Scotland vs Russia [06/09/2019] - Match Thread

[slasher]

I don't know if this is the right thread but I just feel really sad and hopeless about it all. 😕

[JECK]

There was some periods of play by the Russians when the second half started which were incredible. It's like they came out on 'roids. Honestly, think the players and Clarke got the fright of their lives tonight. We are so far of physically, mentally (as per Tom English) it's literally frightening. 

Id agree with someone who mentioned it, its like we're just relying on the playoffs as if it'll be alright on the night.  I was right about Christie anyway, should have started, was buzzing when he came on. Long winter ahead.

[JECK]

7 minutes ago, ErsatzThistle said:

Was Ryan Fraser carrying an injury ? Something wasn't right about him.

Meanwhile James Forrest is back to his old ineffective self.

Ryan Christie definitely has to start from now on.

Na Russians were just too good in every department which included nullifying Forrest and Fraser.

[Malcolm]

Today was a reality check...  we are miles behind.  That was pretty much our best 11 and we were outclassed. At home.

[infamous]

3 minutes ago, JECK said:

There was some periods of play by the Russians when the second half started which were incredible. It's like they came out on 'roids. Honestly, think the players and Clarke got the fright of their lives tonight. We are so far of physically, mentally (as per Tom English) it's literally frightening. 

More likely the manager (Have you seen him haha? He actually was in goal last time we played them for Euro 1996 Qualies) gave them a kick up the backside. I have watched all our opponents matches in this campaign (Russia included), that first 45minutes was the poorest I saw this Russia side play (Granted it was 5 qualifiers and their World Cup games). 

They just needed to turn it on for 20 or so minutes to take care of business. You could tell they had an extra gear. 

[ErsatzThistle]

Ryan Jack should be given a shot at right back against Belgium.

[slasher]

2 minutes ago, ErsatzThistle said:

Ryan Jack should be given a shot at right back against Belgium.

🙄

[ErsatzThistle]

1 minute ago, slasher said:

🙄

I know but there's naebody else !

[JECK]

18 minutes ago, infamous said:

More likely the manager (Have you seen him haha? He actually was in goal last time we played them for Euro 1996 Qualies) gave them a kick up the backside. I have watched all our opponents matches in this campaign (Russia included), that first 45minutes was the poorest I saw this Russia side play (Granted it was 5 qualifiers and their World Cup games). 

They just needed to turn it on for 20 or so minutes to take care of business. You could tell they had an extra gear. 

Aye granted there was probably the obligatory half time rollicking but that stuff the Russians produced isn't the result of a kick up the back side. Different level altogether. Personally I thought they took hold and sunk the claws in Immediately after McGinns goal and didn't let go until the final 15, job was done. Make no mistake we'd be absolute cannon fodder at a major tournament right now.

Edited September 6, 2019 by JECK

[scotlad]

2 hours ago, weekevie04 said:

That was incredibly poor. 

We all knew it was over tonight barring a win - even a draw probably wouldn't have been good enough. 

We can't defend. We always look like conceding, always. 

We are not good enough to play counter-attack stuff. We will ship goals, and we are pretty fortunate it wasn't 5-1 even - Russia off the two posts ; a great save from Marshall plus that chance from Erokin when he tried to place it in rather than firing it home.

We started so well too. It's a natural instinct to defend after going ahead, but as someone mentioned in here, it was almost like we scored too early. 

SOD is a trier, and I'd love to see him come good for us ; but he's not cut out for it at this level. Christie was our best player. Fraser had a brief moment or two but otherwise resembled someone really fast just running about. McBurnie had some decent hold up play but squandered (probably harsh considering the lack of support/good Russian defence) his final or through ball. 

A horrendous campaign. Everything about it. Struggled to beat Cyprus ; unbelievably stodgy and unconvincing v San Marino but got there in the end ; Belgium away defended well but lost goals at horror times before HT and 93rd minute ; and tonight at home going out with a shot on target! (apart from the goal). 

What are Northern Ireland doing? Yes, they've played their four easiest games - they've got Germany and Netherlands x 2 to come now - and may well miss out ; but for them to have 12pts is an excellent achievement. If that was us in their position, absolutely would be on 9 or 10pts. 

Worryingly - we used to be quite good at Hampden and that kept us in qualifying groups. We are utterly dogshite away from home! We are all but out of this now at the half-way stage and for this to be our national sport too. 

Writing these posts for ten years. No one cares really. The SFA squander and blunder their way through and we'll get 35k turning up singing ''we'll support you more'' etc. 

I'm starting to wonder if actually not qualifying is a blessing ; we won't have to show ourselves up at a main tournament (or even hosting 2 games of a tournament). It'll take a lot of luck to get through the Playoffs - yes we'll have at least one home game ; but would we win in Oslo, Helsinki (they probably won't need one), Sofia, Belgrade etc to get to the Euros? I don't think we would. It'll be all very Scottish and we'll lose 0-1 or something in Sofia.

I think the only game I've avoided watching with Scotland through choice was the Spain one after Levein's 4-6  Czech game. I think I'll miss Monday's game and nothing how ridiculous and diddy a nation we are, we probably will end up getting a point or even turning over the Belgians.

I've held the opinion for a while that we'll qualify for a tournament when we deserve to. Unfortunately I don't think we're at that stage yet.

There have been better Finland teams than the one we might face in the play-offs and far better Bulgaria teams but I wouldn't fancy this Scotland team to go to Helsinki or Sofia and win, no way.

If we did somehow manage to sneak into the finals of a major tournament I imagine we'd resemble the Republic of Ireland in Euro 2012 or even Panama in last year's World Cup.

Edited September 6, 2019 by scotlad

[BraveheartGordon]

24 minutes ago, ErsatzThistle said:

Ryan Jack should be given a shot at right back against Belgium.

Good shout. He’d do a job there. Solid player. Seriously need to address central defence and rb long term though. But don’t know how.

[BraveheartGordon]

4 minutes ago, scotlad said:

I've held the opinion for a while that we'll qualify for a tournament when we deserve to. Unfortunately I don't think we're at that stage yet.

There have been better Finland teams than the one we might face in the play-offs and far better Bulgaria teams but I wouldn't fancy this Scotland team to go to Helsinki or Sofia and win, no way.

If we did somehow manage to sneak into the finals of a major tournament I imagine we'd resemble the Republic of Ireland in Euro 2012 or even Panama in last year's World Cup.

I don’t care what we’d resemble, I’m a grown men and I’ve never seen us at a major tournament. I’d give anything in the world to see us sneak into a major tournament.

[scotlad]

2 hours ago, Barney Rubble said:

Stop talking pish.

Whatever the problem is, Steven O'Donnell isn't it.

Ryan Jack right back??? Get a grip.

Exactly. O'Donnell isn't up to it but just putting someone else at right back isn't going to solve anything. It's rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic territory.

2 hours ago, Third Lanark said:

I go back to an old theme: RoI, NI and Wales keep outperforming us despite having a narrower pool of quality to select from. Why?

Wales are no great shakes at the moment - they needed a late goal from wonder boy to beat Azerbaijan tonight - at home.

NI haven't played Germany or the Netherlands yet and I don't expect them to take much from those two games.

Right enough, RoI have succeeded expectations in their group - so far. I still reckon they'll finish outside the top two, although time will tell.

All three of those teams had disappointing nations league campaigns and I don't think any of them they'll qualify. But again, time will tell.

[scotlad]

15 minutes ago, BraveheartGordon said:

I don’t care what we’d resemble, I’m a grown men and I’ve never seen us at a major tournament. I’d give anything in the world to see us sneak into a major tournament.

I'm genuinely sorry to hear that. There'll be at least one generation now with no first-hand knowledge of Scotland at a major finals.

I am old enough to remember Scotland playing in major finals and trust me, watching them crash out felt every bit as bad as tonight's result, and then some. And by the way, those Scotland sides were streets ahead of this current mob.

If you think you could tolerate tonight's kind of humiliation but on a much larger scale, then fine. Personally, I'd at least want a team capable of qualifying  in style before going out with a bit of dignity.

[ErsatzThistle]

3 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

The centre halves weren't great but they dont deserve to be singled out.

I find it embarrassing that sky cant find a better calibre of pundit than kris boyd. Its emabarrasing listening to his drivel 

He needs his KFC family feast for his brain to function properly.

[bonzo]

28 minutes ago, scotlad said:

Exactly. O'Donnell isn't up to it but just putting someone else at right back isn't going to solve anything. It's rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic territory.

Wales are no great shakes at the moment - they needed a late goal from wonder boy to beat Azerbaijan tonight - at home.

NI haven't played Germany or the Netherlands yet and I don't expect them to take much from those two games.

Right enough, RoI have succeeded expectations in their group - so far. I still reckon they'll finish outside the top two, although time will tell.

All three of those teams had disappointing nations league campaigns and I don't think any of them they'll qualify. But again, time will tell.

But they won their first 4🤷‍♂️q

[BraveheartGordon]

21 minutes ago, scotlad said:

I'm genuinely sorry to hear that. There'll be at least one generation now with no first-hand knowledge of Scotland at a major finals.

I am old enough to remember Scotland playing in major finals and trust me, watching them crash out felt every bit as bad as tonight's result, and then some. And by the way, those Scotland sides were streets ahead of this current mob.

If you think you could tolerate tonight's kind of humiliation but on a much larger scale, then fine. Personally, I'd at least want a team capable of qualifying  in style before going out with a bit of dignity.

I’d tolerate it 100 percent just to get the chance to actually support them at a tournament and for the anticipation for months beforehand.

[romanticscot]

I did not expect to be so dominated but once I saw the height of them I knew we were in for trouble.  They came out in the second half and were quite frankly awesome for a spell.  McBurnie needed the ball at his feet, Forrest was quiet.

 

Conclusion, it is ALL about the play offs now.  I will not bother making an event of the game on Monday, its like chasing a burd and trying to convince yourself your in with a chance and you just get your hopes dashed time and time again.  

 

As a football nation, we truly suck.  Its not the players fault or the coaching staff - its the football institutions in our country for 20 years we have not learned or changed anything.  I feat Robertson is in the line of Barry Ferguson, Paul Lambert, Darren Fletcher - decent players who were never given a tournament and we squandered them. I am truly disgusted right now, I need to go for a walk. 

 

Where the crock is Steven Fletcher? 

Edited September 7, 2019 by romanticscot

[BucksburnDandy]

That was absolutely brutal. Just mince. Until we scored, we looked bright and effective but we went into total retreat mode. Rather than trying to go toe to toe, we surrendered to Russia, who are a good team.

 

The midfield was absolutely overran. McGregor was absolutely shocking, one of the worst individual performances I've seen in a long time. McGinn, bar scoring, was his usual ineffectual self. Running round like a madman is not actually that useful without some nous on winning the ball and moving forward.

 

Our right side is so weak that it is scary. Forrest is mince for Scotland, a good Premiership player who gets found out in a Scotland shirt. Stephen O'Donnell has never and will never be good enough to be an international footballer.

 

Plenty people happy to slag Oli McBurnie but with the level of service and total lack of support coming from midfield, he's always going to be left exposed and unable to do much at all.

 

We are so mentally weak as a team, it is frightening. Instead of taken a lift from taking the lead, we treated it as a burden. It is beyond me why this team see it like that. Part of it is absolutely down to Steve Clarke, who got his starting lineup badly wrong tonight. The other part is down to a weak mentality and the usual defeatist nonsense that we are continually served up.

 

Ultimately this team are so far off qualifying for a tournament. Once again, as a fanbase, we are likely going to miss out due to the ineptitude of our national team. A truly depressing night

[er yir macaroon]

Mulgrew playing on the right meant McBurnie has to deal with punts from his weaker rght foot. Bates should have been on the right end Mulgrew on the left. That Mulgrew had O’Donnell outside him and a leggy Forrest meant the whole right side was a disaster. No midfielder came deep to collect the ball to set the tempo and to stop the aimless punts to McBurnie - expect Gilmour to do this sooner rather than later. Most of all we were too nervous and when that happens good players turn bad. That’s why we need leaders and possibly a change  of captaincy.

[Malcolm]

It was the manner of defeat that was so alarming. It was 2-1 going on 4-1.  We were totally dominated at home.  By a second pot team.  Fourth pot is our rightful place.

[Bino's]

18 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

It was the manner of defeat that was so alarming. It was 2-1 going on 4-1.  We were totally dominated at home.  By a second pot team.  Fourth pot is our rightful place.

And yet we have better players than the Ireland's

[Malcolm]

Just now, Bino's said:

And yet we have better players than the Ireland's

I keep hearing this but we fail to prove this consistently over a number of years with a various different managers.

[Bino's]

3 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

I keep hearing this but we fail to prove this consistently over a number of years with a various different managers.

It's a fact we have better players

They play long ball

Maybe we should go back to that

[infamous]

28 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

It was the manner of defeat that was so alarming. It was 2-1 going on 4-1.  We were totally dominated at home.  By a second pot team.  Fourth pot is our rightful place.

The funny thing is we are tied with them on the FIFA Rankings. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Russia
Euro 2008 - 3rd
World Cup 2010 - DNQ
Euro 2012 - 9th 
World Cup 2014 - 24th
Euro 2016 - 23rd
World Cup 2018 - 8th 
Euro 2020 - Qualified(likely)

Scotland
Euro 2008 - DNQ
World Cup 2010 - DNQ
Euro 2012 - DNQ
World Cup 2014- DNQ
Euro 2016 - DNQ
World Cup 2018 - DNQ
Euro 2020 - Playoff