England Match Thread

[thplinth]

Nope, apparantely they were also singing anti IRA songs too before the FA stepped in.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/30110633?SThisEM

Funny though as after only 45 minutes of them being English Roy & Co are absolutely mortified with embarrassment at the behaviour of these ar$eholes... Well welcome to our world Roy! only we have them 365 days a year, except for when they they are supporting England of course.

Edited November 19, 2014 by thplinth

[SMcoolJ]

Pretty dire throughout. Yes, we had a tough, derby style, must win game of Fri night but England played on Saturday. Albeit they cruised to victory and had the squad depth to make 6 changes to our 1. For the first time, I think Strachan perhaps got this wrong. I would like to have seen things freshened up. However that's a comment which benefits from hindsight and Strachan was on a kind of lose-lose with his team selection. If he'd made significant changes with the same net result, he'd be receiving a lot of criticism. Nevertheless, I would like to see more of what he is trying to do up front - quick, tactically good and clever players. I don't see where Martin fits into any of that (not sure Fletcher does either tbf)! I realise this may bring outrage, but i think Naismith is also a bit too limited at times (effort and being able to win the odd header sometimes isn't enough). He seems to have lost pace and more often than not his first touch is poor (disclaimer - I think he maybe knackers himself out too early!). I think I'd have started with May and Russell last night instead of Martin and Naismith. Like i said - hindsight and all that.

Thought Morrison made an instantly positive impact when he came on. I can't work Mulgrew out. Potentially my MOM on Friday night, but absolutely terrible after the first 30 mins last night. I think it reinforces my belief that Brown and Morrison are the current preferred starters in the holding 2. I think Darren needs football and if he gets some, we certainly haven't seen the last of him in a Scotland shirt.

That all said, it's easy to be harsh on ourselves. England were superb last night. Not that I watch them regularly, but suspect that's one of their best performances in recent times.

[er yir macaroon]

I don't think my assessment was harsh at all. I highlighted Maloney n Martin cos they are two guys who might legitimately feel like they could be playing at a higher level, not to say they were outstandingly bad.

Fair enough, a wee bit grumpy this morning.

[Caledonian Craig]

If the team were so mentally and/or physically tired, Strachan should have made more changes.

I agree. However, pre-match apparently (my big brother told me) Strachan on Sky before the match said so many of the first team were desperate to play and he felt he couldn't drop them after they had done so well. I'd have preferred fresh legs like Bannan, Russell, May and even Greer starting. A defeat like we had at the end wouldn't have felt so bad and the fresher legs and perhaps better options in some areas may have prevented such a loss.

[glasgow jock]

My opinion, Chris Martin is a squad player at best (Kenny Miller had a better touch than him FFS), Darren Fletcher (saddens me to say) looks done, Alan Hutton (for all his faults) is miles better than Whittaker at RB,

Having said that i'm fairly optimistic about our chances of qualifying, we should have Snodgrass back next year (our best player IMO), and at full strength & not mentally tired I believe we have enough quality to claim at least the 3rd place play-off spot.

[in5omniac]

I agree. However, pre-match apparently (my big brother told me) Strachan on Sky before the match said so many of the first team were desperate to play and he felt he couldn't drop them after they had done so well. I'd have preferred fresh legs like Bannan, Russell, May and even Greer starting. A defeat like we had at the end wouldn't have felt so bad and the fresher legs and perhaps better options in some areas may have prevented such a loss.

yeah, basically his pre-match bit on Sky was along the lines of, the side on Friday played so well, he wanted them to receive their deserved applause from the fans last night.

[Doric]

Can we put the England game to bed please. Best forgotten about and pretend it never happened. Roll on March for next game and be on a high from the Ireland game.

[Parklife]

Can we put the England game to bed please. Best forgotten about and pretend it never happened. Roll on March for next game and be on a high from the Ireland game.

Forgetting about things that went wrong will only ensure they happen again.

[derbydan]

We are same standard as Ireland, England are a step up!

[Grantyboy1983]

England played much better than us last night and deserved to win, Scotland were off the pace i felt that they gave the ball away too easily and too many misplaced passes also couldn't win the ball back when England got it. Like most i would have taken a defeat last night if it meant winning on Friday so can't be too downbeat. I am disappointed of course but more due to the performance than the result itself. We all know the team can play better but they didn't cover themselves in glory last night for whatever reason.