Starting XI vs Cyprus

[Bino's]

1 minute ago, er yir macaroon said:

McGinn is exactly the type of player we need on Tuesday, someone that won’t allow us to be bullied. McTominay will start as well, I’d imagine.

McGregor looked absolutely shattered

Mctominay must start and McGregor prob come off second half

                          Marshall

O'Donnell McKenna Mulgrew Robertson

       Mctominay Mcginn McGregor

Forrest                Burke           Fraser

[HandofRhod]

17 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

It was a daft throw from Marshall which left him with few options. 

Agreed, it was a stuid throw. I really like mcginn, think he uses his body really well and adds bite and strenght to our team and is calm on the ball. Id def have him in the team, it is just a little bit of a worry that he does seem to have a that 1 bad mistake per game in him. I think he done something silly in the 1st half aswell but cant really remember. Must have got away with it. 

Although they both played well i can see forret or fraser being dropped for an extra midfield prob mcTom agasint Belgium... Also would imagine Burke will start. 

Edited June 8, 2019 by HandofRhod

[HandofRhod]

Team i can see against Belgium

Think mclean and Mcgregor done well

 

                        Marshall

O'Donnell McKenna Mulgrew Robertson

       Mctominay Mclean McGregor 

                        Mcginn 

               Burke           Fraser

 

[macy37]

I thought McGinn was very poor tonight.

[Morrisandmoo]

38 minutes ago, Bino's said:

McGregor looked absolutely shattered

Mctominay must start and McGregor prob come off second half

                          Marshall

O'Donnell McKenna Mulgrew Robertson

       Mctominay Mcginn McGregor

Forrest                Burke           Fraser

I'll eat my hat if that isn't the team. 

[Morrisandmoo]

Performance was fine. Lot of pressure tonight. 

Fraser and Robertson are a huge strength - looked as if they could beat the Cyprus team by themselves.

I liked how McKenna played. Marshall solid. Brophy didn't do much and in two minds about whether the racehorse should come in instead vs Belgium. Great run from SOD and he should have finished that chance to get the TA off his back. Fuck me need to sort the set pieces and never concede a goal like that again. 

[exile]

Great to get the win and a couple of goals. Good to see driving runs from Robertson, also Fraser linking well. 

Great to see us come back after the equaliser, great to see the Tartan Army get behind the manager and team. 

I thought we lacked a bit of movement up front, people making themselves targets in the middle. At times it felt as if Robertson thought, well if no one else will, I will. Which is just as well  A cracker of a goal

[exile]

[BraveheartGordon]

1 hour ago, HandofRhod said:

Agreed, it was a stuid throw. I really like mcginn, think he uses his body really well and adds bite and strenght to our team and is calm on the ball. Id def have him in the team, it is just a little bit of a worry that he does seem to have a that 1 bad mistake per game in him. I think he done something silly in the 1st half aswell but cant really remember. Must have got away with it. 

Although they both played well i can see forret or fraser being dropped for an extra midfield prob mcTom agasint Belgium... Also would imagine Burke will start. 

Agree about McGinn I think the consistency and decision making will come with experience hopefully, he’s a pup in terms of caps, really gives us something.

[weekevie04]

Lots of work to do for us and Clarke, but what a fantastic win.

Our central defensive options are a worry. They're goal was far too easily scored - the lad didn't even need to jump or out beat his man. I thought Marshall played quite well though, and I'd start him against Belgium.

A bit gutted that O'Donnell didn't score, was going wild shouting his name when he broke free and almost scored ''MON STEPHEN! GO! SCORE! STEPHEN! OH NOOOO!" I felt it was quite harsh that he lost his place against Kazakhstan, so I'm glad to see him starting again. Belgium will be a very difficult game though.

Brophy did well and worked hard. A tough shift and we struggled with final balls, creating clear chances and again, shows the work that Clarke has ; but I liked what he offered and hopefully he goes from strength to strength with Killie next year.

Burke, he's very fast but still not convinced at all and as my pal said ''I've seen him miss chances like that for Celtic'' but thankfully it went in.

Cyprus were a tidy side though, and whilst Crocker roaned about them only beating San Marino and Slovenia in their last 14 games or whatnot, or whatever their terrible away record was, they may well nab a point of Russia - although they do look to be in fine form, 9-0 tonight, 4-0 in Astana ; but who knows.

McTominay did well when he came on and he must start against Belgium. Fraser was excellent although his final ball was poor, Robertson did well, McLean was utterly superb and a fine performance backed up from his last game, he looks so calm and collected when with the ball. Forrest did OK, his Nations League form was utterly superb, but he's a good player and hope he will have a stormer or two in these qualifiers and/or our playoffs.

Yes, lots of work to be done. Defensively we look not convincing at all at times, and we have struggle to break downs/create clear chances - how long have been doing that though. And we rarely hammer smaller sides, but that was an OK start for Clarke - a vital win, some decent spells/some not and a rub of the green for the three points.

Keep this squad though. Play all these qualifiers, we'll most likely fall short of the playoffs going by Russia and Belgium's start but time will settle that , but we have that playoff as well. Give this group a good go and let's see how the next 5 games go.

[Baz]

36 minutes ago, weekevie04 said:

Our central defensive options are a worry. They're goal was far too easily scored - the lad didn't even need to jump or out beat his man.

Strange comment when it was Robertson that lost his man for the goal. Both McKenna and Mulgrew were fairly solid.

[PASTA Mick]

It was tough for Brophy to come in for his first cap against a fairly decent side. I'm pleased for Burke because he gets some amount of stick from him own fans. 

I think we ended the game with the team to start against Belgium. 

[vanderark14]

45 minutes ago, PASTA Mick said:

It was tough for Brophy to come in for his first cap against a fairly decent side. I'm pleased for Burke because he gets some amount of stick from him own fans. 

I think we ended the game with the team to start against Belgium. 

I agree with this except Brophy should have imposed himself more on the game. Burke did that immediately. 

[Auld_Reekie]

Would start Burke up top if only for his ability in air. Given the quality of ball coming into box need someone to win headers. Exactly what got us the winner. Pace to burn too which will worry opposition. And given his awful first touch I wouldn't be playing him in midfield any time soon. 

[vanderark14]

6 hours ago, Baz said:

Strange comment when it was Robertson that lost his man for the goal. Both McKenna and Mulgrew were fairly solid.

Exactly, the corner to give the goal away was down to poor defending by Forrest and Robertson, not exactly hanging offences for either. Roberston had a great game except that incident, he was involved in most of our chances as was Ryan Fraser.

McKenna and mulgrew did well and will continue to form a partnership.

[SMcoolJ]

I was against picking Mulgrew but thought he was good. 

Forrest and Brophy didn’t do enough for me but they were both ok.  Plenty of positives throughout. We’re strong in midfield now. I’d liked us to have pressed more.  It’s almost as if we were treating that like a warm up for Wed night in terms of containment.

As others have said, the team that finished  should start on wed. 

[Texas Pete]

9 hours ago, Bino's said:

He likes to have a mair moment though

What on Earth is a mair moment?

As in Lee Mair?

[Texas Pete]

10 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

Did anyone actually think this was going to be a good tie or performance. I was fully expecting the nervous first half like we saw and a slow performance from the players 

The game went pretty much as I expected although I thought we’d blown it at 1-1. 

If anyone thought we were going to steamroller Cyprus they must have missed our last 150 games. 

[aaid]

8 hours ago, BraveheartGordon said:

Agree about McGinn I think the consistency and decision making will come with experience hopefully, he’s a pup in terms of caps, really gives us something.

He's made over 200 first team appearances and has 14 caps. He's not inexperienced. 

[ParisInAKilt]

The 3 in midfield didn’t work for me, both in attacking and defending. Beyond that we did okay. Fraser dangerous, Forrest better in the second half even if things didn’t come off for him. Brophy did alright but Burke probably gets the start against Belgium now. 

We’ll do well not to lose by more than the odd goal. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by ParisInAKilt

[RenfrewBlue]

1 hour ago, SMcoolJ said:

I was against picking Mulgrew but thought he was good. 

Forrest and Brophy didn’t do enough for me but they were both ok.  Plenty of positives throughout. We’re strong in midfield now. I’d liked us to have pressed more.  It’s almost as if we were treating that like a warm up for Wed night in terms of containment.

As others have said, the team that finished  should start on wed. 

My thoughts exactly on Mulgrew. 

Not sure how we can approach the Belgium game as they are so much better than us in every department. 

I expect a Killie like performance and hopefully a Killie like result. 😊

[jcluk]

11 hours ago, macy37 said:

Fraser and Forrest very good again tonight. Thought McKenna wasn’t too shabby either. 

Definitely a game of opinions. I thought James Forrest offered very little which is frustrating as he showed what he’s capable of in some of the Nations League matches.

McKenna’s use of the ball was really poor at times last night. Has to work at that.

Great to see and hear a more positive mood in our support last night. The response to the equaliser was to get back behind the team for the most part and brilliant we could cheer them on for the winner. A solid start for Clarke.

Edited June 9, 2019 by jcluk

[wanderer]

Thought Forrest got better as the game went on, but I put it down to SoD’s inability to cross the half way line.

He did great to get into a excellent position for his goal.... but most the game rather than take on his man, he would get the ball and just make a side/back pass and completely kill any momentum we had going down that side.... while down the left wing you had Robertson and Forrest linking up with each other (and McGregor helping out) as we looked far more better going down the left wing than we did down the right wing.

Think Clarke will be having another look at the West Ham boy to see how his research is going.

Rest of the team pretty much did their jobs/what was asked of them, but thought McGregor looked dead on his feet (but still bursting a gut) and was somewhat disappointed with McGinn.

Suspect Burke and McTormaniey will be into the team on Tuesday and maybe Armstrong as well.

[BucksburnDandy]

All in, a pleasing if stressful win.

 

The positives:

 

McKenna and Mulgrew had a good game together and looked a viable partnership to move forward with. McKenna is a bit raw with his passing but he can defend, which is the primary job of a defender.

 

McLean had his best game in a Scotland shirt so far.

 

Fraser and Robertson really is a dreamy partnership on the left flank. No surprise that both goals came from there.

 

Good contributions from all three substitutes when they came on. Clarke called all three correctly. I would be surprised if all three didn't start on Tuesday.

 

Our shape, discipline and defensive structure were much better than under McLeish (not difficult).

 

Our response to the equaliser was top drawer.

 

Negatives/things to be built on:

 

Too ponderous in midfield for too long in the game. Lacked some direct action in the central area. Every time we start without Armstrong, we struggle to link the centre of midfield to the striker. Vital to how we want to play.

 

McGregor and Forrest looked out on their feet after a long season, particularly McGregor. That should not take away from the effort of either, who put in reasonable displays.

 

I just don't quite understand John McGinn's game enough to appreciate him. Fantastic work rate and running but his quality on the ball is often lacking. Thought he was average last night.

 

Brophy really lacked support from the middle of midfield and was left an isolated figure too often. Not his fault but he will likely be frustrated.

 

The goal we lost, poor moment from Andy Robertson. Basic error that could have been really costly.

[Caledonian Craig]

2 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

The game went pretty much as I expected although I thought we’d blown it at 1-1. 

If anyone thought we were going to steamroller Cyprus they must have missed our last 150 games. 

Well also remember Cyprus only lost 1-0 to Belgium and hammered San Marino 5-0. A pair of results we'd not be unhappy with. They are a hard to break down well-organised side.