Strachan..out...poll

[Orraloon]

1 hour ago, vanderark14 said:

Gordon Strachan believes his Scotland squad have proved they are better than some of the teams at Euro 2016.

 

Strachan's side missed out on a place in France and the national side last competed at a finals at France 98.

 

"We were a unit that Poland couldn't beat, we were a unit that the Republic couldn't beat," he told BBC Scotland.

 

"We beat Croatia twice over the last couple of years. Things went against us, but we need to sort that out for the next campaign."

 

The Scots finished fourth in Group D in Euro 2016 qualification, missing out on third spot and a play-off berth.

 

"It's not easy to take," head coach Strachan added. "In the 10 games we played, there's only one game we could be disappointed with."

 

Strachan dismissed the idea that the mentality of the players could be questioned.

 

"Nobody can question that," he said. "Absolutely not.

 

"The mentality is fantastic. We just need to find the best system with the best players we've got for this next campaign."

Deluded pish.

I think somebody has had a word with him about being too negative, and now he has decided to go the other way and claim we are better than Poland and Ireland, even though they knocked us out. We won a grand total of 4 games and two of them were against Gibraltar. 

 

[wanderer]

26 minutes ago, andyD said:

Is he wrong about the results? Poland, Ireland, Croatia?

Why people are so doom and gloom I don't know. I think you all must be putting way too much stock in the France and Italy friendlies and ignoring the 2 wins before that and a qualifying campaign where Germany randomly rolled over for Poland and Ireland.

We're not at bad as half of you seem to think, and it's worth Strachan reminding us and the player of that, because if they and us start to thinking that we're as bad as some on here proclaim then we might as well not bother.

I do not think he wrong as such, as from Zagreb in June 2013 right through to Ireland at Celtic Park in November 2014.... bar the odd blip here and there (Belgium where we did not even show up), we went into a game with a touch of confidence/swagger about us and played some really good football during this period (as you pointed out, great wins against Croatia.... fighting back to get a hard earned win in Macedonia.... going to Norway and Poland and getting win's (be it a friendly).... plus some really good performances in friendlies against England and Nigeria )..... and though we did not play particularly well against the Irish at Celtic Park, we dug in and got the result that we needed.

Its just shocking how fast it went down hill after that..... Strachan tried a stupid new tactic against Gibraltar at Hampden where we made them look A LOT better than what they were...... first half in Dublin we could not put two passes together.... then we have Tbilisi..... granted we did show a bit of fighting spirit against Germany and Poland at Hampden, but it just wasn't on the level we were the previous year (as I think the rot had truly sunk in by then)

Did Strachan and/or the players feel after the Ireland game that it was a case of "job done" and took their eye off the ball by the time we got to Tbilisi? Maybe a element of Strachan becoming a victim of his own success after the results against Croatia and riding the crest of that wave for a year or so?

France was a complete disaster (that was clear the day the SFA announced it).... as I thought v Czech Republic and Denmark we were not half bad, but knew with Italy and France over the hill, that any momentum was going to be killed dead in its tracks once we came up against them (fair enough, take 1 from those two, but even it out a bit by announcing a more winnable game along side it).

Felt for a while now that Strachan has started to become more and more Levein-esque in his attitude and interviews of late.... but thinks as long as he keeps up the cheeky-chappy persona he will get buy (like Levein, the press do seem to give Strachan a easy ride, when he should be pushed a bit harder).

Edited June 22, 2016 by wanderer

[bossman4]

38 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

Deluded pish.

I think somebody has had a word with him about being too negative, and now he has decided to go the other way and claim we are better than Poland and Ireland, even though they knocked us out. We won a grand total of 4 games and two of them were against Gibraltar. 

 

I would agree that someone has clearly had a word about his negativity. That's not the full article though, I don't think he really says we are better than Poland and Ireland, it's the headline that says it not him.

[Orraloon]

10 minutes ago, bossman4 said:

I would agree that someone has clearly had a word about his negativity. That's not the full article though, I don't think he really says we are better than Poland and Ireland, it's the headline that says it not him.

Aye, you're probably right.

[Regenmann]

He's just spouted a load of shite on Reporting Scotland about being better than some of the teams there and I'm sure he said we'd have added to the occasion  .I certainly won't be back at a Scotland game until this glib buffoon has gone. 

[er yir macaroon]

30 minutes ago, Regenmann said:

He's just spouted a load of shite on Reporting Scotland about being better than some of the teams there and I'm sure he said we'd have added to the occasion  .I certainly won't be back at a Scotland game until this glib buffoon has gone. 

If you don't think we're better why are you so angry with him?

[Regenmann]

We could possibly be better but it's him that's dragged us down. 

[scotsgary2]

Not read many posts on here tonight...

 

But I thought Strachen on BBC  sport tonight was a F**king absolute joke and his comments ripped the piss...

 

Welcome comments they guy  has had it .... 

[Radian]

Can't question the players mentality?  We need a Bale or Zlatan?...... Tell that to the 2 Irish teams!!  We are equally as good yes but ROI were awesome against Italy because they play with heart and have bottle.  We finish 4th, pansies and bottled every big moment in the euro campaign.  

[Regenmann]

He's a joke figure. 

[PASTA Mick]

Ireland, Germany and Poland all through to the last 16. Any of the other groups done so well?

Also, Wales, Belgium and Croatia (WC14 group) have reached the last 16 too.

There is an argument that we've had a couple of tough draws recently. Of course England and Slovakia (WC18 group) have made the last 16 too. 

There are teams in that last 16 that we are a similar level to. I don't think we are too far away but lack the bottle that other teams seen to have. We'd have drawn with Italy tonight. 

[Guest allyc]

Every time Strachan opens his mouth I am more and more mortified with the muck that he speals...

 

[DoonTheSlope]

Strachan should have been punted after Gibraltar and the fans who applauded and made a song and dance at the end should give themselves a shake. Embarrassing 

Whats even more embarrasing is the SFA gave WGS time to think about whether he wanted to continue or not. He failed end off. He should have been punted like Burley and Levein

[giblet]

Im most concerned that Strachan has actually done hee haw about bringing through the next crop of players.  We have the oldest squad in qualifying last time around and that wont change for this one coming up.  Genuinely fear we are heading for a car crash at Wembley.

[bossman4]

20 minutes ago, giblet said:

Im most concerned that Strachan has actually done hee haw about bringing through the next crop of players.  We have the oldest squad in qualifying last time around and that wont change for this one coming up.  Genuinely fear we are heading for a car crash at Wembley.

For all his faults I wouldn't agree with that. Mcginn, Tierney, Burke, McKay, Kingsley, Patterson have all played some part in last 4 games. Oldest squad thing doesnt add up either. ROI had older than us and oldest in Euros 

[giblet]

3 minutes ago, bossman4 said:

For all his faults I wouldn't agree with that. Mcginn, Tierney, Burke, McKay, Kingsley, Patterson have all played some part in last 4 games. Oldest squad thing doesnt add up either. ROI had older than us and oldest in Euros 

this would suggest otherwise..

http://stv.tv/sport/football/1338781-scotland-national-team-older-than-any-of-world-footballs-top-teams/

 

 

[Kirk]

8 hours ago, bossman4 said:

For all his faults I wouldn't agree with that. Mcginn, Tierney, Burke, McKay, Kingsley, Patterson have all played some part in last 4 games. Oldest squad thing doesnt add up either. ROI had older than us and oldest in Euros 

Those guys barley featured. Most if not all of them should havr probably got both games.

[tjm007]

I seem to remember him being applauded by the fans after the last competitive game - for failing to qualify.

What's changed - apart from ROI, NIR , WAL doing well at the Euros ?

[Handsome22Devil]

17 hours ago, wanderer said:

I do not think he wrong as such, as from Zagreb in June 2013 right through to Ireland at Celtic Park in November 2014.... bar the odd blip here and there (Belgium where we did not even show up), we went into a game with a touch of confidence/swagger about us and played some really good football during this period (as you pointed out, great wins against Croatia.... fighting back to get a hard earned win in Macedonia.... going to Norway and Poland and getting win's (be it a friendly).... plus some really good performances in friendlies against England and Nigeria )..... and though we did not play particularly well against the Irish at Celtic Park, we dug in and got the result that we needed.

Its just shocking how fast it went down hill after that..... Strachan tried a stupid new tactic against Gibraltar at Hampden where we made them look A LOT better than what they were...... first half in Dublin we could not put two passes together.... then we have Tbilisi..... granted we did show a bit of fighting spirit against Germany and Poland at Hampden, but it just wasn't on the level we were the previous year (as I think the rot had truly sunk in by then)

Did Strachan and/or the players feel after the Ireland game that it was a case of "job done" and took their eye off the ball by the time we got to Tbilisi? Maybe a element of Strachan becoming a victim of his own success after the results against Croatia and riding the crest of that wave for a year or so?

France was a complete disaster (that was clear the day the SFA announced it).... as I thought v Czech Republic and Denmark we were not half bad, but knew with Italy and France over the hill, that any momentum was going to be killed dead in its tracks once we came up against them (fair enough, take 1 from those two, but even it out a bit by announcing a more winnable game along side it).

Felt for a while now that Strachan has started to become more and more Levein-esque in his attitude and interviews of late.... but thinks as long as he keeps up the cheeky-chappy persona he will get buy (like Levein, the press do seem to give Strachan a easy ride, when he should be pushed a bit harder).

 

Strachan has a had a bad summer, very bad in fact, which is incredibly stupid and a real shame after a positive March.

Quite frankly this summer Scotland as a team and he as a manager should have been sheltering in a cave around the Euro time. We had a pretty sensible and even-headed debate about his future last October (at least relative to the pain of missing out) but with the tournament here, particularly with the home nation minnows doing well, that's gone out the window.... we're the worst-ever, we'll never qualify again, Strachan is too negative, Strachan is too positive. We're hurting and it's understandable but we're the footballing equivalent of the ex at a wedding who thought they could handle it but have a few drinks and...

When the qualifying draw was made, everyone said we had a ridiculously tight group that would be decided by wafer-thin margins. That duly happened and the amount of canny-take-it-ness because we were on the wrong side of that margin is ridiculous. Had we been offered our exact Euro results before the start, we'd have signed up to all of them except Georgia and, possibly, Poland at home (a game in which we were denied a win by an offside goal and a 95th minute scramble).

O'Neill and Nawalka did not motivate their sides more against Germany than Strachan did, nor did they produce anything better tactically. Germany missing a dozen chances they would usually score in their sleep in Dublin and Warsaw, and getting kick-started with a jammy deflection at Hampden does not reflect on any brilliance from O'Neill and Nawalka or incompetence from Strachan.

Strachan is now being mocked because he said we're better than some of those at the Euros. Better is clearly a stretch but in essence, that we're no worse, is not wrong. The Euros were expanded because the difference between teams 12-16 and 17-24 was tiny, the difference between those 17-24 and us is literally one deflection or a set piece over 90 minutes. We were drawn in a group with the world champions, Poland with the best striker in qualifying and and Ireland side who were basically the same as us. Northern Ireland got Greece who had imploded and a Romania side, who - on the evidence of their last two games, if not the first - are absolutely terrible. Ireland are through in France because rather than playing a full strength Italy side who wanted to win, they got the reserves who had been on le vin since lunch.

I also fear unless Strachan calms down after the Euros we're heading for another Levein situation and you can make a strong case that's not the right man anyway (I was 50-50 last October and his recent comments have done anything but convince me). But that being so, consider the case having acknowledged his pros - of which there are months and months of positive games - against the negative - his innate conservatism and desire to tinker - and make the argument beyond the petulantly simplistic 'we're not at the Euros, we should sack the coach'.

I'm off back to my cave until the next two weeks of this misery are over.

[bossman4]

31 minutes ago, Handsome22Devil said:

 

Strachan has a had a bad summer, very bad in fact, which is incredibly stupid and a real shame after a positive March.

Quite frankly this summer Scotland as a team and he as a manager should have been sheltering in a cave around the Euro time. We had a pretty sensible and even-headed debate about his future last October (at least relative to the pain of missing out) but with the tournament here, particularly with the home nation minnows doing well, that's gone out the window.... we're the worst-ever, we'll never qualify again, Strachan is too negative, Strachan is too positive. We're hurting and it's understandable but we're the footballing equivalent of the ex at a wedding who thought they could handle it but have a few drinks and...

When the qualifying draw was made, everyone said we had a ridiculously tight group that would be decided by wafer-thin margins. That duly happened and the amount of canny-take-it-ness because we were on the wrong side of that margin is ridiculous. Had we been offered our exact Euro results before the start, we'd have signed up to all of them except Georgia and, possibly, Poland at home (a game in which we were denied a win by an offside goal and a 95th minute scramble).

O'Neill and Nawalka did not motivate their sides more against Germany than Strachan did, nor did they produce anything better tactically. Germany missing a dozen chances they would usually score in their sleep in Dublin and Warsaw, and getting kick-started with a jammy deflection at Hampden does not reflect on any brilliance from O'Neill and Nawalka or incompetence from Strachan.

Strachan is now being mocked because he said we're better than some of those at the Euros. Better is clearly a stretch but in essence, that we're no worse, is not wrong. The Euros were expanded because the difference between teams 12-16 and 17-24 was tiny, the difference between those 17-24 and us is literally one deflection or a set piece over 90 minutes. We were drawn in a group with the world champions, Poland with the best striker in qualifying and and Ireland side who were basically the same as us. Northern Ireland got Greece who had imploded and a Romania side, who - on the evidence of their last two games, if not the first - are absolutely terrible. Ireland are through in France because rather than playing a full strength Italy side who wanted to win, they got the reserves who had been on le vin since lunch.

I also fear unless Strachan calms down after the Euros we're heading for another Levein situation and you can make a strong case that's not the right man anyway (I was 50-50 last October and his recent comments have done anything but convince me). But that being so, consider the case having acknowledged his pros - of which there are months and months of positive games - against the negative - his innate conservatism and desire to tinker - and make the argument beyond the petulantly simplistic 'we're not at the Euros, we should sack the coach'.

I'm off back to my cave until the next two weeks of this misery are over.

Excellent well balanced post, what's it doing on here .

One of mates this morning said that someone within the SFA should be pulling Strachan to the side, telling him to keep his mouth shut, go on holiday and come back in August when it's all calmed down.

I like you have been very 50/50 still am I suppose. I was happy with the March games but this summer has been a complete disaster as you say.

Edited June 23, 2016 by bossman4

[stitch]

I think people are being far to harsh on GS.

we all new we were in a very though group and at one stage we were saying any team from 5 could finish in the 3 places.

we then get some great results and when it came to the ROI away game i know the draw was more than enough at that time.

We then got it wrong for the Georgia game and yes it was only this game.

we now see the 3 teams in our group in the last 16 and we still slag off GS.

try putting things in context. we don't have the best of players to choose from just look at where are so called top players are.

we don't have 1 player that is a stand out in any position.

GS did a great job with what he had yes we could all say he should of done this or that but before the Georgia game we didn't care what he did.

give him the world cup and see what he can do. we do not have anyone else who will take the job and do any better.

[Dave78]

3 hours ago, Handsome22Devil said:

 

Strachan has a had a bad summer, very bad in fact, which is incredibly stupid and a real shame after a positive March.

Quite frankly this summer Scotland as a team and he as a manager should have been sheltering in a cave around the Euro time. We had a pretty sensible and even-headed debate about his future last October (at least relative to the pain of missing out) but with the tournament here, particularly with the home nation minnows doing well, that's gone out the window.... we're the worst-ever, we'll never qualify again, Strachan is too negative, Strachan is too positive. We're hurting and it's understandable but we're the footballing equivalent of the ex at a wedding who thought they could handle it but have a few drinks and...

When the qualifying draw was made, everyone said we had a ridiculously tight group that would be decided by wafer-thin margins. That duly happened and the amount of canny-take-it-ness because we were on the wrong side of that margin is ridiculous. Had we been offered our exact Euro results before the start, we'd have signed up to all of them except Georgia and, possibly, Poland at home (a game in which we were denied a win by an offside goal and a 95th minute scramble).

O'Neill and Nawalka did not motivate their sides more against Germany than Strachan did, nor did they produce anything better tactically. Germany missing a dozen chances they would usually score in their sleep in Dublin and Warsaw, and getting kick-started with a jammy deflection at Hampden does not reflect on any brilliance from O'Neill and Nawalka or incompetence from Strachan.

Strachan is now being mocked because he said we're better than some of those at the Euros. Better is clearly a stretch but in essence, that we're no worse, is not wrong. The Euros were expanded because the difference between teams 12-16 and 17-24 was tiny, the difference between those 17-24 and us is literally one deflection or a set piece over 90 minutes. We were drawn in a group with the world champions, Poland with the best striker in qualifying and and Ireland side who were basically the same as us. Northern Ireland got Greece who had imploded and a Romania side, who - on the evidence of their last two games, if not the first - are absolutely terrible. Ireland are through in France because rather than playing a full strength Italy side who wanted to win, they got the reserves who had been on le vin since lunch.

I also fear unless Strachan calms down after the Euros we're heading for another Levein situation and you can make a strong case that's not the right man anyway (I was 50-50 last October and his recent comments have done anything but convince me). But that being so, consider the case having acknowledged his pros - of which there are months and months of positive games - against the negative - his innate conservatism and desire to tinker - and make the argument beyond the petulantly simplistic 'we're not at the Euros, we should sack the coach'.

I'm off back to my cave until the next two weeks of this misery are over.

 

Brilliant post, spot on.

[coybig2015]

47 minutes ago, Dave78 said:

 

I totally agree, look the difference between average and even the "top" teams is now waifer thin *in that category. You think when NI got through yesterday, I was like "oh they got further than the republic, they are better" give me a break! We got drawn in a bloody difficult qualification group, we then got drawn in a difficult group in the finals. It is fair to say that Scotland are probably better and would have performed better than some other teams in the finals. Italy were second seeds when draw for finals was made. For the smaller teams, you need a rub of the green. Anyone think NI would have gotten out of our qualification group as fifth seeds, I don't... Unless you are one of the top footballing nations, where you are a level above and the luck factor etc is reduced due to the increased player capability, things will always be tight, unless as one of the smaller countries, you have a golden generation...

 

47 minutes ago, Dave78 said:

 

Brilliant post, spot on.

 

Edited June 23, 2016 by coybig2015

[Guest allyc]

Our would cup qualification will be hanging by a string by Christmas.

[Radian]

3 hours ago, allyc said:

Our would cup qualification will be hanging by a string by Christmas.

Unless the players man up and play with heart like the two Irelands then we'll be out by Christmas.  Players for NI, ROI and Wales seem to grow in stature and thrive on the pressure of International football, it's time Scotland players stopped being pansies, grew a pair and done the same!