v Armenia

[Caledonian Craig]

The worry for me is Clarke sticks with the 3-5-2 which does not work when Tierney is not there. It should not prevent us still managing to win but then it just gives him the impression the system is fine.

For me he needs to have different formations/systems for different games and with different players at his disposal. I'd go with a 4-4-1-1:-

                                                                                      Gordon

Patterson                                                   Souttar                      McKenna                                                       Robertson

 

                                    McTominay               McGinn              Gilmour                  McGregor

      

                                                                                  Christie 

                                                                                   Adams

                                                                                      

[Texas Pete]

27 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

Do you think he would have missed the Champions League final in similar circumstances if was being played in Baku or Moscow?

Yes. Unless he was lying about having an abscess.

You genuinely couldn’t play football if you had an abscess that needed urgent treatment  

I’m guessing you’ve never had one? 

[Orraloon]

1 minute ago, Texas Pete said:

Yes. Unless he was lying about having an abscess.

You genuinely couldn’t play football if you had an abscess that needed urgent treatment  

I’m guessing you’ve never had one? 

He CHOSE to miss a Scotland game so that he didn't need to miss a Liverpool game. He's not the first, and he won't be the last to put club before country. 

[Haggis_trap]

24 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

The worry for me is Clarke sticks with the 3-5-2 which does not work when Tierney is not there.

^ This : Tierneys super power is stepping up out of defense into midfield / wing to be the "extra man".
Opposition don't know how to mark him, and as result he is often our main attacking threat.  As well as a very good defender.  There is a reason Real Madrid and sniffing about KT : he is world class.

Against Ukraine we badly needed an extra midfielder.  This needs to come from sacrificing either the 5 man back line or one of the attackers.

[Texas Pete]

55 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

He CHOSE to miss a Scotland game so that he didn't need to miss a Liverpool game. He's not the first, and he won't be the last to put club before country. 

I’m not sure if there is any evidence of that in this case but most players will favour their employer over playing for their country when it comes to things like that. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves on. 

[ThistleWhistle]

4 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

Are you suggesting Robertson should have cancelled the dentist and drove to Kazakhstan? You don’t half read some amount of pish on here but this is right up there with the best. 

If you mean he should have cancelled the dentist and flew to Kazakhstan he couldn’t fly as others have said. I’m sure you would have defied medical advice and flew with an abscess though as excruciating pain should be put to one side to play for Scotland, right? 

It is pish in fairness but that's down to your assumption and I'm not equipped to succeed in a conflict between the confines of your ears as I don't understand the rules of engagement to be honest.

However, to clarify it was more an example of Bergkamp at the top of the national hierarchy putting his importance to the team ahead of being shit scared of flying rather than suggesting Robertson hitchhiked his way across Eastern Europe.

Aside from maybe flying to London with an abscess, playing Fulham with an abscess and flying straight after the game to Glasgow with an abscess I suppose it was just bad luck it got so bad once his arse hit the tarmac.

It's never going be me because I'm a fat asthmatic twat with one knee. I'd be interested to know though why when money isn't an option he couldn’t get it done privately in 24 hours then flown out if he couldn’t be loaded with painkillers- it was Kazakhstan not Mars. 

Being captain surely comes with additional responsibility and following his runners up parade farce I'm now less convinced he did everything possible to get over there even in a non-playing capacity.

[mcguffin]

1 hour ago, Caledonian Craig said:

The worry for me is Clarke sticks with the 3-5-2 which does not work when Tierney is not there. It should not prevent us still managing to win but then it just gives him the impression the system is fine.

For me he needs to have different formations/systems for different games and with different players at his disposal. I'd go with a 4-4-1-1:-

                                                                                      Gordon

Patterson                                                   Souttar                      McKenna                                                       Robertson

 

                                    McTominay               McGinn              Gilmour                  McGregor

      

                                                                                  Christie 

                                                                                   Adams

                                                                                      

I see what you mean and like your formation.

I would be still be  inclined though to give the 3-5-2 another go.  Hickey has already been touted in the papers as a backup for Tierney at Arsenal, so if I was Steve Clarke I'd maybe ask Hickey to give the Tierney 'attacking defender' role a go for 45 mins. If it doesn't work out, then try McKenna in the role?

So I'd go with the same formation as we had for the Wembley game against England with 2 changes to accomodate Gordon and Hickey(or McKenna):

                                           Gordon

O'Donnnell  McTominay    Hanley   Hickey(McKenna)   Robertson

                          McGinn    Gilmour       McGregor
    
                                 Adams         Dykes

 

[ceudmilefailte]

8 hours ago, daviebee said:

👍 +1

Bring back the whatever the hell the reaction thingys are called. 

Good idea if the reactor was named.

[Texas Pete]

1 hour ago, ThistleWhistle said:

It is pish in fairness but that's down to your assumption and I'm not equipped to succeed in a conflict between the confines of your ears as I don't understand the rules of engagement to be honest.

However, to clarify it was more an example of Bergkamp at the top of the national hierarchy putting his importance to the team ahead of being shit scared of flying rather than suggesting Robertson hitchhiked his way across Eastern Europe.

Aside from maybe flying to London with an abscess, playing Fulham with an abscess and flying straight after the game to Glasgow with an abscess I suppose it was just bad luck it got so bad once his arse hit the tarmac.

It's never going be me because I'm a fat asthmatic twat with one knee. I'd be interested to know though why when money isn't an option he couldn’t get it done privately in 24 hours then flown out if he couldn’t be loaded with painkillers- it was Kazakhstan not Mars. 

Being captain surely comes with additional responsibility and following his runners up parade farce I'm now less convinced he did everything possible to get over there even in a non-playing capacity.

Have you ever had an abscess? You realise they can get worse at a moment's notice?

There’s a huge difference between flying for half an hour and flying to Kazakhstan to play a game of football.  Let’s see how many days you take off your work if you have an operation to sort an abscess. 

Unless he’e a liar, Robertson did intend to travel to Kazakhstan to play in the match but didn’t based on medical advice. No doubt you think he should have gone against this advice? 

You clearly don’t like the guy but using a genuine medical issue from years ago to try prove he’s not committed to Scotland when he has turned up to virtually every squad since is quite poor in my opinion. 

[ceudmilefailte]

1 hour ago, mcguffin said:

I see what you mean and like your formation.

I would be still be  inclined though to give the 3-5-2 another go.  Hickey has already been touted in the papers as a backup for Tierney at Arsenal, so if I was Steve Clarke I'd maybe ask Hickey to give the Tierney 'attacking defender' role a go for 45 mins. If it doesn't work out, then try McKenna in the role?

So I'd go with the same formation as we had for the Wembley game against England with 2 changes to accomodate Gordon and Hickey(or McKenna):

                                           Gordon

O'Donnnell  McTominay    Hanley   Hickey(McKenna)   Robertson

                          McGinn    Gilmour       McGregor
    
                                 Adams         Dykes

 

Don't think swapping Hickey for Tierney has been mentioned much but it looks like pretty solid plan to me.

I was dead against the back 3 idea when we started it but it has started to grow on me.

Ralston ahead of O'donnell and Dkyes is out so replace him with Christie.

Not sure who to play as the other two central defenders, but going by the members of this board it shouldn't include McTominay

[mcguffin]

9 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Don't think swapping Hickey for Tierney has been mentioned much but it looks like pretty solid plan to me.

I was dead against the back 3 idea when we started it but it has started to grow on me.

Ralston ahead of O'donnell and Dkyes is out so replace him with Christie.

Not sure who to play as the other two central defenders, but going by the members of this board it shouldn't include McTominay

I like your suggestions (Ralston & Christie).  And that's a fair final point.

[stocky]

I've just seen on sky sports that Paterson is available to play on Wednesday.

Will he start 🤔

[Texas Pete]

6 minutes ago, stocky said:

I've just seen on sky sports that Paterson is available to play on Wednesday.

Will he start 🤔

Seems unlikely he’ll start but you never know. Would be a good option to come on for the second half or last 30 mins if we need a goal. Especially if we’ve mainly been going down the left in the first half. 

[HighlandScot]

If Patterson is fit I think he should start. He and Tierney provide some of our best attacking threat, and in Tierney's absence it is even more important to have Patterson.

[HighlandScot]

A back 3 was developed to accommodate Tierney along with Robertson, and it worked really well with Tierney occasionally bursting forward at pace, sometimes in combination with Robertson and sometimes alternating, making it very difficult for the opposition to track. But in Tierney's absence we should revert to a conventional back 4, especially against Armenia at home. It is getting time to phase out Hanley and Cooper, and for Wednesday my back 4 would be Patterson Hendry McKenna Robertson. 

In Jack's absence I would have Souttar or Hickey anchor midfield in the holding role. Ok I know this is controversial, but Souttar played midfield for Dundee United, and Hickey is versatile enough for the role. Even though Craig Levein was a failure as Scotland manager, he also thinks Hickey can play the holding role, and I have to find myself in agreement! The advantage of Souttar is aerial ability defending and attacking set pieces.

[todd]

Anyone know what muppets Premier Sports are like to have commentating/ co-commentating on Wednesday?

[mccaughey85]

9 minutes ago, HighlandScot said:

A back 3 was developed to accommodate Tierney along with Robertson, and it worked really well with Tierney occasionally bursting forward at pace, sometimes in combination with Robertson and sometimes alternating, making it very difficult for the opposition to track. But in Tierney's absence we should revert to a conventional back 4, especially against Armenia at home. It is getting time to phase out Hanley and Cooper, and for Wednesday my back 4 would be Patterson Hendry McKenna Robertson. 

In Jack's absence I would have Souttar or Hickey anchor midfield in the holding role. Ok I know this is controversial, but Souttar played midfield for Dundee United, and Hickey is versatile enough for the role. Even though Craig Levein was a failure as Scotland manager, he also thinks Hickey can play the holding role, and I have to find myself in agreement! The advantage of Souttar is aerial ability defending and attacking set pieces.

I think its a bit unfair to bin hanley. Hes played well in the last 2 years. Maybe didnt play well against ukraine but most of the team were terrible. If we are playing a back 4 i would try hanley hendry/mckenna as the 2 centre backs.

Not sure clarke will switch back to a back 4. Hes done reasonably well so far with the 5 at the back.

[ThistleWhistle]

1 hour ago, Texas Pete said:

Have you ever had an abscess? You realise they can get worse at a moment's notice?

There’s a huge difference between flying for half an hour and flying to Kazakhstan to play a game of football.  Let’s see how many days you take off your work if you have an operation to sort an abscess. 

Unless he’e a liar, Robertson did intend to travel to Kazakhstan to play in the match but didn’t based on medical advice. No doubt you think he should have gone against this advice? 

You clearly don’t like the guy but using a genuine medical issue from years ago to try prove he’s not committed to Scotland when he has turned up to virtually every squad since is quite poor in my opinion. 

Please stop ascribing opinions to me you've constructed in your own bonce; it's unbecoming.

Not liking Robertson would be like not liking vanilla.  He's in the top 5 left backs in the world and I'm more than capable of working out it is harder to look good playing with Adams, Dykes and Clarke than it is Salah, Mane and Klopp. 

I don't think he is a very good captain following on from his priorities last weekend especially when we quite evidently need to improve mentally to progress. 

I'm not appearing on any Colgate advert any time soon following an abscess, root canal, terrible brace work and then at the ripe old age of 14 having 2 teeth out pointing into my mouth when the anesthetic didn't work. Like you trust Robertson hopefully you extend similar courtesy in that I'm more than all to aware of dental pain - if it happened now I'd sue them to fuck but that's a tangent. 

[Texas Pete]

1 hour ago, ThistleWhistle said:

Please stop ascribing opinions to me you've constructed in your own bonce; it's unbecoming.

Not liking Robertson would be like not liking vanilla.  He's in the top 5 left backs in the world and I'm more than capable of working out it is harder to look good playing with Adams, Dykes and Clarke than it is Salah, Mane and Klopp. 

I don't think he is a very good captain following on from his priorities last weekend especially when we quite evidently need to improve mentally to progress. 

I'm not appearing on any Colgate advert any time soon following an abscess, root canal, terrible brace work and then at the ripe old age of 14 having 2 teeth out pointing into my mouth when the anesthetic didn't work. Like you trust Robertson hopefully you extend similar courtesy in that I'm more than all to aware of dental pain - if it happened now I'd sue them to fuck but that's a tangent. 

You’re as bad as Chripper. Almost. 

[dezmondo]

Completely agree with the opinions on Robertson in that he is not captain material. As some have alluded to, i just can't imagine any other national captain swigging from a bottle of beer on an open top bus 3 days before one of the biggest matches in their country's recent history. It's an awful example to set. 

I'm an amateur runner at best, had a marathon on Saturday, would have loved a beer or two last Wednesday for the match but refrained. FFS, if i can stay tee total for a race I'm sure the captain of our team can hold off for a week or two. 

Ps. He did not have an abscess at the time of the Kazakhstan match. He was getting recurring bother from his wisdom tooth which required him to get it surgically removed at some point. He elected to get it done during the next international window but didn't necessarily need it done then. I'm a dentist, he could have waited a few months until the season was over. 

Personally, I can't stand him. He's full of sound bytes but does not walk the walk. 

[mccaughey85]

38 minutes ago, dezmondo said:

Completely agree with the opinions on Robertson in that he is not captain material. As some have alluded to, i just can't imagine any other national captain swigging from a bottle of beer on an open top bus 3 days before one of the biggest matches in their country's recent history. It's an awful example to set. 

I'm an amateur runner at best, had a marathon on Saturday, would have loved a beer or two last Wednesday for the match but refrained. FFS, if i can stay tee total for a race I'm sure the captain of our team can hold off for a week or two. 

Ps. He did not have an abscess at the time of the Kazakhstan match. He was getting recurring bother from his wisdom tooth which required him to get it surgically removed at some point. He elected to get it done during the next international window but didn't necessarily need it done then. I'm a dentist, he could have waited a few months until the season was over. 

Personally, I can't stand him. He's full of sound bytes but does not walk the walk. 

Cant stand him? Thats pretty harsh, the guy pretty much always turns up for squads and is fully committed. His performances in the last 2 years have been pretty good as well imo. Maybe not the level ppl expect from him but expectations are high on him because of who he plays for. 

[ThistleWhistle]

7 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

You’re as bad as Chripper. Almost. 

And I have a new found empathy for SuperTed 

[ProudScot]

11 hours ago, mcguffin said:

I see what you mean and like your formation.

I would be still be  inclined though to give the 3-5-2 another go.  Hickey has already been touted in the papers as a backup for Tierney at Arsenal, so if I was Steve Clarke I'd maybe ask Hickey to give the Tierney 'attacking defender' role a go for 45 mins. If it doesn't work out, then try McKenna in the role?

So I'd go with the same formation as we had for the Wembley game against England with 2 changes to accomodate Gordon and Hickey(or McKenna):

                                           Gordon

O'Donnnell  McTominay    Hanley   Hickey(McKenna)   Robertson

                          McGinn    Gilmour       McGregor
    
                                 Adams         Dykes

 

First of all how can anyone think McTominay can continue at the back. Clearly Souttar should have kept his place there and should get it back after starring vs Denmark.

O’Donnell is absolute garbage & either Patterson preferably or Ralston should get the start ahead of him. 

[vanderark14]

12 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

First of all how can anyone think McTominay can continue at the back. Clearly Souttar should have kept his place there and should get it back after starring vs Denmark.

O’Donnell is absolute garbage & either Patterson preferably or Ralston should get the start ahead of him. 

As has been said countless times since Wednesday.............. McTominay wasn;t even the worst defender against Ukraine.

Describing O'Donnell s absolute garbage is way over the top. He has played well most of the time but he gets picked on by a select few on here because of who he plays for. 

 

[er yir macaroon]

9 hours ago, HighlandScot said:

A back 3 was developed to accommodate Tierney along with Robertson, and it worked really well with Tierney occasionally bursting forward at pace, sometimes in combination with Robertson and sometimes alternating, making it very difficult for the opposition to track. But in Tierney's absence we should revert to a conventional back 4, especially against Armenia at home. It is getting time to phase out Hanley and Cooper, and for Wednesday my back 4 would be Patterson Hendry McKenna Robertson. 

In Jack's absence I would have Souttar or Hickey anchor midfield in the holding role. Ok I know this is controversial, but Souttar played midfield for Dundee United, and Hickey is versatile enough for the role. Even though Craig Levein was a failure as Scotland manager, he also thinks Hickey can play the holding role, and I have to find myself in agreement! The advantage of Souttar is aerial ability defending and attacking set pieces.

Surely a wide player would be better than an additional DM against Armenia?