Whelky75 Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Whelky75 said: Hungary appear to have some very contradictory statistics. Until I checked just now, I thought they were a really good team - and currently far better than us - having performed well at the previous two European Championship finals and having finished second in their group in Nations League A, a really tough group as well, if I remember correctly, which is a huge achievement for a country of their recent standing in international football in Europe. However, unless I am misreading the relevant statistics, it looks like they haven’t finished in the top two in a qualifying group for a major finals, since 1985, which is quite staggering, as despite Scotland having not qualified for a lot of years, we’ve still had a few top two finishes along the way. Strange contradiction there in Hungary’s recent results. Turns out I WAS misreading the statistics. They finished second in qualification for World Cup 1998, but then lost a two-legged playoff, 12-1 on aggregate, to Yugoslavia. Still the current contradiction applies though, having performed well at two European Championship Finals and riding (very) high in the Nations League, but not managing to finish in the top two of a qualifying group for over 25 years. Edited March 28, 2023 by Whelky75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 Just now, Whelky75 said: I mean, I’m trying to be impartial, rather than biased. Fuck that mate! We just beat Spain ffs, lets milk the shit out of that. I've been supporting Scotland for over 40 years and I'm not letting this result go by me. Take these moments whilst you can, believe me, they're a long time coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Chris Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 2 minutes ago, Whelky75 said: Hungary appear to have some very contradictory statistics. Until I checked just now, I thought they were a really good team - and currently far better than us - having performed well at the previous two European Championship finals and having finished second in their group in Nations League A, a really tough group as well, if I remember correctly, which is a huge achievement for a country of their recent standing in international football in Europe. However, unless I am misreading the relevant statistics, it looks like they haven’t finished in the top two in a qualifying group for a major finals, since 1985, which is quite staggering, as despite Scotland having not qualified for a lot of years, we’ve still had a few top two finishes along the way. Strange contradiction there in Hungary’s recent results. Won't have a better chance than this time. Bulgarian football has massively declined since the 90s and they'll be nearer the bottom end. Montenegro a tricky team on their day but not really threatened to qualify for a while so Hungary should be comfortable 2nd and could push Serbia for 1st. That's why you need to get the wins in the nations league and friendlies to get that ranking up as they've pulled a pretty simple group from doing very well in the nations league. World cup qualification is still very tough for anyone outside the top 10 european nations, think it's only an extra 3 places despite going to 48 teams so that's when you really need to start well. Last time out Hungary were in with England and Poland so that was always going to be tough. I've never known a time where so many heavyweights are in big transition. Italy and Germany are very similar to Spain currently and even though they're still getting good results the Belgium side dosen't look anywhere near as formidable as having to play them in the 2020 qualifiers. World cup draw will be intriguing in a year or so's time. Critical to stay in pot 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whelky75 Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 Just now, todd said: Fuck that mate! We just beat Spain ffs, lets milk the shit out of that. I've been supporting Scotland for over 40 years and I'm not letting this result go by me. Take these moments whilst you can, believe me, they're a long time coming! I am, believe me! That’s a completely different matter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 Perfect start but June fixtures give me the fear always 😬 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 1 minute ago, Whelky75 said: I am, believe me! That’s a completely different matter! But are you as old and cantankerous as me? 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 2 minutes ago, Toepoke said: Perfect start but June fixtures give me the fear always 😬 I feel you, but this is the new Scotland 2 point 0! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whelky75 Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 1 minute ago, Tartan Chris said: Won't have a better chance than this time. Bulgarian football has massively declined since the 90s and they'll be nearer the bottom end. Montenegro a tricky team on their day but not really threatened to qualify for a while so Hungary should be comfortable 2nd and could push Serbia for 1st. That's why you need to get the wins in the nations league and friendlies to get that ranking up as they've pulled a pretty simple group from doing very well in the nations league. World cup qualification is still very tough for anyone outside the top 10 european nations, think it's only an extra 3 places despite going to 48 teams so that's when you really need to start well. Last time out Hungary were in with England and Poland so that was always going to be tough. I've never known a time where so many heavyweights are in big transition. Italy and Germany are very similar to Spain currently and even though they're still getting good results the Belgium side dosen't look anywhere near as formidable as having to play them in the 2020 qualifiers. World cup draw will be intriguing in a year or so's time. Critical to stay in pot 2. Yeah, I hate hearing ‘experts’, pundits, Steve Clarke, fans, or whoever lump in ‘qualification for major tournaments’ under one banner, when World Cup qualification and European Championship qualification are two very different sizes of tasks. They should be analysed very differently to each other. You’d hope we’re now in a position to be very competitive in terms of qualifying for the European Championships, however I’d say World Cup qualification would still be a relatively long shot for us. Steve Clarke made no distinction between the two, when being interviewed the other day about his contract extension, which was very odd to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave78 Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 4 minutes ago, todd said: I feel you, but this is the new Scotland 2 point 0! Aye, but Scotland 2.0 got gubbed by Ireland in June. I trust the new Scotland 3.0 will take a different attitude into the 'holiday games'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whelky75 Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 4 minutes ago, Dave78 said: Aye, but Scotland 2.0 got gubbed by Ireland in June. I trust the new Scotland 3.0 will take a different attitude into the 'holiday games'. I’m not sure if attitude comes into it all that much - I think matches at that stage of the season usually come down to a lottery as to which set of players have most left in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 18 minutes ago, Dave78 said: Aye, but Scotland 2.0 got gubbed by Ireland in June. I trust the new Scotland 3.0 will take a different attitude into the 'holiday games'. Let's hope so mate 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 We're now only 200-1 to win the euros, ahead of the rest of the home nations (except England obviously) for the first time in how long? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whelky75 Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 6 minutes ago, todd said: We're now only 200-1 to win the euros, ahead of the rest of the home nations (except England obviously) for the first time in how long? What’s your question here? When was the last time we were shorter odds than Wales to win a particular major tournament? Is that it? Not that long ago, I’d imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 8 minutes ago, Whelky75 said: What’s your question here? When was the last time we were shorter odds than Wales to win a particular major tournament? Is that it? Not that long ago, I’d imagine. I'm bored of you now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Bra Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 5 hours ago, Toepoke said: Perfect start but June fixtures give me the fear always 😬 We had a couple of appalling results last June against Ukraine and Ireland, was trying to think of our form in general in June games. I remember we beat Croatia away with an early Snodgrass goal early in Strachan’s tenure, pretty sure that was a June game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 1 hour ago, The Black Bra said: We had a couple of appalling results last June against Ukraine and Ireland, was trying to think of our form in general in June games. I remember we beat Croatia away with an early Snodgrass goal early in Strachan’s tenure, pretty sure that was a June game? Looking back over the last ten years our results in June have been W6 D4 L7 so not too bad. Traditionally our teams have looked a bit jaded at the end of the season. If the World Cup was always held in March we might have won it by now 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfingers Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 50 minutes ago, Toepoke said: Looking back over the last ten years our results in June have been W6 D4 L7 so not too bad. Traditionally our teams have looked a bit jaded at the end of the season. If the World Cup was always held in March we might have won it by now 😄 Might work in our favour the likes of KT Mctominay aren’t getting much minutes for their clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
er yir macaroon Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 2 hours ago, bigfingers said: Might work in our favour the likes of KT Mctominay aren’t getting much minutes for their clubs. Yes, I think that will be the case. Dykes has had a bit of a lay off, as has McGinn, so we may well reap the benefits in June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 Just thinking too of how much will Norway's EPL stars Odegaard and Haaland be up for the fight after a long gruelling season chasing the EPL title especially given how precarious the group looks at the moment for them. Probably wishful thinking on my behalf but we can hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4Footsoldier Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 20 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said: Just thinking too of how much will Norway's EPL stars Odegaard and Haaland be up for the fight after a long gruelling season chasing the EPL title especially given how precarious the group looks at the moment for them. Probably wishful thinking on my behalf but we can hope. Its a good point but our players might be similarly affected by long seasons. You could tell last June when we lost against Ukraine and Ireland that the players weren't in the right head space. I think on average our players' specific teams will have had less grueling seasons when all is said and done this year, but it's still a factor. I think the positive is that we are on top at least, it might have been harder to lift ourselves if we are in Norway's position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 5 minutes ago, N4Footsoldier said: Its a good point but our players might be similarly affected by long seasons. You could tell last June when we lost against Ukraine and Ireland that the players weren't in the right head space. I think on average our players' specific teams will have had less grueling seasons when all is said and done this year, but it's still a factor. I think the positive is that we are on top at least, it might have been harder to lift ourselves if we are in Norway's position. Yes but we have been there so to speak. The players were angry about their lack of performance at that time so I am sure they will be determined not to make that same mistake again. And as has been pointed out McTominay and Tierney will be fresh as will Patterson and Gilmour. Also it has not been a full season for McGinn, Dykes or Hendry for one reason or another. They should all be pretty fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daviebee Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 12 hours ago, todd said: Fuck that mate! We just beat Spain ffs, lets milk the shit out of that. I've been supporting Scotland for over 40 years and I'm not letting this result go by me. Take these moments whilst you can, believe me, they're a long time coming! 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 14 hours ago, todd said: I'm bored of you now I suspect our old friend is back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 28 minutes ago, Texas Pete said: I suspect our old friend is back. Looks like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Another good thing (aside from the three points) about our win V Spain is that they will need to be really switched on now for their next few games as they have been put on the back foot. No chance of them fielding weakened teams and slacking off so they could help further dent our opponents chances of cstching us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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