Scotland v Georgia - Match day thread

[Texas Pete]

12 minutes ago, todd said:

Yep, qualifying is all that I'm concerned with.  Is seeding at the Euros really that huge of an advantage? It is clearly an advantage but I think in a World Cup it is more significant as that is more likely to contain some lesser teams.  Whereas every country that qualifies for the Euros will be very decent.

I think avoiding pot 4 could be a huge advantage because it could mean getting the team which qualifier via the League C playoff path or at least getting a team who are allegedly not as good as us. 

If we had been in pot 1 or 2 in the last euros we would not have been in a group with both England and Croatia which was a very tough group. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Texas Pete

[Caledonian Craig]

2 hours ago, todd said:

Yep, qualifying is all that I'm concerned with.  Is seeding at the Euros really that huge of an advantage? It is clearly an advantage but I think in a World Cup it is more significant as that is more likely to contain some lesser teams.  Whereas every country that qualifies for the Euros will be very decent.

Of course it is important. We get a top seed spot then we miss getting drawn against, most probably, Germany, England, France, Portugal and a couple of other of the best teams. Do that and it very much enhances our chances of progressing in the tournament beyond the First Round. Think big and lets not just accept being happy with qualifying.

[Third Lanark]

The other thing Clarke has done - aside from creating commitment - is assembling a squad full of experience. I can remember some games in which the opposition had maybe one player who had more caps than the whole of our team put together. Now we have a nucleus of players with at least 30 caps: Robertson, McGinn, Tierney, Dykes, McTom, McGregor and so on.

[vanderark14]

2 hours ago, todd said:

Yep, qualifying is all that I'm concerned with.  Is seeding at the Euros really that huge of an advantage? It is clearly an advantage but I think in a World Cup it is more significant as that is more likely to contain some lesser teams.  Whereas every country that qualifies for the Euros will be very decent.

I'm past thinking of just qualifying, especially with this squad. It's time to look beyond being happy to be there IMO

 

[Texas Pete]

10 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

The other thing Clarke has done - aside from creating commitment - is assembling a squad full of experience. I can remember some games in which the opposition had maybe one player who had more caps than the whole of our team put together. Now we have a nucleus of players with at least 30 caps: Robertson, McGinn, Tierney, Dykes, McTom, McGregor and so on.

Aye I was thinking the other night watching the Nations League final. it’s mental that we only have one player who has over 100 caps and he achieved that nearly 40 years ago and it’s only just over 100. 

Modric and Perisic have over 280 caps for Croatia between them. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Texas Pete

[Texas Pete]

4 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

I'm past thinking of just qualifying, especially with this squad. It's time to look beyond being happy to be there IMO

 

We could still end up not qualifying. I don’t think there is anything wrong with waiting until we do actually make it before being concerned with what seeding pot we’ll be in if we do actually qualify.

I also don’t think there is anything wrong with looking ahead either. We’re riding the crest of a wave at the moment and it’s only natural for people to get excited but anyone who thinks qualification is a formality now is jumping the gun a wee bit in my opinion.

[Texas Pete]

46 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Of course it is important. We get a top seed spot then we miss getting drawn against, most probably, Germany, England, France, Portugal and a couple of other of the best teams. Do that and it very much enhances our chances of progressing in the tournament beyond the First Round. Think big and lets not just accept being happy with qualifying.

If we lose 3 of our next 4 games and fall over the line and qualify into pot 3 or 4 I think most of us will be relieved just to get there. 

If we win the rest of our games (or at least most of them) and qualify into pot 1 then I think we would have the right to expect the team to get out of the group and actually achieve something at a finals for once. 

[todd]

1 hour ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Of course it is important. We get a top seed spot then we miss getting drawn against, most probably, Germany, England, France, Portugal and a couple of other of the best teams. Do that and it very much enhances our chances of progressing in the tournament beyond the First Round. Think big and lets not just accept being happy with qualifying.

If we're thinking big, why are we bothered about avoiding the likes of Germany, England and France, etc? 😉

[Caledonian Craig]

20 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

If we lose 3 of our next 4 games and fall over the line and qualify into pot 3 or 4 I think most of us will be relieved just to get there. 

If we win the rest of our games (or at least most of them) and qualify into pot 1 then I think we would have the right to expect the team to get out of the group and actually achieve something at a finals for once. 

The team and the momentum.we have at the moment means we should not even be harboring such negative thoughts. Think big, be bold and good things will follow. Cautiosness breeds negativity.

[Texas Pete]

13 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

The team and the momentum.we have at the moment means we should not even be harboring such negative thoughts. Think big, be bold and good things will follow. Cautiosness breeds negativity.

I don’t think life works like that Craig. We will qualify (or not) whether I or others have concerns about whether things might go wrong or not. 

As long as the manager and players don’t get negative thoughts as we get closer to qualifying then I’m sure we’ll be fine. 

I personally think we will qualify and I’m confident it will happen before our final game in November but I do think it will probably be in second place. That’s me just being realistic and expecting Spain to put a run together. If we keep our run going and top the group then fantastic. 

[Grim Jim]

All this positivity is giving me the fear 😆

After all these years, I can't bring myself to it.   (Marvin the android is my hero btw.)

 

[Tartan blood]

13 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

Aye I was thinking the other night watching the Nations League final. it’s mental that we only have one player who has over 100 caps and he achieved that nearly 40 years ago and it’s only just over 100. 

Modric and Perisic have over 280 caps for Croatia between them. 

This is the only logical reason that Clarke brought on Christie in the 92nd minute when we were winning 2-0. I think I remember him saying at the start of his tenure that he wanted players to have more caps under their belts/on their heads. 

So, bringing Christie on just to boost his cap number shows what he thinks of him. He obviously sees him as an integral part of the squad going forward. Whereas maybe Ferguson isn't quite in that line of thinking (yet).

[Judith]

3 hours ago, Tartan blood said:

This is the only logical reason that Clarke brought on Christie in the 92nd minute when we were winning 2-0. I think I remember him saying at the start of his tenure that he wanted players to have more caps under their belts/on their heads. 

So, bringing Christie on just to boost his cap number shows what he thinks of him. He obviously sees him as an integral part of the squad going forward. Whereas maybe Ferguson isn't quite in that line of thinking (yet).

I agree.

I think part of Clarkes success building this squads mentality is they way he leans so heavily on loyalty/seniority/meritocracy.

He sticks hard and fast to the players who do a job for him as they set the standards for the others to meet. Christie put a shift in on Saturday and did nothing to deserve to be dropped on Tuesday night other than tactics, fresh legs, so he is rewarded with a further cap. It shows the other players the standards they have to get to, to get in the team, and just as importantly, keeps the senior players on their toes.

There will be no suspicious call offs from this squad any time soon.

[Scots_Wha_Hae]

4 hours ago, Tartan blood said:

This is the only logical reason that Clarke brought on Christie in the 92nd minute when we were winning 2-0. I think I remember him saying at the start of his tenure that he wanted players to have more caps under their belts/on their heads. 

So, bringing Christie on just to boost his cap number shows what he thinks of him. He obviously sees him as an integral part of the squad going forward. Whereas maybe Ferguson isn't quite in that line of thinking (yet).

Totally agree. I go to my work every day and it's just another day at the office because I've been there so many times before, but for the first few months I was pretty nervous about everything. When your job involves playing for Scotland it must be like that on steroids with so many people watching including all your family and friends, the media pressure, the risk of vilification if you make one bad move and so much more. All of that will become easier the more often they are involved, the more caps they have. A happy and more importantly a relaxed player will be a better player. I'm all for it.

[ThistleWhistle]

 

It's like the Matrix in a swimming pool.