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Steve Clarke discussion


romanticscot

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13 hours ago, romanticscot said:

I was livid with the manner we played against Ukraine in the play off and Ireland in the summer, fairly disappointed with how the EURO's went for us.  For the most part, I am happy with how things have gone.  One EURO and a WC play off so far and here is hoping the next four years go another EURO and a World Cup in my backyard.  So far, I give Clarke a B+.  Some of his squad management frustrates me, a long with his tactics at times but he works well with who he calls up.  Somewhat out of his control at our choice of goalies, I say somewhat because at some point we are throwing someone who is green into the mix because we have to and Clarke has not given anyone any game time. 

We were very unfortunate to be the country  playing Ukraine in June, the whole atmosphere around that game was horrible and it didnt help that an ex captain of Scotland actually came out saying he wanted us to lose . I think we buckled under that pressure and I think there was very little Clarke could do against the media build up.  There was possibly an overhang into the Ireland game.

We struggle a bit in end of season games generally , perhaps because we dont have a lot of depth in the squad. We did ok against Armenia but they are shit. 

I have had my doubts about Clarke but probably more due to disappointment in individual games, rather  than considering the overall situation. I would probably rate him B+ also , particularly in terms of  affordable managers who were realistically interested in managing us. 

 

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45 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

We were very unfortunate to be the country  playing Ukraine in June, the whole atmosphere around that game was horrible and it didnt help that an ex captain of Scotland actually came out saying he wanted us to lose . I think we buckled under that pressure and I think there was very little Clarke could do against the media build up.  There was possibly an overhang into the Ireland game.

We struggle a bit in end of season games generally , perhaps because we dont have a lot of depth in the squad. We did ok against Armenia but they are shit. 

I have had my doubts about Clarke but probably more due to disappointment in individual games, rather  than considering the overall situation. I would probably rate him B+ also , particularly in terms of  affordable managers who were realistically interested in managing us. 

 

I don’t disagree with your first paragraph but it should never have happened. Wales didn’t let it get to them. 

The Ireland game was always going to be a damp squib. If we win on Saturday then we can forget all about that game in Dublin though. The playoff against Ukraine won’t be so easy to forget. 

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28 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

I don’t disagree with your first paragraph but it should never have happened. Wales didn’t let it get to them. 

The Ireland game was always going to be a damp squib. If we win on Saturday then we can forget all about that game in Dublin though. The playoff against Ukraine won’t be so easy to forget. 

 I dont think Wales had anything remotely like the pressure we had. Could argue that professional players should be able to rise above it but they are human like everyone else and could not really avoid the hype surrounding the game. However I do agree we were a shambles . 

Yes, a win tomorrow and we can forget Dublin. From Wednesday’s performance I really cannot see them bossing us the way they did in June. I am reasonably  confident we will win if we show the same determination.  

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6 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

 I dont think Wales had anything remotely like the pressure we had. Could argue that professional players should be able to rise above it but they are human like everyone else and could not really avoid the hype surrounding the game. However I do agree we were a shambles . 

Yes, a win tomorrow and we can forget Dublin. From Wednesday’s performance I really cannot see them bossing us the way they did in June. I am reasonably  confident we will win if we show the same determination.  

Why was that the case though? If anything Wales should have been under more pressure as it was the final.

Our players let it get to them and they (and we) played the price. Ukraine were very good against us to be fair so there’s no guarantee we’d have won even if our players had turned up but if we had played like we did on Wednesday we’d have given ourselves a chance. As it was we had no chance. 

I’ll be surprised if we don’t pump Ireland tomorrow. They will hopefully be a bit complacent after the game in June. We have better players and are coming off a great performance and result so we really should take the game to them.

I really don’t like feeling this confident going into a game though. We are masters of making an arse of these situations.

 

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13 hours ago, ParisInAKilt said:

The people who want him out must be in the tiny minority, rather than the valid criticism he’s received for some bad performances and tactics, doesn’t mean you want him sacked obviously. 

Fans are generally emotional and impulsive, especially after disappointing results. Be the first to admit after a couple of games I wouldn’t have been bothered if he left but each time he’s came back and showed why he’s the right man for the job. 

Yeah people are allowed to criticise the manager after bad performances without wanting him sacked. 

Some of his decisions (starting Robertson on the right against Denmark being one of the worst) have been bizarre at best but when you look at his overall record he has done well. 

Finishing second in our World Cup qualifying group was a great achievement. If he can repeat that next year then we’re off to Germany. Will anyone want him sacked if that happens?

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6 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Why was that the case though? If anything Wales should have been under more pressure as it was the final.

Our players let it get to them and they (and we) played the price. Ukraine were very good against us to be fair so there’s no guarantee we’d have won even if our players had turned up but if we had played like we did on Wednesday we’d have given ourselves a chance. As it was we had no chance. 

I’ll be surprised if we don’t pump Ireland tomorrow. They will hopefully be a bit complacent after the game in June. We have better players and are coming off a great performance and result so we really should take the game to them.

I really don’t like feeling this confident going into a game though. We are masters of making an arse of these situations.

 

I think we took the main heat being the first team to play them. I may be wrong as I dont keep up to date with news in Wales but there just did not seem to be the same emotional baggage attached to the Wales game.

I also feel that Wales having a world class striker in Bale makes a big difference to a teams conference. It sounds like I am making excuses for us, I am not, we were utterly woeful and should have made a better effort than we did. I just feel the pressure was too great. Even the fans were mute. I thought we would lose but not in the manner we did. 

I feel the same re Ireland, concerned about my optimism!  Despite our convincing win the other night I think Ireland will still fancy their chances but if we get an early goal it may rattle them. For this reason I am not sure who we should play up front. Think Adams may be more productive than Dykes. 
 

 

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3 hours ago, TDYER63 said:

I think we took the main heat being the first team to play them. I may be wrong as I dont keep up to date with news in Wales but there just did not seem to be the same emotional baggage attached to the Wales game.

I also feel that Wales having a world class striker in Bale makes a big difference to a teams conference. It sounds like I am making excuses for us, I am not, we were utterly woeful and should have made a better effort than we did. I just feel the pressure was too great. Even the fans were mute. I thought we would lose but not in the manner we did. 

I feel the same re Ireland, concerned about my optimism!  Despite our convincing win the other night I think Ireland will still fancy their chances but if we get an early goal it may rattle them. For this reason I am not sure who we should play up front. Think Adams may be more productive than Dykes. 
 

 

Well whatever happened it is just typical that we drew them. Let’s hope it makes the players hungrier to qualify for Euro 2024. I’d rather go to Germany than Qatar anyway. 

Yeah we’ve got to stick with Adams I think. He was very good on Wednesday. Dykes will think he deserves to start because he scored twice against Ukraine but Adams offers more up front for me. Hopefully that rugby tackle didn’t cause any damage. 

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21 hours ago, TDYER63 said:

I think we took the main heat being the first team to play them. I may be wrong as I dont keep up to date with news in Wales but there just did not seem to be the same emotional baggage attached to the Wales game.

I also feel that Wales having a world class striker in Bale makes a big difference to a teams conference. It sounds like I am making excuses for us, I am not, we were utterly woeful and should have made a better effort than we did. I just feel the pressure was too great. Even the fans were mute. I thought we would lose but not in the manner we did. 

I feel the same re Ireland, concerned about my optimism!  Despite our convincing win the other night I think Ireland will still fancy their chances but if we get an early goal it may rattle them. For this reason I am not sure who we should play up front. Think Adams may be more productive than Dykes. 
 

 

Ukraine were probably knackered for the Wales game, and adrenaline probably got them past us. 

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57 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

It's not only the results. He has now got us playing a very good style of football. Helps that he has found some very good footballer capable of playing that style of football. We just couldn't do that 10 years ago, Didn't have the players.

Hes gotten the best out of average players. We have a slightly better squad strength than previous years but he has still had to rely on some average players who play spl or english championship. His main striker is hardly even prolific in the english championship. Hes had to rely on guys who played for motherwell or livingston in big games. Hes grinded out good results when it matters and played good football when possible.

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2 minutes ago, King Of Paisley said:

I'm starting to worry we might lose him. Tonight would not have gone unnoticed and what he has achieved

 

I am hopeful he will stick around til the euros are done in 2024. Hes bound to have clubs interested in him. Lots of decent english championship clubs will be willing to offer him a decent contract imo. 

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3 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

I am hopeful he will stick around til the euros are done in 2024. Hes bound to have clubs interested in him. Lots of decent english championship clubs will be willing to offer him a decent contract imo. 

I think he loves this job, suits his lifestyle perfectly. 

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43 minutes ago, King Of Paisley said:

I'm starting to worry we might lose him. Tonight would not have gone unnoticed and what he has achieved

 

I doubt he’ll leave until at least after the next euros campaign. Obviously there’s no guarantees as the right offer would tempt anyone but it feels like he has unfinished business with Scotland. 

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On 9/23/2022 at 11:58 AM, TDYER63 said:

We were very unfortunate to be the country  playing Ukraine in June, the whole atmosphere around that game was horrible and it didnt help that an ex captain of Scotland actually came out saying he wanted us to lose . I think we buckled under that pressure and I think there was very little Clarke could do against the media build up.  There was possibly an overhang into the Ireland game.

We struggle a bit in end of season games generally , perhaps because we dont have a lot of depth in the squad. We did ok against Armenia but they are shit. 

I have had my doubts about Clarke but probably more due to disappointment in individual games, rather  than considering the overall situation. I would probably rate him B+ also , particularly in terms of  affordable managers who were realistically interested in managing us. 

 

Was unlucky with the covid delay for a start. Think back to how Hampden was buzzing after the Denmark win. In normal circumstances the play offs would've been a month later so imo having to wait 6 months to play the actual SF play off after the war started killed the momentum generated from that great late run of the qualifiers. Didn't play well on the night of course but then way it panned out Wales were always big favourites to get through the quarter.

Amazed anyone is giving Clarke below a B + tbh. The last year bar one game has been fantastic.

Finally exciting young players introduced into squad/11 like Gilmour, Patterson, Hendry and Hickey with more on the way (Elliot Anderson and perhaps Conway at Bristol if he's interested).

Team also showed tonight it can be without 3-4 significant starters and grind out a 0-0 to arguably superior team.

This is like the 90s again imo when Brown got very consistent performances out of the squad in many qualifying cycles.

Qualifying for next euros should be demanded now and then you'd like to think Clarke will have significantly learnt from last summer and last 16 could be realistic prospect. Then his reign is easily an A.

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1 hour ago, King Of Paisley said:

I'm starting to worry we might lose him. Tonight would not have gone unnoticed and what he has achieved

 

In last decade he's been sacked by West Brom (after leading them to top 10 in premier league) and Reading so he's been around the block long enough to know about lack of job security in club football compared to what he has now.

I think the ambition to get Scotland to another euros and then first world cup in decades will keep him sweet. If euros dosen' happen he'll leave.

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9 hours ago, romanticscot said:

Steve Clarke and Gordon Strachan have the exactly same win percentage after 40 games managed.  47.5%

That surprises me.  

Unless the EURO campaign flops, we will have him for another 2 years at least. 

 

Strachan had a lot of daft friendlies. Clarke has had none and also played in major tournament and 2 sets of play offs. 

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Clarke is doing a good job, although I’m not convinced he would have changed formation without the injuries. No complaints about the way he set out the team, and the players seem to like and respect him. 

This is probably the best squad of players we’ve had since the days of Dalglish, Johnston and Cooper up front, or at least it soon will be. Striker is the main problem, and keeper is the looming one. Other than that, it’s top class and we have the likes of Lowry, Doak and Morrison on the horizon plus a few others. 

Edited by er yir macaroon
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