Team for israel

[vanderark14]

4 hours ago, PASTA Mick said:

We need a manager who can get the most out of our limited pool of players.  So far, the evidence is that a lot of our players are not willing to do that for the current manager.  The high number of call-offs suggest this.  We don't have the strength in depth to cope.  We might get away with in against Albania and Israel but not against the better teams we will play in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.  

It's all very similar to Bertie Vogts with Weir; George Burley with McGregor, Ferguson, McCulloch & Boyd and Levein with Fletcher. 

I'm not saying the players in any of these cases weren't at any fault but managers falling out with players usually ends badly for the manager. 

 

Griffiths - he didn't have to pull out - entirely his fault

Fraser - McLiesh confirmed Fraser tried everything to stay but it didn;t work out

Mcarthur - pulled out but I doubt that has anything to do with the manager

The players looked energised and up for it against Albania and thats after a heavy defeat to Belguim. 

I'm not sure where this evidence is, can you show me please?

[vanderark14]

Leigh is brave according to our former captain

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45814174

[Squirrelhumper]

3 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

Leigh is brave according to our former captain

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45814174

From one footballer with zero intelligence to another.

[ParisInAKilt]

It’s a piss poor excuse from Griffiths or whoever wrote his statement. 

Granted I’m no ex pro but how does staying at Celtic instead of training and possibly playing with Scotland help your levels of fitness when you’re not injured?

Could McLeish have handled their relationship better? Possibly but you’re playing for Scotland before the current boss. 

[Bino's]

Is this true about griffiths liking a ginger alky post on twitter?

[Texas Pete]

6 hours ago, PASTA Mick said:

We need a manager who can get the most out of our limited pool of players.  So far, the evidence is that a lot of our players are not willing to do that for the current manager.  The high number of call-offs suggest this.  We don't have the strength in depth to cope.  We might get away with in against Albania and Israel but not against the better teams we will play in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.  

It's all very similar to Bertie Vogts with Weir; George Burley with McGregor, Ferguson, McCulloch & Boyd and Levein with Fletcher. 

I'm not saying the players in any of these cases weren't at any fault but managers falling out with players usually ends badly for the manager. 

We’ve had two withdrawals this time. One of which is due to a genuine injury. Hardly a ‘high number’ is it?

If we take Griffiths at his word, which you seem to be doing, then there is only one person that has said they don’t want to be selected at the moment and that’s James McArthur. I don’t think McArthur has any issues with the manager.

Everyone else seems to want to play for McLeish, or more accurately, Scotland. 

One wee fanny pulling out, for whatever reason and another saying he does not want to be selected this year does not suggest the players have a problem with McLeish.

[Texas Pete]

11 minutes ago, Bino's said:

Is this true about griffiths liking a ginger alky post on twitter?

Hard to say. There’s a couple of sources reporting it and a screenshot of it but that could easily be faked.  

The Scotsman is claiming Griffiths has denied liking it but he’s not quoted directly. 

[Bino's]

44 minutes ago, ParisInAKilt said:

It’s a piss poor excuse from Griffiths or whoever wrote his statement. 

Granted I’m no ex pro but how does staying at Celtic instead of training and possibly playing with Scotland help your levels of fitness when you’re not injured?

Could McLeish have handled their relationship better? Possibly but you’re playing for Scotland before the current boss. 

If McLeish had picked him for Albania this wouldn't be happening

This is all on griffiths

Fraser must be chuffed, all the attention is off him

[Texas Pete]

35 minutes ago, Bino's said:

If McLeish had picked him for Albania this wouldn't be happening

This is all on griffiths

Fraser must be chuffed, all the attention is off him

Fraser was sent back to his club with a genuine injury so I doubt he’ll be caring what has happened with Griffiths. 

[exile]

It would be a pity if all this Griffiths talk distracted from those actually playing. I'd rather hear from / about the new up and coming players. And let McLeish focus on the squad, not the absentees 

[Burj_Alba]

Think the problem with Griffiths is McLeish already stated that Naisy would be his first choice striker in Israel not omitting im from Albania match. Not a wise thing to do. What if Naisy got injured and he was relying on Griffiths to take over? McLeish should have waited until the meet up and then assessed each player. Really poor man management but also toys out of the pram for our erstwhile number 9.

[Bino's]

1 hour ago, Texas Pete said:

Fraser was sent back to his club with a genuine injury so I doubt he’ll be caring what has happened with Griffiths. 

Is he fuck injured

[Texas Pete]

19 minutes ago, Bino's said:

Is he fuck injured

Do you have any evidence of this or is it just your opinion?

Why would McLeish lie about it?

[Bino's]

10 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Do you have any evidence of this or is it just your opinion?

Why would McLeish lie about it?

He was'injured' last time

Then played the Saturday

He'll do the same this time, despite being injured, again

[Texas Pete]

29 minutes ago, Bino's said:

He was'injured' last time

Then played the Saturday

He'll do the same this time, despite being injured, again

So no evidence then?

[Bino's]

3 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

So no evidence then?

Open your eyes man

[Texas Pete]

10 minutes ago, Bino's said:

Open your eyes man

The guy came up to Scotland from the south coast of England and was sent home ffs. Why would he do that if he had no intention of going to Israel? 

I’m not saying he hasn’t pulled out unnecessarily in the past but unless the SFA and Alex McLeish are lying to the public, he is genuinely injured this time. 

If you would rather believe Fraser was some sort of idiot for flying up to Scotland just to pretend to be injured then go home again based on absolutely hee haw evidence then fair enough. I’d rather give him the benefit of the doubt. 

[mrniaboc]

I fell there may be a disproportionate reaction to these two call offs on this thread:

1) I don't think 2 call offs from a 23-man squad indicates an endemic problem.
2) Neither do I think it shows a lack of respect for the manager among the players.
3) I think we're frustrated by the two players that have pulled out this time specifically because one is possibly our best young hope of a truly gifted striker but never seems to get the chance to show us what he can do regularly, and the other has had a fantastic start to the season at the highest level in league football and we also haven't had a real chance to see what he can do in a Scotland shirt.
4) If it was McDonald and Hendry that pulled out because of fitness concerns and injury we'd probably be totally fine with it and move on, continuing to be excited for a huge match which if we win will be a gigantic step in the right direction.
5) Neither of these players started the game against Albania and we were still dominant and looking like a decent team.
6) Let's get this frustration, speculation, and negativity tae fuck and get behind the lads who are still in the squad for tomorrow night!

3-1 Scotland

[Texas Pete]

14 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I fully agree. At present the No 1 shirt is his. It flip flops between the two. Sometimes I feel McGregor is the better (where I am at present) and others I'd opt for Gordon. Marshall also is certainly one I wouldn't worry about if they needed to call on him. In short we are very well off for top quality keepers at present.

I thought you’d went mental and were talking about Gordon Marshall for a minute. 

David Marshall is a good keeper. He never seems to make the squad these days though. 

[Super_Scotlandfan]

6 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

 

Griffiths - he didn't have to pull out - entirely his fault

Fraser - McLiesh confirmed Fraser tried everything to stay but it didn;t work out

Mcarthur - pulled out but I doubt that has anything to do with the manager

The players looked energised and up for it against Albania and thats after a heavy defeat to Belguim. 

I'm not sure where this evidence is, can you show me please?

What happened with Fraser? Can’t find McLeish’s quote. 

He met up with the squad but our medical team sent him back to his club? What’s the injury?

[BraveheartGordon]

18 hours ago, PASTA Mick said:

Always preferred Gordon.

In what measure is McGregor in better form?

He’s unbeaten in 10 European matches and is consistently making outstanding saves in big matches. The clean sheet numbers you posted are a misnomer.

[BraveheartGordon]

5 hours ago, Burj_Alba said:

Think the problem with Griffiths is McLeish already stated that Naisy would be his first choice striker in Israel not omitting im from Albania match. Not a wise thing to do. What if Naisy got injured and he was relying on Griffiths to take over? McLeish should have waited until the meet up and then assessed each player. Really poor man management but also toys out of the pram for our erstwhile number 9.

He never said he would be first choice striker in Israel though, the headlines in the piss poor newspaper said it but all McLeish said was it would be hard to drop a a striker who performed well but it’ll be down to form and fitness.

Que someone asking Griffiths about something that was never said and building a media crisis narrative.

[vanderark14]

12 hours ago, Burj_Alba said:

Think the problem with Griffiths is McLeish already stated that Naisy would be his first choice striker in Israel not omitting im from Albania match. Not a wise thing to do. What if Naisy got injured and he was relying on Griffiths to take over? McLeish should have waited until the meet up and then assessed each player. Really poor man management but also toys out of the pram for our erstwhile number 9.

he never said that, the media reported it that way. As kenny Miller said last night, you don't pick and chose when you play for scotland.

 if you are dropped because someone is playing very well, you pull your socks up and make the management think again. If Naismith got injured, Griffith could seize that chance. Going in the huff is the worst choice Griffiths could have made but he will feel vindicated now because his current captain and former scotland captain has backed his decision and described it as brave

There is nothing wrong with the way Mcliesh managed this situation, he was complimenting a very good performance and in form player in Naismith. 

[RightPeg]

If Griffiths was getting picked ahead of Naismith (even though Naisy is more naturally of a link between midfield and striker for me) then Naismith would never call off and that's the difference. Leigh is super talented but clearly a bit of a numbnut who hasn't thought this through. Having said that my initial reaction to him pulling out was slight indifference. My feelings probably aren't in line with the majority on here. 

It's game day so let's forget about that for now. 

Israel 0-1 Scotland in close match with us failing to take all our chances.  

Edited October 11, 2018 by RightPeg

[mrniaboc]

21 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

he never said that, the media reported it that way. As kenny Miller said last night, you don't pick and chose when you play for scotland.

 if you are dropped because someone is playing very well, you pull your socks up and make the management think again. If Naismith got injured, Griffith could seize that chance. Going in the huff is the worst choice Griffiths could have made but he will feel vindicated now because his current captain and former scotland captain has backed his decision and described it as brave

There is nothing wrong with the way Mcliesh managed this situation, he was complimenting a very good performance and in form player in Naismith. 

Haha if my boss described one of my decisions as "brave" I'd immediately rethink it as it almost certainly means I've gone too far and done something stupid.