pay for it, why should a government pay for an upgrade to a national stadium instead of hospitals, teachers et etc. The Scottish Government cant borrow money for these things and Westminster would have no interest in it.

There is safe standing at many of the modern stadia. Celtic Park, Old Trafford, Dortmund. Some are foldaway jobs that can be brought back out, others are just stancheons added to the back of seats to stop you falling over. As said above, the whole of the North Stand at Hampden stands for the entire 90 mins anyway so UEFA/FIFA just turn a blind eye which id absolutely fine by me. I dont think the days of the old terrace are returning, but Hampden could be imprived significantly by just sorting out behind the goals. Suttgart did a similar thing with their bowl.

Id also add, that anyone thinking about moving the national stadium away from Hampden, really beed to get themselves to the museum. Hampdens place in international football history is something that should be cherished, and the main reason we should never move away from the current site. It needs to be recognised as a place of worldwide sporting significance and invested in accordingly. An independent country would ve able to raise the revenues as well as look after their sick and elderly.

As stated above. The problem with Hampdens transport links isnt Hampden, its who runs the transport. Back in the 80s we used to regularly have much bigger crowds and it didnt take anywhere near as long to get back into town. The football specials ran one after another until the crowd was gone. Never once missed the last train home from Central and most games were 8pm kick offs on a Wednesday night. And dont even start on the buses. I stood on Victoria Road for 40 mins after the Cyprus game and still ended up walking back into town. our public (private) transport is a joke. Thats not Hampdens fault.

I think folks need to seperate whether the Viaplay deal is a good one from the over riding point of whether Scotland games should be free for all to watch. Clearly Viaplay payed the most money, so its the best deal for Uefa and the SFA. Also a one off payment of £15 to see 2 games in a month isnt exhorbitant. But this is our national team and if we want the whole country to get behind it we should be doing all we can to make sure that the whole country can see the game. Our big problem is Broadcasting is reserved to Westminster, and regardless of who is in power down there, they dont have any interest in encouraging support for the national team and/or seeking ways that would facilitate a deal with a terrestrial channel. Be interesting to see what comes out of these talks though, at least have the major players around the table is a step forward.