To stay or go?

[Gala Tartan Army (Borders)]

Wee Gordon cost us the playoff place through his obsession with average English Championship and lower Premier League players . His inability to spot a player lacking form , confidence or ability was astonishing . Posters on this board are going on about his meticulous planning and tactical skills, don't make me laugh. When we went 2  1 down there was no plan B , Strachan and McGee just stood there with panic looks and not a clue what to do . It took them another 10mins to get a sub on .

The Strachan apologists are saying that we don't have the players or guys like John McGinn are untested , total rubbish.. McGinn got man of the match against Denmark yet hardly kicked a ball in the campaign. Why was McGregor not used as an impact sub , as Brendan Rogers uses him in Europe?

Dizzy is entitled to his express his blind faith in Strachan but he is so far off the mark that I wonder if he has actually suffered  the last 2 campaigns watching Phillips, Bannon ,S. Fletcher,Hanley, and who was that guy he threw on at right back in Dublin ?                                                                                                     Dizzy is so out of out of touch with reality it makes me wonder if he is really someone at the SFA  using shock jock tactics to gauge the true fieelings of the support. (no offence Dizzy if you're not)

As far as I am concerned Gordon has cost us qualification for two tournaments , we do have some pretty reasonable players but he hasn't picked them . Strachan is a pretty decent guy so I am sure he will walk away in the near future .

 

[Handsome22Devil]

2 hours ago, Auld_Reekie said:

Have no preference either way - open it up to all applicants and pick the best man for the job. Unfortunately, our benchmark for that position is probably different to the SFAs benchmark - they wont be having anyone who's likely to make life awkward for them (which is more likely to be the case if they are not mates with the board and the media). 

On the one hand, I'd sooner bring in an outsider but feel the media would be very quick to turn on him. On the other, we go Scottish and we're likely to get a Yes man who's inferior to Strachan. I doubt there's any Scottish manager worth his salt who'd be willing to take on the national team at a stage in their career where it disrupts their progress at club - the odds are stacked hugely against the national manager so it really needs to be someone who has nothing to lose and nothing to prove. Role was perfect for Strachan and if he goes, I don't see any decent Scottish managers who might be tempted being good enough for the role. 

Best hope we have of success is spreading the net as far and as wide as possible and hoping theirs a manager out there who thrives on a massive challenge like us. 

This sums up my position almost entirely.

For perspective, we're giving serious thought to sacking a manager after our best qualifying campaign in a decade and - apparently - our best run of form since the 1990s because we missed a play-off virtually no one thought we could make by one goal/point. Someone like McInnes would be beyond mental to leave Aberdeen and his seemingly safe path to England to bet his reputation on Scotland.

Strachan has made plenty of mistakes but some of the elevating of the non-picked players in this situation is ridiculous. I expected to see John McGinn on the Ballon d'Or shortlist from reading some comments and it's completely forgotten Griffiths couldn't hit a barn door for Scotland prior to June - he missed a gimmie v Lithuania, a one v one in Slovakia and an open goal against Slovenia.

Oh, and it's also almost universally acknowledged we do not have a single proven centre-back good enough for the level we wish to play at.

So by all means weigh up the pros and cons and if you decide Strachan should go, fair do's...but the case is not nearly as clear cut as many suggest. And I'd ask what gives you any confidence at all the SFA will pick the right man this time rather than another Burley or Levein? This is a group who ignored Lagerback - a man whose CV was dominated by finals reached with a modest country - for a guy whose career highlight was par performances with Hearts and Dundee United...

After the blow of being knocked out, the cry can always be made for change because it can't get any worse - and I did that myself under the last two jokers - but it can.

One thing for certain, it's going to be a long 11 months.

[Ormond]

21 minutes ago, Gala Tartan Army (Borders) said:

Wee Gordon cost us the playoff place through his obsession with average English Championship and lower Premier League players . His inability to spot a player lacking form , confidence or ability was astonishing . Posters on this board are going on about his meticulous planning and tactical skills, don't make me laugh. When we went 2  1 down there was no plan B , Strachan and McGee just stood there with panic looks and not a clue what to do . It took them another 10mins to get a sub on .

The Strachan apologists are saying that we don't have the players or guys like John McGinn are untested , total rubbish.. McGinn got man of the match against Denmark yet hardly kicked a ball in the campaign. Why was McGregor not used as an impact sub , as Brendan Rogers uses him in Europe?

Dizzy is entitled to his express his blind faith in Strachan but he is so far off the mark that I wonder if he has actually suffered  the last 2 campaigns watching Phillips, Bannon ,S. Fletcher,Hanley, and who was that guy he threw on at right back in Dublin ?                                                                                                     Dizzy is so out of out of touch with reality it makes me wonder if he is really someone at the SFA  using shock jock tactics to gauge the true fieelings of the support. (no offence Dizzy if you're not)

As far as I am concerned Gordon has cost us qualification for two tournaments , we do have some pretty reasonable players but he hasn't picked them . Strachan is a pretty decent guy so I am sure he will walk away in the near future .

 

Brilliant post.

[DizzyVizion]

7 hours ago, DizzyVizion said:

I guarantee I'm neither Hun nor Tim!

No offence to either religion.

 

Just covering my back in case someone thinks I was trying to imply something sinister 

[Parklife]

37 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

This sums up my position almost entirely.

For perspective, we're giving serious thought to sacking a manager after our best qualifying campaign in a decade and - apparently - our best run of form since the 1990s because we missed a play-off virtually no one thought we could make by one goal/point.

Sorry, who thought we couldn't make this play-off? If we don't believe we can compete with Slovenia and Slovakia then we're as well giving up hope of ever qualifying for anything again. They're both sides around our level IMO. Do you really think we couldn't make the play-offs from this group? 

Some people thought we had no chance of a play-off after Strachan steered us to a lucky home draw against the side ranked 120th in the world and got skelped 3-0 from one of our rivals for second place. 

Quote

Strachan has made plenty of mistakes but some of the elevating of the non-picked players in this situation is ridiculous. I expected to see John McGinn on the Ballon d'Or shortlist from reading some comments

Really? I suggest you need to work on your reading and understanding skills then. As i've not seen anyone say anything stronger than McGinn was a better option than Barry Bannan, due to his excellent current form and increased physical attributes. 

Can you show me where people are saying John McGinn is a superstar please? 

Quote

and it's completely forgotten Griffiths couldn't hit a barn door for Scotland prior to June - he missed a gimmie v Lithuania, a one v one in Slovakia and an open goal against Slovenia.

Strachan overlooked Griffiths for a considerable period, when he was clearly performing better than any Scotland striker at club level. He came out with nonsense like Griffiths is too wee (mind that?) and persisted with the deadly duo of Martin and Fletcher ahead of LG in the pecking order. Will we go back and highlight every chance these guys have missed? Since being shown a bit of faith in Griffiths has scored 4 and set up 3 goals in 6 games. 

Quote

Oh, and it's also almost universally acknowledged we do not have a single proven centre-back good enough for the level we wish to play at.

It's an area we're lacking, no doubt. There's no excuse for the pathetically poor organisation from set-pieces on Sunday though. 

 

[Handsome22Devil]

1 minute ago, Parklife said:

Sorry, who thought we couldn't make this play-off? If we don't believe we can compete with Slovenia and Slovakia then we're as well giving up hope of ever qualifying for anything again. They're both sides around our level IMO. Do you really think we couldn't make the play-offs from this group? 

Some people thought we had no chance of a play-off after Strachan steered us to a lucky home draw against the side ranked 120th in the world and got skelped 3-0 from one of our rivals for second place. 

Really? I suggest you need to work on your reading and understanding skills then. As i've not seen anyone say anything stronger than McGinn was a better option than Barry Bannan, due to his excellent current form and increased physical attributes. 

Can you show me where people are saying John McGinn is a superstar please? 

Strachan overlooked Griffiths for a considerable period, when he was clearly performing better than any Scotland striker at club level. He came out with nonsense like Griffiths is too wee (mind that?) and persisted with the deadly duo of Martin and Fletcher ahead of LG in the pecking order. Will we go back and highlight every chance these guys have missed? Since being shown a bit of faith in Griffiths has scored 4 and set up 3 goals in 6 games. 

It's an area we're lacking, no doubt. There's no excuse for the pathetically poor organisation from set-pieces on Sunday though. 

 

I really didn't think we'd make it...why on earth would you? We'd just finished fourth in Euro qualifying and were up against a Slovakia squad which reached the last 16 having beaten Spain, Russia and drawn with England. They have a centre-half with 200-plus games for Liverpool, a world class guy on the verge of becoming Napoli's top-scorer and various other players from Serie A, the Bundesliga and now a bloke in La Liga. You honestly thought we were likely to finish ahead of them?

McGinn may or may not have been better than Bannon (and like you I'd have started him) but it was a marginal call, one of dozens made over the course of a campaign...and Martin's goal against Slovenia in March kept us alive after Griffiths started and missed an almost empty net. Time and time again we build up the players not playing because we have so many interchangable average faces...remember the incessant demand for Fletcher to replace Miller? Then he gets ditched and the demand is for someone else...there will no doubt be someone called upon to replace Griffiths shortly which will work everyone up into a frenzy for a few months again.

[Ally Bongo]

For the last 10 years, even before, something happens when Scotland go away from home against "lesser" nations

It's as if they smell the fvcking fear from us the minute we walk onto the park

This doesnt seem to affect the other home nations 

We give them far too much respect - get out there and kick them off the fvcking park if thats what it takes to wipe their confidence away  

Everyone in Europe must be praying that they draw Scotland in a qualifying campaign 

Fvcking powder puff baw bags 

[Parklife]

12 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

I really didn't think we'd make it...why on earth would you? We'd just finished fourth in Euro qualifying and were up against a Slovakia squad which reached the last 16 having beaten Spain, Russia and drawn with England. They have a centre-half with 200-plus games for Liverpool, a world class guy on the verge of becoming Napoli's top-scorer and various other players from Serie A, the Bundesliga and now a bloke in La Liga. You honestly thought we were likely to finish ahead of them?

We have various players in the EPL, which is stronger than Serie A. And the Slovak boy at Celta has looked honking in his first few games  You're doing the classic Scottish thing of running down our players and bumming up an opponents. 

Slovakia are and were a decent side, however, personnel wise they are no better than us. Hamsik is a class act who can be a difference maker but beyond that, they're as average as us. Us, Slovenia and them are much of a muchness. I think that was the view of most before the group begun and so it has proved. To say "virtually no one" gave us a chance is re-writing history. 

12 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

McGinn may or may not have been better than Bannon (and like you I'd have started him) but it was a marginal call, one of dozens made over the course of a campaign

That may be so. However, the option Strachan chose did not work out. We'll never know is selecting McGinn or McGregor would've yielded a positive result on Sunday. 

12 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

...and Martin's goal against Slovenia in March kept us alive after Griffiths started and missed an almost empty net. Time and time again we build up the players not playing because we have so many interchangable average faces...remember the incessant demand for Fletcher to replace Miller? Then he gets ditched and the demand is for someone else...there will no doubt be someone called upon to replace Griffiths shortly which will work everyone up into a frenzy for a few months again.

Doubt it, to be honest. Griffiths is head and shoulders above any other forward we have. For the record, Martin hasn't scored since that goal vs Slovenia... 

[DizzyVizion]

1 hour ago, Ormond said:

Brilliant post.

Well, I did say I was just trying to bring some balance to the force.

Of course he's made some bad decisions, but good ones too.

I just don't feel that the situation is so desperate that we need to change our manager. I'd like him to continue with the improvements he's made. And to correct his errors too.

No offence taken - I'm not an employee of the SFA. Just another long suffering victim of the SFA.

 

[Handsome22Devil]

9 minutes ago, Parklife said:

We have various players in the EPL, which is stronger than Serie A. And the Slovak boy at Celta has looked honking in his first few games  You're doing the classic Scottish thing of running down our players and bumming up an opponents. 

Slovakia are and were a decent side, however, personnel wise they are no better than us. Hamsik is a class act who can be a difference maker but beyond that, they're as average as us. Us, Slovenia and them are much of a muchness. I think that was the view of most before the group begun and so it has proved. To say "virtually no one" gave us a chance is re-writing history. 

Fairynuff, in contrast I'd say you're doing the classic Scottish thing of believing Sky's marketing of the Premier League, outside the top clubs it's complete dross. On technical ability I would take average Bundesliga players over average EPL players for our international team any day of the week.

Slovakia are no better than us if you ignore all the evidence which says they're better than us. Righto.

[Parklife]

12 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

Fairynuff, in contrast I'd say you're doing the classic Scottish thing of believing Sky's marketing of the Premier League, outside the top clubs it's complete dross. On technical ability I would take average Bundesliga players over average EPL players for our international team any day of the week.

 Well. that's the first time anyone has ever said that to me. Certainly not something i can ever be accused of. However, when you're trying to imply Slovakia have better players in us because some of them play in Serie A, it's only logical i'd point out that we have plenty players who play in a stronger league. 

Quote

Slovakia are no better than us if you ignore all the evidence which says they're better than us. Righto.

We beat them 5 days ago, mate. Did you miss that "evidence"? We also finished level on points in the group with them. How about that "evidence"? They're about the same level as us. 

[Mox]

59 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

I really didn't think we'd make it...why on earth would you? We'd just finished fourth in Euro qualifying and were up against a Slovakia squad which reached the last 16 having beaten Spain, Russia and drawn with England. They have a centre-half with 200-plus games for Liverpool, a world class guy on the verge of becoming Napoli's top-scorer and various other players from Serie A, the Bundesliga and now a bloke in La Liga. You honestly thought we were likely to finish ahead of them?

McGinn may or may not have been better than Bannon (and like you I'd have started him) but it was a marginal call, one of dozens made over the course of a campaign...and Martin's goal against Slovenia in March kept us alive after Griffiths started and missed an almost empty net. Time and time again we build up the players not playing because we have so many interchangable average faces...remember the incessant demand for Fletcher to replace Miller? Then he gets ditched and the demand is for someone else...there will no doubt be someone called upon to replace Griffiths shortly which will work everyone up into a frenzy for a few months again.

The fact is Bannan has played and failed at this level time and again and yet he, like many others who have started this campaign are rewarded with extra caps for consistent failure in previous qualifying groups. If it is a marginal call as you say, then a good manager, one with courage and belief, would start someone who has never played at this level and with everything to prove rather than someone who has failed over and over.  We continually reward failure, it is unacceptable and should stop now.

[Handsome22Devil]

1 minute ago, Parklife said:

 Well. that's the first time anyone has ever said that to me. Certainly not something i can ever be accused of. However, when you're trying to imply Slovakia have better players in us because some of them play in Serie A, it's only logical i'd point out that we have plenty players who play in a stronger league. 

We beat them 5 days ago, mate. Did you miss that "evidence"? We also finished level on points in the group with them. How about that "evidence"? They're about the same level as us. 

The strength of England is achieved by a handful of teams spending hundreds of millions...those below are technically inferior to the equivalent elsewhere. If I could bestow Scottish nationality on any random from the middle of the pack in these countries, an EPL player would be a bad choice.

I absolutely did not miss that narrow win over 10 men but if you're adding up evidence it's somewhat outweighed by the absolute skull- we got over there and the respective Euro 2016 campaigns. And the minor fact they finished above us, should you wish to count this year - though that's getting away from the fact we started on why I thought they'd finish above us at the start of the campaign.

[Parklife]

5 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

The strength of England is achieved by a handful of teams spending hundreds of millions...those below are technically inferior to the equivalent elsewhere. If I could bestow Scottish nationality on any random from the middle of the pack in these countries, an EPL player would be a bad choice.

English teams are stronger than Serie A teams, it's been shown in European competition over the last few years. 

5 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

I absolutely did not miss that narrow win over 10 men but if you're adding up evidence it's somewhat outweighed by the absolute skull- we got over there and the respective Euro 2016 campaigns. And the minor fact they finished above us, should you wish to count this year - though that's getting away from the fact we started on why I thought they'd finish above us at the start of the campaign.

1 win a piece in head to heads and equal on points. Looks like two pretty closely matched teams to me. 

Your initial point wasn't that you thought they'd finish above is. It was that "virtually no one" thought we could get a play-off spot. You've now changed to you didn't think we would. Two completely different points. 

[Handsome22Devil]

9 minutes ago, Mox said:

The fact is Bannan has played and failed at this level time and again and yet he, like many others who have started this campaign are rewarded with extra caps for consistent failure in previous qualifying groups. If it is a marginal call as you say, then a good manager, one with courage and belief, would start someone who has never played at this level and with everything to prove rather than someone who has failed over and over.  We continually reward failure, it is unacceptable and should stop now.

A good manager would definitely do that if he was sure the newcomer was better. Sadly the chances of us attracting and picking a manager that good is 50-50 and there's no guarantee the newcomer would succeed in proving anything...

Anyway, it's been a fun way to kill a boring afternoon at work...laters guys.

[andyD]

17 minutes ago, Mox said:

The fact is Bannan has played and failed at this level time and again and yet he, like many others who have started this campaign are rewarded with extra caps for consistent failure in previous qualifying groups. If it is a marginal call as you say, then a good manager, one with courage and belief, would start someone who has never played at this level and with everything to prove rather than someone who has failed over and over.  We continually reward failure, it is unacceptable and should stop now.

Using your logic, we should never cap anyone who's ever been capped.

Caps should go to those who merit them and can make up a cohesive team. Bannan got thrown in for the last two games due to injuries and was probably out best midfielder in both games. He may not be a first choice going forward, but he ceratinly didn't disgrace himself (as imo Fletcher and, to a slightly lesser extent, McArthur did). I'm slightly confused how you can level a 'not good enough', 'repeatedly failed' accusation solely at Bannan, but not at the two other guys who played who have been central to the team for the last few years. It makes you just come off like you've got an agenda and therefore your point kinda gets lost.

[Mox]

2 minutes ago, andyD said:

Using your logic, we should never cap anyone who's ever been capped.

Caps should go to those who merit them and can make up a cohesive team. Bannan got thrown in for the last two games due to injuries and was probably out best midfielder in both games. He may not be a first choice going forward, but he ceratinly didn't disgrace himself (as imo Fletcher and, to a slightly lesser extent, McArthur did). I'm slightly confused how you can level a 'not good enough', 'repeatedly failed' accusation solely at Bannan, but not at the two other guys who played who have been central to the team for the last few years. It makes you just come off like you've got an agenda and therefore your point kinda gets lost.

I clearly said he and many others like him and I used him as an example as he was being discussed. Never the less, he and countless others that made up the 22 against Slovakia have been rewarded with caps again and again despite continual mediocrity, that is not conducive to success. As for your first line, I dont know how you reached that conclusion.

[andyD]

1 minute ago, Mox said:

I clearly said he and many others like him and I used him as an example as he was being discussed. Never the less, he and countless others that made up the 22 against Slovakia have been rewarded with caps again and again despite continual mediocrity, that is not conducive to success. As for your first line, I dont know how you reached that conclusion.

Bannan wasn't mediocre. Across the two games he was actually quite lively, used the ball well, maintained position, took pressure off instead of putting it on those around him and looked to move it forward. Which is largely the opposite of what Fletcher and McArthur did.

But let's review who in the squad has not been consistently mediocre.

Gordon's solid enough.
Tierney, as a right back is incredibly limited and destroys any ability to attack down the right as he can't overlap.
Berra has been horrific at times and so despite playing ok right now probably still falls into the bracket.
Mulgrew's done ok, but not spectacular.
Robertson was pretty average on Sunday.
Phillips, looks promising against poor opposition but most of his caps have been poor.
Fletcher was rubbish on sunday, passable on Thursday, but Captain of the failure team for years and years.
McArthur, the definition of mediocre. Generally poor and hurried in possession, poor passing. Laboured is the word.
Bannan, one of very few with energy on Sunday. but over all his caps, probably under par.
Martin.. scored/forced some vital goals.. but overall hasnt performed well.
Griff.. suddenly discoevered where the goal is, but his first dozen caps were terrible. Shouldn't be there now due to being well worse than mediocre for a couple of years.

Anya has little end product, tho he works hard. Sometimes 'gets lucky'.
Forrest, better lately, but like Griff had years of being very average.
I can go on, basically the entier squad. No one has really covered themselves in glory.

It's probably easier to go with those who've been at least a little better than mediocre over their piece..
Gordon. Tierney. Roberston. Armstrong. Maybe Paterson.

Not much of a squad, is it.
 

[Mox]

1 hour ago, andyD said:

Bannan wasn't mediocre. Across the two games he was actually quite lively, used the ball well, maintained position, took pressure off instead of putting it on those around him and looked to move it forward. Which is largely the opposite of what Fletcher and McArthur did.

But let's review who in the squad has not been consistently mediocre.

Gordon's solid enough.
Tierney, as a right back is incredibly limited and destroys any ability to attack down the right as he can't overlap.
Berra has been horrific at times and so despite playing ok right now probably still falls into the bracket.
Mulgrew's done ok, but not spectacular.
Robertson was pretty average on Sunday.
Phillips, looks promising against poor opposition but most of his caps have been poor.
Fletcher was rubbish on sunday, passable on Thursday, but Captain of the failure team for years and years.
McArthur, the definition of mediocre. Generally poor and hurried in possession, poor passing. Laboured is the word.
Bannan, one of very few with energy on Sunday. but over all his caps, probably under par.
Martin.. scored/forced some vital goals.. but overall hasnt performed well.
Griff.. suddenly discoevered where the goal is, but his first dozen caps were terrible. Shouldn't be there now due to being well worse than mediocre for a couple of years.

Anya has little end product, tho he works hard. Sometimes 'gets lucky'.
Forrest, better lately, but like Griff had years of being very average.
I can go on, basically the entier squad. No one has really covered themselves in glory.

It's probably easier to go with those who've been at least a little better than mediocre over their piece..
Gordon. Tierney. Roberston. Armstrong. Maybe Paterson.

Not much of a squad, is it.
 

Just had a quick glance at Whoscored.com, who compile pretty detailed statistics for club and international football. They have Bannan as having completed 2 key passes over the last two games, completed two dribbles over the two games and had four shots over the two games with zero on target.

In addition, his pass completion rate in game 1 was 81% which was 9th best out of the 14 players that played and 75% in game two, which was the 5th best, so the stats quite clearly back up that he was mediocre. I don't intend to pick on him, but he and numerous others should not be involved in another Scotland squad going forward, they are utterly chronic and bring nothing to the table.

[Auld_Reekie]

On the subject of Griffiths, I dont think it's any coincidence that his better form coincided with us being left with no option but to be more adventurous and attacking in games. More generally, we look like actually winning games when we attack teams and we look like we could get pumped when we sit back and cower.

There's a lesson in there for Strachan if he wants to stay on: go out and try to win games. Pick fit, attacking players and go for the win. As others have mentioned, it all stems from having little confidence in the players at his disposal but when he asked them to attack they surprised us all.

I'd bin more than half the squad, but if I was looking to compromise, I'd bin some of the defensive midfielders first (or those that havent performed) and stick attacking midfielders in their place. Morrison, McArthur, Bannon, Anya, Phillips, Ritchie can all be told thanks but not thanks, and likewise Fletcher although I'd say he still make a good squad player. Same for strikers: Martin and Steven Fletcher have had their day.

[Barney Rubble]

Crashed back through the door from Ljubljana an hour ago, and this thread has been an entertaining read and a half.

Here's my take on it - inability to defend dead balls has cost us and then some (2 v England and 2 v Slovenia............and don't get me started on the second goal in Trnava which came from our own corner). Formations don't affect your ability to defend properly, because when you are defending a dead ball the formation doesn't enter into it. The ability to mark opponents does, and that is fundamental to defending when your team does not have possession.

I get the hurt that we are all feeling right now. ~But have we been going in the right direction lately? Yes.

I've not read one serious....and I mean serious....alternative to WGS on this thread..

[fringo]

6 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

Crashed back through the door from Ljubljana an hour ago, and this thread has been an entertaining read and a half.

Here's my take on it - inability to defend dead balls has cost us and then some (2 v England and 2 v Slovenia............and don't get me started on the second goal in Trnava which came from our own corner). Formations don't affect your ability to defend properly, because when you are defending a dead ball the formation doesn't enter into it. The ability to mark opponents does, and that is fundamental to defending when your team does not have possession.

I get the hurt that we are all feeling right now. ~But have we been going in the right direction lately? Yes.

I've not read one serious....and I mean serious....alternative to WGS on this thread..

Surely Big Sam ?! 

It would also solve Wee Gordon's genetics problem - get a bigger manager.

[Caledonian Craig]

7 minutes ago, fringo said:

Surely Big Sam ?! 

It would also solve Wee Gordon's genetics problem - get a bigger manager.

I don't think Gordon was talking about big girths though.

[fringo]

1 minute ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I don't think Gordon was talking about big girths though.

It would beautifully poetic if we went from our manager being Wee Gordon to Big Sam.

 

[AustroSchotte]

I think it was logical against Slovakia Strachan put Griffiths and Mcginn on and we had a spark in that game albeit 3 down at least we started to compete in that game..he reverted on Sunday to Bannan and Fletcher that failed miserably in that 3-0 game..yet chose them to start our biggest game in years..knowing what happened in Slovakia surely you would know not to start those 2 players (that got totally over run in Slovakia)best.alter it a bit....i could not believe we never saw Mcginn or Macgregor on the field the energy and boost they would have brought to the field would have rubbed of on the rest of the team (Just look at the debutant Welsh boy). It was needed to get us over the line and Strachan again did not deliver..it was back to the Strachan 'favourites' show that got us nowhere earlier in the campaign. he shoved on Enya and Martin at Hampden and got a lucky late goal..which just delayed the exit process.

Auf Wiedersehen Strach...hello Lennon !