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1 minute ago, Texas Pete said:

I didn’t say you were terrified. Others appear to be dreading a potential trip to either country though. 

We could potentially have been going to Portugal, Italy or Russia so we have dodged a bullet there I’d say. Wales or Austria really is the best final we could have hoped for unless there was a major upset somewhere.

Let’s just hope the Ukrainians don’t spoil the party by having the cheek to beat us in the semi. 

Yes - the bottom line is there was not going to be any easy games at this stage. No mugs or pushovers to meet but the draw we got is a very decent one. The only fly in the ointment being the away draw for the potential final.

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11 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

You would fancy our chances more against a team we haven’t beat for years than a team we beat in Austria a couple of months ago? Odd. 

I would prefer to play a home nation away than a European one, assuming they are of similar ability. 

If the draw had gone the other way I am pretty sure the Welsh would sooner come to Glasgow than go to the Ukraine. 

I understand psychology, but there is a fine line between that and superstition. 

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3 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

If our recent history in playoffs is anything to go by you may well be correct. I’m not sure I could handle another 2 penalty shootouts though. 

Well if you look at our goalscoring and defensive records then we stand up well in it:-

We scored 17 and conceded 7 from ten matches.

Ukraine scored 11 and conceded 8 from eight matches.

Wales scored 14 and conceded 9 from eight matches.

Austria scored 19 and conceded 17 from ten matches.

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14 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

One thing that is clear is that Austria ship goals more freely than us, Ukraine or Wales. Also none of the teams are big scorers so I think all of the games in this path will be either the narrowest of wins or extra-time and penalties deciding them.

I'm pretty sure the Austrians will be a lot more focused than they were in qualification. 

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6 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

I would prefer to play a home nation away than a European one, assuming they are of similar ability. 

If the draw had gone the other way I am pretty sure the Welsh would sooner come to Glasgow than go to the Ukraine. 

I understand psychology, but there is a fine line between that and superstition. 

Fair enough but I would say, taking everything into consideration, we are slightly more likely to win in Austria. Not a lot in it though. Certainly not enough for me to have any strong preference. 

Your point about Wales preferring to go to Hampden doesn’t really hold water as Wales haven’t won in Ukraine in the last 2 months. 

From a selfish point of view I would actually prefer Wales as it would be easier and cheaper to drive down rather than fly to Austria. May be harder to get a ticket though. 

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29 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Well if you look at our goalscoring and defensive records then we stand up well in it:-

We scored 17 and conceded 7 from ten matches.

Ukraine scored 11 and conceded 8 from eight matches.

Wales scored 14 and conceded 9 from eight matches.

Austria scored 19 and conceded 17 from ten matches.

Good stats Craig, look how much our defensive record has improved. Wasn’t long ago we were calamitous at the back. If I remember rightly we’ve had 4 clean sheets in our last 5 games since losing away to Denmark.

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40 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

If our recent history in playoffs is anything to go by you may well be correct. I’m not sure I could handle another 2 penalty shootouts though. 

ELO ratings predicts home wins for all the semis except ours.   Has it at 52/48 in our favour.   i.e. draw written all over it 😆

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1 hour ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Well if you look at our goalscoring and defensive records then we stand up well in it:-

We scored 17 and conceded 7 from ten matches.

Ukraine scored 11 and conceded 8 from eight matches.

Wales scored 14 and conceded 9 from eight matches.

Austria scored 19 and conceded 17 from ten matches.

Ourselves, Ukraine and Wales all faced different opposition so those stats are irrelevant.

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3 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

Can 30,000 be classed as a big home support? It’s not insignificant but small compared to what we could have potentially faced in Italy, Portugal, Sweden or Russia.

I meant big in terms of the proportion of home fans compared to how many we will have there. They created a pretty good atmosphere when the played Belgium a few weeks ago.

Edited by Saint4805
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1 hour ago, Saint4805 said:

I meant big in terms of the proportion of home fans compared to how many we will have there. They created a pretty good atmosphere when the played Belgium a few weeks ago.

Wouldn’t that be the case regardless of who we’re playing away from home? 

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I think the draw is a 7/5-8  out of 10.

Would have preferred n Macedonia instead of Ukraine. But apart from that, we didn't get Poland/Czechs.

Also missed Italy/ Portugal if we get through.

We are in the best/ easiest group of 4.

The only team I would swap places with is Wales ( only cos they have potentially 2 at home) 

IMO Very few other combinations are any better than what we have.

If we beat Ukraine, would prefer Austria .

 

 

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1 hour ago, Archiesdad said:

I think the draw is a 7/5-8  out of 10.

Would have preferred n Macedonia instead of Ukraine. But apart from that, we didn't get Poland/Czechs.

Also missed Italy/ Portugal if we get through.

We are in the best/ easiest group of 4.

The only team I would swap places with is Wales ( only cos they have potentially 2 at home) 

IMO Very few other combinations are any better than what we have.

If we beat Ukraine, would prefer Austria .

 

 

Yes this is spot on. And if we had been given a draw at home in the potential final it would have been a 9 out of 10 for the draw.

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i cant wait for this game already but that vid adds a bit more to it 

From my brief time looking at them on wiki

Management team absolutely nothing to worry about there none of them have a track record of management of success at any level 

Momentum again nothing to worry on that either - granted don't lose a lot but also don't win a lot draw specialists, don't score many or batter teams 

Players 4 players stand out the guys at West Ham, Man City, Atlanta and Benfica. None of them world class all decent players but wouldnt hype them up further than that. Fella at West Ham you assume Clarke would be in Moyes and his teams ear getting the full low down on him

With home advantage, winning momentum, experience of successfully going through the playoffs last year and a developing team really see nothing to concern with the semi final against the Ukraines = very confident in our team for that game 

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13 hours ago, morrie21 said:

Wouldn't worry about the bookies either.

Look if you wish to try to evade factors then go to what all sport looks at.....FORM.

Ukraine were hammered 4-0 by England at the Euros - the same England that toiled to get a 0-0 draw against us. Only winning two games in their qualifying group (certainly not the toughest) should not have you messing your pants about them.

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2 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Look if you wish to try to evade factors then go to what all sport looks at.....FORM.

Ukraine were hammered 4-0 by England at the Euros - the same England that toiled to get a 0-0 draw against us. Only winning two games in their qualifying group (certainly not the toughest) should not have you messing your pants about them.

I'm not messing my pants about anyone. You've totally misinterpreted what I have said. Good day! 

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I can very easily see our game going all the way to penalties.

Ukraine are something of draw specialists, and to watch them is very similar to how we played under Walter Smith... squad full of talented players, but play a slow and cumbersome style of football that will either get a team on the counter attack late in the game, or end in a draw.

Unfortunately for us they have just changed keepers.... Andriy Pyatov (Shakhtar) for years has been viewed as one of the weak links in the time, and in recent games has been rotated with Denys Boyko (Dynamo Kyiv) and of late Heorhiy Bushchan (Dynamo Kyiv) has came into the side and did make some great save v Bosnia. 

I do suspect Pyatov will probably reclaim the No1 shirt in March though. 

Yarmolenko the obvious danger man, and looks like he will be leaving West Ham for Genoa in next few months.... but I always feel to much weight is put on his shoulders, and Roman Yaremchuk (Benfica) is more of a danger, along with Ruslan Malinovskyi.

Play like we did against Denmark and we should be ok, but I expect this game will be rather dull as Ukraine will just try to soak up anything we have and slowly press for a goal.

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