Your Ideal Team For The Playoffs?

[csinclair]

I think Findlay has the potential to be our best CB but going on form it probably has to be Hanley & Cooper

[Squirrelhumper]

12 hours ago, csinclair said:

I think Findlay has the potential to be our best CB but going on form it probably has to be Hanley & Cooper

I think Clarke will go with Findlay as he's very pacey for a centre half and the two above certainly aren't.

Could be a massive help if we get the final and face Norway.

[mccaughey85]

4 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:

I think Clarke will go with Findlay as he's very pacey for a centre half and the two above certainly aren't.

Could be a massive help if we get the final and face Norway.

Not sure if findlay or any of our centre backs have the pace to deal with haaland. Hopefully he picks up a knock because our defence against him is a nightmare scenario. 

[Squirrelhumper]

18 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Not sure if findlay or any of our centre backs have the pace to deal with haaland. Hopefully he picks up a knock because our defence against him is a nightmare scenario. 

He's the fastest centre half we've got, that was my point.

Not many centre halves in the world have pace to deal with Haaland.

[ceudmilefailte]

24 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

He's the fastest centre half we've got, that was my point.

Not many centre halves in the world have pace to deal with Haaland.

Is speed for centre backs  as important as  some make out. I would say that the ability to head the ball, tackle, block the ball, pass  the ball and read the game are all more important.

If you can read the game you already have a start on supposed fast centre backs.

I'm not saying he isn't any good just that too much empathise is put on speed.

[Squirrelhumper]

11 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Is speed for centre backs  as important as  some make out. I would say that the ability to head the ball, tackle, block the ball, pass  the ball and read the game are all more important.

If you can read the game you already have a start on supposed fast centre backs.

I'm not saying he isn't any good just that too much empathise is put on speed.

I think he's a cracking centre half, one that can play with the ball at his feet and also great in the air.

I was just saying why I think he'll get the nod as he's got an extra attribute the others don't have.

[mccaughey85]

32 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

I think he's a cracking centre half, one that can play with the ball at his feet and also great in the air.

I was just saying why I think he'll get the nod as he's got an extra attribute the others don't have.

If he's that good why is he still at killie. 

[dohadeer]

2 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

Not sure if findlay or any of our centre backs have the pace to deal with haaland. Hopefully he picks up a knock because our defence against him is a nightmare scenario. 

I don’t think that we should be wishing injury on other players - that’s not a good look.

UEFA have already given us a big enough loophole route to the finals, let’s not go looking for extra loopholes! 

[mccaughey85]

30 minutes ago, dohadeer said:

I don’t think that we should be wishing injury on other players - that’s not a good look.

UEFA have already given us a big enough loophole route to the finals, let’s not go looking for extra loopholes! 

Not sure if you are trolling or if you really are this daft. 

"We"? the sfa or the Scotland team are not going to cause injury to anyone and I have no power to cause this so don't get why you are acting all righteous. I actually wouldn't wish anything to happen to the guy but if he does pick up a knock then we would have a much better chance of getting through assuming we meet them. UEFA haven't given us any loophole, we qualified legitimately for these play offs like the other teams. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by mccaughey85

[dohadeer]

48 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Not sure if you are trolling or if you really are this daft. 

"We"? the sfa or the Scotland team are not going to cause injury to anyone and I have no power to cause this so don't get why you are acting all righteous. I actually wouldn't wish anything to happen to the guy but if he does pick up a knock then we would have a much better chance of getting through assuming we meet them. UEFA haven't given us any loophole, we qualified legitimately for these play offs like the other teams. 

I meant that they created a loophole for ALL League C and League D teams, not just us - as in a route for teams outside the top 24 teams in Europe to get to the finals without actually having to get past any of the top 24 teams.

[Texas Pete]

51 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Not sure if you are trolling or if you really are this daft. 

"We"? the sfa or the Scotland team are not going to cause injury to anyone and I have no power to cause this so don't get why you are acting all righteous. I actually wouldn't wish anything to happen to the guy but if he does pick up a knock then we would have a much better chance of getting through assuming we meet them. UEFA haven't given us any loophole, we qualified legitimately for these play offs like the other teams. 

You’d be as well banging your head against a brick wall. 

[mccaughey85]

1 minute ago, Texas Pete said:

You’d be as well banging your head against a brick wall. 

I think the guy/girl just wants wind folk up, I don't really mind tbh but it's tedious to say the least. 

[dohadeer]

1 hour ago, mccaughey85 said:

I think the guy/girl just wants wind folk up, I don't really mind tbh but it's tedious to say the least. 

Not my intention, honest!

[killiefaetheferry]

Hearing McKenna out for the season. 

[vanderark14]

2 minutes ago, killiefaetheferry said:

Hearing McKenna out for the season. 

Not a bad thing. He needs a reality check and it will force clarke to use better players.

Mckenna has his head in the clouds after the price tag of 6.5m was thrown around. 

[Squirrelhumper]

14 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

If he's that good why is he still at killie. 

That's a very simplistic view - he'll not be at Killie past the summer I wouldn't imagine.

If the Celtic players in the squad are that good - then why are they not playing in EPL? Why is McKenna still at Aberdeen? Why was Andy Robertson stlll only playing at Hull at 23?

If our other options are that good, then why are they playing lower league football down south? IMO there's very little between our centre halves - I was giving a reason why I think Findlay may get the nod ahead of the others as they aren't exactly quick.

 

[jackhayes17]

Marshall

Palmer Findlay Cooper Robertson

McTominay McGregor

Christie Armstrong* Forrest

Griffiths

 

*McGinn if fit but unlikely

[AndyDD]

Given the amount of celtic players likely to be in the squad and their recent propensity (and relative success) going 3-5-2, there might be more flexibility than we may have thought before now regards 'shape'. So maybe... 

            Griffiths

     Armstrong, Christie

Robbo, McTominay, Mcgregor, Forrest

      Cooper, Hanley, Findlay

Alternatively, you could drop one of Armstrong or Christie and put a target man like McBurnie or Martin in beside Griffiths, essentially for Griff to bounce the ball off. It worked with Martin against England and in patches against Slovakia and Slovenia. Both are getting decent game time for their club so probably warrant looking at. 

Clarke has by and large stuck with 4-3-3 though, or variations upon that theme. 

 

Fraser, Griffiths, Forrest

Mctominay, Mcgregor, christie

Robertson, Cooper, Hanley, Palmer/Jack

This is all under the impression, perhaps mistaken, that Mcginn won't be ready. With Mcgregor, Fleck, McTominay, Jack, Mclean, Armstrong, Christie, Fraser and Forrest, with potentially Phillips and Shinnie, we have a lot of options in the middle and on the right, but not much on the left. Especially if you wanted to play 4-4-2 or 4-4--1-1, it's hard to see if anyone other than Fraser could really go wide left. Could you maybe put Armstrong or Christie or Forrest out on that side? 

Tricky one. As ever, right back options are scary. Hell, playing 3 at the back might be viable for that reason alone; Forrest as a RWB eliminates need for a right back, which i guess would have to be Palmer or Jack. 

Let's hope that in 4 weeks time we are talking about who will be lining up in the final for us...

 

[dohadeer]

6 minutes ago, AndyDD said:

Given the amount of celtic players likely to be in the squad and their recent propensity (and relative success) going 3-5-2, there might be more flexibility than we may have thought before now regards 'shape'. So maybe... 

            Griffiths

     Armstrong, Christie

Robbo, McTominay, Mcgregor, Forrest

      Cooper, Hanley, Findlay

Alternatively, you could drop one of Armstrong or Christie and put a target man like McBurnie or Martin in beside Griffiths, essentially for Griff to bounce the ball off. It worked with Martin against England and in patches against Slovakia and Slovenia. Both are getting decent game time for their club so probably warrant looking at. 

Clarke has by and large stuck with 4-3-3 though, or variations upon that theme. 

 

Fraser, Griffiths, Forrest

Mctominay, Mcgregor, christie

Robertson, Cooper, Hanley, Palmer/Jack

This is all under the impression, perhaps mistaken, that Mcginn won't be ready. With Mcgregor, Fleck, McTominay, Jack, Mclean, Armstrong, Christie, Fraser and Forrest, with potentially Phillips and Shinnie, we have a lot of options in the middle and on the right, but not much on the left. Especially if you wanted to play 4-4-2 or 4-4--1-1, it's hard to see if anyone other than Fraser could really go wide left. Could you maybe put Armstrong or Christie or Forrest out on that side? 

Tricky one. As ever, right back options are scary. Hell, playing 3 at the back might be viable for that reason alone; Forrest as a RWB eliminates need for a right back, which i guess would have to be Palmer or Jack. 

Let's hope that in 4 weeks time we are talking about who will be lining up in the final for us...

 

Celtic can play whatever formation they like, given the gulf in quality between them and the teams they play against (excluding Rangers.) What Scotland require is totally different to what Celtic require.

On a similar note, Celtic can get away with Forrest as a wing back, as they spend most of the game going forward. Even if he made an error which led to a goal, it would be largely irrelevant, given that Celtic usually score several goals themselves, so would still win the match.

We don’t have the luxury of being able to play with someone as attacking as Forrest at wing back. We’d get torn to shreds.

[AndyDD]

6 minutes ago, dohadeer said:

Celtic can play whatever formation they like, given the gulf in quality between them and the teams they play against (excluding Rangers.) What Scotland require is totally different to what Celtic require.

On a similar note, Celtic can get away with Forrest as a wing back, as they spend most of the game going forward. Even if he made an error which led to a goal, it would be largely irrelevant, given that Celtic usually score several goals themselves, so would still win the match.

We don’t have the luxury of being able to play with someone as attacking as Forrest at wing back. We’d get torn to shreds.

Ach I don't know about that; Forrest played as wing back away to Lazio. 

Quite a bit better than Scottish domestic fare. 

He did it rather well against much superior opposition than Israel, against whom we will be doing a lot of attacking as well, if our 15 shots in the last meeting is anything to go by. So I'd not be overly concerned about it, but definitely a risk, no doubt. Problem is that playing Palmer or Jack at right back in a standard 4 is also risky, as neither are that good. 

The idea that Israel will tear us to shreds at Hampden if we play Forrest at wing back... suffice to say i'd be surprised. They are quite poor, and we are markedly better than under Mcleish, who's side wasn't torn apart at Hampden even with a central defensive pairing of Mckenna and Bates and with Callum Paterson at right back. 

We could narrowly lose to Israel, or go out in extra time or via a shoot-out after a frustrating draw. But I find it hard to envisage Israel coming to Hampden and tearing us to shreds. 

We'll probably save the extra-time or shoot-out heartache for the final. 

 

[dohadeer]

9 minutes ago, AndyDD said:

Ach I don't know about that; Forrest played as wing back away to Lazio. 

Quite a bit better than Scottish domestic fare. 

He did it rather well against much superior opposition than Israel, against whom we will be doing a lot of attacking as well, if our 15 shots in the last meeting is anything to go by. So I'd not be overly concerned about it, but definitely a risk, no doubt. Problem is that playing Palmer or Jack at right back in a standard 4 is also risky, as neither are that good. 

The idea that Israel will tear us to shreds at Hampden if we play Forrest at wing back... suffice to say i'd be surprised. They are quite poor, and we are markedly better than under Mcleish, who's side wasn't torn apart at Hampden even with a central defensive pairing of Mckenna and Bates and with Callum Paterson at right back. 

We could narrowly lose to Israel, or go out in extra time or via a shoot-out after a frustrating draw. But I find it hard to envisage Israel coming to Hampden and tearing us to shreds. 

We'll probably save the extra-time or shoot-out heartache for the final. 

 

I thought that Celtic played a back four away to Lazio?

[AndyDD]

4 minutes ago, dohadeer said:

I thought that Celtic played a back four away to Lazio?

Nah. Ajer, Jullien and El Ahmed as the 3 central defenders, with Forrest and Hayes as wing backs. 

 

[Squirrelhumper]

14 minutes ago, dohadeer said:

I thought that Celtic played a back four away to Lazio?

You thought wrong.

[ProudScot]

2 hours ago, jackhayes17 said:

Marshall

Palmer Findlay Cooper Robertson

McTominay McGregor

Christie Armstrong* Forrest

Griffiths

 

*McGinn if fit but unlikely

Fleck 1000000000000% ahead of McGregor for me. 

[The Black Bra]

16 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

Fleck 1000000000000% ahead of McGregor for me. 

Absolutely. Whether it’s ahead of McGregor or someone else, surely Fleck has to start. He’s having an exceptional season, people raving about him. Shef Utd will be 5th in Prem if they win their game in hand and he seems to be one of their stand-out players. McGregor is in a good run of form but apart from Europe is not playing at the same level. He’s not been anything special for Scotland either....