Life is Great Just Now

[Texas Pete]

4 minutes ago, Shaundy said:

Still feel great about the football prospects. Fuck the fabric of social cohesion and climate emergency  unless we get much hotter than Oslo and any wetter than Hampden the last couple of games. 
gonna use casually planning for next summer as a ting for this summer till we confirm qualifying likely before November. Then will enjoy getting a few weeks in bonnie Deutschland next summer sorted. 
Embdy bothered about getting ahead of yourself should remember it makes little difference either way. If we by some miracle fuk this qualification up , can’t see it with these guys, then I have a lifetime of being Scottish. 
expect this lot to not only qualify but progress out of group and likely manage the last 8 

slanj

saor Alba

I’ve heard this or something similar a few times before when we used to qualify regularly (usually after we had actually qualified) and of course it never happened.

[Templeton_Peck]

RIP Craig Brown... Very sad news today 

[Ally Bongo]

On 6/21/2023 at 11:49 PM, Orraloon said:

Aye, Ian Archer hyped us up even more than Ally McLeod did. His column was a "must read" every single day in the build up.

Found more proof of Ian Archer fibbings

 

[Shaundy]

Quite understand why folk won’t bank on us qualifying just yet. Also cautious about doing anything should we manage to qualify. 
just feel like the footballing gods have a different relationship with this bunch of millennial players under Clarke and I love the way they play .

Billy Bremner was my all time favourite since I was about 7 yrs though I caught the end of his career really . Incredible to think he was playing first team for Leeds from about 16yrs iirc. Taken far too young as well. Must say I already think Billy Gilmour could go on to be my all time favourite, though he’s a bit to go like leading Scotland to a draw with the World Champions at a World Cup. MoM at Wembley against England isn’t all that in comparison.

[N4Footsoldier]

5 minutes ago, Shaundy said:

Quite understand why folk won’t bank on us qualifying just yet. Also cautious about doing anything should we manage to qualify. 
just feel like the footballing gods have a different relationship with this bunch of millennial players under Clarke and I love the way they play .

Billy Bremner was my all time favourite since I was about 7 yrs though I caught the end of his career really . Incredible to think he was playing first team for Leeds from about 16yrs iirc. Taken far too young as well. Must say I already think Billy Gilmour could go on to be my all time favourite, though he’s a bit to go like leading Scotland to a draw with the World Champions at a World Cup. MoM at Wembley against England isn’t all that in comparison.

Gilmour is a curious one at the moment. He really needs to find a place where he plays first team football and have it be at the appropriate level and/or team philosophy, Not saying he couldn't do that at Brighton still but at 22 years old he has fewer than 70 senior appearances, 40% of which at Norwich who clearly didn't suit him.

We have a decent list of players who played well for Scotland despite not being so prominent at club level. But when there is such competition for places that would really see him kick on and get a run out in our starting 11 again.

Boy still has his prime years ahead of us and could end up being an extremely influential player for us. Very uncommon to develop a Scottish player with such technical ability. 

[Orraloon]

4 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

Our group this time is a lot more difficult in my opinion. Surely the manner of qualification is more important than the number of team at the finals?

In our 1992 qualifying group we were a pot 2 team as we were for this group but our pot 1 side was Romania. 

Apart from Denmark who sneaked in the back door we would have been the lowest ranked qualifier in terms of performance in the qualifiers. We won 4 games and 2 of those were against San Marino. 

If, and it’s a big if to be fair, we continue our winning streak and qualify as one of the pot 1 sides from a group which includes one of the top European sides then I would consider it a bigger achievement than scraping through a group which was arguably the weakest of the 7 groups with the possible exception of Denmark’s group although Yugoslavia were a very good side. 

It’s all a matter of opinion though and hard to say definitively either way. Especially since we haven’t even qualified for Euro 2024 yet. 

Do the names Petrescu, Popescu, Hagi, Lupescu, Lacatus ring a bell? That was a fantastic Romania side. It was their golden generation. Bulgaria were no slouches either. 3 years later they finished 4th in the USA World Cup. Those two only managed 3rd and 4th in our group with Switzerland claiming 2nd spot. That was one tough group to get out of. 

We may have only won 4 games but we only lost one whilst playing against three very good teams. 

[Toepoke]

32 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

Do the names Petrescu, Popescu, Hagi, Lupescu, Lacatus ring a bell? That was a fantastic Romania side. It was their golden generation. Bulgaria were no slouches either. 3 years later they finished 4th in the USA World Cup. Those two only managed 3rd and 4th in our group with Switzerland claiming 2nd spot. That was one tough group to get out of. 

We may have only won 4 games but we only lost one whilst playing against three very good teams. 

Yep, that was a good Swiss team who went on to knock us out of the next World Cup qualifiers too.

 

[Orraloon]

22 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

Yep, that was a good Swiss team who went on to knock us out of the next World Cup qualifiers too.

 

Aye, who can forget the chants of "Bregy, Bregy, Bregy....." just before he whacked it into the top corner following Gough's red card?

[ceudmilefailte]

1 hour ago, Orraloon said:

Do the names Petrescu, Popescu, Hagi, Lupescu, Lacatus ring a bell? That was a fantastic Romania side. It was their golden generation. Bulgaria were no slouches either. 3 years later they finished 4th in the USA World Cup. Those two only managed 3rd and 4th in our group with Switzerland claiming 2nd spot. That was one tough group to get out of. 

We may have only won 4 games but we only lost one whilst playing against three very good teams. 

Well said that man. 

Shows what a noncence any claims of getting out of the group stages and into the last 16 as being some sort of achievement really is.

World Cup would be a totally different thing. 

[Toepoke]

44 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Shows what a noncence any claims of getting out of the group stages and into the last 16 as being some sort of achievement really is.

World Cup would be a totally different thing. 

True, we have reached the last 8 of a tournament, but getting out of the group at a finals would be a King Kong sized monkey off our backs.

 

[scotlad]

On 6/25/2023 at 7:37 PM, ThistleWhistle said:

I thought at the last euros there was a gulf in class where 6 or 7 of the teams were pretty pish ourselves included 

We were, to be honest.  It's encouraging though that just a couple of years down the line the squad is looking stronger already.

[scotlad]

3 hours ago, Orraloon said:

Do the names Petrescu, Popescu, Hagi, Lupescu, Lacatus ring a bell? That was a fantastic Romania side. It was their golden generation. Bulgaria were no slouches either. 3 years later they finished 4th in the USA World Cup. Those two only managed 3rd and 4th in our group with Switzerland claiming 2nd spot. That was one tough group to get out of. 

We may have only won 4 games but we only lost one whilst playing against three very good teams. 

Correct.  They may not have been "big name" sides but Bulgaria, Romania and Switzerland were very good teams, as they would go onto show later in the decade.  I remember feeling envious during USA '94 that three teams we had finished above just a couple of years earlier were at the WC and were weren't!

To win that group, taking two wins and three draws from those teams (and we were unlucky to lose in Romania, IIRC), was a significant achievement.

[Texas Pete]

3 hours ago, Orraloon said:

Do the names Petrescu, Popescu, Hagi, Lupescu, Lacatus ring a bell? That was a fantastic Romania side. It was their golden generation. Bulgaria were no slouches either. 3 years later they finished 4th in the USA World Cup. Those two only managed 3rd and 4th in our group with Switzerland claiming 2nd spot. That was one tough group to get out of. 

We may have only won 4 games but we only lost one whilst playing against three very good teams. 

Yeah they were a good side. Don’t remember them winning anything though. 🤔

[Texas Pete]

2 hours ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Well said that man. 

Shows what a noncence any claims of getting out of the group stages and into the last 16 as being some sort of achievement really is.

World Cup would be a totally different thing. 

Winning our Euro 92 qualifying group wasn’t any more difficult than winning our current group would be. If we qualify in second place then 1992 would be a far better achievement obviously but what if we win all 8 games and romp to Germany with the best record? Would that not be a bigger achievement than finishing a point ahead of Romania and Switzerland (even if the were good sides at the time)? 

[Squirrelhumper]

There's far more teams in Europe now. There's far more teams in the world now. 

Our qualifying group in 92 wasn't as hard as some of the groups we've had since. 

If this team gets out the group stages it wlll indeed be a huge monkey off our back.

We can harp on about great teams of the past. Fact is, they shat the bed, sometimes to epic proportions time and time again. 

I don't think we've ever had a united team, like we have currently. Boy's who'd run through brick walls for each other.

[duncan II]

3 hours ago, Toepoke said:

True, we have reached the last 8 of a tournament, but getting out of the group at a finals would be a King Kong sized monkey off our backs.

 

We've had some dodgy eligibility candidates over the years but claiming King Kong as a monkey is a bit of a stretch.

[Texas Pete]

1 minute ago, duncan II said:

We've had some dodgy eligibility candidates over the years but claiming King Kong as a monkey is a bit of a stretch.

He did say a King Kong sized monkey rather than saying King Kong was a monkey to be fair. 

[duncan II]

3 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

He did say a King Kong sized monkey rather than saying King Kong was a monkey to be fair. 

Yeah, but we know what he meant. 😉

[er yir macaroon]

1 hour ago, Squirrelhumper said:

There's far more teams in Europe now. There's far more teams in the world now. 

Our qualifying group in 92 wasn't as hard as some of the groups we've had since. 

If this team gets out the group stages it wlll indeed be a huge monkey off our back.

We can harp on about great teams of the past. Fact is, they shat the bed, sometimes to epic proportions time and time again. 

I don't think we've ever had a united team, like we have currently. Boy's who'd run through brick walls for each other.

Squads in the 70s and 80s had great players but there was something not quite right there. I have much more confidence in this group of players than any other in my lifetime. I expect Doak, Lowry and Wilson to make them even better in the not too distant future.

[Shaundy]

6 hours ago, N4Footsoldier said:

Gilmour is a curious one at the moment. He really needs to find a place where he plays first team football and have it be at the appropriate level and/or team philosophy, Not saying he couldn't do that at Brighton still but at 22 years old he has fewer than 70 senior appearances, 40% of which at Norwich who clearly didn't suit him.

We have a decent list of players who played well for Scotland despite not being so prominent at club level. But when there is such competition for places that would really see him kick on and get a run out in our starting 11 again.

Boy still has his prime years ahead of us and could end up being an extremely influential player for us. Very uncommon to develop a Scottish player with such technical ability. 

The from Chelsea to Potter then Potter to Chelsea ting didn’t do him any favours, neither did Norwich . The competition for his position at Brighton season has shown itself to be as high as you get . They know they have a great player now. 
I like the way Clarke is developing Gilmour into the starting 11. 
Personally I think this change to 5 subs is quite a development. Is it permanent? 
as for not developing technical players , c’mon. You’re older than that . 🖖🥃

[Texas Pete]

2 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

Squads in the 70s and 80s had great players but there was something not quite right there. I have much more confidence in this group of players than any other in my lifetime. I expect Doak, Lowry and Wilson to make them even better in the not too distant future.

I hope you’re right but unless you count getting to League A in the Nations League the current team hasn’t really achieved anything yet. 

Not having a go at anyone but I think I’ll wait to see if we can actually do something that previous teams have failed to do before I believe they are better than what has gone before. 

Now if we go on to win our qualifying group and make an impact at the finals I’ll start to believe this is our best squad ever. If we end up qualifying in second place (or not at all) and then get knocked out at the group stage then it will be same old same old I’m afraid. 

[er yir macaroon]

5 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

I hope you’re right but unless you count getting to League A in the Nations League the current team hasn’t really achieved anything yet. 

Not having a go at anyone but I think I’ll wait to see if we can actually do something that previous teams have failed to do before I believe they are better than what has gone before. 

Now if we go on to win our qualifying group and make an impact at the finals I’ll start to believe this is our best squad ever. If we end up qualifying in second place (or not at all) and then get knocked out at the group stage then it will be same old same old I’m afraid. 

They haven’t really achieved anything yet. I said I had more faith in them (to be better than previous squads). They’re not there yet, but I have faith. I thought Clarke was far too cautious at the Euros but he seems to have learned from it and the squad is quite a bit stronger now. 

[Texas Pete]

13 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

They haven’t really achieved anything yet. I said I had more faith in them (to be better than previous squads). They’re not there yet, but I have faith. I thought Clarke was far too cautious at the Euros but he seems to have learned from it and the squad is quite a bit stronger now. 

They are certainly on a good run but then we were on a good run before the Ukraine and Ireland games. We (and all other teams) are only a bad result or two away from a crisis. 

There does seem to be something about this squad though so hopefully they can smash the rest of the group and keep the good times rolling until at least next June and hopefully beyond.  

[Shaundy]

The last Euros were a bit meh, as in it was an unusual time . Qatar ! Didn’t fancy that anyway. Likewise with Russian World Cup before that . Poland and Ukraine at the Euros before last mmmm. 
so it’s likely Brazil 2014 I might have bothered. Next summer will be fifty years since Scotland last went undefeated in an international tournament, in Deutschland. Then  West Germany .

[Judith]

19 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

Our group this time is a lot more difficult in my opinion. Surely the manner of qualification is more important than the number of team at the finals?

In our 1992 qualifying group we were a pot 2 team as we were for this group but our pot 1 side was Romania. 

Apart from Denmark who sneaked in the back door we would have been the lowest ranked qualifier in terms of performance in the qualifiers. We won 4 games and 2 of those were against San Marino. 

If, and it’s a big if to be fair, we continue our winning streak and qualify as one of the pot 1 sides from a group which includes one of the top European sides then I would consider it a bigger achievement than scraping through a group which was arguably the weakest of the 7 groups with the possible exception of Denmark’s group although Yugoslavia were a very good side. 

It’s all a matter of opinion though and hard to say definitively either way. Especially since we haven’t even qualified for Euro 2024 yet. 

Winning this group would undoubtedly be a magnificent achievement and up there with the greatest of any Scotland team I can remember.

I understand what you are saying about 1992, and whilst we probably did have one of the easier groups, Romania had one of the best teams in Europe at the time and Switzerland and Bulgaria were no slouches either.

Nice discussions to be having though. Means we are heading in the right direction again.