Albania Match Thread (10/09/2018)

[Big Col]

well done to those who attended

the burley and levein years and then the price hike broke my spirit

[Tartan blood]

7 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

Fraser prefers left mid - we may have to find a new role for him as SOD is the one in possession now.

Fraser and Robertson are simply too good to not play. And they have the wing back positions in their grasp. Fraser was probably the biggest shining light against Belgium. 

But I love that we can now have this debate

[Malcolm]

3 hours ago, PASTA Mick said:

Just get McLeish out now. Awful selection.

It's always worrying when the manager picks a team that not one single fan has predicted in the days leading up to the game. 

 

Turns out he picked the right men for the job... thatwill be why big eck is the manager and your not then?

[henry george]

Considering they're supposed to have 6 players in Serie A, Albania were surprisingly poor.  More good pointers than bad from tonight.

McGregor - Important save tonight and looked secure; surely nailed the Number 1 slot for now.

O'Donnell - surprisingly effective tactic of playing 60 yard diagonals for him to win in the air.  Solid display but looked knackered in last ten minutes.

Mulgrew - Easy enough night for him.  Steady display.

Souttar - Looked very good tonight but possibly lucky to be still on the pitch after clattering the guy who was through on goal but convincing the ref it was an accident.

Tierney - My MoM.  Always looked composed and found time to get forward. 

Robertson - Absolutely dreadful first 45 but came onto a game in the second half.  Not sure we get the best out of him in the wing back position.

McDonald -  Perhaps it was only coincidence that Albania came more into the game when he went off so maybe he's doing a lot of that unseen work - it's just that I don't see it.

McGinn -  Does he have to do the suicidal backpass every game?!  Twice he did it tonight.  Somebody have a word with him.  Otherwise, he was the best player on the pitch.  Don't know how many balls he won but it looked a lot.

McGregor - Always looking to create and on another night could have had a few goals.  Pretty much made himself first choice for the attacking midfield role.

Russell - started very brightly but faded and was almost anonymous in the second half.

Naismith - Thank God we called him up.  Missed sitter, created first and scored second goal.  You know what you're getting with him.  His talent is limited but his application is never less than 100%.

Subs

Armstrong - Pretty disappointed with him tonight.  Never seemed to really get going or make much of an impact.

Griffiths - Looked lively without looking particularly dangerous.

McTominay - Strange decision to bring him on and play him in an advanced role but, fair play to him, he gave it a go and looked to have quite quick feet for a big lad.

 

 

[Squirrelhumper]

29 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

Never a question in my mind.

Been watching this lad for 7 years and it's been obvious that the guy is physically and technically the best right back we've had in years. Praise to McLeish for giving him the opportunity to prove it.

He will have harder tests in the future for sure, but breaking him in v Albania and Israel is excellent for his development at this level.

And it also puts to bed the nonsense about playing Keiran Tierney at right back.

Likewise..He's been immerse for Killie and i got pelters on here for touting him.  Was immense tonight considering it's first competitive game. Delighted for him as he's a great guy.

[Squirrelhumper]

3 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

 

Turns out he picked the right men for the job... thatwill be why big eck is the manager and your not then?

Not enough shite English players and out of form Celtic player's for PASTA

[Barney Rubble]

2 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Likewise..He's been immerse for Killie and i got pelters on here for touting him.  Was immense tonight considering it's first competitive game. Delighted for him as he's a great guy.

You've never had pelters from me.

Other than that he should have been back at Firhill........................

[mrniaboc]

I was watching in an English pub with the sound off so I missed some of the reasoning for some decisions, bur I'm pretty sure I watched their keeper walk out of the box with the ball in his hands in open play. What happened there? 

[Tartan blood]

1 positive of McLeish is that he, so far, doesn't seem to discriminate based on the team they play for. I know the SPFL isn't the best league, but that doesn't mean to say there aren't some Gems in there outwith the old firm. Which Souttar, McKenna and O'Donnell have proven.

[Bino's]

1 hour ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

It's been a good performance tonight, but let's not get away from the fact that Albania are guff (and on tonight's performance I mean Faroe Islands guff). If we played a half decent team tonight, it might not have been so rosey, those McGinn passes could have been easily punished.

Makes you wonder how bad Israel are!

All correct

But we only have to better this guff

Then on to a semi play off

[Caledonian Craig]

On a train at Queen St on way home. First thoughts:-

Stephen O Donnell was great tonight. Used the ball well, tackled well and looked comfortable. Great performance. 

There wasn't anyone who had a bad game for us but we learnt that McGregor is our No 1, that we can call on the likes of O Donnell, Russel, Naismith and Soutter with a degree of confidence. 

My only gripe is we lacked the killer touch in front of goal. If we had that we would have won by a greater margin. Our ball retention was very good and we never panicked even when the early goal never came. 

Remember that this solid win came on the back of a 4-0 drubbing so confidence couldn't have been as high as they would have wanted but they put on a good display and got a solid win. Not an easy thing to do. Well done lads. 

[fringo]

13 minutes ago, mrniaboc said:

I was watching in an English pub with the sound off so I missed some of the reasoning for some decisions, bur I'm pretty sure I watched their keeper walk out of the box with the ball in his hands in open play. What happened there? 

That's what I thought unless his hands (and the ball) were still in the box as he held his arms out. Looked dodgy to me though.

[RenfrewBlue]

1 hour ago, vanderark14 said:

After my criticism of the line up, I’ll hold back on eating it but I’ve cut a slice of humble pie to prepare...............

 

Fair play on your honesty. I had my doubts too but wanted to see a competitive game before saying anything otherwise it would have been a helping for me too. 

[Bino's]

18 minutes ago, mrniaboc said:

I was watching in an English pub with the sound off so I missed some of the reasoning for some decisions, bur I'm pretty sure I watched their keeper walk out of the box with the ball in his hands in open play. What happened there? 

The referee cut them a break as they needed one

[jcs]

Good result tonight thought we played solid as  a team, in front of goal maybe we lacked the confidence  to have a go when it was a clear shot,  other than that a great performance ,dominated from the start, this group after tonight holds no fears 

[runningtings]

Just in, about to watch the highlights, but I'll tell you now, Stephen O'Donnell was man of the match.

Tremendous performance from the boys, actually enjoyed the game.

[magicTs]

For all those slagging off the crowd tonight on a very wet MONDAY night here's a few crowds from the weekends games......

 

Switzerland v Iceland 14,912

Italy v Poland 23,872

Czech Rep v Ukraine 7,974

Northern Ireland v Bosnia 16,942

Wales v Rep of Ireland 25,657

Denmark v Wales 17,506

Norway v Cyprus 6,572

Bulgaria v Norway 9,895

 

Even though tonight's Scotland crowd is small in respect to our usual home crowds, certainly in competitive qualifying fixtures the turn outs given our lack of success for over 2 decades now remains fairly remarkable. We continually get crowds way way bigger than far more successful countries with significantly bigger populations.

[magicTs]

Good win, job done. 

Great opportunity looking at Albania and the fact they beat Israel for us to win this 3 team group and secure a play off spot in the Nations League for March 2020. Could be looking at something like Serbia/Greece/Bulgaria in that though hopefully the former might qualify automatically. Might allow us to be more aggressive in the Euro qualifiers ourselves and try and get 2nd over a pot 2 side. Interesting times ahead.

[Barney Rubble]

2 minutes ago, magicTs said:

For all those slagging off the crowd tonight on a very wet MONDAY night here's a few crowds from the weekends games......

 

Switzerland v Iceland 14,912

Italy v Poland 23,872

Czech Rep v Ukraine 7,974

Northern Ireland v Bosnia 16,942

Wales v Rep of Ireland 25,657

Denmark v Wales 17,506

Norway v Cyprus 6,572

Bulgaria v Norway 9,895

 

Even though tonight's Scotland crowd is small in respect to our usual home crowds, certainly in competitive qualifying fixtures the turn outs given our lack of success for over 2 decades now remains fairly remarkable. We continually get crowds way way bigger than far more successful countries with significantly bigger populations.

Uuhm.......... the Wales v Republic crowd blows your theory into the middle of the Alantic Ocean.

[Alan]

22 minutes ago, henry george said:

Considering they're supposed to have 6 players in Serie A, Albania were surprisingly poor.  More good pointers than bad from tonight.

McGregor - Important save tonight and looked secure; surely nailed the Number 1 slot for now.

O'Donnell - surprisingly effective tactic of playing 60 yard diagonals for him to win in the air.  Solid display but looked knackered in last ten minutes.

Mulgrew - Easy enough night for him.  Steady display.

Souttar - Looked very good tonight but possibly lucky to be still on the pitch after clattering the guy who was through on goal but convincing the ref it was an accident.

Tierney - My MoM.  Always looked composed and found time to get forward. 

Robertson - Absolutely dreadful first 45 but came onto a game in the second half.  Not sure we get the best out of him in the wing back position.

McDonald -  Perhaps it was only coincidence that Albania came more into the game when he went off so maybe he's doing a lot of that unseen work - it's just that I don't see it.

McGinn -  Does he have to do the suicidal backpass every game?!  Twice he did it tonight.  Somebody have a word with him.  Otherwise, he was the best player on the pitch.  Don't know how many balls he won but it looked a lot.

McGregor - Always looking to create and on another night could have had a few goals.  Pretty much made himself first choice for the attacking midfield role.

Russell - started very brightly but faded and was almost anonymous in the second half.

Naismith - Thank God we called him up.  Missed sitter, created first and scored second goal.  You know what you're getting with him.  His talent is limited but his application is never less than 100%.

Agree with the above pretty much word for word.

I liked the way we played but we can only do that when we are against teams of similar skill.  Belgium pumped us as they were better.

Still worry that the 3 man defence has gaps in our setup but when we had McGinn, Armstrong and McGregor in a 3 man midfield that is very positive and mobile and does away with the "stopper" who just sits.

Atmosphere was good.  Better than v Belgium so hats off to those that were there and made an effort.

A surprising amount of Albanians there in 3 sections of the stadium.

 

[SWMM82]

Just back in from the game. Have to admit was really deflated when I seen the starting line up, but well done to the manager and the team for allaying my fears. Very positive performance especially after the downer of Friday night!

Only a couple of negatives. Kevin McDonald, who i am not doubting is a decent player, just looks too slow and cumbersome for international football, doesn’t move the ball quick enough. 

And we should and could’ve been more clinical in front of goal. McGregor was very frustrating at times, wanting too many touches in and around the box, but he put in a shift.

Also, although very brief, it’s the first time I’ve had a chance to see McTominay up close. The boy has got great feet for a big lad.....can definitely see the talent. Hope he gets more game time at club level.

McGinn was excellent, couple of mistakes aside. Do you think it’s partly to do with the way McLeish is wanting us to play? There isn’t many better midfielders around at pressing and hassling players. How many times did he knick the ball off them tonight??

 

[mrniaboc]

2 minutes ago, SWMM82 said:

Just back in from the game. Have to admit was really deflated when I seen the starting line up, but well done to the manager and the team for allaying my fears. Very positive performance especially after the downer of Friday night!

Only a couple of negatives. Kevin McDonald, who i am not doubting is a decent player, just looks too slow and cumbersome for international football, doesn’t move the ball quick enough. 

And we should and could’ve been more clinical in front of goal. McGregor was very frustrating at times, wanting too many touches in and around the box, but he put in a shift.

Also, although very brief, it’s the first time I’ve had a chance to see McTominay up close. The boy has got great feet for a big lad.....can definitely see the talent. Hope he gets more game time at club level.

McGinn was excellent, couple of mistakes aside. Do you think it’s partly to do with the way McLeish is wanting us to play? There isn’t many better midfielders around at pressing and hassling players. How many times did he knick the ball off them tonight??

 

I think it was just under one thousand times? Was great to see!

I understand what people are saying about McGregor wasting some chances, but I also think he showed fantastic energy and spirit. The smiles on his face when he came off showed it all. He loved being out there winning with Scotland. The more of that, the better.

[Barney Rubble]

McGinn was nothing approaching excellent tonight.

In the five minutes before half-time a more clinical team than Albania would have scored twice from his errors.

[magicTs]

8 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

Uuhm.......... the Wales v Republic crowd blows your theory into the middle of the Alantic Ocean.

No it doesn't it goes to show that crowds are way way down for the start of this Nations League. Wales v Republic is a far bigger draw for both sets of fans than Scotland v Albania in any case and is considerably down on what they had for the WorlD Cup qualifier last year. As is your way you will find negativity in everything there was little wrong with the Scotland crowd tonight given all the circumstances.

[fringo]

11 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

Uuhm.......... the Wales v Republic crowd blows your theory into the middle of the Alantic Ocean.

I think the home nations i.e. UK countries & Eire have unusually good average crowds (not just Scotland)