Scotland V Northern Ireland Match Thread

[AwayInAManger]

Re 1320lichtie and his "not seeing the point of it" for NI, I'd say we got the following out of it.

1. Three of our important players got some much-needed match practice;

2. Michael McGovern (our 3rd choice keeper, btw) showed that if we ever should need to throw him in, he's not likely to be troubled by nerves;

3. Paddy McNair showed that he's nowhere near ready to play for the Senior team, whereas Stuart Dallas showed he may be;

4. Michael O'Neill indicated that having a match would break up the "sameyness" of a week away in a training camp.

Besides, as you indicated yourself, it will have been good practice for 2018, when we may have to defend a 1-0 lead in the WC Final...

[1320lichtie]

Re 1320lichtie and his "not seeing the point of it" for NI, I'd say we got the following out of it.

1. Three of our important players got some much-needed match practice;

2. Michael McGovern (our 3rd choice keeper, btw) showed that if we ever should need to throw him in, he's not likely to be troubled by nerves;

3. Paddy McNair showed that he's nowhere near ready to play for the Senior team, whereas Stuart Dallas showed he may be;

4. Michael O'Neill indicated that having a match would break up the "sameyness" of a week away in a training camp.

Besides, as you indicated yourself, it will have been good practice for 2018, when we may have to defend a 1-0 lead in the WC Final...

Dallas was quite good, McNair awful, would love to have Evans for us, decent game for McGovern

[AwayInAManger]

Re Caledonian Craig (post #250), my guess is that MO'N told them to play defensively, whilst trying to hit Scotland on the break.

Unfortunately, we just weren't good enough to do the second part, essentially because our midfield was so poor.

In particular, Rangers fans will know just how much we missed Steven Davis, who has been excellent recently, both for Southampton and NI. (By the time he came on, we were already firmly on the back foot)

Sunday should be very different, both in personnel and approach.

[Paulo2576]

Re Caledonian Craig (post #250), my guess is that MO'N told them to play defensively, whilst trying to hit Scotland on the break.

Unfortunately, we just weren't good enough to do the second part, essentially because our midfield was so poor.

In particular, Rangers fans will know just how much we missed Steven Davis, who has been excellent recently, both for Southampton and NI. (By the time he came on, we were already firmly on the back foot)

Sunday should be very different, both in personnel and approach.

I was surprised how little NI offered, it was the performance of a minnow nation such as San Marino. As you say though it'll be a different affair when you play in a match, the game did highlight the lack of depth in your squad though. No-one can argue with your recent results when it matters, and I'm sure it would've been a close match if last night was a competitive one.

[dandydunn]

To put the game in some sort of context, of NI's starting XI last night, only 3 started our qualifying wins in Greece and Hungary last autumn, and those three (Hughes, Baird and Norwood) badly needed some match practice, since they haven't been playing for their clubs much recently.

Tbh, it was essentially our "B" team - and we have barely enough players for an "A" team!

And it wasn't just the personnel which affected our performance. Since our three main attackers (Kyle Lafferty, Niall McGinn and Jamie Ward) were all being protected against injury before Sunday's crucial game v Finland, we were never going to take the game to Scotland.

Instead, I think Michael O'Neill just used this game to practice defensive tactics.

Never mind, we came out of it without further injuries and I am hopeful that we will see a rather different team/approach against the Finns.

Just you make sure Niall comes home safely.

[AwayInAManger]

Aye, a good wee man is Niall