Burj_Alba Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 It is beyond belief what is happening about Robertson’s withdrawal with the other call offs. Question is: Is it all down to the pitch in Astana? Is it that bad and if it is then why on earth are they allowed to play a European Championship match on it? Will be interesting to see how many Russian players pull out before their game in Astana on Sunday. Let’s assume the Russians won’t win in Belgium so they won’t want to be winless after the first two matches. All first teamers will be there. All the goodwill after the Albania and Israel matches in November has disappeared. Good luck to the players who are left but the Kazakhs will be looking at this as a more winnable match now. I just see another Israel away result on the cards. McLeish has given too many concessions and part of me thinks that he has made a deal with the clubs saying that as long as they are available for the Finland semifinal then call your players out at your leisure. I.e given up on the conventional route. Robertson’s withdrawal has to be the worst yet. Plastic or grass should have no impact on a tooth problem. His club manager should know what with the gnashers he has. Wonder if Alexander Arnold would be told to withdraw from England for a similar injury ( or even cutting himself shaving ) Disappointing. Bloody hell, there are four finals matches at Hampden in 2020, we should be doing everything in our power to be involved in them. If that means invoking the five day rule then we should do it, every time. Of course if we win 1-0 with an 89th minute penalty from a bobble on the pitch then all will be forgiven until next time. As always good luck Scotland. Rant over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Templeton_Peck Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Spot on.. Why should the fans care if the players pick and choose games and many of them clearly prioritising club games. This is got a disaster written all over it, hope im wrong though as 6 points this week is vital. What can mcleish do? If he tells a player its not on they might just jack it in. If he invokes 5 day rule then the player will get the hump and potentially jack it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyD Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 11 minutes ago, Templeton_Peck said: What can mcleish do? If he tells a player its not on they might just jack it in. If he invokes 5 day rule then the player will get the hump and potentially jack it in. Isn't that the risk you have to run tho? Either they're committed to the cause and want to represent the country, or they don't. In or out.. up to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burj_Alba Posted March 18, 2019 Author Share Posted March 18, 2019 Would be interesting to see what other countries do in this situation. An easy comparison is Wales or Northern Ireland. As far as I know they have never been as bad as this for an opening match. Not sure I have ever seen so many non shows since Berti's days. It cannot just be the astro pitch so something else is going on. Sad and disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romanticscot Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Peter Grant comments on the pitch for Thursday - https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/kazakhstan-s-plastic-pitch-not-a-problem-says-peter-grant-1-4890664 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bino's Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 We all played on old style plastic pitches They don't compare to the modern ones It's all bullshit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 I ve heard this pitch is like a nuns pubes but thats no excuse not to at least try and play well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romanticscot Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 I'm still at work so there's no way I'm looking up nun's pubes to get an idea of what your talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 1 minute ago, romanticscot said: I'm still at work so there's no way I'm looking up nun's pubes to get an idea of what your talking about. Very wise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 16 hours ago, romanticscot said: Peter Grant comments on the pitch for Thursday - https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/kazakhstan-s-plastic-pitch-not-a-problem-says-peter-grant-1-4890664 Is it just me or did anyone one else find that incoherent mumbo jumbo? ☹️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
er yir macaroon Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 12 hours ago, romanticscot said: I'm still at work so there's no way I'm looking up nun's pubes to get an idea of what your talking about. 12 hours ago, bonny78 said: I ve heard this pitch is like a nuns pubes but thats no excuse not to at least try and play well. As opposed to the Virgin Mary, who according to a song i once heard had, effectively, a bare, bobbly pitch (which presumably didn’t see much goal mouth action). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazziessc Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 Surely every one of our players for one reason or another is very familiar with artificial pitches? Are we honestly supposed to believe that the likes of Fraser and Patterson don't at least train on artificial once in a while? What a load of Tosh. The OP calls out Robertson, I reckon he'd be playing if the game was at home. His issue is more the not being able to fly rather than pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burj_Alba Posted March 20, 2019 Author Share Posted March 20, 2019 Agreed, as the OP I was wrong to cite Robertson as AFAIK he has never withdrawn from a squad before. The point still stands though, is that pitch worse than Killie, Hamilton or Livi or are club managers playing silly buggers? We have to get a result here and the squad / team are getting thinner by the minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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