The Two Squads

[Dalgety Bay TA]

4 minutes ago, slasher said:

Shinnie and Rhodes are really unlucky I think. We are unusually flush at left back atm but I would've thought his ability to play midfield would have merited a call. That plus Tierney is still really young. It seems obvious now that wgs simply doesn't rate Rhodes. I'm not fussed about McCormack or any of the others, more concerned about the total lack of options at centre back!

Can't understand your thinking. Rhodes has scored 4 goals in 4 months and generally had a poor season. Forget the transfer fee Boro paid for him, they are now keeping him on the bench and playing Dave Nugent in front of him. McCormack has scored 20 goals this season in, at times, a struggling side. He is in far better form than Rhodes and even more so than Watt, 4 goals in about 6 months. If we are looking at fringe options he should have been above both these players in the pecking order.

 

Shinnie is very hard done to though. I am keen on having Mulgrew in the squad, he gives cover in different positions. Shinnie is the exact same and, IMO, it would do the squad no harm to have a couple of players who are versatile that can cover 2-3 positions. Thats aside from the fact he should be given a shot at left back as I am not convinced by any of the other options we have there.

[McFootSoldier]

Kenny McLean's turn for the token don.  Shinnie, Reynolds, Jack and Pawlett have had their chance.

Andy Considine next time.

[ErsatzThistle]

Judging from his twitter account, Oliver Burke seems absolutely delighted with his call up. 

Sadly there's a couple of so called Scotland fans on the comments saying "who the feck are you ?", "your not Scottish." and "you don't deserve it.". A great way to welcome a new young player into the fold  Idiots.

Edited March 10, 2016 by ErsatzThistle

[aaid]

30 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

oh dear god

he should never be called up again and he should stand trial for this crime too.

No, but he deserved to have his arsed kicked at the time and hopefully he'll take it bit more seriously in future.

[Gala Tartan Army (Borders)]

Think Strachan should have used the build  up to a new campaign as a chance to ditch the players that are over the hill like Greer and those who despite being constantly selected are largely responsible for us not making the Euros . Steven Fletcher is top of that list , he constantly goes for the ball with the wrong foot , if he had put Robertsons cross into the net from a yard out in Georgia with the the score at 0  0 then I think we might of qualified . 

Agreed Shinnie and Rhodes had to get a run out ,while Forrest baffles me he's not even good enough for a bad Celtic team .

[JohnnyKwango]

I really thought we'd have seen the back of some of these players by now, Whittaker especially. My main gripe, however, is the omission of Ross McCormack. I can only guess there's been a fall out somewhere, because it's not down to poor form. The guy has a lot of attributes we could use up front, but the manager clearly has no time for him, and I find it utterly baffling that he doesn't even make the squads.

[vanderark14]

5 minutes ago, aaid said:

No, but he deserved to have his arsed kicked at the time and hopefully he'll take it bit more seriously in future.

wow

[aaid]

1 minute ago, vanderark14 said:

wow

You think Scotland players should take the pish then?

Totally unprofessional attitude.

[vanderark14]

6 minutes ago, aaid said:

You think Scotland players should take the pish then?

Totally unprofessional attitude.

No I don't think that

I don't think this is a problem at all. Warm ups at half time usually consist of a few passes between players and that's it. nothing wrong with what Shinnie did.

 

[mariokempes56]

13 minutes ago, Gala Tartan Army (Borders) said:

 while Forrest baffles me he's not even good enough for a bad Celtic team .

Agree - half the Gala Hotspur team should be ahead of him...

[aaid]

3 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

No I don't think that

I don't think this is a problem at all. Warm ups at half time usually consist of a few passes between players and that's it. nothing wrong with what Shinnie did.

 

It's unprofessional.  I'd liken it to a player on the bench being on their mobile phone or arsing about with the other substitutes.  Even if you're not directly involved you should at least look interested.  Rightly or wrongly it sends out the message that you're not interested.

You would also expect a lot more from someone likely to make their international debut.  

In the grand scheme of things its far from the worst but its still not okay.

[clarky1606]

1 minute ago, aaid said:

It's unprofessional.  I'd liken it to a player on the bench being on their mobile phone or arsing about with the other substitutes.  Even if you're not directly involved you should at least look interested.  Rightly or wrongly it sends out the message that you're not interested.

You would also expect a lot more from someone likely to make their international debut.  

In the grand scheme of things its far from the worst but its still not okay.

If you look at from another point of view he was the only person to take time for the fans who had followed the team throughout another failed campaign by going in to get photos though admittedly it was the wrong time to do it. Had a more senior player (e.g. D. Fletcher who was also a sub) gone first and said to other players to follow then this might have lightened the situation.

Due to a mix up with taxis our group were taken back to Albufeira over 2 runs. I was in the 1st run and the remaining 8 who were left behind happened to still be there as the team bus departed the stadium (at this point it was a ghost town) and according to them S. Fletcher was the only person to acknowledge them stood at the road side as they waived the bus away. A bus load of senior professionals (many of whom heavily involved in said failed campaign) driving past 8 tireless fans stood at the road side and only 1 has the time to even acknowledge their existence!!! 

[slasher]

39 minutes ago, Dalgety Bay TA said:

Can't understand your thinking. Rhodes has scored 4 goals in 4 months and generally had a poor season. Forget the transfer fee Boro paid for him, they are now keeping him on the bench and playing Dave Nugent in front of him. McCormack has scored 20 goals this season in, at times, a struggling side. He is in far better form than Rhodes and even more so than Watt, 4 goals in about 6 months. If we are looking at fringe options he should have been above both these players in the pecking order.

 

Shinnie is very hard done to though. I am keen on having Mulgrew in the squad, he gives cover in different positions. Shinnie is the exact same and, IMO, it would do the squad no harm to have a couple of players who are versatile that can cover 2-3 positions. Thats aside from the fact he should be given a shot at left back as I am not convinced by any of the other options we have there.

Rhodes offers us something different imo, but clearly Strachan doesn't rate either of them!

[Parklife]

11 minutes ago, aaid said:

It's unprofessional.  I'd liken it to a player on the bench being on their mobile phone or arsing about with the other substitutes.  Even if you're not directly involved you should at least look interested.  Rightly or wrongly it sends out the message that you're not interested.

You would also expect a lot more from someone likely to make their international debut.  

In the grand scheme of things its far from the worst but its still not okay.

Behave. We were playing a meaningless game against a team of part-timers. Getting pictures taken with fans is like "a player on the bench being on their mobile phone", you seriously believe that? 

If he wasn't interested he wouldn't have been there. Pretty obvious. Wasn't every player in the squad on the bench? And we could only make 3 subs. Maybe Strachan told him he wouldn't be getting on? We have no idea. You're just making an assumption. 

[bonzo]

Apart from Forrest being in and Rhodes not being in think both squads are fine 

[aaid]

4 minutes ago, clarky1606 said:

If you look at from another point of view he was the only person to take time for the fans who had followed the team throughout another failed campaign by going in to get photos though admittedly it was the wrong time to do it. Had a more senior player (e.g. D. Fletcher who was also a sub) gone first and said to other players to follow then this might have lightened the situation.

There's a time and a place, at the end of the game.

[andyD]

Only thing i can think with Whittaker is.. they're both small squads, so he's there for his utility. Strachan seems to want to minimise the effect of international friendlies on players, i.e. not taking a bunch of players who wont play and disrupting their regimes. Whittaker is the guy who's there to fill in should there be knocks in a small squad.

[tjm007]

Some turnaround for Tony Watt

 

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/5155152/Watt-a-state.html

 

" TONY WATT was last night branded LAZY and UNFIT  "

 

to

 

http://stv.tv/sport/football/1346013-tony-watt-could-be-scotlands-zlatan-says-boss-gordon-strachan/

 

" Tony Watt could be Scotland’s Zlatan hopes boss Gordon Strachan "

[clarky1606]

3 minutes ago, aaid said:

There's a time and a place, at the end of the game.

Totally agree! Doing it on his own before he has even made made an appearance for the team was a big risk...

For all we know Strachan has maybe spoken to Shinnie and told him he is being left out so he can remain fit for Aberdeens remaining games (unlikely as he has called up MacLean) and will be involved in the Italy/France games in a few months time...

[slasher]

7 minutes ago, Parklife said:

Behave. We were playing a meaningless game against a team of part-timers. Getting pictures taken with fans is like "a player on the bench being on their mobile phone", you seriously believe that? 

If he wasn't interested he wouldn't have been there. Pretty obvious. Wasn't every player in the squad on the bench? And we could only make 3 subs. Maybe Strachan told him he wouldn't be getting on? We have no idea. You're just making an assumption. 

I can't see Strachan being as petty as to leave Shinnie out for such a trivial thing. He's worked with players like Riordan at club level for goodness sake. Maybe he just didn't impress in training in some way, it could be that simple.

Either way Shinnie can consider himself unlucky, however I'm equally sure there'll be a rash of withdrawals so he may yet get his shot!

[flynnyboy]

Have to say I agree with Strachan re Rhodes. Seen a lot of him and he has rarely impressed. So painfully slow. 

Cairney being left out is bizarre. Particularly with Kevin McDonald's inclusion. He is in fine form currently.

mccormack's absence is also somewhat strange. I'd rather have watt in to be honest though. He has the ability to lead our line in the next campaign. In my opinion.

shinne is extremely unfortunate, he is up against decent competition in that position though. Deserves a call up before tierney and Whittaker I'd suggest though. 

I'm intrigued to see Burke. Big powerful, fast and direct winger and very highly though of at Forrest.

The questioning of mulgrew's inclusion puzzles me. Been one of our most consistent performers for a couple of years now and we miss him when he ain't there. His versatility is also invaluable. Can only assume it's based on an opinion formed whilst he was at Aberdeen, which is fair enough, however players develop at vastly different rates and some top class players don't perform at certain clubs then shine at others. He fully merits inclusion.

All in all feeling at bit flat with these squads.

[Brassrubber]

Wheres Kenny Miller ?

[PASTA Mick]

Did anyone seriously expect two strong squads? We struggle to put one together never mind two.

Greer is the strangest selection for me but it says more about our options than anything. Who else is there?

Shinnie is most probably the unluckiest player not to be included, along with McCormack. I can only guess that Cairney isn't Scottish any more. 

I'm happy to see Watt called up because he has so much potential. He could be our star player.

 

[clarky1606]

2 minutes ago, flynnyboy said:

Have to say I agree with Strachan re Rhodes. Seen a lot of him and he has rarely impressed. So painfully slow. 

Cairney being left out is bizarre. Particularly with Kevin McDonald's inclusion. He is in fine form currently.

mccormack's absence is also somewhat strange. I'd rather have watt in to be honest though. He has the ability to lead our line in the next campaign. In my opinion.

shinne is extremely unfortunate, he is up against decent competition in that position though. Deserves a call up before tierney and Whittaker I'd suggest though. 

I'm intrigued to see Burke. Big powerful, fast and direct winger and very highly though of at Forrest.

The questioning of mulgrew's inclusion puzzles me. Been one of our most consistent performers for a couple of years now and we miss him when he ain't there. His versatility is also invaluable. Can only assume it's based on an opinion formed whilst he was at Aberdeen, which is fair enough, however players develop at vastly different rates and some top class players don't perform at certain clubs then shine at others. He fully merits inclusion.

All in all feeling at bit flat with these squads.

How much football has he played for Celtic over the last few months? If not your not playing for your club you shouldn't be picked for your country (here comes the Alan Hutton comments!!).

[flynnyboy]

1 minute ago, clarky1606 said:

How much football has he played for Celtic over the last few months? If not your not playing for your club you shouldn't be picked for your country (here comes the Alan Hutton comments!!).

I'd agree ordinarily however his omission from the Celtic team has been due to long term serious injury. Snodgrass is another who has been out long term and has only played a few games since his return. Players returning from injury are completely different from selecting those out of favour. Incidentally hutton has played a lot of first team football this season. Albeit poorly.