Scotland vs Czech Republic match thread🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

[COLT NY]

Can’t help thinking about Maloneys goal against ROI. A well worked set play from a corner. We should be coming into the tournament with a few of this in our pocket. Wales got a point from doing just that. We sent the players back to see their families, but if we still didn’t have any set plays worked out I’d have recommended getting back out on the training pitch instead.

[mccaughey85]

Only chance I see of us getting through is a win against Croatia as they looked quite average against England. Still a very long shot though. 

[Caledonian Craig]

1 minute ago, Burj_Alba said:

Best case scenario now is the Czechs beat Croatia so we come down to a head to head for third place if we lose at Wembley. Then a victory will put us in the lap of the gods for a third place qualification.

 

Well even that may not be enough if we ship goals against England given our goal difference is already -2.

[Burj_Alba]

Agree, the corners were poor and the Chechs knew exactly what was coming with the exception of Robertson corner cut back to McGinn for the non penalty decision.

[ThistleWhistle]

1 minute ago, COLT NY said:

Can’t help thinking about Maloneys goal against ROI. A well worked set play from a corner. We should be coming into the tournament with a few of this in our pocket. Wales got a point from doing just that. We sent the players back to see their families, but if we still didn’t have any set plays worked out I’d have recommended getting back out on the training pitch instead.

Baffles me too - it was pretty obvious vs Netherlands that we looked weak defensively from set pieces but had thought we'd spend the remaining time working on that especially how dangerous Czech's are from them.  We looked ropey defensively and our attacking ones just seemed to be chucking it in hoping for the best.  

[daviebee]

Back down to earth with a thump. Losing KT was a shattering blow though.

I've always felt SOD got a rough time on here but he was beyond fkin awful today.  Even his throw-ins were sh*te.  That move in the 1st half when he blocked Christie FFS!

Expected a lot from our midfield but they were a huge disappointment.

[killiefaetheferry]

30 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

I think forrest or fraser has to be given that rwb spot for now with Patterson eventually becoming the regular. 

Lay off O'Donnell. Put in a great challenge early on to dispossess Christie 👍

[dandydunn]

2 minutes ago, killiefaetheferry said:

Lay off O'Donnell. Put in a great challenge early on to dispossess Christie 👍

He’s simply not good enough, I’ve said it since he’s debut, he’s cost us goals at crucial times throughout his international career and that won’t change. 

[thplinth]

Marshall made an absolute cunt out himself there and probably put us out. Was no coming back after he made us look like jokes for the second goal. He was being a smart arse that far from goal and he got shown up for it big time by a young lad. No excuse whatsoever is possible for putting himself, and the whole team on offer like that. Self indulgent show-off shite, that cost us. The Czech lad himself said he clocked him doing it earlier in the first half and thought oh aye... he was mugging them off and in the end they mugged him off and us into the bargain. Embarrassing.

O'Donnell randomly out of nowhere running into Christie as he was developing an attack earlier just shrieked 'masterclass'. You don't see moves like that in top class football very often and this is what the world has been missing this last 23 years.

I expect Marshall will try to redeem himself by attempting a Scorpion kick save at Wembley at a crucial moment, it is bound to work, be positive FFS.

[KirkieRobRoy]

You'll find, folks, you have an email about the game from the SFA which includes the following;

Quote

Despite a Schick stunner which helped Czech Republic beat Scotland, it's all still to play for in Group D, with a match against England at Wembley next up on Friday. Watch highlights of this afternoon's game by clicking below now.

'it's still all to play for in Group D'

I beg to differ.

'a match against England at Wembley next up on Friday'

Aw, naaawwwwwww.....

'Watch highlights of this afternoon's game by clicking below now.'

Aye, right.

[Marky]

Cannae believe folk are giving Hendry pelters about taking the shot on. dandydunn’s infantile knickerwetting was particularly hilarious.  The way the ball broke for the Czechs was pure luck and the finish was exquisite. If anyone was at fault it was Marshall but sometimes you just have to applaud a piece of skill and awareness like that. 

Summary for me.
Yes some big players bottled it today, but the main reason we lost and the main reason we can’t complete at this level, is our lack of firepower.
Despite the fact we were poor, we still created plenty of chances, but just weren’t good enough to take them.
The Czechs were clinical, we weren’t. Simple as that.

[Taylor1996]

3 minutes ago, Marky said:

Yes some big players bottled it today, but the main reason we lost and the main reason we can’t complete at this level, is our lack of firepower.
Despite the fact we were poor, we still created plenty of chances, but just weren’t good enough to take them.
The Czechs were clinical, we weren’t. Simple as that.

Yes.

McTominay was anonymous and completely ineffectual . Armstrong either kicked the ball out of play, got in the way of his team-mates or basically roamed around like a drunk. 

The defence did fine.

O'Donnell, in the first few minutes the ball rolled under his foot for a throw in. Things didn't improve.

Fact is, we had good chances to score, some very good. At this level we don't have anyone who can score.

The positives are that we did create chances.

[killiefaetheferry]

3 minutes ago, Marky said:

Cannae believe folk are giving Hendry pelters about taking the shot on. dandydunn’s infantile knickerwetting was particularly hilarious.  The way the ball broke for the Czechs was pure luck and the finish was exquisite. If anyone was at fault it was Marshall but sometimes you just have to applaud a piece of skill and awareness like that. 

Summary for me.
Yes some big players bottled it today, but the main reason we lost and the main reason we can’t complete at this level, is our lack of firepower.
Despite the fact we were poor, we still created plenty of chances, but just weren’t good enough to take them.
The Czechs were clinical, we weren’t. Simple as that.

This. We were well in the game. But our lower level players made errors which cost us. O'Donnell offered nothing going forward. Marshall sold a goal. I've wanted Patterson in for months now. Gilmour should have played too. Dykes tried his best and was moderately effective. Soucek shadowed McTominay and cut off any supply to him. Tactically outwitted and wrong selections 🤷🏻‍♂️. Craig Gordon and Patterson for me. Gilmour holding and dictating - Free McTominay up.

[weekevie04]

A hugely disappointing result, no doubt at all.

Losing Tierney was a huge blow. He's our best player, and I just hope he's OK for the next two, but not being in the 23 today is a worry and he is very injury prone, so fingers crossed. 

What was so frustrating about that result was, we actually did alright. We struggled to break their big team down, but AGAIN, we have lost so many goals before HT. 

As for the team ;

Hanley did well and one of his best performances for us. He's maturing nicely, although he had one or two errors, on the scale of it, he was excellent. 

McGinn tried to make things happen, but it just didn't work out today. 

Dykes worked hard, but we're never going to get through groups at a major finals with him starting. He's ideal for if we are 2-1 up with 15 mins to go and needing someone to just run around. The difference between him being a 20-25 goals a season striker and not was his golden chance he squandered. Sounds a bit harsh, and he works his arse off, but he is not good enough for a starting XI, IMO.

Adams was very good when he came on. Nisbet worked hard too.

Forrest and McGregor were decent as well when they came on. 

Clarke needs to take some of the blame for this. Maybe it was just my pals and I but seeing those lines up before 1pm and thinking Yikes! 

Yet for a lot of that game, we were OK and even decent. Some good saves from their keeper, but we never look like scoring from crosses or balls in especially against big Czech defenders who didn't have much to worry about or just mopped it up. 

We'll see what happens, but deep down that's us out IMO. We needed a positive result today, but maybe it just shows where we are internationally ala NI, North Macedonia, Finland, Iceland, Albania... happy to be there, with an optimistic hope of getting out the group, but most likely not.

I have that despairing feeling that we'll do ourselves proud on Friday but lose 2-0 or 2-1. Then most likely lose to Croatia on the Tuesday. 

Let's see though, but we fairly chucked that away today on the scale of things.

[Caledonian Craig]

4 minutes ago, Marky said:

Cannae believe folk are giving Hendry pelters about taking the shot on. dandydunn’s infantile knickerwetting was particularly hilarious.  The way the ball broke for the Czechs was pure luck and the finish was exquisite. If anyone was at fault it was Marshall but sometimes you just have to applaud a piece of skill and awareness like that. 

Summary for me.
Yes some big players bottled it today, but the main reason we lost and the main reason we can’t complete at this level, is our lack of firepower.
Despite the fact we were poor, we still created plenty of chances, but just weren’t good enough to take them.
The Czechs were clinical, we weren’t. Simple as that.

Yup I agree with the majority of that.

Hendry was merely looking to have a shot when we had a spell of pressure. How is he to know it will ricochet to one of their platers in the clear? It was Marshall ay fault for being far too far off his line. Our lack of a quality striker is evident compared to the Czechs and it cost us badly. You cannot expect to get results in a major tournament if you miss so many chances.

[mccaughey85]

The team that started against the netherlands is what I would of went for obviously minus Tierney. I was baffled at the starting line up today. 

[thplinth]

The scene is set...

... less than 10 minutes into the second half of the first game of the tournament, 1-0 down against a competent if not insurmountable Czech side... all to play for but with everything hanging the balance, this being our most winnable game on paper and crucial to keep us in it.

And our keeper gets beaten from the half-way line out of a nothing incident.

Welcome to Scotland. 

[mccaughey85]

8 minutes ago, thplinth said:

The scene is set...

... less than 10 minutes into the second half of the first game of the tournament, 1-0 down against a competent if not insurmountable Czech side... all to play for but with everything hanging the balance, this being our most winnable game on paper and crucial to keep us in it.

And our keeper gets beaten from the half-way line out of a nothing incident.

Welcome to Scotland. 

It was a record breaking goal as well. Longest range goal ever scored at the euros. 

[ProudScot]

2 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

It was a record breaking goal as well. Longest range goal ever scored at the euros. 

It’s a great strike but given how badly out of position Marshall was it’s hardly a worldie IMO. 

Marshall played well today but that decision has basically put us out. 

[Shaundy]

Well, that was fucking Scottish 

agree with Marky’s last post too. What if’s , wtf’s, ffs’s .

so gonna win on Friday then . 😬

[thplinth]

1 hour ago, Templeton_Peck said:

Wtf ??

It was at that moment he knew... he had fucked up.

[Guest ElChris04]

sentimentality is costing us again, O'Donnell was absolutely dreadful from the minute the whistle went. Marshall being so far off his line was inexcusable. Yes Hendry taking on a shot was ridiculous but after seeing just how far he was off his line i have no idea what he was thinking giving he's never been a sweeper keeper in his career. Dykes offered so little and his finishing was way off it. Robertson's deliveries deserved so much better.

Patterson Adams Gilmour should have all started with the system clarke went. A real let down all in all today.

 

[thplinth]

8 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

It was a record breaking goal as well. Longest range goal ever scored at the euros. 

Saying it will probably end up being goal of the tournament as well. Given that record hard to see how it gets beat.

Great. Look forward to seeing it in every highlights reel of the tournament. Another bonus. Scotland, the gift that keeps on giving.

[Archiesdad]

Steve Clarke picked the wrong starting line up.

Why no width or pace at start 

 

Marshall beaten by a superb strike,. That shot could have gone anywhere really.

O Donnell was weakest player, but he always is. He played as o Donnell does 

Mctom and mc Ginn were anonomous, not sure if that's the formation or the opposition

 

[Marky]

Once we’ve inevitably duffed this tournament, I’ll judge Clarke on his reaction.

If it’s out with the old and in with the new, he’ll get my full backing.

However, if he continues to show loyalty to the likes of O’Donnell, McGregor, Forrest and the like, I’d be having reservations. 

I’m not even having a massive go at these players. They’ve done us a turn in the past, but they are not good enough to be blocking some of the emerging talent.