Texas Pete Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 3 hours ago, Orraloon said: Some folk have short memories. We get two decent results, against two reams about the same level as us, and all of a sudden we have 9 points in the bag without even kicking a baw. Unless something goes seriously wrong we will have at least 6 points going into the game in Belgium. We will beat San Marino away and Cyprus at home. If we don’t win both these games we have no chance of qualifying outright anyway. Unless Russia slip up somewhere, we really need to win all of our home games (except Belgium) and take 6 points from San Marino and Cyprus to stand a chance. Kazakhstan are the only real unknown entity for me. They are ranked 120th in the world but they are exactly the type of team we struggle against away from home. They only won one of their Nations League matches though (at home to Andorra) and they lost to Georgia twice. We really should be looking to beat Kazakhstan away from home. If we can do that then I believe we’ll have 9 points in the bag going to Belgium (where we’ll get pumped). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 14 hours ago, Tartan Chris said: Good schedule imo. Reminds me a bit of playing Faroes and Lithuania first up in 2008 qualifying. 6 points and that put pressure on Italy who had a slow start. Russia will obviously have Belgium in the first three so potential to open up a bit of a gap on them ahead of the home game. 9/9 start would mean there's a pretty good chance of it being taken to last game. We have a good chance of taking 9 points from our first three games and 9 from our last three. Only problem is we could realistically get 0 points from our middle four games (although I’m confident Russia won’t beat us at home). Hopefully we’ll come away from Russia knowing that we’ll qualify if we win our last three games as that would be very doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weekevie04 Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 The June games look cracking! All ifs and buts, but if we can beat Cyprus and have taken 6pts from the first two games, we'll come to Belgium at the start of summer riding high! That Russia game in Glasgow is huge too. Time to not get too carried away and see if we can actually do the business in Astana first and so on before we start thinking about that. I have a feeling Cyprus will pick up a few points too (they beat Slovenia -albeit had a stinking Nations League) and drew with Bulgaria, Slovenia too and beat Bosnia/Herz in qualifying. 0-1 will do fine, and a Russian stumble there please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyD Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 Some sensible fixtures in there, which is nice. Both Belgium games are the 2nd games of a pair, meaning we're not going into a potentially important game having been pumped by Belgium. Should help us win the first game, tho does look a bit like conceding that we'll lose both Belgium games. Feels like realism tbh, but there will those who will say we should be trying to beat them 100%, Poland beat Germany etc. Personally I think having them as the 2nd game of the pairs is the best idea. Both long trips, Kazakhstan and Russia are followed by San Marino games. Again this seems like a very sensible bit of scheduling. Be fresh for the long trips, then play the easiest game we could play afterwards, in case we're not at 100% because of the travelling. The run in is as friendly as it could be. Hopefully that doesn't work against us and we complacently drop points. Should put the pressure on Russia who finish with Cyprus (a), Belgium (h), San Marino (a). Only worrying thing for me is the opener being away to the Kazakhs. Perhaps we should try and squeeze in a long distance friendly before it. Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan.. something like that, so the lads don't make any mistakes in prep for a long trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookerman Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 36 minutes ago, andyD said: Only worrying thing for me is the opener being away to the Kazakhs. Perhaps we should try and squeeze in a long distance friendly before it. Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan.. something like that, so the lads don't make any mistakes in prep for a long trip. Aye This is the game i'm worrying about the most. A long distance trip with a 6 hour time differnce as a first game in a group, has all the hall marks for going wrong with a Scotland team. On a selfish note dose not help it a 3pm kick off in the uk, When we all still at work. May need to sneek away early that day 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 5 hours ago, mariokempes56 said: Its nearly christmas so cheer the fuk up Is Santa giving us 9 points for xmas? I don't think Kazakhstan and Cyprus will be so generous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 2 hours ago, andyD said: Some sensible fixtures in there, which is nice. Both Belgium games are the 2nd games of a pair, meaning we're not going into a potentially important game having been pumped by Belgium. Should help us win the first game, tho does look a bit like conceding that we'll lose both Belgium games. Feels like realism tbh, but there will those who will say we should be trying to beat them 100%, Poland beat Germany etc. Personally I think having them as the 2nd game of the pairs is the best idea. Both long trips, Kazakhstan and Russia are followed by San Marino games. Again this seems like a very sensible bit of scheduling. Be fresh for the long trips, then play the easiest game we could play afterwards, in case we're not at 100% because of the travelling. The run in is as friendly as it could be. Hopefully that doesn't work against us and we complacently drop points. Should put the pressure on Russia who finish with Cyprus (a), Belgium (h), San Marino (a). Only worrying thing for me is the opener being away to the Kazakhs. Perhaps we should try and squeeze in a long distance friendly before it. Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan.. something like that, so the lads don't make any mistakes in prep for a long trip. If Belgium perform at their best then we’ll likely lose both matches. We rarely take anything from the top seeds in the group these days (except England last time out). Hampden isn’t an easy place to come to for a competitive match though so if Belgium aren’t at their best then we have a chance of getting something at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrniaboc Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 Kazakhstan have only won 5 competitive matches in the last 10 years: Andorra (A) 2009 Azerbaijan (H) 2011 Faroe Islands (H) 2013 Latvia (A) 2015 Andorra (H) 2018 They are not a scary team, and it's time our boys started to routinely turn teams like this over with no drama, as they should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde1998 Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 (edited) 16 minutes ago, mrniaboc said: Kazakhstan have only won 5 competitive matches in the last 10 years: Andorra (A) 2009 Azerbaijan (H) 2011 Faroe Islands (H) 2013 Latvia (A) 2015 Andorra (H) 2018 They are not a scary team, and it's time our boys started to routinely turn teams like this over with no drama, as they should. They did cause the Irish some problems a few years back though, but if we play anything like as well as we did in the last two games, we shouldn't have any major problems in Kazakhstan. Edited December 3, 2018 by Clyde1998 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 1st game at 3pm on a Thursday?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrniaboc Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 1 minute ago, bonny78 said: 1st game at 3pm on a Thursday?? That's 9pm in Astana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 21 minutes ago, Clyde1998 said: They did cause the Irish some problems a few years back though, but if we play anything like as well as we did in the last two games, we shouldn't have any major problems in Kazakhstan. They can cause us all the problems they like if we still beat them like Ireland did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 43 minutes ago, mrniaboc said: Kazakhstan have only won 5 competitive matches in the last 10 years: Andorra (A) 2009 Azerbaijan (H) 2011 Faroe Islands (H) 2013 Latvia (A) 2015 Andorra (H) 2018 They are not a scary team, and it's time our boys started to routinely turn teams like this over with no drama, as they should. I don’t think for a minute tha Kazakhstan will beat us. They are nowhere near as good as Georgia. Or Israel or Albania for that matter. It’s a 10 hour flight though and our logistics will no doubt be a shambles as per usual and we’ll arrive 24 hours before kickoff or something so i don’t think it will be a 0-4 stroll in the park or anything like that. If we are professional though and do the simple things well and are not complacent then I’m pretty sure we’ll win our opening game. I have just booked flights to Belgium and I’m confident we’ll be going there with 9 points under our belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrniaboc Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 20 points is almost always enough to guarantee 2nd place in a 6-team group, so all we need to do is win all games apart from both Belgium matches and Russia away. That would give us 21 points. Absolute stroll in the park! What could go wrong?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 9 minutes ago, mrniaboc said: 20 points is almost always enough to guarantee 2nd place in a 6-team group, so all we need to do is win all games apart from both Belgium matches and Russia away. That would give us 21 points. Absolute stroll in the park! What could go wrong?... If Russia do the same then they would also have 21 points. We will probably need to get a point in Russia (unless Russia slip up somewhere) to get second place. Either that or we’ll need to take a point off Belgium at Hampden. I think it will be a pretty close battle for second between us and Russia and I’m looking forward to the campaign. First time in a while I can genuinely say that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 1 hour ago, Texas Pete said: I don’t think for a minute tha Kazakhstan will beat us. They are nowhere near as good as Georgia. Or Israel or Albania for that matter. It’s a 10 hour flight though and our logistics will no doubt be a shambles as per usual and we’ll arrive 24 hours before kickoff or something so i don’t think it will be a 0-4 stroll in the park or anything like that. If we are professional though and do the simple things well and are not complacent then I’m pretty sure we’ll win our opening game. I have just booked flights to Belgium and I’m confident we’ll be going there with 9 points under our belts. It’s not a 10 hour flight is it? I thought it was about 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde1998 Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Marky said: It’s not a 10 hour flight is it? I thought it was about 6. Ten hours seems about right - it's about level with the most western edge of India (albeit much further north); I think it's further east than Kabul. Moscow is about five/six hours away from Edinburgh. Edited December 3, 2018 by Clyde1998 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 23 minutes ago, Clyde1998 said: Ten hours seems about right - it's about level with the most western edge of India (albeit much further north); I think it's further east than Kabul. Moscow is about five/six hours away from Edinburgh. 6 hours 30 minutes from London to Astana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccaughey85 Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 Russia did well at the WC and it will be a tough ask for us to beat them to 2nd. We have looked alot better in our last couple of games but that was against relatively poor teams. Just as well we got our playoff in the bag as there's a good chance we will need it. Looking forward to this campaign and should be interesting to see how our young team does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASTA Mick Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 I think we really need 16-18 points from the 3 weaker sides in the group and 4+ from the other 4 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderark14 Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 Take every game one at a time and treat them all as must win. Simples 😂🤪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrniaboc Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 God dammit, why is it not March already?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romanticscot Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 (edited) Looking at the Euro 2016 qualification groups of 6 teams, the average 2nd place team had 20.6 points 20,21,22,21,21,20,20,20 respectively. If we beat home and away all of the teams beneath us and looking to win at least one of the other 4 games v Belgium and Russia, statistically this would be enough. This of course would be zero slips ups and that is a big ask. However, if we look at where we have failed over the last 20 years, we usually tend to miss out by 3 points somewhere along the way - and that has been aiming for a play off position. Perhaps this is false hope, but I am feeling very enthusiastic. So, yes each game will be taken individually but for the campaign, 21 points is the goal we need to aim for. Edited December 3, 2018 by romanticscot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rohan Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 This is going down to goal difference between us and Russia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romanticscot Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 (edited) Well, if the last 18 months is anything to go by, our goal scoring has been better in the games we win - we win usually by 2 or 3 goals. Looking at Russia in the World cup with the exception of Saudi Arabia, they won by 1 goal Egypt included 1 OG - well we do have the covered there unfortunately Edited December 3, 2018 by romanticscot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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