Rich NATA Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 There's much to sort out and it will take time, but I'm sure Stevie Clarke can get us better organised and thereafter, more difficult to beat... Then we'll see where we go from there. We'll need to be patient, though. Belgium away comes too soon for us, though. I've no doubt they'll batter us, but hopefully not to the extent they would have under McLeish (were he still in charge I would expect 6, 7 or even 8 to be put past us). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 8 hours ago, noctonjock said: If all the players available are as committed as the fans we will be ok . We don't need some pulling out for no reason or early retirement shite . We need our strongest squad every game As committed as the fans that have been staying away from games? Our attendances have been terrible of late. Understandable based on the product on the pitch and UEFA’s pain in the arse week of football but you could hardly call most fans committed. We’ve maybe got a core support of 15,000-20,000 fans that go to most games now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 7 hours ago, @neaver82 said: You mean the last guy who took us to a play-off? And he did it with probably the worst group of players we have ever had. How many Scottish managers have come later and failed miserably. Lets hope Steve Clarke can be the difference. I do agree Berti gets a bit of a raw deal but do you remember that group? Levein would have got us the playoff it was that easy. We drew with the Faroes, lost to Lithuania and were still a comfortable second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 2 hours ago, Rich NATA said: There's much to sort out and it will take time, but I'm sure Stevie Clarke can get us better organised and thereafter, more difficult to beat... Then we'll see where we go from there. We'll need to be patient, though. Belgium away comes too soon for us, though. I've no doubt they'll batter us, but hopefully not to the extent they would have under McLeish (were he still in charge I would expect 6, 7 or even 8 to be put past us). I get what you’re saying about Belgium away but it could work to our advantage to get it out of the way. We were always very unlikely to get anything out of the game so once that’s out of the way we can potentially go on a good run and win 5 out of our last 6 games and maybe get a draw in Russia. Might not be enough to qualify directly but it would put us in a great position confidence wise going into the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich NATA Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 22 minutes ago, Texas Pete said: I get what you’re saying about Belgium away but it could work to our advantage to get it out of the way. We were always very unlikely to get anything out of the game so once that’s out of the way we can potentially go on a good run and win 5 out of our last 6 games and maybe get a draw in Russia. Might not be enough to qualify directly but it would put us in a great position confidence wise going into the playoffs. Good points... all of them. Having witnessed the debacles of Israel and Kazakhstan away, I was utterly f*cking terrified of what Belgium might do to us. But with Stevie Clarke in place, it might just be the shot in the arm we need. Now, I don't think we stand a chance in Belgium (not even for a draw) but my mood has still improved significantly. Right now, I'll accept a well organised performance from a team who give their all for 90 minutes. If Belgium score 4 stunning goals, which you can only stand back and admire, then we'll need to take it on the chin and look to the next match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 5 minutes ago, Rich NATA said: Good points... all of them. Having witnessed the debacles of Israel and Kazakhstan away, I was utterly f*cking terrified of what Belgium might do to us. But with Stevie Clarke in place, it might just be the shot in the arm we need. Now, I don't think we stand a chance in Belgium (not even for a draw) but my mood has still improved significantly. Right now, I'll accept a well organised performance from a team who give their all for 90 minutes. If Belgium score 4 stunning goals, which you can only stand back and admire, then we'll need to take it on the chin and look to the next match. My maths was shite as we’ll still need to play Belgium at home so can’t win 5 of our last 6 and draw in Russia but 13 points out of our last 6 games wouldn’t be bad. Hopefully we’ll keep the score respectable in Brussels. I wouldn’t exactly say I would take 0-2 now as I will remain stupidly optimistic and hope for a draw but that score would be reasonable against a brilliant Belgian team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenmcn Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 36 minutes ago, Texas Pete said: My maths was shite as we’ll still need to play Belgium at home so can’t win 5 of our last 6 and draw in Russia but 13 points out of our last 6 games wouldn’t be bad. Hopefully we’ll keep the score respectable in Brussels. I wouldn’t exactly say I would take 0-2 now as I will remain stupidly optimistic and hope for a draw but that score would be reasonable against a brilliant Belgian team. The only hope we have in Brussels is that after a long hard season for their players they are already on the beach mentally and let their guard down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 7 minutes ago, stevenmcn said: The only hope we have in Brussels is that after a long hard season for their players they are already on the beach mentally and let their guard down. It will probably take more than that. If De Bruyne and a few other top players were to pull out for example then we might start to dream. They are a class team but don’t have the strength in depth that some other top teams do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 21 hours ago, @neaver82 said: You mean the last guy who took us to a play-off? And he did it with probably the worst group of players we have ever had. How many Scottish managers have come later and failed miserably. Lets hope Steve Clarke can be the difference. McLeish is the last guy who got us to a play off. And, he got about as much thanks as Berti did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@neaver82 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 2 hours ago, Orraloon said: McLeish is the last guy who got us to a play off. And, he got about as much thanks as Berti did. Not the same and you know it. Would be happy to sneak in the back door mind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpyauldgit Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 2 hours ago, Orraloon said: McLeish is the last guy who got us to a play off. And, he got about as much thanks as Berti did. What play off did McLeish get us to. I know wee Bertie got us to 1 in 2003 and Craig Brown got us to 1 in 1999, but McLeish did not get us to any play off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 4 minutes ago, @neaver82 said: Not the same and you know it. Would be happy to sneak in the back door mind you. A playoff is a playoff. He needed a 75% win rate to get there. I will be very happy if Steve Clarke achieves a 75% win rate, or better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 1 minute ago, Grumpyauldgit said: What play off did McLeish get us to. I know wee Bertie got us to 1 in 2003 and Craig Brown got us to 1 in 1999, but McLeish did not get us to any play off. Eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASTA Mick Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 4 minutes ago, Orraloon said: A playoff is a playoff. He needed a 75% win rate to get there. I will be very happy if Steve Clarke achieves a 75% win rate, or better. There is a big difference between a play-off against 1 other side, and a 4-team play-off in which we only had to finish above two pretty poor teams. The Vogts play-off was nothing to get excited about - winning that play-off would have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 3 hours ago, Grumpyauldgit said: What play off did McLeish get us to. I know wee Bertie got us to 1 in 2003 and Craig Brown got us to 1 in 1999, but McLeish did not get us to any play off. You know we’ve qualified for the Euro 2020 playoffs don’t you? McLeish was in charge when that happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 3 hours ago, PASTA Mick said: There is a big difference between a play-off against 1 other side, and a 4-team play-off in which we only had to finish above two pretty poor teams. The Vogts play-off was nothing to get excited about - winning that play-off would have been. We weren’t seeded for those playoffs though so they were a lot more difficult to win. I’d rather have a home game against a team like Finland and even an away game against Serbia than have to play England or Holland. I could have got us to the Vogts playoff. We were shite in that campaign and still finished second at a canter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASTA Mick Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 5 minutes ago, Texas Pete said: We weren’t seeded for those playoffs though so they were a lot more difficult to win. I’d rather have a home game against a team like Finland and even an away game against Serbia than have to play England or Holland. I could have got us to the Vogts playoff. We were shite in that campaign and still finished second at a canter. Totally agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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