So then..... - TA specific - Tartan Army Message Board Jump to content

So then.....


Bobby Russell's Lovechild

Recommended Posts

4 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

I think we look at the realistic side....  we are still a long way behind the Czechs in reality.   I suspect we will get a draw in the euros then pumped off both England and Croatia.

I thought we came of age during Serbia game. Sadly the reality is we are going to get embarrassingly skelped at the euros.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The great stuff is we are in Euro 2020/2021 after 23 years of wilderness.

The bad/realistic news is we are in our level in current group and would get pumped in league above.

Definite improvements but if we can't beat either of the last 3 teams then we are still struggling to get to next level.

Slightly positive overall though as to the possible things to come under Steve Clarke.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeh agreed, getting promoted would have been a poisoned chalice when we would have little chance of winning any games.

I still think there is progress there and the likes of Hornby, Gilmour and McRorie to step up from the u21s in the next couple of years might mean even more improvement as a squad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had two chances to get a win and didn't make either of them, we can see the areas for improvement.  We have the EURO's, we got a glimpse of tournament football there which was exciting.  Burke was creating problems on the right so we might want to utilize him more.   2020 wasn't all bad for us in football, I am happy to call it a success overall.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Getting a playoff for Euro 2024 won’t be any easier from League B. Being in League A almost guarantees you a playoff. 

I’m not that disappointed to not get promoted though. We were always going to struggle after the playoff win last week and the last 2 games looked like a training exercise. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Possibly a blessing in disguise. We're a long way off being able to compete with Europe's elite in spite of the enormous progress of the last year. Would've been doing well to gain a point from six games in an A Group. This is our level.

On another note Serbia beat Russia 5-0 tonight which puts the progress over the last year into perspective. The Russians tore us apart a little over a year ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


we look harder to beat now...  although against top opposition we will lose goals.  Still not convinced mctomminay is a centre half... always a potential mistake there but he can play a ball.
 

we have nothing up front...

 if we go a goal behind We are stuffed...  never look like scoring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Getting a playoff for Euro 2024 won’t be any easier from League B. Being in League A almost guarantees you a playoff. 

Has it even been decided how the next Nations League will feed the Euros play-offs yet? Can't see anything written down.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

Should we look on the bright side of not getting promoted? The WC playoff birth seems too much of a mathematical equations to get a place. Also staying in league b should mean it'll be slightly easier to get a Euro playoff place than getting one in league a

Sorry but that is just nonsense. Every team in League A will get playoff spot if they need it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

Has it even been decided how the next Nations League will feed the Euros play-offs yet? Can't see anything written down.

 

I don’t think it’s confirmed yet but I can’t see them tinkering with it too much. I did see something about League D not getting a playoff path due to Germany qualifying automatically as hosts but I can’t remember where. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

I don’t think it’s confirmed yet but I can’t see them tinkering with it too much. I did see something about League D not getting a playoff path due to Germany qualifying automatically as hosts but I can’t remember where. 

Seen that too.

If so there's 20 qualifying slots from the groups plus a further 12 teams going into the play offs.

Hopefully we'll avoid such a stinking hard group the next time and actually have a chance at an automatic qualification. 

 

Edited by Toepoke
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Toepoke said:

Seen that too.

If so there's 20 qualifying slots from the groups plus a further 12 teams going into the play offs.

Hopefully we'll avoid such a stinking hard group the next time and actually have a chance at an automatic qualification. 

 

Sadly we’re not good enough for League A at the moment. We’d have been thrown around like an empty tracksuit.

Staying in League B isn't the end of the world. We’ve still got an outside chance of pot 2 for the Euro 2024 qualifiers if we win our group next time. 

The main thing is we have qualified for a tournament and we can start looking forward to that now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Orraloon said:

Sorry but that is just nonsense. Every team in League A will get playoff spot if they need it.

I think at this point, we would have finished bottom of a league a group, so don't think a play off spot would be that guaranteed

Edited by Bobby Russell's Lovechild
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think in the two matches we had more possession, more shots at goal ( not sure about on target though) and subjectively i thought we were the better team, what we didnt have was the creativity around the 18 yard box which is so vital at international level. So I would say caught between the bottom of the top tier and top of the second tier, bit like St Mirren or Fulham.

Would have been great to try out at top level but not sure we would have done any more than Iceland or Sweden TBH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The euros are 7 months away. Thats mpre than ample time for girffiths or dykes to hit the goal trail. We will hopefully have fraser back to partner dykes if girffiths is still off the boil.

Last night was a little bump back to earth to show us there is work to be done. 

9 hours ago, Malcolm said:

I think we look at the realistic side....  we are still a long way behind the Czechs in reality.   I suspect we will get a draw in the euros then pumped off both England and Croatia.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Burj_Alba said:

Think in the two matches we had more possession, more shots at goal ( not sure about on target though) and subjectively i thought we were the better team, what we didnt have was the creativity around the 18 yard box which is so vital at international level. So I would say caught between the bottom of the top tier and top of the second tier, bit like St Mirren or Fulham.

Would have been great to try out at top level but not sure we would have done any more than Iceland or Sweden TBH.

I agree with this. A wee bit of luck and/or a cracking piece of skill has decided the game in all 3 of the matches just played. But at least we have moved to that 'medium' level. We're not leaking goals all over the place and looking unable to string 2 passes together. McTominay has played well but has been culpable in 2 goals against, so still a question mark around central defence. Griffiths/Fraser up front can give us hope, and possibly McTominay more advanced if Clarke can replace him safely. The only 2 real challengers I can see for squad places are Gilmour and Turnbull, but both would need to get significant playing time. Chelsea have strengthened their midfield so that's a tough challenge for Gilmour. Turnbull just needs to break into the Celtic team and keep his place. I'd have either before McLean. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Malcolm said:

we have nothing up front...

 if we go a goal behind We are stuffed...  never look like scoring.

We had lots of shots on goal and several saves from their goalie. We looked a lot more like scoring last night than a few games ago when we had zero shots on goal.

Edited by exile
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The next few months are an opportunity for one or two to push themselves forward. Gilmour might have to get a loan move but others like Mikey Johnston and Kevin Nisbet could give the manager something to think about. 

Being Scotland boss has always been about making the best of the limited squads we have had over the last 20 years. At least we look as though we have someone in charge who can do that now 👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

I think at this point, we would have finished bottom of a league a group, so don't think a play off spot would be that guaranteed

As long as at least 12 of the other 16 League A teams finished in the top 2 of their qualifying group (which is likely) we would have got a Euro 2024 playoff. This is more likely than us winning our League B group next time in my opinion. We were handed our group on a plate this time and couldn't win it. 

It’s all epidemic now anyway as Del Boy would say. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

As long as at least 12 of the other 16 League A teams finished in the top 2 of their qualifying group (which is likely) we would have got a Euro 2024 playoff. This is more likely than us winning our League B group next time in my opinion. We were handed our group on a plate this time and couldn't win it. 

It’s all epidemic now anyway as Del Boy would say. 

All depends how the format is decided, but it might be better if we remain in League B next time as well for when it comes to deciding the play-off spots for the 2026 World Cup.

I might be getting ahead of myself here though :-))

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ironically the last two games have been better performances, especially Slovakia, than many we've had under Steve Clarke and got a result.  That's not a positive, by the way.  We've been rank rotten with little threat for most of his tenure.

We've made progress from McLish, not denying it but we were at rock bottom.   But we should be winning that group from the position we were in with those players.  It's not asking too much and another manager would be crucified for it.  He's had the saving grace of one of the very few decent performances has been in the big match.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...


×
×
  • Create New...