Gordon Strachan

[BraveheartGordon]

25 minutes ago, exile said:

But it was very finely balanced between the teams - we were in the running till the last 20? minutes of the campaign, - and it could easily have gone the other way - which is more than can be said for the previous ones.

Do we need additional assistant coaches? A defensive coach?

With 20 minutes left of the campaign we were 5-0 up in Gibralter knowing we had no hope after the Poland draw on the Thursday.

[Ally Bongo]

A stat from twitter;

13 players played so far in a friendly and only 3 will be under 30 come WC 2018 

[stevenmcn]

31 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

Sigh..... Yet again everyone calling for strachan to go.   We are just not good enough.   The players are not good enough.  You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.   Our level is somewhere around Lithuania, Georgia.... Pot 4/pot5.... Occasionally trouble third spot... Once in a life time qualify for a major competition. That's where we are.

 

A load of pish. Our players are on a par with N Ireland and Rep Ireland, and excluding Bale and Ramsey, Wales too. They countries are all in the finals this summer, while we couldn't even manage a playoff. I was a big fan of Strachan and was desperate for him to get the job, but for me he's been a big disappointment.  Sick of seeing teams that are designed to prevent goals, not to score them. Two friendlies, albeit against Italy and France and we managed 3 shots on goal. Not on target, on goal. Nowhere near good enough.

[MikeyGC]

Watched the SFA highlights of Strachan's press conference after the game and he sounded / looked like a defeated man. He needs two wins in our opening two World Cup Qualifiers if he is to stay on as coach imo. 

[JECK]

So many examples of under par quality tonight there's too many to list. Championship players and journeymen versus champions league and top 4 in top european leagues. Happy to admit Strachans taken this mob has far as they can go but whoever comes in  is facing poison chalice - barring a Northern Ireland style group you could put mourinho and Ferguson in charge and they would always come up short cause they players simply aren't good enough.

[Guest allyc]

Are u on Strachan staff?

[JECK]

2 hours ago, allyc said:

Are u on Strachan staff?

No I'm not.

Is strachan responsible for the basic ability of those players last night?

[Malcolm]

10 hours ago, stevenmcn said:

A load of pish. Our players are on a par with N Ireland and Rep Ireland, and excluding Bale and Ramsey, Wales too. They countries are all in the finals this summer, while we couldn't even manage a playoff. I was a big fan of Strachan and was desperate for him to get the job, but for me he's been a big disappointment.  Sick of seeing teams that are designed to prevent goals, not to score them. Two friendlies, albeit against Italy and France and we managed 3 shots on goal. Not on target, on goal. Nowhere near good enough.

I am not a particular fan of Strachan but I still don't think he is doing a bad job.  I would happily have Walter Smith or Alex MCLeish but you can only work with what you have.  I agree we are on a par with Northern Ireland... First time they have been at a competition since the eighties from an easier group.  How many of our players play Champions League or Euorpa League?  Our national league is a joke with our biggest club side out of CL before the summer is over.  Even the sides that grace the lower reaches in the EPL are bigger clubs than Celtic and Rangers.  

Why is it we seem to compete at youth level only for it to go wrong when the players step in to senior football?  Because they don't play at a competitive enough level.  That is where the problem lies.

[gusmac]

Didn't watch the game but not surprised by the result. Players would probably be rather on their holidays.....and wearing that terrible kit....ffs. Strachan needs a sharp start to the campaign. Don't fancy going to Wembley if they are wearing that strip. Whoever commissioned that needs to be sacked. 

 

[wheres the pies]

10 minutes ago, gusmac said:

Didn't watch the game but not surprised by the result. Players would probably be rather on their holidays.....and wearing that terrible kit....ffs. Strachan needs a sharp start to the campaign. Don't fancy going to Wembley if they are wearing that strip. Whoever commissioned that needs to be sacked. 

 

where did they get the idea from to invent that strip seriously it's the most hideous football strip ever ffs

[fraz65]

53 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

I am not a particular fan of Strachan but I still don't think he is doing a bad job.  I would happily have Walter Smith or Alex MCLeish but you can only work with what you have.  I agree we are on a par with Northern Ireland... First time they have been at a competition since the eighties from an easier group.  How many of our players play Champions League or Euorpa League?  Our national league is a joke with our biggest club side out of CL before the summer is over.  Even the sides that grace the lower reaches in the EPL are bigger clubs than Celtic and Rangers.  

Why is it we seem to compete at youth level only for it to go wrong when the players step in to senior football?  Because they don't play at a competitive enough level.  That is where the problem lies.

We can compete at youth level because 80% of the players won't go on to be top professionals. From an under-15 side, maybe one or two will make it to be full internationals.

[Mox]

I would get rid of him now before qualifying, but who do we get in?

[Sempre]

This "we had the toughest group" comment that comes up a lot, like we're somehow unlucky not to be there. Let's say we had Northern Ireland's group, or Rep of Ireland hadn't taken 4 points from Germany and we'd make it through the play-offs, would that make Gordon Strachan a success? 

Had we qualified, our Euro 2016 squad would no doubt be pretty dour. Greer, Hutton, Whittaker, Bryson, Martin, Mulgrew would all be in there instead of Shinnie, Paterson, McGinn, Rhodes. Maybe Griffiths would sneak into the squad. He might have taken McGinn or Tierney along for the experience but they'd likely get 10 mins in the final game.

We'd do very little there, but a lot of fans wouldn't care because "at least we made it."

Likewise, say we're no better in the WC qualifiers, but Slovakia are equally as average. We draw twice with the Slovaks, both beat Malta, both lose to England, but we manage one extra point out of Slovenia and Lithuania than they do, and then the play-off draw hands us Northern Ireland.

We make it, we're at the World Cup, we're all euphoric, but again - is Strachan a success? Is that simply all it comes down to, that qualification is the be all and end all?

We still won't have improved, we're unlikely to have planned for the future by bringing younger players through, but a lot of people wouldn't care as long as we're at the party.

[King Of Paisley]

13 minutes ago, Sempre said:

This "we had the toughest group" comment that comes up a lot, like we're somehow unlucky not to be there. Let's say we had Northern Ireland's group, or Rep of Ireland hadn't taken 4 points from Germany and we'd make it through the play-offs, would that make Gordon Strachan a success? 

Had we qualified, our Euro 2016 squad would no doubt be pretty dour. Greer, Hutton, Whittaker, Bryson, Martin, Mulgrew would all be in there instead of Shinnie, Paterson, McGinn, Rhodes. Maybe Griffiths would sneak into the squad. He might have taken McGinn or Tierney along for the experience but they'd likely get 10 mins in the final game.

We'd do very little there, but a lot of fans wouldn't care because "at least we made it."

Likewise, say we're no better in the WC qualifiers, but Slovakia are equally as average. We draw twice with the Slovaks, both beat Malta, both lose to England, but we manage one extra point out of Slovenia and Lithuania than they do, and then the play-off draw hands us Northern Ireland.

We make it, we're at the World Cup, we're all euphoric, but again - is Strachan a success? Is that simply all it comes down to, that qualification is the be all and end all?

We still won't have improved, we're unlikely to have planned for the future by bringing younger players through, but a lot of people wouldn't care as long as we're at the party.

Given that Slovakia cuffed Germany, albeit in a rain sodden friendly, should be more than enough of a warning that this mob ain't average. That said, the likes of Hamsik are getting on a bit and Skrtel is an absolute bombscare at the back.

I do hope that by the time the Malta game comes around we'll have the likes of Tierney, Kingsley, McGinn etc being part of the squad. I'm pretty worried about the centre back position - we don't seem to have anyone of note coming through which I find ironic as the cornerstone of our success under the likes of Brown and Roxburgh was having solid no-nonsense defenders like Calderwood, Hendry, Boyd, Dailly etc. Now we have no-one of that ilk. Which means we'll be stuck with the likes of Greer and, no offence to him, but I'd really fear for him if he comes up against the likes of Kane at Wembley in November.

I think Strachan's eventual downfall could be that he is too loyal to certain players. He needs to be ruthless and admit that Scott Brown is done at this level and start going with younger midfielders who have the legs and strength (John McGinn being a prime example). And he needs to have a serious think about why Jordan Rhodes (a proven goalscorer and a £12m buy for a club that is going to be competing at the top level next season) doesn't fit into his system. Can't work that one out.

Edited June 5, 2016 by King Of Paisley
Additional point

[Ormond]

Sick of hearing the old "pish with the cock you have" nonsense. Strachan is picking the wrong players. Simple as. He needs to go. 

[scoobydoo]

Strachan will always only pick his favourites, some of whom are well past their sell by date.

He'd probably rather have 3rd rate englishmen in the team than 2nd rate scots. Get him to .

[The Black Bra]

3 hours ago, gusmac said:

Didn't watch the game but not surprised by the result. Players would probably be rather on their holidays.....and wearing that terrible kit....ffs. Strachan needs a sharp start to the campaign. Don't fancy going to Wembley if they are wearing that strip. Whoever commissioned that needs to be sacked. 

 

I think we will be wearing that strip at Wembley as the new 'home' one has white sleeves which will clash with England. Been dreading this scenario for a while: we get hammered at Wembley while wearing a pink shirt, the English media will have a field day. Can't see anything other than a humping at this point.

[Rossy]

I didn't renew my SSC membership last time around for the first time in 25 years, and I wasn't alone. 

I suspect many are still only members because of the game at Wembley, which seems a bit nuts to me because we could well get the mother of all humpings there. 

Strachan, and his idiot sidekick McGhee, have put more people of watching Scotland than Levein ever did.

[vanderark14]

3 minutes ago, Rossy said:

I didn't renew my SSC membership last time around for the first time in 25 years, and I wasn't alone. 

I suspect many are still only members because of the game at Wembley, which seems a bit nuts to me because we could well get the mother of all humpings there. 

Strachan, and his idiot sidekick McGhee, have put more people of watching Scotland than Levein ever did.

I know if a few people who refused to renew but this goes deeper than Strachan. The way the SFA run football on the country has seen it decline every single year for the last 20 years. we also have too many happy clappers in our support who year after year have given the SFA the impression that what we are getting is acceptable. 

Big changes are needed on top of a new manager

[Rossy]

3 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

I know if a few people who refused to renew but this goes deeper than Strachan. The way the SFA run football on the country has seen it decline every single year for the last 20 years. we also have too many happy clappers in our support who year after year have given the SFA the impression that what we are getting is acceptable. 

Big changes are needed on top of a new manager

I didn't renew because frankly I was sick fed up of spending thousands on watching Scotland going absolutely nowhere. There comes a tipping point where you just stop, and I (and others) reached it a few years ago.

I know guys who didn't miss a game for years, yet they barely knew that Scotland were playing 2 games in the last week. And even if they did, they didn't care in the slightest. 

It doesn't help that TV ignores Scotland completely and that our national broadcaster chooses to show England (or England women) live.

[runningtings]

The big difference last night was that France's midfielders moved the game forward all the time by either beating their man or playing triangles round us.

We need to play players who can take us up the pitch,  Fletcher and McArthur aren't capable of that. I'd like to see the likes of McGinn and Mackay given a chance; at least they try to carry the game up the park.

We are also really struggling for a centre half and Mulgrew isn't the answer. Strachan must be far bolder in his selections or we'll get nowhere. 

[thplinth]

Cracks me up seeing folk say Darren Fletcher should be dropped. He is the best player we have by a distance.

[JECK]

6 hours ago, Ormond said:

Sick of hearing the old "pish with the cock you have" nonsense. Strachan is picking the wrong players. Simple as. He needs to go. 

Who should he be picking then?

[Dalgety Bay TA]

1 hour ago, runningtings said:

The big difference last night was that France's midfielders moved the game forward all the time by either beating their man or playing triangles round us.

We need to play players who can take us up the pitch,  Fletcher and McArthur aren't capable of that. I'd like to see the likes of McGinn and Mackay given a chance; at least they try to carry the game up the park.

We are also really struggling for a centre half and Mulgrew isn't the answer. Strachan must be far bolder in his selections or we'll get nowhere. 

The French 3 in midfield are probably worth a combined £140m+ on today's transfer market. There won't be a better 3 at the Euro's. You can't compare our 2/3 in the area to them at all.

Mackay? Barrie? Instead of McArthur and/or Fletcher? He doesn't play that position.

We have struggled at centre back for a long time, it's nothing new. Although why you mention Mulgrew not bring the answer when he didn't play at centre back last night is a bit odd. He played left back, where IMO he definitely isn't the answer and then holding mid, where he is an option IMO.

[albathebrave]

4 hours ago, Rossy said:

I didn't renew because frankly I was sick fed up of spending thousands on watching Scotland going absolutely nowhere. There comes a tipping point where you just stop, and I (and others) reached it a few years ago.

I know guys who didn't miss a game for years, yet they barely knew that Scotland were playing 2 games in the last week. And even if they did, they didn't care in the slightest. 

It doesn't help that TV ignores Scotland completely and that our national broadcaster chooses to show England (or England women) live.

Excellent post my thoughts exactly.