Gordon Strachan

[Guest allyc]

Strachan is an arrogant little shit...

[ErsatzThistle]

He really is doing himself no favours with the narrow minded "favourites are here to stay" approach.

[Ally Bongo]

Dont think it would make much of a material difference with who manages the National side.

With Levein it was obvious that he was out of his depth and was unable to get the best out of the players at his disposal as well as having zero tactical nous (apart from those in his own mind)

With Strachan its different.

I think we have simply reached our best potential with the players we have available

I dont buy that he is "picking the wrong players"

I just think that the players he is picking are the best we have and that we are kidding ourselves on about those "waiting in the wings" not to mention the state of Scottish football.

It's clear that Strachan has no faith in any of those outside the squad and to throw them in would lead to even greater humiliation.

The SFA have overseen an increasing decline of our game to an extent that we are a third world footballing nation heading rapidly to where the likes of the Faroes are

 

Edited June 5, 2016 by Ally Bongo

[stevenmcn]

13 hours ago, Malcolm said:

I am not a particular fan of Strachan but I still don't think he is doing a bad job. 

What, exactly do you consider "doing a bad job". We barely manage a shot on goal let alone score!

3 hours ago, thplinth said:

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

If this is true,  then we really are fecked.  For his supposed class, Fletcher loses possession constantly. 

2 hours ago, Dalgety Bay TA said:

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.

Agree 100%. Holding mid is the ONLY position Mulgrew should play for Scotland. There or not at all.

[Orraloon]

7 hours 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.

Part timer.

[Orraloon]

3 hours ago, thplinth said:

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

Probably the same folk who thought Barry Ferguson was shyte?

[runningtings]

12 hours ago, Dalgety Bay TA said:

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.

I can compare our midfield to a team we have played's midfield. That's how games of football work.

We are generally negative, don't take any chances to get forward and have no flair.

I know Mackay is a winger but the point is that he at least looked like trying to play forward, how many times did we play the ball flat across the team? Didn't get us anywhere.

Fine, we'll just stick with the team as it is, same old pish.

And as for Fletcher, he played better in France but someone more dynamic beside him would make a difference. 

[Larky Masher]

10 hours ago, Ally Bongo said:

Dont think it would make much of a material difference with who manages the National side.

With Levein it was obvious that he was out of his depth and was unable to get the best out of the players at his disposal as well as having zero tactical nous (apart from those in his own mind)

With Strachan its different.

I think we have simply reached our best potential with the players we have available

I dont buy that he is "picking the wrong players"

I just think that the players he is picking are the best we have and that we are kidding ourselves on about those "waiting in the wings" not to mention the state of Scottish football.

It's clear that Strachan has no faith in any of those outside the squad and to throw them in would lead to even greater humiliation.

The SFA have overseen an increasing decline of our game to an extent that we are a third world footballing nation heading rapidly to where the likes of the Faroes are

 

One of the problems is he doesn't show any faith in the players he is picking and spends more time whining about them rather than trying to get the best out of them.

[Dalgety Bay TA]

1 hour ago, runningtings said:

I can compare our midfield to a team we have played's midfield. That's how games of football work.

We are generally negative, don't take any chances to get forward and have no flair.

I know Mackay is a winger but the point is that he at least looked like trying to play forward, how many times did we play the ball flat across the team? Didn't get us anywhere.

Fine, we'll just stick with the team as it is, same old pish.

And as for Fletcher, he played better in France but someone more dynamic beside him would make a difference. 

 

Ok, you can compare them but surely you have to acknowledge that the midfield we were up against on Saturday was a mile better than our own one? That's only going to end up with one outcome. 

I think you also fail to appreciate how hard working that French side is, especially the likes of Kante and Matuidi. They were flying, they closed us down very well, we resorted to passing the ball across our back line because they had every other option covered. That's what happens when you have a team playing with far more energy, a yard faster and far more motivation, your own options become very limited.

Yes Mackay is a winger, yes he should be given a shot if his form continues but he's not a replacement for a D Fletcher or McArthur in their roles. You can't just plonk players into positions which are not their norm, that would just weaken us further. 

 

1 hour ago, Larky Masher said:

One of the problems is he doesn't show any faith in the players he is picking and spends more time whining about them rather than trying to get the best out of them.

The biggest disappointment for me over the last 2 games was the fact that we need more options in, for example, right back, and Callum Paterson got 45 mins v Italy. Why not give him 2 games? I assume he wasn't destroyed in that 45 mins by the Italians so what does WGS learn from only playing him for such a short period of time when he had the perfect opp to see him over 180 minutes v good players. Also hauling Andy Robertson over to be part of the squad and also giving him only 45 minutes. Why not give one of the new players you called up, who can play left back, Kingsley, the 90 minutes? It was frustrating to see us line up with 4 centre backs in defence at the start of second half when we had natural right and left backs not playing. I am not one for saying "just stick all the kids in" and think you need a balance between youth and experience but we wouldn't have done any worse on Saturday starting, and playing for 90 mins, Paterson, Kingsley and Mackay alongside the usual suspects.

[Och Aye]

Friendlies are soft, non contact football which is always going to suit the skillful teams like France and Italy. I'm glad they are out the way but still disappointed with no shots at goal. If the first two qualifiers don't go well I think Strachan is the type of guy to put his hands up and walk.

[saintlyscot]

Not bothered by the results in these two friendlies although would have been better to just have France game after training camp in Malta imo. What is concerning is the over reliance on underperforming players and the lack of game time for younger ones. Also, why was Scot Brown excused from the trip? Absolutely staggering that the captain and manager both thought this a good idea, particularly with the venue of first qualifier being Malta and his poor form over the last year. Compare with Holland who insisted on a full squad for their two games including their injured captain! 

[Boynze]

this from bbc football gossip section, so true:

 

Emmanuel Petit, who was part of France's 1998 World Cup winning side, has branded Scotland as "mentally weak" after the timid loss in Metz. (Daily Record)

[runningtings]

2 hours ago, Dalgety Bay TA said:

Ok, you can compare them but surely you have to acknowledge that the midfield we were up against on Saturday was a mile better than our own one? That's only going to end up with one outcome. 

I think you also fail to appreciate how hard working that French side is, especially the likes of Kante and Matuidi. They were flying, they closed us down very well, we resorted to passing the ball across our back line because they had every other option covered. That's what happens when you have a team playing with far more energy, a yard faster and far more motivation, your own options become very limited.

Yes Mackay is a winger, yes he should be given a shot if his form continues but he's not a replacement for a D Fletcher or McArthur in their roles. You can't just plonk players into positions which are not their norm, that would just weaken us further. 

 

The biggest disappointment for me over the last 2 games was the fact that we need more options in, for example, right back, and Callum Paterson got 45 mins v Italy. Why not give him 2 games? I assume he wasn't destroyed in that 45 mins by the Italians so what does WGS learn from only playing him for such a short period of time when he had the perfect opp to see him over 180 minutes v good players. Also hauling Andy Robertson over to be part of the squad and also giving him only 45 minutes. Why not give one of the new players you called up, who can play left back, Kingsley, the 90 minutes? It was frustrating to see us line up with 4 centre backs in defence at the start of second half when we had natural right and left backs not playing. I am not one for saying "just stick all the kids in" and think you need a balance between youth and experience but we wouldn't have done any worse on Saturday starting, and playing for 90 mins, Paterson, Kingsley and Mackay alongside the usual suspects.

Yes I agree that they are miles better, the point still stands though that we are not adventurous enough.

I don't fail to appreciate anything, I was there too, spent a bit of time just watching Kante in constant motion, outstanding player but even he went by players at times. If they have every option covered we need to try and beat the man, create something, make something happen. When do we ever see a Scotland player do that? Never.

I am not proposing that Mackay plays out of position, not sure where you got that from, I am merely highlighting that he at least tried to be positive when he came on. Ritchie was appalling, just passed it back the way every time and has a frightening lack of pace.

Totally agree on the last point though, although I think we should from now on get Tierney, McGinn, Mackay, Paterson in the team. Keep the likes of Brown and Martin round them to bring them on, but we need to try something or it will be the same old pish.

 

[Bannannan]

50 minutes ago, runningtings said:

Yes I agree that they are miles better, the point still stands though that we are not adventurous enough.

I don't fail to appreciate anything, I was there too, spent a bit of time just watching Kante in constant motion, outstanding player but even he went by players at times. If they have every option covered we need to try and beat the man, create something, make something happen. When do we ever see a Scotland player do that? Never.

I am not proposing that Mackay plays out of position, not sure where you got that from, I am merely highlighting that he at least tried to be positive when he came on. Ritchie was appalling, just passed it back the way every time and has a frightening lack of pace.

Totally agree on the last point though, although I think we should from now on get Tierney, McGinn, Mackay, Paterson in the team. Keep the likes of Brown and Martin round them to bring them on, but we need to try something or it will be the same old pish.

 

Spot on!

[Larky Masher]

9 hours ago, Boynze said:

this from bbc football gossip section, so true:

 

Emmanuel Petit, who was part of France's 1998 World Cup winning side, has branded Scotland as "mentally weak" after the timid loss in Metz. (Daily Record)

We are mentally weak, physically weak and tactically weak.

[Orraloon]

9 minutes ago, Larky Masher said:

We are mentally weak, physically weak and tactically weak.

And we are lacking in basic skills, but apart from all that.................

[Larky Masher]

10 hours ago, Orraloon said:

And we are lacking in basic skills, but apart from all that.................

Forgot that one.

[JECK]

This is just horrendous, a shambles.Build up stepping up every day. Daily reports from Ni, Wales, Roi. Should have been one of the best weeks ever.There's no danger we'll get enough points to get past Slovakia and England.how many more times.Everyone concerned, the players, management and SFA can go GTF frankly.

[thplinth]

I think this table goes some way in explaining the source of some of problems we have.

"An extensive new (not new now, 2012) piece of research by Sportingintelligence, which has looked at attendance patterns around the world, has found the five most ‘dedicated’ football nations – by per cent of population who regularly attend games – are the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Cyprus, Scotland and England in that order.

A staggering 10 per cent of the Faroe Islands go to games regularly, where regularly is defined as the home games of a particular club during the season.

In Iceland the figure is 4.22 per cent, in Cyprus it is 4.03 per cent, in Scotland it is 3.68 per cent and in England it is 2.79 per cent."

If you look at population of the top 5 Scotland is the first reasonably sized country. Faroe & Iceland are so small with Cyrpus less than Glasgow I'd say you could claim we are really No 1. 

England at 51.4m is untouched by another big country until you get to Germany at 13th.

Scotland is a massive underperformer but so also is England (pound for pound).

In Scotland the SFA take the fans for granted, treat them with contempt and have no fear for their jobs. Scots turn up in massive numbers paying the toppest of dollar prices for the shitest of shite leagues.

Then take a look to the right on the above table and notice that in Scotland the "Biggest Two (Clubs) Attendances" account for an unrivaled 50% of attendances. 50 fukking percent. Portugal at 40 is the nearest well and similarly supported nation. This is very unhealthy.

So you have massively overly loyal fans who will go no matter what and so the SFA take the utter piss out of them and are lazy and incompetent to the core. Coupled with a league overly dominated by the two biggest clubs meaning the SFA should be actively rebalancing it all the time and not making it worse at every turn.

We may never be able to achieve what England have globally but Scottish Football should not be anywhere near as bad as it is right now. The SFA have criminally mismanaged the game here for decades Barry Hearn said it but the fans just keep going. Then you have the whole running down the small sides to the benefit of the big two. Again it is so short sighted. Makes for a dull league in the long run.

If Lagerbeck or whatever the kents name is had got the job the SFA would have thwarted him frmr doing anything fundamental. He was so lucky he went to Iceland and was allowed to shine.

edit: http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2012/04/02/revealed-the-most-dedicated-football-nations-the-faroes-iceland-cyprus-scotland-and-england-020403/

Edited June 7, 2016 by thplinth

[JECK]

League has got to expand.  Totally expect the "big 2" to be 20 odd points ahead of everyone else next season and for the forseeable future. Wall to wall old furm coverage on repeat everywhere you look.   BOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRINGGGGGG. Only saving grace is hopefully Warburton and deluded brendan can bring through and develop some young top quality Scottish talent, that compete in Europe and get moved to bigger clubs.

[ErsatzThistle]

Christ almighty, Craig Brown wants old fossils with outdated views like him and Walter Smith to have a greater say in the running of Scottish football.

Em, naw ! They've had too much influence in the past. 

[er yir macaroon]

On 6 June 2016 at 9:16 AM, runningtings said:

I can compare our midfield to a team we have played's midfield. That's how games of football work.

We are generally negative, don't take any chances to get forward and have no flair.

I know Mackay is a winger but the point is that he at least looked like trying to play forward, how many times did we play the ball flat across the team? Didn't get us anywhere.

Fine, we'll just stick with the team as it is, same old pish.

And as for Fletcher, he played better in France but someone more dynamic beside him would make a difference. 

 

McKay will play centrally when he moves up a level. He's got everything for that position. He's stuck out wide on account of his pace at the moment, but it's not really his game at all.

[ProudScot]

12 hours ago, JECK said:

League has got to expand.  Totally expect the "big 2" to be 20 odd points ahead of everyone else next season and for the forseeable future. Wall to wall old furm coverage on repeat everywhere you look.   BOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRINGGGGGG. Only saving grace is hopefully Warburton and deluded brendan can bring through and develop some young top quality Scottish talent, that compete in Europe and get moved to bigger clubs.

Yes the correct managers are in place now to bring through some Scottish talent hopefully. Celtic have some cracking youngsters on the books just now and excited to see how much Aitchison, Miller, Ralston etc feature next season.

[aaid]

9 hours ago, ErsatzThistle said:

Christ almighty, Craig Brown wants old fossils with outdated views like him and Walter Smith to have a greater say in the running of Scottish football.

Em, naw ! They've had too much influence in the past. 

If Craig Brown's outdated views and influence were still being listened to maybe I wouldn't have been in France last week but would be looking forward to going this week for the championships instead. 

Edited June 8, 2016 by aaid

[King Of Paisley]

3 hours ago, aaid said:

If Craig Brown's outdated views and influence were still being listened to maybe I wouldn't have been in France last week but would be looking forward to going this week for the championships instead.

Brown left a legacy of an ageing squad with no obvious sign of younger, quality players coming through when he handed over the reigns to Vogts. Not all his fault but he was part of the problem in that regard.

Think the problem is that we are far too insular in terms of our coaching fraternity and can't look any further than coaches who were part of the Largs mafia. We had a glorious opportunity to appoint Lagerback who was apparently desperate to become manager when we got shot of Burley. Suspect he wanted too much of a say in starting from scratch from a grassroots point of view and the SFA in typical fashion wanted a yes man.

Result?  - Iceland, thanks to Lagerback and an eager association willing to back his judgement, are in their first major finals with a crop of emerging stars coming through their youth ranks. We got the utter car crash that was Levein.

The rest as they say, is history......................