Belgium Match Thread (07/09/2018)

[Lairdyfaeinverclyde]

1 hour ago, vanderark14 said:

A lot of OTT reactions on here which in some cases is understandable. losing 4-0 at home will always have emotions running high but some of the posts just show people up for the arseholes they are.

i was initially pleased when I saw this starting 11 and I thought we started brightly. A lack of concentration kicked in for every goal but in my opinion these mistakes can be ironed out. Belgium are at their peak right now and we are trying out new things, that’s no excuse for a lack of concentration. 

As much as I didn’t want Mcliesh as manager I don’t think now is the right time to sack him. Of course I could completely change my mind on Monday if things don’t improve. I actually think we will beat Albania as long as McGregor is in goals, he will give the back line more confidence. I was happy with either keeper till last night. 

I think we Need to keep calm for now till we see how the nations league goes. That team last night has potential in my opinion.

oh and pining for Scott Brown after a few friendlies is beyond knee jerk. We have to move on from the old failed guard. Brown was a good players for us but he’s gone.

 

 

Why do you need to be abusive to 'certain people'?  People on here have the right to post what they feel and believe. What makes your opinion correct? Calling people 'arseholes' grow up.

[Toepoke]

The speed the Belgians cut us apart at was frightening.  Football from another planet.  Fair play to them for producing players of such quality.

 

[Barney Rubble]

13 minutes ago, Lairdyfaeinverclyde said:

Why do you need to be abusive to 'certain people'?  People on here have the right to post what they feel and believe. What makes your opinion correct? Calling people 'arseholes' grow up.

Excellent post.

[Bino's]

8 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

The speed the Belgians cut us apart at was frightening.  Football from another planet.  Fair play to them for producing players of such quality.

 

Shame on us for making no attempt to do so

[er yir macaroon]

8 hours ago, giblet said:

In the North? Feck me, it must be bad.

There were quite a few border line neds in attendance. Maybe that had something to do with it. 

[vanderark14]

1 hour ago, Malcolm said:

 

Brown is a class above our central midfield but yes, no use crying over spilt milk.   Also, why is bardsley not in the squad - our best right back?

Moving on from the failed old guard to a team of journeymen and Andy Robertson.

 

 

 

No idea why Bardsley is not there, could it be he doesn't give a fuck?

Journeymen? Like who?

[vanderark14]

40 minutes ago, Lairdyfaeinverclyde said:

Why do you need to be abusive to 'certain people'?  People on here have the right to post what they feel and believe. What makes your opinion correct? Calling people 'arseholes' grow up.

 

40 minutes ago, Lairdyfaeinverclyde said:

Why do you need to be abusive to 'certain people'?  People on here have the right to post what they feel and believe. What makes your opinion correct? Calling people 'arseholes' grow up.

 

25 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

Excellent post.

Get off your high horse you two. My post was really aimed at one person, the one who continues to post about the manager allegedly being an alcoholic. 

[Lairdyfaeinverclyde]

1 minute ago, vanderark14 said:

 

 

Get off your high horse you two. My post was really aimed at one person, the one who continues to post about the manager allegedly being an alcoholic. 

Maybe you should of made that clearer. You did put an 's' at the end of arseholes, that means more than one?

[Barney Rubble]

1 minute ago, vanderark14 said:

 

 

Get off your high horse you two. My post was really aimed at one person, the one who continues to post about the manager allegedly being an alcoholic. 

The only person who's on a horse here is you VDA.

If your post was aimed at one person then why did you phrase it as a general dig?

You dole out plenty on this forum, and most of it is generally well aimed. Unfortunately your delivery was wrong on this occasion and you've quite properly been called out on it.

[runningtings]

Bardsley isn't in the squad as he isn't Scottish and no longer needs to kid on he is to improve his CV as he is at the end of his career.

Edited September 8, 2018 by runningtings

[vanderark14]

Just now, Barney Rubble said:

The only person who's on a horse here is you VDA.

If your post was aimed at one person then why did you phrase it as a general dig?

You dole out plenty on this forum, and most of it is generally well aimed. Unfortunately your delivery was wrong on this occasion and you've quite properly been called out on it.

 I didn't realise you were the board police now you sanctimonious prick. 

I'd stay off the non ta section from now on if this has got you all hot under the collar

5 minutes ago, Lairdyfaeinverclyde said:

Maybe you should of made that clearer. You did put an 's' at the end of arseholes, that means more than one?

you're right, I should have made it clearer and happy to apologise to you since you didn't have  go like the twat above you.

 

 

[Lairdyfaeinverclyde]

16 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

 I didn't realise you were the board police now you sanctimonious prick. 

I'd stay off the non ta section from now on if this has got you all hot under the collar

you're right, I should have made it clearer and happy to apologise to you since you didn't have  go like the twat above you.

 

 

No problem, have a good day.

[Alan]

2 hours ago, ParisInAKilt said:

Glad I never bothered watching this. Stupid fixture to have before a competitive game. 

A football quisling.

[Malcolm]

34 minutes ago, runningtings said:

Bardsley isn't in the squad as he isn't Scottish and no longer needs to kid on he is to improve his CV as he is at the end of his career.

He is Scottish... he’s played for us before...

[vanderark14]

2 hours ago, ParisInAKilt said:

Glad I never bothered watching this. Stupid fixture to have before a competitive game. 

I read elsewhere we had to play a fixture and there wasn't much options to pick from, the choice was all top tier teams. I've no idea whether this is accurate but the guy who posted it elsewhere apparently works for BBC. 

[PASTA Mick]

Just now, vanderark14 said:

I read elsewhere we had to play a fixture and there wasn't much options to pick from, the choice was all top tier teams. I've no idea whether this is accurate but the guy who posted it elsewhere apparently works for BBC. 

We did have to play a fixture. Our options were limited from within UEFA as we could only play a team from A or B that didn't have a fixture scheduled, and were willing to play on the Friday.

However, we were slow off the mark and by the time we did arrange the fixture there were very few other options from within UEFA.

We could have arranged something against a team from outside UEFA. 

[ParisInAKilt]

20 minutes ago, Alan said:

A football quisling.

 I was out in Manchester

[bazmidd]

I don't see what the fuss is about playing Belgium in a friendly. Sure it's not great getting humped 4 nil in a friendly but at least these young lads have got a chance to learn from their mistakes and now know the standard they are up against for future games against similar sides rather than going into a game against a similar side in qualifying and making these mistakes then. They have a chance to learn from this, and you can only learn and improve from playing the best. Let's hope they do learn and the experience helps them in the future. We might end up doing a Belgium to Albania on Monday then the mood will be completely different. The Albania game is where we should judge, that is our current level. Friendly games against Belgium and the likes are just steep learning curves for our young squad. Hopefully in a couple of years we will play them again and do far better

[BucksburnDandy]

2 hours ago, PASTA Mick said:

Getting rid of Strachan was the right decision. He wasn't picking our best players and was remaining far too loyal to players that had stopped performing years ago. 

Appointing McLeish was the wrong decision which makes the Strachan sacking look bad. 

Correct. Sacking Strachan was the right thing to do as he had failed and his genetic comments were indefensible.

 

But the SFA fucked up as normal with the age it took to get Michael O'Neill then the utter fucking sop by some on the board to give the Scotland manager's job second priority to changing the boardroom structure. That's absolutely shambolic.

 

If McLeish doesn't win this group, he needs emptied.

[Caledonian Craig]

For what is it worth here is my opinion.

First up we need to be realistic. We were playing Belgium - now ranked the second best team in the world and they had a full side out. For the first half an hour we were holding our own and keeping Belgium restricted to long range shots. We conceded a nightmare of a goal due to sloppy play from Craig Gordon and John McGinn (two players that Scotland fans were pleased were in the starting line-up) and that was the slippery slope downwards. Belgium upped the tempo in the second half and got a killer goal  straight at the start of the half with another error and there was no way back from that. To summarize the first half an hour we matched one of the best sides in the world, conceded a sloppy goal and then some more and you just cannot do that against the likes of Belgium. Sure nobody likes to see Scotland being thumped 4-0 at home but it sums up where we are at the moment. We are not in the same league as the very best teams in the world and does that really surprise anybody here?

[PASTA Mick]

1 minute ago, Caledonian Craig said:

For what is it worth here is my opinion.

First up we need to be realistic. We were playing Belgium - now ranked the second best team in the world and they had a full side out. For the first half an hour we were holding our own and keeping Belgium restricted to long range shots. We conceded a nightmare of a goal due to sloppy play from Craig Gordon and John McGinn (two players that Scotland fans were pleased were in the starting line-up) and that was the slippery slope downwards. Belgium upped the tempo in the second half and got a killer goal  straight at the start of the half with another error and there was no way back from that. To summarize the first half an hour we matched one of the best sides in the world, conceded a sloppy goal and then some more and you just cannot do that against the likes of Belgium. Sure nobody likes to see Scotland being thumped 4-0 at home but it sums up where we are at the moment. We are not in the same league as the very best teams in the world and does that really surprise anybody here?

I don't think anyone is upset that we lost to a near full strength Belgium.

I'm annoyed at the poor formation, several players playing out of position, hardly creating any chances and the fact we've now lost 4 in 5 since the manager came in and we've scored just 1 goal. 

[Third Lanark]

9 hours ago, George Saint said:

Belgium are a fantastic team, and it was only a friendly. I wouldn't dwell on it too much. They can do that to most teams. And as someone said elsewhere, at least Scotland will only lose to Belgium once in 2018. Some teams have done worse than that.

You'll beat Albania on Monday, or whenever it is.

 

 

Thanks for kind words mate. Wish I shared your confidence about Albania though.

[Caledonian Craig]

7 minutes ago, PASTA Mick said:

I don't think anyone is upset that we lost to a near full strength Belgium.

I'm annoyed at the poor formation, several players playing out of position, hardly creating any chances and the fact we've now lost 4 in 5 since the manager came in and we've scored just 1 goal. 

I am not sure about the formation either but there are those that think this formation is the only way to get Tierney and Robertson into the side. I am not sure it was the formation that cost us goals - more the sloppy errors cost us. I get the impression as well that Griffiths needs a strike partner - someone to feed off or play in. He was far too isolated last night.

The thing that i most depressing for me is that no matter when/if McLeish goes it is the same incompetent fuckwits doing the hiring. I await the next manager being another dud.

[borojock]

30 minutes ago, BucksburnDandy said:

Correct. Sacking Strachan was the right thing to do as he had failed and his genetic comments were indefensible.

 

But the SFA fucked up as normal with the age it took to get Michael O'Neill then the utter fucking sop by some on the board to give the Scotland manager's job second priority to changing the boardroom structure. That's absolutely shambolic.

 

If McLeish doesn't win this group, he needs emptied.

My thoughts are sacking Strachan was only the right thing to do if we appointed someone who was significantly better, who would have a significant positive impact on the team and results and done something radically different. If we get someone who is around the same and does pretty much the same then whats the point? 

Now if we tied that into the well trodden debate (which im not trying to reignite) of does the Manager have to be Scottish 

If the answer is yes then i genuinely dont think there was a candidate who was that much better then Strachan and would have made an significant positive impact 

If the answer is no then i genuinely think the ones who would have been that much better than Strachan we couldnt have afforded. My personal choice (which i said at the time) would have been Lars Lagerback i would have broken the bank to get him. He started the Iceland revolution off and has since Norway who have been as bad as we have in recent times and has played 5 and won 5. Thats the type of manager we should have been aiming for .

Sadly i still dont think McLeish knows his best formation, style or tactics

Edited September 8, 2018 by borojock

[Third Lanark]

10 minutes ago, PASTA Mick said:

I don't think anyone is upset that we lost to a near full strength Belgium.

I'm annoyed at the poor formation, several players playing out of position, hardly creating any chances and the fact we've now lost 4 in 5 since the manager came in and we've scored just 1 goal. 

I presume you think that Tierney and Robertson should both be in the team? If so then there is no alternative but a back 3. Playing Tierney at RB would be even more out of position.As McLeish says modern players should be  reasonably versatile. McGregor just behind Griff is not really out of position I would think; Armstrong not out of position. OK maybe Fraser though he has played there. Who else for right wing back? Sad truth most of us would have picked 8 of those players - only goal, RB and defensive mid are debatable.