slightly different slant - players fault

[bonny78]

Players pulling out of the important Kazakhstan game.   Any manager (even Dickof) would have struggled with the call offs that happened in the lead up to this.     Then we got ambushed by a quick start for Borat’s XI and never recovered.

Fk the san Marino game,  we scored early and won it with a clean sheet.   I looked back to 2000 and we also won 0-2 there before so nothing wrong with that game.   

[romanticscot]

Pretty sure this doesn't warrant a new thread. 

[Reggie]

I agree – a lot of modern day footballer’s attitude sucks.  But a lot of that is to do with society today (political correctness and all that bollocks) and also the amount of money the top players get paid at such an early stage. 

I genuinely don’t think the old-school style of management (hair-dryer treatment / kicking teapots around the dressing room) would have the same affect with today’s modern player.  They all seem to need the ‘arm-round-the-shoulder’ treatment.  The modern managers (like Guardiola and Klopp) put a strong emphasis on creating a bond with their players, because they realise that it’s much more likely that they get positive results if they have eleven guys on the park who are willing to run through a brick wall for you.

Psychology and motivational man-management (getting the best out of the players at your disposal) is in my opinion even more important than what formation you set up with.

I think this is why old-school management style (it’s my way or the highway) – such as Jose Mourinho’s recent disastrous spell at Man Utd was because he refused to pander to his prima donna’s.  His solution to the Pogba dilemma was to stick him the stands (to show him who was boss).  But we all know how the story ended.  And the very same players look like an entirely different side with a different manager (and management style being used).

But unfortunately, the modern day is primarily about money.  A lot of these guys playing in the Championship earn more in a couple of weeks than most of us do in a year.  And currently whether you like to admit it or not – playing for Scotland right now, is not very glamourous.  The thought of travelling across six time zones and playing two low-key games which were both banana-skins probably didn’t appeal to a lot of the prima donna’s.

I have no doubt that if they had been the last two games in our Qualifying group and we needed six points to qualify for the finals of a tournament, then there wouldn’t have been one call-off.  Everyone would have been available and no-one would have minded playing on an artificial surface.  But would it really benefit us as a team to bin these guys who pick and choose when they’re available for selection?  I don’t like it, but I’d rather keep as many of the guys who play at the top level available for whenever we can get them.

What is needed is to make the squad an enjoyable place.  So that guys are looking forward to turning up regardless of who the opposition is and where the game is played.  You want everyone to look forward to being involved with Scotland (not dread the thought and worry about the consequences of another bad result), you need to work on the team-building, and take the fear out of playing for our national side.  Happy footballers tend to play better as a rule.  And I don’t see a happy Scotland camp just now and as a result, I don’t think it’s any co-incidence that there are so many mysterious absentees.

[vanderark14]

The players pulling out hasn't had the focus and condemnation it deserves. They should be lambasted in the same way mcleish has been. 

They are a disgrace to the country.

[bonny78]

1 minute ago, vanderark14 said:

The players pulling out hasn't had the focus and condemnation it deserves. They should be lambasted in the same way mcleish has been. 

They are a disgrace to the country.

correct.

 

which is why this is in a new thread

[Reggie]

Don’t get me wrong, I have never liked players pulling out of squads.  I agree that they should all be desperate to play for their country.  But that’s because we’d all run through a brick wall to be privileged enough to pull on the shirt.

But I think the last thing that we need at the moment is to start singling out individuals and hounding them out of the national set-up.  The last time we did that Gary McAllister proved quite a few punters wrong by moving to Liverpool and winning a treble!

I think it sucks that players pull out of the national squad, but this is no new thing.  The problem is – no-one genuinely knows the reasons behind each individual withdrawal because the communications in the media have been so vague. 

Perhaps some of the withdrawals were merited, so it’s dangerous making assumptions and then targeting these individuals for abuse.

Had we gone to Kazakhstan and taken the three points – this probably wouldn’t even be getting talked about.

[bonny78]

Kazakhstan are punching.  

[Barney Rubble]

3 hours ago, bonny78 said:

 

Fk the san Marino game,  we scored early and won it with a clean sheet.   I looked back to 2000 and we also won 0-2 there before so nothing wrong with that game.   

That's the fourth time we've played San Marino away, (92, 95, 00 and 19) all won 2-0 and in every one we've laboured it.

[bonny78]

1 hour ago, Barney Rubble said:

That's the fourth time we've played San Marino away, (92, 95, 00 and 19) all won 2-0 and in every one we've laboured it.

keep up the good work.  100% record