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The manager


0Neils40yarder

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I was quite vocal about my worries with regards to the appointment of Stevie Clarke. I worried that it was another appointment driven by the media, and that the SFA weren't going to do their due diligence by seeking high and low for the best candidate because they were happy to appoint the easiest candidate... Something they have been guilty of numerous times in recent years. 

I worried about his track record, one decent season at WBA and another decent season at Killie doesn't make a Scotland manager in my opinion, but I was told 'aye but he coached at Chelsea and Liverpool for a while' 😂 

 

Anyway, since his appointment I've not seen anything that fills me with hope, his squad selections, team selections have left me bamboozled at times, while performances and results have been utterly abject more than once during his short reign. 

 

Picking utter dug meat like Stephen O'Donnell more than once is criminal, the boy is so far out his depth it's unreal. He is the worst Scotland 'regular' that I can remember. Devlin is another strange case, as I really don't see what he brings to the table. While the inclusion of a guy that scores goals in a league with part-time clubs in it, is both maddening and worrying. I'm reading people saying that it'll allow Clarke to get a look at him, come on tae fuck, a Scotland squad isn't about giving lower league players a trial. It's utterly embarrassing. 

 

He's in the job now, and I'm of the opinion that he should be given a bit of time, but there are real causes for concern in my opinion. 

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He was exactly the kind of manager that we needed at this time.  Someone that has a history of being able to organise a team to be hard to beat which he did at WBA and more recently at Killie.  He's not going to turn things around overnight unfortunately and he's having (IMO) to also rebuild the confidence of a pool of players that has been utter shattered by the previous manager.  Remember 2 of his games have been against Belgium.

While I agree that he's no way international class, Stephen O'Donnell was brought in by McLeish and unfortunately there's no better option just now.  Palmer may eventually come good but it's not looking great!  Tierney is our best option but he won't be ready until the November games

Re Devlin, I agree with you but then again he's not going to be an automatic starter, that'll be Mulgrew and Cooper/Hanley I would imagine, so he's only cover.  I'm guessing he's ahead of Bates as he's not starting regularly for Sheffield Weds?

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Yip, no better (or worse) than McLeish or Strachan or the others before them. I think folk are slowly starting to realise that the Scotland manager (whoever he is) isn't capable of producing international class players out of thin air. We have very few players who are good enough to get us qualified for tournaments. The few who are good enough sometimes don't seem to be too bothered whether they play or not. It's a tough job.

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15 minutes ago, kwhitelaw said:

He was exactly the kind of manager that we needed at this time.  Someone that has a history of being able to organise a team to be hard to beat which he did at WBA and more recently at Killie.  He's not going to turn things around overnight unfortunately and he's having (IMO) to also rebuild the confidence of a pool of players that has been utter shattered by the previous manager.  Remember 2 of his games have been against Belgium.

While I agree that he's no way international class, Stephen O'Donnell was brought in by McLeish and unfortunately there's no better option just now.  Palmer may eventually come good but it's not looking great!  Tierney is our best option but he won't be ready until the November games

Re Devlin, I agree with you but then again he's not going to be an automatic starter, that'll be Mulgrew and Cooper/Hanley I would imagine, so he's only cover.  I'm guessing he's ahead of Bates as he's not starting regularly for Sheffield Weds?

Disagree with loads of this... He was the easy option, and as usual the SFA took it. What he done at Killie was a good job, but not enough for me to be the Scotland Gaffer.

The fact that McLeish brought SOD in, isn't lost on me... As a Motherwell fan I'm well accustomed to Ecks inability to pick a player. The fact that Clarke continues to include the boy is criminal. 

.

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Who was the fanny of a journalist trying to needle Clarke with questions about Gerard's Ryan Jack comments and whether or no he's enjoying the job at the press conference? Absolute gutter stuff and unfortunately these parasites thrive when they smell blood.

Regarding Clarke appointment I wasn't over the moon but I understood he was the preference of the general consensus and so was happy with it. Rather than thousands of roasters booing McLeish to no benefit.

I think our situation is more down to the lack of quality we have within key areas of the squad at the moment. As it seems to be personified now with the Shankland inclusion, the manager can only piss with the cock he's got.

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1 hour ago, kumnio said:

There hasn’t been any improvement under him, which I was expecting. By no means calling for his head, but I expected better. 

Four games in, of which two were against the best team on the planet, and you are expecting improvement. Clarke needs to be given the play offs and then judge him on that. Far too early to make an assessment on him so far.

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2 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Four games in, of which two were against the best team on the planet, and you are expecting improvement. Clarke needs to be given the play offs and then judge him on that. Far too early to make an assessment on him so far.

I can make an assessment on anyone, at any time. You do not get to dictate to anyone, this precious nonsense about oh its too early to say anything at all is absolute utter bollocks, or lack of them, grow a pair or a clit, whatever you need.

Cyprus was a pathetic performance, Im not going to say anything about either Belgium game, because, well its Belgium, and by all accounts, Russia was insipid. 

To say I expect better is nothing other than reasonable analysis. 

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2 hours ago, kwhitelaw said:

He was exactly the kind of manager that we needed at this time.  Someone that has a history of being able to organise a team to be hard to beat which he did at WBA and more recently at Killie.  He's not going to turn things around overnight unfortunately and he's having (IMO) to also rebuild the confidence of a pool of players that has been utter shattered by the previous manager.  Remember 2 of his games have been against Belgium.

While I agree that he's no way international class, Stephen O'Donnell was brought in by McLeish and unfortunately there's no better option just now.  Palmer may eventually come good but it's not looking great!  Tierney is our best option but he won't be ready until the November games

Re Devlin, I agree with you but then again he's not going to be an automatic starter, that'll be Mulgrew and Cooper/Hanley I would imagine, so he's only cover.  I'm guessing he's ahead of Bates as he's not starting regularly for Sheffield Weds?

There’s far better options than Stephen O’Donnell.

Ryan Jack can play there & Would easily do a job, you can also put a centre back there and they will be a fine defender and be able to pass the ball - two things O’Donnell isn’t and can’t.

Aaron Hickey could also play there and even at 17 would be streaks ahead of O’Donnell.

He’s among the worst players ever to represent the nation and it’s beyond bizarre he’s in this squad. 

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12 minutes ago, kumnio said:

I can make an assessment on anyone, at any time. You do not get to dictate to anyone, this precious nonsense about oh its too early to say anything at all is absolute utter bollocks, or lack of them, grow a pair or a clit, whatever you need.

Cyprus was a pathetic performance, Im not going to say anything about either Belgium game, because, well its Belgium, and by all accounts, Russia was insipid. 

To say I expect better is nothing other than reasonable analysis. 

You expect better after four games, two of which are against Belgium, sorry buddy you are going to be very disappointed if you expect vast improvement in that space of time. Admittedly we looked very poor against Russia which I feel we should do better especially at home but to seriously be judging Clarke after those four games is madness. As I said he has to be given a chance to get things right, otherwise we may as well just not bother with a manager at all. 

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8 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

You expect better after four games, two of which are against Belgium, sorry buddy you are going to be very disappointed if you expect vast improvement in that space of time. Admittedly we looked very poor against Russia which I feel we should do better especially at home but to seriously be judging Clarke after those four games is madness. As I said he has to be given a chance to get things right, otherwise we may as well just not bother with a manager at all. 

See heres the problem, you're making stuff up.

Saying I expect better, actually stating Cyprus a pathetic performance, yet you somehow read this as expecting vast improvement. Where exactly did I say this, or anything even remotely near to this?

Who said he isn't getting a chance to get things right? Again, a complete fabrication.

If an independent adjudicator were to look at the 4 games individually, none would be pass marks. He isn't a 35 year old on his first job, he knows what needs to be done, but theres been no progress. Thats all Im saying, I haven't criticised him, I haven't called for his head, not once, not even in passing. 

But if you think ongoing analysis is unjustified, mate, fitba isn't for you.

 

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1 minute ago, kumnio said:

See heres the problem, you're making stuff up.

Saying I expect better, actually stating Cyprus a pathetic performance, yet you somehow read this as expecting vast improvement. Where exactly did I say this, or anything even remotely near to this?

Who said he isn't getting a chance to get things right? Again, a complete fabrication.

If an independent adjudicator were to look at the 4 games individually, none would be pass marks. He isn't a 35 year old on his first job, he knows what needs to be done, but theres been no progress. Thats all Im saying, I haven't criticised him, I haven't called for his head, not once, not even in passing. 

But if you think ongoing analysis is unjustified, mate, fitba isn't for you.

 

Cyprus would be pass marks, we got the win against a potential banana skin and they arent that bad a side. Is it fair to bring the Belgium games into it as we were always going to struggle against that level of opposition. It's such a gulf in class to expect a new manager to pull out a decent performance is really unfair. The only real disappointment so far is the Russia at home which admittedly we played very poor and should be able to compete against them especially at home. So basically 1 poor performance against a team who did well at the wc is what you are basing your Clarke analysis on. Sorry but that is madness and completely unfair, let's give him a proper chance as opposed to greeting because he can't beat Belgium or Russia after a couple of games in charge.

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11 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

So basically 1 poor performance against a team who did well at the wc is what you are basing your Clarke analysis on. Sorry but that is madness and completely unfair, let's give him a proper chance as opposed to greeting because he can't beat Belgium or Russia after a couple of games in charge.

So your taking out Belgium, because they are good. Cyprus he just gets pass marks for you, Russia he doesn't, so lets say pass marks is 40%, so he is sitting at 30% after the Russia and Cyprus games, thats  not good enough, not even remotely close to being good enough, its Alex McLeish levels.

Who is saying he doesn't deserve a proper chance? You're mental, truly mental, you're reading words and implications that are no where near your screen.

I kumnio, hereby state, that I do not want Clarke sacked, but I am disappointed in his teams performances so far. I repeat, I do not want him sacked.

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11 minutes ago, kumnio said:

So your taking out Belgium, because they are good. Cyprus he just gets pass marks for you, Russia he doesn't, so lets say pass marks is 40%, so he is sitting at 30% after the Russia and Cyprus games, thats  not good enough, not even remotely close to being good enough, its Alex McLeish levels.

Who is saying he doesn't deserve a proper chance? You're mental, truly mental, you're reading words and implications that are no where near your screen.

I kumnio, hereby state, that I do not want Clarke sacked, but I am disappointed in his teams performances so far. I repeat, I do not want him sacked.

You do realise I never said that you wanted him sacked. There is a few on here who seem to think he's not good enough after four games. I would give him 50 percent for the Cyprus game and 30 for the Russia game. So he's probably on 40 percent after two games, it's not that great but it's only two games in and I will expect better in the future but to be judging him after two games and saying it's not good enough is crazy imo. No manager changes a team after four games two of which are against the best team in the world especially given our resources.

Edited by mccaughey85
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9 minutes ago, kumnio said:

 

I kumnio, hereby state, that I do not want Clarke sacked, but I am disappointed in his teams performances so far. I repeat, I do not want him sacked.

So basically Clarke must go? It's you, "Stevie, Stevie, get tae fuck" brigade that ruffle ma big long grouse feather and if I ever see you in ma Irish pub base on an away trip I'll kick you up the hoop with ma Sambas.

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30 minutes ago, kumnio said:

So your taking out Belgium, because they are good. Cyprus he just gets pass marks for you, Russia he doesn't, so lets say pass marks is 40%, so he is sitting at 30% after the Russia and Cyprus games, thats  not good enough, not even remotely close to being good enough, its Alex McLeish levels.

Who is saying he doesn't deserve a proper chance? You're mental, truly mental, you're reading words and implications that are no where near your screen.

I kumnio, hereby state, that I do not want Clarke sacked, but I am disappointed in his teams performances so far. I repeat, I do not want him sacked.

I cant believe that your wanting him sacked 

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29 minutes ago, killiefaetheferry said:

So basically Clarke must go? It's you, "Stevie, Stevie, get tae fuck" brigade that ruffle ma big long grouse feather and if I ever see you in ma Irish pub base on an away trip I'll kick you up the hoop with ma Sambas.

Threats of violence, is this what this site has become?  Are there any admins on this site, any plan to grow the community? 

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1 hour ago, kumnio said:

I kumnio, hereby state, that I do not want Clarke sacked, but I am disappointed in his teams performances so far. I repeat, I do not want him sacked.

I am reading between the lines here but it seems to me what you are saying is you want Steve Clarke sacked. WTF?

Edited by thplinth
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