Netherlands warm up game.

[er yir macaroon]

I’ve read that Gilmour and McTominay are not available for this match. Is this confirmed? Disappointing if true, should be a cracker though. Kick off tomorrow at 7.45 pm. 

[The Black Bra]

I questioned this in another thread and it has been confirmed in an official message.

The midfield for the Holland game concerns me now. Getting beaten comfortably won’t do confidence much good. We don’t have a naturally defensive midfielder, I’m assuming McGregor will play and McGinn will be in a less attacking role.

Having said that, I don’t know much about Holland at the moment. Think they got beaten 4-2 by Turkey in their last game?

[Dodger]

6 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

I’ve read that Gilmour and McTominay are not available for this match. Is this confirmed? Disappointing if true, should be a cracker though. Kick off tomorrow at 7.45 pm. 

I admire your optimism. Struggling to think of a Scotland friendly that could be described as "a cracker". 

[er yir macaroon]

7 minutes ago, Dodger said:

I admire your optimism. Struggling to think of a Scotland friendly that could be described as "a cracker". 

Odd. 

[robbo cop]

Are the above players injured? 

[wanderer]

5 minutes ago, robbo cop said:

Are the above players injured? 

Gilmour only joined up with the squad yesterday or today after flying back to London with the Chelsea squad on Sunday.

There was reports that McTominay in the final weeks of the season that he was nursing a injury, but seemed to get through Europa League final ok, so probably just letting him get rested before the Euros

Edited June 1, 2021 by wanderer

[Toepoke]

1 hour ago, The Black Bra said:

Having said that, I don’t know much about Holland at the moment. Think they got beaten 4-2 by Turkey in their last game?

Beat Latvia 2-0 and Gibraltar 7-0 after that. Not a great guide of form I admit.

 

[wanderer]

I am not expecting the Dutch game to be anything special.

Dutch will probably not get out of 1st gear for this one with both eyes on the Euros, and sounds like Clarke will try out some new idea's to get players like Forrest back in the team and replacements for the injured players.

Either a drab 0-0 or 1-0 to the Dutch.

Luxembourg game will probably be played at a higher pace.

[er yir macaroon]

10 minutes ago, wanderer said:

I am not expecting the Dutch game to be anything special.

Dutch will probably not get out of 1st gear for this one with both eyes on the Euros, and sounds like Clarke will try out some new idea's to get players like Forrest back in the team and replacements for the injured players.

Either a drab 0-0 or 1-0 to the Dutch.

Luxembourg game will probably be played at a higher pace.

Players from both sides will be wanting to nail down a starting place, so it may be quite competitive especially with the fringe players. Hopefully no one injures themselves busting a gut. 

I think for at least 45 minutes our preferred defensive personnel and shape will be used. 

A hammering would be undesirable, but then again so might a win, if it papers over any cracks. 

Edited June 1, 2021 by er yir macaroon

[wanderer]

2 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

Players from both sides will be wanting to nail down a starting place, so it may be quite competitive especially with the fringe players. Hopefully no one injures themselves busting a gut. 

I think for at least 45 minutes our preferred defensive personnel and shape will be used. 

A hammering would be undesirable, but then again so might a win, if it papers over any cracks. 

It could very easily go both ways, but I think this game will be at snail pace, or the Dutch will have a 15-20 minute spell where they show their class and a case of what "damage" is done during that period.

I suspect Clarke will go a back three of one from Cooper, Gallacher or Hendry slotting beside Hanley and Tierney.

I think Patterson will see game time in this match.

Armstrong will most likely start, and I think Adams will get the nod for upfront, simply to get him more game time with Scotland.

Only "major" changes I can see is in goals and who drops to accommodate Forrest.

[Caledonian Craig]

I think the line-up will look something like this:-

                                                                                    Marshall

                                                                     Hendry       Hanley       Tierney

                                            O'Donnell                                                                    Robertson

 

                                                                        Armstrong         McGregor

                                                                                       McGinn

 

                                                                           Dykes            Christie

 

Probably a number of changes during the match with perhaps run-outs for Cooper, Patterson, Turnbull, Fraser and Adams.

[Dodger]

1 hour ago, wanderer said:

It could very easily go both ways, but I think this game will be at snail pace, or the Dutch will have a 15-20 minute spell where they show their class and a case of what "damage" is done during that period.

I suspect Clarke will go a back three of one from Cooper, Gallacher or Hendry slotting beside Hanley and Tierney.

I think Patterson will see game time in this match.

Armstrong will most likely start, and I think Adams will get the nod for upfront, simply to get him more game time with Scotland.

Only "major" changes I can see is in goals and who drops to accommodate Forrest.

I can't see either team being told to go full throttle. Last thing either side will want is any injuries so expect it'll feel like a pre-season game. 

[Tartan blood]

Now that there is a covid case, I would honestly prefer this game was called off. There will be very little benefit to come from it that outweighs the risk of infection or injury.

At present we are down 5 Centre Mids: McTominay, Gilmour, Fleck, Jack and McLean. And McGregor just isn't cut out to be the anchorman alone.

It could be a demoralising defeat if they penetrate through the middle, which was already a weakness of ours. 

I'd much rather wrap the players in cotton wool.

[wanderer]

Dutch are effected now also, with their No1 keeper, Jasper Cillessen, having a positive test also for COVID.

[Texas Pete]

41 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

Now that there is a covid case, I would honestly prefer this game was called off. There will be very little benefit to come from it that outweighs the risk of infection or injury.

At present we are down 5 Centre Mids: McTominay, Gilmour, Fleck, Jack and McLean. And McGregor just isn't cut out to be the anchorman alone.

It could be a demoralising defeat if they penetrate through the middle, which was already a weakness of ours. 

I'd much rather wrap the players in cotton wool.

You’d rather a game was called off because one player has tested positive?

I think you might be overreacting just a little. 

[Tartan blood]

1 minute ago, Texas Pete said:

You’d rather a game was called off because one player has tested positive?

I think you might be overreacting just a little. 

Weighing up the cost/benefit, I do think it should be called off. Especially now that the Dutch keeper has tested positive.

I probably am overreacting, but I would rather have no risk, than low risk.

[Texas Pete]

Just now, Tartan blood said:

Weighing up the cost/benefit, I do think it should be called off. Especially now that the Dutch keeper has tested positive.

I probably am overreacting, but I would rather have no risk, than low risk.

No such thing as no risk. 

They might as well cancel the tournament if we go down that route. 

[Tartan blood]

Just now, Texas Pete said:

No such thing as no risk. 

They might as well cancel the tournament if we go down that route. 

I know. I'd rather have lower* risk then.

Anyway, you're probably right, I'm almost certainly overreacting. Hopefully this is the end of it. It'll be gutting for Fleck if he misses out on the tournament. 

[Texas Pete]

2 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

I know. I'd rather have lower* risk then.

Anyway, you're probably right, I'm almost certainly overreacting. Hopefully this is the end of it. It'll be gutting for Fleck if he misses out on the tournament. 

I doubt he’ll miss the tournament unless he actually becomes ill.

Not sure what the Spanish rules are but I doubt they are as strict the rules here so he’ll probably have to isolate for a week or something. Not ideal but as long as he has no symptoms and tests negative he’ll be able to rejoin the squad before the tournament. 

[Tartan blood]

4 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

I doubt he’ll miss the tournament unless he actually becomes ill.

Not sure what the Spanish rules are but I doubt they are as strict the rules here so he’ll probably have to isolate for a week or something. Not ideal but as long as he has no symptoms and tests negative he’ll be able to rejoin the squad before the tournament. 

I was thinking more along the lines of Clarke replacing him because he'll miss a lot of the prep. But if it's confirmed he caught it before going to Spain, he shouldn't miss too much.

I am a little concerned that he basically had the virus the whole time he was with the rest of the squad. Fingers crossed it's a false positive or that he was being very cautious in general and didn't pass it to anyone.

[Texas Pete]

1 minute ago, Tartan blood said:

I was thinking more along the lines of Clarke replacing him because he'll miss a lot of the prep. But if it's confirmed he caught it before going to Spain, he shouldn't miss too much.

I am a little concerned that he basically had the virus the whole time he was with the rest of the squad. Fingers crossed it's a false positive or that he was being very cautious in general and didn't pass it to anyone.

I doubt he’ll replace him unless he needs to drop out. Bringing someone else in from the outside would be a big risk which should probably be avoided unless completely necessary. 

Yeah that’s the main worry. As someone else has said though there has been numerous instances, including a previous Scotland camp, where one or more people have tested positive and the rest of the squad were unaffected. 

It’s funny that most of these cases seem to be asymptomatic. If he shows no symptoms and nobody else tests positive it will likely be a false positive. Fingers crossed that’s what it is.

 

[Tartan blood]

9 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

I doubt he’ll replace him unless he needs to drop out. Bringing someone else in from the outside would be a big risk which should probably be avoided unless completely necessary. 

Yeah that’s the main worry. As someone else has said though there has been numerous instances, including a previous Scotland camp, where one or more people have tested positive and the rest of the squad were unaffected. 

It’s funny that most of these cases seem to be asymptomatic. If he shows no symptoms and nobody else tests positive it will likely be a false positive. Fingers crossed that’s what it is.

 

Yeah, I mentioned that in another thread. Keep all the reserves away from the rest of the squad as long as possible. I'd even keep Gilmour and McTominay away for a couple of days since they aren't playing anyway.

This vindicates Clarke's decision to only take 24 guys to Spain. I can think of probably 10-12 decent back-up players I wouldn't mind calling upon in a crisis.

[Third Lanark]

Clarke has said that some players may not see any game time at all. Imagine he is thinking of the likes of Taylor, McKenna, Fleck, Nisbet maybe. None were certain starters and if Fleck has to pull out due to covid, then an opportunity for Gauld opens up - and to be honest I would rather he were in the squad.

[romanticscot]

Having a positive test and having Covid are two different things, these PCR tests have perpetuated the myth of Covid being so prevalent, and dozen of other classes of illnesses being named Covid on death certificates have perpetuated the myth of Covid being as deadly even with its over 96% (conservative) recovery rate of those catch what the PCR tests have deemed Covid-19.  Clarke is correct, its the same for every squad.  

[Caledonian Craig]

Clarke saying Fleck travelled to Spain already with COVID. Presumably, he travelled whilst in the 7-day incubation period and so it never showed up in tests before flying out. Clarke says Fleck is fine and showing no effects.