andyD Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Here's one to mull over.. Are the two friendlies against Italy and France a bad idea? In terms of Pros, it'll be nice to play big teams since we're not going to the Euros and it's in decent weather and a pretty part of the world etc so it's nice for the fans on that level. Cons.. we'll likely lose both. Which will do our fifa ranking no good over the long term. We're planning to blood kids for the next campaign in potentially 30 degree heat against 2 of the best teams in the world. That doesn't seem like it's doing ourselves any favours. I guess mainly what I'm thinking about is this: Should we not use friendlies to rack up wins, add points to our total, climb up the rankings and get into better pots for world cup qualifying over the long term. They might be less 'glamourous' for us as fans in the short term, but giving ourselves an easier path to qualifying (as well as making ourselves feel better by having a higher ranking, even tho the ranking system is a wee bit silly) will likely pay of for us in the end. Instead of likely losses to France and Italy, why not play team that seem to be falsely high in the rankings, pick up wins and get points on the board. e.g. Cape Verde, Iran, Trinidad, Jamaica, Egypt. Even Hungary or Greece, since Greece can't kick a ball straight at all right now and Hungary are somehow 20th despite a pretty lackluster qualifying campaign where they scraped thru in 3rd place in the worst group that's ever been drawn. I think I'd rather we went long term and exploited the rankings system to get ourselves better positioned for the future, rather than have a couple of 'fancy' games now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastiebeastie Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Tell that to Ireland. Their pre Euro 2016 friendlies included Italy Portugal Turkey and Cost Rica in Dublin London and USA. They won none but qualified for aforementioned finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanpar Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) I imagine the main reason for these games is the money we make from them will more than pay for the training camp in Malta. We were in high demand for games and would have been able to demand a decent fee. There is no income coming from qualifying for the finals so you might find it was the SFA board who had more of a say in this than the manager. Edited February 9, 2016 by tartanpar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JECK Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Potential scenario could see WGS gone after these games one way or another. Can imagine if we were to lose all 4 with a couple of drubbings included the meidja may round in him and I'd imagine a lot of the fans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottincarlisle Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Losing our next 4 games is a real possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radian_13 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Would think Italian and French players will be playing half hearted against Scotland, none wanting to get injured before big tournament. We'll be playing two completely different teams in next two games. There isa lot more to gain from friendlies than results. Look at Eire before Euro 16. As long as the results come when the qualifiers begin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scot scotland scottish Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 FIFA ranking is only of importance come world / euro draws. Given how long it is until the draw for Euro 2020 I wouldn't worry about our ranking for a while yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanpar Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 FIFA ranking is only of importance come world / euro draws. Given how long it is until the draw for Euro 2020 I wouldn't worry about our ranking for a while yet It is not relevant for Euro draws just WC draws. The next time it will be used is for the WC play offs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scot scotland scottish Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 It is not relevant for Euro draws just WC draws. The next time it will be used is for the WC play offs. Yes of course. The point remains that the next draw is ages away, so if our UEFA / FIFA ranking goes down (or up) on the back of these friendlies, it will be irrelevant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoonTheSlope Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Can imagine if we were to lose all 4 with a couple of drubbings included the meidja may round in him and I'd imagine a lot of the fans And rightly so IMO as per the debacle post Ireland at Parkhead. Other managers have been emptied for less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASTA Mick Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 It's all about the money. I'm happy to play the better sides and see how we get on. We need to learn a way to get results against teams that are better than us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyD Posted February 12, 2016 Author Share Posted February 12, 2016 On 10/02/2016 at 6:15 AM, scot scotland scottish said: if our UEFA / FIFA ranking goes down (or up) on the back of these friendlies, it will be irrelevant These friendlies, yeah. but i was thinking beyond these ones, more as a general approach the SFA should take with friendlies over the long term. 'play often' and 'play teams we can beat' seem to be two things we could do which would give us an advantage during each WC qualifying campaign. It seems odd not to embrace that as surely getting to a WC is better for the fans and better for the coffers too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyD Posted February 12, 2016 Author Share Posted February 12, 2016 On 10/02/2016 at 8:55 AM, PASTA Mick said: It's all about the money. I'm happy to play the better sides and see how we get on. We need to learn a way to get results against teams that are better than us. It's usually the wee ones that trip us up. Part of me things every friendly should be away to georgia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudScot Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 I'm just happy we are playing and taking full advantage of all 4 fixtures when the norm for us would have been 2, 1 or even 0! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goozay Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 You shouldn't play friendlies to climb the rankings, friendlies should be used to help prepare for qualifiers. Winning qualifiers (and actually qualifying) needs to be the priority. Plus if you win qualifiers you get more ranking points than friendlies anyway.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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