Mexico-Scotland

[Squirrelhumper]

14 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Either way we are still playing diddies regardless of what league they are in wether thats English championship, league 1 or spl.

We've been playing diddies for 20 years.

I'm happy to give these guys a chance without talking them down  Tbe players they replaced have been perennial failures for Scotland too.

[Squirrelhumper]

9 minutes ago, PASTA Mick said:

SOD performed better against Mexico than he did against Peru. I was disappointed with his crosses though, mainly because of how much you went on about them.

He's actually one of the few new caps that might earn a few more. Mainly because of our lack of options but last night did him no harm. 

Aye his crossing is usually much better. That said....never had much to aim at!

[er yir macaroon]

57 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Surely we can tell that from the fact none of the Scottish teams reach the group stages of the EL league. Only McKenna is worthy (even that's debatable)from the spl tryouts and I could probably of told you that without having them play against Peru and Mexico. Another point is why was Burke not taken. Fair enough it's been nice to see him perform well in the Toulon Tournament but it would of much better to have him in the main squad getting experience against top opposition. I suppose given the call offs we were forced to play spl players but reality is very few are good enough for international football and I very much hope that we return to the core of Celtic players plus fraser, Robertson and cairney.

Burke is better off playing tournament football with Gilmour. I see the Record were trying to do a bit of a hatchet job on him today. He hasn’t given interviews to the press and they’re in the huff, but he did do an interview for the SFA and was quite chipper. His body language does look questionable at times but if he keeps scoring, that’s fine.

[Toepoke]

Intriguing response to that Chris McLaughlin tweet...

"Looks like the Scottish Freemasons Association played a blinder. Sending players the other side of the planet. In difficult conditions. And we know it was a ploy with Celtics 8 qualifiers coming up. It didn't work out the way the masons wanted it. Did it?"

[Brassrubber]

On the bright side the brigadoon brigade got to wear their feathers in 2 new stadiums 

[mccaughey85]

5 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

Burke is better off playing tournament football with Gilmour. I see the Record were trying to do a bit of a hatchet job on him today. He hasn’t given interviews to the press and they’re in the huff, but he did do an interview for the SFA and was quite chipper. His body language does look questionable at times but if he keeps scoring, that’s fine.

I would say he's better off in the main squad, its better preparation for when he's there in a years time anyway and I would of fancied him to produce some magic in the two games more than the attacking players we have. I also read that article in the daily record, it was a load of rubbish, the guy is right to shun the media and concentrate on scoring goals and performing like he has done. Admittedly he does seem huffy at times but I think that's due to having a winning mentality(Andy Murray gets the same crap thrown at him) and also I don't think he likes playing in the u21s especially after being in the main squad which tbf is understandable. He's turned up and put in the performances which is all that matters.

[Mox]

45 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

One thing id say is that this group at least looked like they cared. They all sang the anthem for starters. 

Not this again, seriously? 

[er yir macaroon]

20 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

I would say he's better off in the main squad, its better preparation for when he's there in a years time anyway and I would of fancied him to produce some magic in the two games more than the attacking players we have. I also read that article in the daily record, it was a load of rubbish, the guy is right to shun the media and concentrate on scoring goals and performing like he has done. Admittedly he does seem huffy at times but I think that's due to having a winning mentality(Andy Murray gets the same crap thrown at him) and also I don't think he likes playing in the u21s especially after being in the main squad which tbf is understandable. He's turned up and put in the performances which is all that matters.

I think he’ll learn more playing knock-out football, and to be honest, the u21s would probably beat the Scotland C team.

[andyD]

Main points from the game for me..

O'Donnell.. was decent enough going forward again, linked up well down the right. Did get caught out a bit defensively a few times, but it's a new back line in each half, with defenders and keepers he's never played with. Don't think he did that badly over the piece, and we have no back up for paterson at right back, so he probably should be in future squads till a better right back emerges.

Shinnie.. looked ok. I think he looked better in defensive mid for the last bit against Peru, and for me he's got to be considered for a call up to future squads in that position. commentator seemed to give him stick for not marking both his man and christie's man.. crazy expectation.

Hendy & McKenna.. looked alright. McKenna the better of the two, but i think that was just Hendry being a bit over excited.

Christie.. surprisingly poor. quite static. gave the ball away a lot. a good way off being called up again on this showing.

Russell.. probably the stand out. his workrate give the conditions was incredible. Got up and down like a crazy man and was out main threat. shame he slipped when he did. Got to be in with a shout in future squads.

mcburnie.. pretty thankless task. 36% possession and a lot of the balls up to him were just hoofed 30 yards from where he was standing. ran a lot, but couldn't make a massive impact. unlucky with the header.

mclean.. after being poor on the right against peru he got a game in the middle.. and was worse. anonymous offensively and defensively and looked like a stroppy kid from the first 10 minutes onwards. can't see how he helps morale with that attitude. Hope we don't see him against for a good long while.

mcgeough.. looked ok when under no pressure, rolling the ball from one centerback to the other.. but other than that had a shocker. so many stupid decisions. giving the ball away right infront of the defense. muscled off it at will. trying things he shouldn't do. he's actually responsible for the 1st goal. as he runs past his man, leaving him open, meaning hendry hs to come across, leaving his own man who then scores. it was just embarassing tbh. absolutely no place for him in football at this level.

mcginn.. came on and didn't look good again. seems to try and do it all himself a lot and ends up giving it away in dangerous areas. much like the peru game. can't see him being near the squad on merit after these two games either.

McLeish.. was just plain stupid. Against Peru, at normal altitude and 15C, we set out to stand off and contain, with 10 men behind the ball at all times. at 2000m with high temp and humidity, he decided we should play a high tempo pressing game. fair play to russell for doing the amount of running he did, but it clearly had an effect on everyone else. After the match Shinnie said he'd felt like he was swallowing sand. Why we didnt play pressing against peru and contain against mexico i dont know. that would have suited the conditions. Seemed like just a stupid call from mcleish, especially for a final end of season friendly. Other than that, disappointed we didnt get more of a look at morgan, after he looked dangerous in his cameo against peru.. and worried about the persistence with mcgeough in an anchor role, given he was dire for the entire of the two games. if he's included in future squads we might as well just give up now.