SheepieTartanArmy Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 According to reports it was actually quite a friendly atmosphere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G1983 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 The Ireland v England game was a strange one. I was expecting a bit of a local derby affair, but it fell completely flat. The two Scotland v England games in recent years have felt much more "competitive", but yes we did come away with a doing in both games, although we scored 3 times in the two matches. The Scotland v Qatar game was never going to be anything but a snooze-fest. Scotland didn't play particularly well, but completely controlled the game and never looked like losing it. I think that is something Strachan has brought to our team. Confidence to beat teams we are better than. So all in all, it doesn't really tell us anything about Saturday. I agree with the folk who have said anything less than a victory means points dropped. I don't think this because we have a right (or even expectation) to beat Ireland in Dublin, but basically I think that defeat for either team will signal the end of their qualification hopes. So it's more a case of "can't afford not to win" rather than expecting it. I must admit I have a bad feeling about the game and think it might be a bridge too far for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesney Hawkes TA Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 The Champions League final was as relevant to Saturday's game as both friendlies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiltedsteamer147 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) The Scotland v Qatar game was never going to be anything but a snooze-fest. Scotland So all in all, it doesn't really tell us anything about Saturday. I agree with the folk who have said anything less than a victory means points dropped. I don't think this because we have a right (or even expectation) to beat Ireland in Dublin, but basically I think that defeat for either team will signal the end of their qualification hopes. So it's more a case of "can't afford not to win" rather than expecting it. I must admit I have a bad feeling about the game and think it might be a bridge too far for us. How on earth would a draw on Sarurday end our qualification hopes?The way I see it is in order for us to qualify outright, 2 things need to happen: 1. We need at least 4 points from our next 3 games. 2. We MUST beat Poland at Hampden. Assuming we beat Gibraltar, the above 2 things happening would mean we have 20 points and this should really be enough for 2nd place. I would be interested to know the last time a team finished with 20 points and came 3rd. It's well nigh impossible I think. Now how we get those 4 points doesn't really matter although to keep us on track I would think at least a draw is required on Saturday. Obviously a win would be much, much better but it's not an absolute requirement. Even if we don't get 20 points, a draw on Saturday would still keep us in pole position for a playoff place. Edited June 8, 2015 by Kiltedsteamer147 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G1983 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 How on earth would a draw on Sarurday end our qualification hopes? The way I see it is in order for us to qualify outright, 2 things need to happen: 1. We need at least 4 points from our next 3 games. 2. We MUST beat Poland at Hampden. Assuming we beat Gibraltar, the above 2 things happening would mean we have 20 points and this should really be enough for 2nd place. I would be interested to know the last time a team finished with 20 points and came 3rd. It's well nigh impossible I think. Now how we get those 4 points doesn't really matter although to keep us on track I would think at least a draw is required on Saturday. Obviously a win would be much, much better but it's not an absolute requirement. Even if we don't get 20 points, a draw on Saturday would still keep us in pole position for a playoff place. Well, I did say "basically I think that defeat for either team will signal the end of their qualification hopes". However, I will admit that I could have worded my post better as well. A draw would obviously still leave us well in the mix as you say, but it would most likely result in a playoff, and that's basically just a lottery. Beating Poland at Hampden is hardly a given, nor is a victory in in Tbilisi. I'm not for one second saying I will write off the qualifiers if we don't win on Saturday. I won't write it off until it's mathematically impossible... and all the other teams have passed drugs tests! Ha ha. I suppose my post would have been better written as "in my opinion, we should be treating Saturday as a must win game" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus_Young Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 The game at Parkhead was close and needed a moment of genius by Maloney to separate the teams. Why all of a sudden a minority of posters expect us to turn over the Irish is very strange, bordering on English levels of arrogance. Totally agree with this. A few decent results and suddenly we are expected just to steamroller teams. I personally think we are a better footballing side than Ireland but they are a lot more direct than us. No team will go to the Aviva and win comfortably. A lot of our supporters are seriously deluded, although it comes with the territory on any Fitba message board, but on here it reaches ridiculous levels. I think the Irish posters have been on here long enough to know that by now? In fact I'm quite sure there are plenty of them saying that we got lucky in the first game and that they will win this one. BTW I wouldn't take a draw right now as I feel like we are capable of winning this match and would like to see us go for it. I would expect any Ireland fan to be feeling the same though. Why exactly should they fear us at home? A victory by the odd goal for either side wouldn't surprise me on Saturday. Which is why it probably WILL be a draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannannan Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Will be tight very tight with 22 players giving everything that they've got.Hoping for a piece of magic.Frightened by Brady's delivery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green_Tide_Rising Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Will be tight very tight with 22 players giving everything that they've got.Hoping for a piece of magic.Frightened by Brady's delivery! Im frightened by his defending - not a left back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bossman4 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Im frightened by his defending - not a left back I do wonder if Strachan will go with Forrest instead of Maloney to get him on the back foot a bit. Maybe try and strect your defence a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parklife Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I do wonder if Strachan will go with Forrest instead of Maloney to get him on the back foot a bit. Maybe try and strect your defence a bit. Please, God, no! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Im frightened by his defending - not a left back Why did Hoolahan not feature against England? Is he your secret weapon for Saturday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green_Tide_Rising Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I do wonder if Strachan will go with Forrest instead of Maloney to get him on the back foot a bit. Maybe try and strect your defence a bit. Brady is a quality player - but he can be got at , if played as a left full natural position is on the wing - and is a big asset there - excellent free kick taker and at set-pieces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green_Tide_Rising Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Why did Hoolahan not feature against England? Is he your secret weapon for Saturday? got a slight knock while at norwich - think yday was a case of MON just not risking him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 got a slight knock while at norwich - think yday was a case of MON just not risking him I wouldn't be too unhappy if he wasn't available for Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiltedsteamer147 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Well, I did say "basically I think that defeat for either team will signal the end of their qualification hopes". However, I will admit that I could have worded my post better as well. A draw would obviously still leave us well in the mix as you say, but it would most likely result in a playoff, and that's basically just a lottery. Beating Poland at Hampden is hardly a given, nor is a victory in in Tbilisi. I'm not for one second saying I will write off the qualifiers if we don't win on Saturday. I won't write it off until it's mathematically impossible... and all the other teams have passed drugs tests! Ha ha. I suppose my post would have been better written as "in my opinion, we should be treating Saturday as a must win game" Sorry, I misunderstood. I agree that a defeat for Ireland will be the end of their hopes. There's no way they would claw back a 5 point deficit in four games (effectively 3 as we should both beat Gibraltar comfortably). If we lose then we will only be one point behind Ireland and we will probably need to beat Georgia, Germany and Poland to get second place. Highly unlikely. A draw still leaves us a realistic chance of 2nd but we would need to beat Georgia and Poland. A point off Germany wouldn't hurt either. We're not guaranteed to beat Poland at Hampden but it's more likely than beating the Irish away surely? We're the only team in the group with a 100% home record albeit we haven't played Poland or Germany at home. We will be relying on Germany getting their act together and beating Poland and Ireland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green_Tide_Rising Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I wouldn't be too unhappy if he wasn't available for Saturday. TBH - I wouldnt be surprised if MON goes for 2 up front (Keane and Long) and plays 4 in midfield - which could well mean Hoolahan starts on the bench ...maybe use him as an impact sub if required But thats just a guess on my part - cud well start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Brady is a quality player - but he can be got at , if played as a left full natural position is on the wing - and is a big asset there - excellent free kick taker and at set-pieces That was the one thing that stood out to me in your game against England! A lot of very well delivered balls into the box, our players will need to be prepared for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 TBH - I wouldnt be surprised if MON goes for 2 up front (Keane and Long) and plays 4 in midfield - which could well mean Hoolahan starts on the bench ...maybe use him as an impact sub if required But thats just a guess on my part - cud well start If you play 2 up front I think there is more chance of us dominating midfield. But MON might not be too bothered about that, if he is intending bypassing midfield anyway? Could be a few mind games between the two managers. I only watched the highlights of the England game, but from that it looked like you had opted for the long ball game. I couldn't help thinking that this might just be a ploy to get Strachan thinking that will be the tactics for Saturday. I might just be over thinking it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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