Judith

I find it incredible that Burke managed to get a contract at Werder Bremen far less get game time with them. No doubt he had raw pace and physicality but he never seemed to really know what to do with it.

He was listening to an interview with the Scotland Captain. Its not to much to expect that any half decent interviewer would have done 5 minutes research and know the difference between Dundee and Dundee United given her subject only played for one if them. Im pretty used to the english disrespecting Scottish football, but the interviewer also disrespected Andy Robertson on this occasion, so the OP has an entirely valid point.

Joe Wark. Had the misfortune to play in the same era as Danny McGrain and Sandy Jardine. (also didnt play for Rangers or Celtic)

Good luck to the lassies tonight. Important night for the womens game in this country. Hope they get the win and the other results go their way and they can avoid the dreaded "inter - continental" play off. The visibility of appearing at a major tournament and the revenue that goes with it cannot be under estimated.

I dont think anyone in our support will be getting carried away when these games arrive. We are in a good place right now, but we are all aware that our squad still has deficiencies. Its not the easiest draw, but its not the most difficult either. As top seeds go, the only one I would have chosen would be Hungary. But thats based purely on fancying a trip to Budapest, as they are flying right now and have a very good recent home record. I wouldnt have chosen Norway as there were easier teams in Pot 3 but Haaland aside, they are far from unbeatable. I also kinda like seeing the Worlds best players coming to Hampden, so we should view it as a privelege to see him play. Pots 4 and 5 are much of a muchness. Im glad we avoided Slovakia, but thats mostly PTSD. I think its an exciting draw and we didnt get Israel or Ukraine again, so its all good.

I beg to differ sir! It was one of the greatest nights of my life! Huge game under the lights. Fantastic performance capped by The Kings glorious finish! PS, I agree that it is no indication of future performance, but you have to dine out on these things!

A fit Souttar would definitely add to the mix. Here's hoping he can break his injury hoodoo......

A top drawer centre back wouldnt go amiss either. I know Hendry and McKenna did well this time around but can we rely on that to continue? Can Porteous be that guy? I had the fear about him before Tuesday night, but he had a very good game....

Almost as daft as us not getting a corner after the decision to award us a penalty was overturned for their guy heading the ball out of play!

Hendry has surprised me by having a very good Scotland camp, to the extent he will probably be considered our first pick RCB next time around. He needs to go back to his club and secure himself first team football and a permanent move to a club who value what he can contribute. If he does that, there is no reason he cant become the reliable centre back we have been looking for.

Great, just what we need, another fullback!

Giben the way he is still playing, I wouldnt be calling the end of Craig Gordons Scotland career anytime soon.....

To be fair, the anti England chants had pretty much disappeared from our "repertoire" for a number of years now. I dont think the younger fans in our support base really cared that much probably due to the fact that the home internationals werent in their consciousness. I think there are a couple of reasons for their re-appearance and that is us having played them competitively a few times recently and the fact that their supporters have felt us worthy of their disdain. Personally, I prefer us singing "Scotland get battered everywhere we go" if we are winning handsomely, as I like the irony of it, but given how piss poor they have been in their Nations League Group, I can see why many found it too good an opportunity to resist. There was a time we were an irrelevance to England fans, and although Id prefer us to get away from measuring ourselves constantly against them, part of me likes the fact that it would irk them big time for us to be in the league above them. Also, if we are both in pot 2 we cant draw them in the qualifiers.

Gonna be really interesting to see what Stevie Clarke chooses to do here. He tends to be quite a conservative manager who is loyal to the players he trusts. But this time round he has been bold enough to not only change formation but take a risk with younger players. Personally, I wouldnt be changing too much. I think we need to keep 4 at the back. The extra man in midfield served us well this week and I will be happy with whoever the manager thinks fits best in that set up. My gut thinks he will go with Gallagher just for his big game experience, but there is no doubt he doesnt have the pace of McKenna and that may count against him. Personally I dont like Porteous, as I think he is rash and prone to diving into silly tackles. Kingsley has more class, but I havent seen enough of him this season to know where his game is at. Taylor is a shoe in for left back. Anyone saying he is a massive downgrade on Tierney obviously hasnt watched him much this season and wasnt paying attention on Saturday night. No doubt a fit Kieran Tierney is the much better player, but that guy wasnt available, even on Saturday. Hickey should play left back if fit and Adams should be a shoe in up front. McTominays place is one Im not overly concerned about. Id prefer him to be available, but I think McLean, Jack and Gilmour are all adequate replacements depending on whether Clarke wants to play on the front foot or be harder to break down. Id go Gordon Hickey Hendry Gallagher Taylor McGregor McLean Fraser McGinn Christie Adams

I could be wrong here as the Nations League rules are pretty confusing, but I think any League A teams who dont qualify as of right get a play off place. Its just most of them generally qualify as of right so its not needed. So being in League A should guarantee a play off. Or am I wrong there?

Stevie Clarke has got more right than wrong imho. Yes he has made mistakes at times with selection and tactics, but Wednesday night showed that he is able to identify those mistakes and make the changes necessary to ensure they dont happen again. He was clearly very hurt by what happened in June and has spent all summer working out how to fix that. I suspect he will have done the same with Ireland and we should see a much improved Scotland again on Saturday night. Whether that will be enough to win the game remains to be seen. But there is no doubt in my mind that Clarke is the right man for the job, and I dont see anyone else being able to get more out of this group of players.

Absolutely this. I want us to scud Ireland and see Ryan Fraser turn Shane Duffy inside out so bad he falls over and greets for his mammy! Dublin hurt really bad. Mostly because we didnt see a performance like that coming. The players owe us one.

Excellent documentary. Great achievement. Especially given that Gunn, Cooper, Black, McPherson, Davies and Black were all unavailable due to the Scottish Cup Final. I think Roxburgh qualifying us for Euro 92 when only 8 teams got to the finals is also a much overlooked achievement 5 of the players from the 82 squad made those finals.

The only reason I can think of is because one of them generally wins the title and the beaks wont want the other mob there for the flag day in case it causes bother?

Thats a fact. I only got to see him up close at the end of his career, but the Cobra was a class act. Him and Dougie Arnott were a great partnership.

McKenna and Souttar would be a problem as they have been our 2 best centre backs this time round. With Cooper already out of the squad you are effectively left with Hanley, Hendry and McTominay. Robertson on his own wouldnt concern me as he needs a rest and Hickey or Taylor should have sufficient quality to cope with Armenia. But to have 3 of our best defenders all out makes things more precarious imho.

Tonight is a huge game fot us given what has gone on the last couple of weeks. I think most of us felt we were making real progress under Steve Clarke. A win keeps us in contention going into the games in September with the prize of a pot 2 draw for the qualifiers proper and the back up of a play off place still in our hands. A draw or a defeat and its over and then real questions over where Clarke and this team are heading would be totally justified. Id actually welcome him freshening the team up, although I am somewhat biased in favour of Campbell and Turnbull. They would certainly bring a freshness and enerfy with them, not to mention Turnbulls considerable goal threat from outside the box. We may need that tonight if Armenia set up the same as they did last week.

Great post.

Not to forget the Tennents beermat collection! 😉

Wow, so despite comprehensively outperforming both Austria and Israel in the World Cup Group (not necessarily in the head to head matches) that has absolutely no influence on the draw for the Euros.....