Scotland V Croatia Match Thread

[Caledonian Craig]

I am confused. We are all Scotland fans and nervous enough yet since yesterday's Gilmour announcement this forum has beenn awash with weird posts that I just do not get. Posts like surely others should be out as well, posts like they should all be self-isolating then, posts like it isn't right that he is only one out and lots more. Have we been infiltrated by Croatia fans?

 

Our task tonight is enormous enough and nerve-wracking enough without people making it yen times worse by hinting at more players surely being out or more tests to come. Are you for real?

Edited June 22, 2021 by Caledonian Craig

[Texas Pete]

41 minutes ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

According to BBC, more tests for the squad this morning. I'd be amazed if no one else has got it. Who did Billy get it from considering he's been with the squad for a couple of weeks!

Have you got a link for this as I can’t find it on the BBC? Or was it just on TV?

Nobody else tested positive when Armstrong or Fleck had it so if the players have been following the protocols there is a good chance nobody else has it. Fingers crossed anyway. 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Texas Pete

[vanderark14]

Nerves creeping in now.

If someone offered a final do or die game at home before the tournament we would have taken it. 

I have a feeling we will do this, this group of players has something about it. I don't care if we do it with a last minute winner off modric's arse, as long as we win

MON SCOTLAND 

[ThistleWhistle]

15 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Have you got a link for this as I can’t find it on the BBC? Or was it just on TV?

Nobody else tested positive when Armstrong or Fleck had it so if the players have been following the protocols there is a good chance nobody else has it. Fingers crossed anyway. 

Just said on Talk Sport the reason they’re close contacts is because they had a 20 minute chat in the tunnel after. 

[ThistleWhistle]

19 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Have you got a link for this as I can’t find it on the BBC? Or was it just on TV?

Nobody else tested positive when Armstrong or Fleck had it so if the players have been following the protocols there is a good chance nobody else has it. Fingers crossed anyway. 

The article on England on the bbc had this buried about half way down:

The Scottish FA (SFA) says PHE deemed that none of the other Scotland players had to self-isolate as there had been no close contact.

But PHE said there had been no detailed discussions with the SFA.

 

[Bobby Russell's Lovechild]

28 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Have you got a link for this as I can’t find it on the BBC? Or was it just on TV?

Nobody else tested positive when Armstrong or Fleck had it so if the players have been following the protocols there is a good chance nobody else has it. Fingers crossed anyway. 

The reporter at Hampden on BBC breakfast mentioned it.

[kumnio]

2 hours ago, breeks_mctavish said:

The old Clarke is cautious point being rolled out again. It’s a lazy criticism. He’s been quite adventurous with several selections now (eg 3 youngsters selected in Euros squad, McTominay playing at the back, England team selection), I think we can get of his back with that now?

It’s not lazy, and it’s not a criticism.

 

[bossman4]

1 hour ago, ThistleWhistle said:

The article on England on the bbc had this buried about half way down:

The Scottish FA (SFA) says PHE deemed that none of the other Scotland players had to self-isolate as there had been no close contact.

But PHE said there had been no detailed discussions with the SFA.

 

BBC Scotland Euros Breakfast show said that while no direct discussion with PHE the SFA liaised with the Chief Medical Officer for North East England. They will have had to have provided bus and plane manifests, training footage etc. So based on the fact the 25 others have travelled there clearly the CMO officer is happy. 

[gkm_vancouver]

14 hours ago, kumnio said:

Same team, but with Armstrong coming in for Gilmour. No point changing any other players positions, you’re just creating trouble doing that. 

OK see you outside the gates at 4...😏

14 hours ago, kumnio said:

Nonsense. 

Armstrong has looked fine in both his games. And a far better player than anyone else that we can replace him with, Fleck isn’t good enough for us, Armstrong is. 

bit if a slant on Clarke selecting him for the squad then

10 hours ago, kumnio said:

Clarke is cautious, and usually changes very little.  I’d be amazed if he changes anything other than Gilmour, he will see it as too many changes from a successful performance against England. 

I hope he doesn’t put McGinn further back, as he is frankly a terrible player for us in that position, he needs to be the furthest forward of the three players. 

You might be right but he said he changed things between the Czechs and England because it was a different kind of team/game we were playing. He played McTominay in midfield v Czechs as he needed the aggression there and reckoned it worked. Croatia is different again from England. I agree about McGinn would rather he played behind front two. That's why I think we need a more defensive midfielder playing with McGregor.

3 hours ago, Return of Yermaw said:

Giving Gilmour a start against England blows the accusations of being cautious or too cautious out the window. 

2 hours ago, breeks_mctavish said:

The old Clarke is cautious point being rolled out again. It’s a lazy criticism. He’s been quite adventurous with several selections now (eg 3 youngsters selected in Euros squad, McTominay playing at the back, England team selection), I think we can get off his back with that now?

Agreed. This is it tonight, a cup final game with no extra time, no penalties and a draw is no good. If we go behind it makes it even harder. There won't be another Greece this year, all the top teams are playing fast adventurous attacking football. This is not a game to be cautious in and we need a goal badly. If we leave it too late then panic will set in, I'm sure Clarke knows this and will pick the team that get's us through.

[ThistleWhistle]

2 minutes ago, bossman4 said:

BBC Scotland Euros Breakfast show said that while no direct discussion with PHE the SFA liaised with the Chief Medical Officer for North East England. They will have had to have provided bus and plane manifests, training footage etc. So based on the fact the 25 others have travelled there clearly the CMO officer is happy. 

To be honest hopefully I'm shiting myself for the rest of the week that we might have play Craig Gordon up front in the last 16 if anyone else tests positive 

 

[TDYER63]

7 minutes ago, gkm_vancouver said:

 

Agreed. This is it tonight, a cup final game with no extra time, no penalties and a draw is no good. If we go behind it makes it even harder. There won't be another Greece this year, all the top teams are playing fast adventurous attacking football. This is not a game to be cautious in and we need a goal badly. If we leave it too late then panic will set in, I'm sure Clarke knows this and will pick the team that get's us through.

I wasnt that impressed by Croatia against England, we have a good chance tonight so long as we dont lose any more players and play with the effort and passion of Friday.
The team have experienced huge,  ‘must win’ , games recently,  ie Serbia and England , and wont be fazed by this. The fans tonight really need to do their bit despite the low numbers.  

On the point about Greece, I dont think they will go all the way but if Denmark play like they did last night they could easily beat Wales. And who knows , fate may on their side this year. Cant say I would be too unhappy at the prospect. 
 

 

[Tartan blood]

Can we not bring back the up-vote button only? I know people were abusing the other ones, but we can't reply to everyone and I'd like to acknowledge that I like someone's post without having to respond sometimes. Especially after tonight's game I'll (hopefully) like everyone's posts. 😊

 

[Third Lanark]

44 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

Can we not bring back the up-vote button only? I know people were abusing the other ones, but we can't reply to everyone and I'd like to acknowledge that I like someone's post without having to respond sometimes. Especially after tonight's game I'll (hopefully) like everyone's posts. 😊

 

Yep agree with that. Saves us having to post that you like it (like I have just done).

[TDYER63]

39 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

Can we not bring back the up-vote button only? I know people were abusing the other ones, but we can't reply to everyone and I'd like to acknowledge that I like someone's post without having to respond sometimes. Especially after tonight's game I'll (hopefully) like everyone's posts. 😊

 

I agree, cant see why they cant bring back positive reactions. Its a pain in the arse to quote everyone you agree with, threads get taken off tangent as it is without adding to it, but reactions were any easy way to show you liked the content and surely must encourage people to post more. 

[Tartan blood]

9 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

Yep agree with that. Saves us having to post that you like it (like I have just done).

⬆️

(that's an upvote, in case that isn't clear)

Edited June 22, 2021 by Tartan blood

[Tartan blood]

7 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

I agree, cant see why they cant bring back positive reactions. Its a pain in the arse to quote everyone you agree with, threads get taken off tangent as it is without adding to it, but reactions were any easy way to show you liked the content and surely must encourage people to post more. 

⬆️

[ceudmilefailte]

4 hours ago, breeks_mctavish said:

The old Clarke is cautious point being rolled out again. It’s a lazy criticism. He’s been quite adventurous with several selections now (eg 3 youngsters selected in Euros squad, McTominay playing at the back, England team selection), I think we can get of his back with that now?

I think changing to a back 4 in the latest Israel game at half time showed he can through caution to the wind if needed.

[Instant coffee]

I stopped smoking for just over a year and have bought a packet at 8:00 am, current got 15 out of the 20 left. This is what being a Scotland supporter does to you.

[ParisInAKilt]

Just hope we leave nothing on the pitch, which I’m sure we will at the very least 

[TDYER63]

5 minutes ago, Instant coffee said:

I stopped smoking for just over a year and have bought a packet at 8:00 am, current got 15 out of the 20 left. This is what being a Scotland supporter does to you.

Instant coffee and fags will kill you. But being Scottish will kill you first 🙂

[breeks_mctavish]

1 hour ago, kumnio said:

It’s not lazy, and it’s not a criticism.

 

Sorry for misunderstanding your intentions, I could have worded my post in a better way! Still disagree on the point of him being cautious. We go on the front foot against big teams these days. It’s quite a change from Scotland teams of recent years, which is great to see

[Texas Pete]

4 hours ago, ThistleWhistle said:

The article on England on the bbc had this buried about half way down:

The Scottish FA (SFA) says PHE deemed that none of the other Scotland players had to self-isolate as there had been no close contact.

But PHE said there had been no detailed discussions with the SFA.

 

Cheers but I meant I couldn’t see where it said the players were being re-tested this morning. 

[Lion Rampant]

8 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Cheers but I meant I couldn’t see where it said the players were being re-tested this morning. 

May just be lateral flow tests, they only needed one PCR test 48 hours before the game tonight.

In reality even if they did a PCR test this morning it would be unlikely to return a result before kick off.

[Tartan blood]

33 minutes ago, breeks_mctavish said:

Sorry for misunderstanding your intentions, I could have worded my post in a better way! Still disagree on the point of him being cautious. We go on the front foot against big teams these days. It’s quite a change from Scotland teams of recent years, which is great to see

There are so many misconceptions about Clarke. On the face of it, 532 does look defensive. But in reality, 3, sometimes 4, of that back 5 will join in attacks. 

Some also claim he is rigid, stubborn, and plays favourites. However, the only game I can recall that he played the same 11 twice in a row was after the Serbia game. I think we all had Gallagher as a nailed down starter 6 months ago, now he doesn't even make the bench. Clarke is far more flexible than he gets credit for.

[RDFH64]

2 hours ago, ThistleWhistle said:

To be honest hopefully I'm shiting myself for the rest of the week that we might have play Craig Gordon up front in the last 16 if anyone else tests positive 

 

Think Marshall would feel more comfortable playing up front 😜