Squad Announcment

[tangerinetartan]

No bain in keepers ? And Chris martin ffs

[munro7]

Chris Martin, deary me!

From that, and assuming we stick with our usual formation I'd go:

-----------------Marshall------------------

Paterson--Martin--Hanley--Robertson

------------Fletcher-----Bannan----------

Burke--------Snodgrass-------Anya

-----------------Fletcher---------------

[wanderer]

Squad as I expected.....

Had a feeling Greer was going to be called up simply because lack of options (Mulgrew has no club and has not kicked a ball all summer...... and apart from Wilson I can not think of anyone, as Soutter is nowhere near ready).... Hutton I also expected, as he must be due his one good game in ten round about now where he goes from looking so-so to a glimpse of his form 8-9 years ago......

Midfield nothing really to complain about......

Up front, Fletcher was always going to be there, and I doubt Strachan will look at club form when he picks his team for Malta..... McCormack put in a good shift v Czech Republic, and really should have been well ahead of Martin and at the moment Rhodes.

 

Team I would play v Malta,

 

......................Marshall

Paterson....Martin....Hanley.....Robertson

...............McArthur..Morrison

....Snodgrass...Naismith...Ritchie

........................Griffiths

 

Team I (mostly) expect,

......................Marshall

Hutton....Berra....Hanley.....Tierney

.....................Morrison

Forrest....Snodgrass.....Ritchie....Anya

...................S Fletcher

 

[Squirrelhumper]

1 hour ago, Thelma said:

Find it really disturbing that the Scotland manager thinks that John McGinn has more to offer the Scotland midfield than Ross McCormack, Craig Bryson or Tom Cairney. 

Baffling - we'll finish 4th with this moron in charge.

[bonny78]

we need the thumb to play.

 

 

[Gala Tartan Army (Borders)]

Those criticising John McGinn's selection surely havent seen him play. He was outstanding last season, motm on debut for Denmark and was best player on the park by a mile against Brondby this season.

As for squad being a disgrace, awful, no young players, etc, agree there are a few disappointing decisions (Greer should be gone) but those that are left out are not exactly operating for Real Madrid or Man Utd and six players been called up from under 21s. Unfortunately we have pretty meagre resources at the moment.

[scot scotland scottish]

54 minutes ago, Duncan Blackheart said:

Martin is brutal, but maybe he's been picked in case we're forced to resorting to punting it into the box in the last ten to scramble a result, particularly if the free-scoring Fletcher is either injured or having a 'mare. 

Squad does look weak, but it must be better than Malta's..!

You could well be right there actually (and a not entirely out the question scenario either!!).

But even if you are, given he's picked a 27 man squad, surely he could have picked one less midfielder and another striker instead.

[bonny78]

it's only malta.   fk sake.  we should be able to beat them with our eyes shut.

 

if we don't win this 1st game i'm going to be very very mad and i might kick my own door in and then dutch oven myself to sleep.

[bonny78]

also, the engerlish will be watching our game after theirs so we gotta put on a good show and put the shiters up them.

[Kirk]

2 hours ago, Peedie said:

Barrie Mckay has the best first touch in that Scotland squad. Boy has unbelievable technique and is Rangers' shining light a lot of times ahead of many others on higher wages. Might not go past people as easy as others but he is one of the best young talents we have.

Plenty of rangers fans that dont rate him at all. Time will tell.

 

Glad i didny buy a season ticket, game by game for me, really lacking enthusiasum now

[bonny78]

3 minutes ago, Kirk said:

Plenty of rangers fans that dont rate him at all. Time will tell.

 

Glad i didny buy a season ticket, game by game for me, really lacking enthusiasum now

come to the pub

[Geed]

Absolute Madness Ross McCormack isn't in the squad, puzzled by this!!

[Hertsscot]

2 hours ago, Jacques Hunt said:

I thought Matt Phillips might have got a shout now he is playing in EPL again. 

I wonder how Phillips would get on if he played down the middle.  Most of his career he has spent on the flank but I'm sure he has played more centrally early on and scored goals, one thing that he does have is pace and that is not a quality associated with our other forwards.  Aganst Malta we need tricky clever players who can unlock defences (eg Snodgrass, Bannan) but if we were set up to counter attack Phillips might be a useful asset if played down the middle particularly as we now have a bit of pace down the flanks.

[Kirk]

1 hour ago, bonny78 said:

come to the pub

Which one?

[bonny78]

28 minutes ago, Kirk said:

Which one?

am thinking of going to shakespears pub in Lothian road.  but anywhere with a big screen could be on the cards.

Going to hit a pub just before 5 and watch da games.

 

 

[dandydunn]

15 minutes ago, bonny78 said:

am thinking of going to shakespears pub in Lothian road.  but anywhere with a big screen could be on the cards.

Going to hit a pub just before 5 and watch da games.

 

 

Remember and take ear protectors for all the noises Kirk

[andyD]

Not sure what a lot of people seem to have been expecting.

Keepers: The standard best 2 and one young one to get to know them and give them motivation.

RB: Paterson and Hutton were pretty nailed on before they were named. You could make a case for Bardsley, but I'd assume there's a reason we don't know about as to why he's not involved. Beyond that there's no real options. Palmer isn't playing. Love's too raw. Caddis is no better than Hutton.

LB: Tough one to call since we had 4 decent left backs. Thought Kingsley might have done enough to keep his place, bu no real complains. 2 young promising players here.

CB: No real options here at all. Greer's a bit of a waste of a shirt, I'd like to have seen Cooper called up again just to try and get someone experience, tho he was a bit of a bombscare at the weekend and should probably have walked for repeatedly chopping and holding Steven Fletcher. Still, we've got no options to look to here, that's the reality.

Central: Fletcher, McArthur, Morrison, Bannan, McDonald. Morrison and Bannan were certs. Fletcher, I guess will be squad Captain since Brown's gone, tho i'm not sure he's worth a start. McArthur always seems over-awed by internationals and so prone to mistakes. McDonald probably won't kick a ball, not sure why he's there. Other options: Bridcutt (not really earned it with his performances at Leeds) and Ryan Jack who tbh I've not be particularly impressed by. Charlie Adam not kicking a ball at the moment. Dorrans injured? Mulgrew without a club. So the first 4 are the best we have, like it or not.

Wings: Plenty of youth and promise here. Anya and Ritchie are the old hands, but I'm not sure Ritchie will play. Burke looks a great prospect and Forrest looks like a new man lately. McKay and McGinn keep their places too, and Snoddy is back tho you've got to think he'll play central as a number 10. Glad we went with the youth rather than going for 'Premier League' names like Boyd or Philips, especially given how Philips appeared to not care in the slightest against Italy.

Forwards: Fletcher and Griffiths were nailed on. Both have started the season well. Naismith hasn't really been at it from what I've seen and I'm at a loss what Martin offers us. I suppose he's the poor man's Fletcher if he takes a knock, but surely Naismith showed he was decent enough at link up play a while back. So it's disappointing to see Martin there, McCormack's pretty much the only other name you could put in there tho.

 

So overall, it's about as good a squad as we could have hoped for, bar a couple of not particularly important places... 4th choice centerback, Greer, and 4th choice striker, Martin. There's also a decent amount of youth in there, 7 players 22 or under.

Team (hopefully):
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Marshall (31)
Paterson (21) - Martin (30) - Hanley (24) - Robertson (22)
 - - - - - - - - - Morrison (30) - Bannan (26)
 - - - - - - Burke (19) - Snodgrass (28) - Anya (28)
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Griffiths (26)

It's hardly a team of old men as some seem to be making out (av. age 26). There's pace on the flanks, creativity in the middle and Snoddy and Griffiths know where the goal is. It's certainly the most comfortable on the ball side I can think for a long time.

I think we should go into this positive, we might need a little time on the pitch to gel, but we've got ability in the team. Let's pick up 3 points, score a few goals, settle everyone down and build a bit of chemistry before Lithuania and then ramping up to Slovakia.

[Shaun]

5 hours ago, kumnio said:

Scotland squad:

Goalkeepers
Craig Gordon (Celtic)    
Jack Hamilton (Heart of Midlothian)
David Marshall (Cardiff City)

Defenders
Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town)    
Gordon Greer (Blackburn Rovers)    
Grant Hanley (Newcastle United)    
Alan Hutton (Aston Villa)
Russell Martin (Norwich City)
Callum Paterson (Heart of Midlothian)
Andrew Robertson (Hull City)
Kieran Tierney (Celtic)

Midfielders
Ikechi Anya (Watford)
Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday)
Oliver Burke (Nottingham Forest)
Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion)
James Forrest (Celtic)    
James McArthur (Crystal Palace)
Kevin McDonald (Fulham)
John McGinn (Hibernian)
Barrie McKay (Rangers)
James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion)
Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United)
Robert Snodgrass (Hull City)

Forwards 
Steven Fletcher (Sheffield Wednesday)
Leigh Griffiths (Celtic)
Chris Martin (Derby County)
Steven Naismith (Norwich City)

Poor Gordon cannot please any of you eh, he calls up some youngsters yet STILL gets criticised/slated, ffs he knows what he is doing, none of you guys are managers unless on computer games!!!

Its a good job he doesn't read this otherwise he would have resigned long ago.

For what its worth, there are some in the squad that I wouldnt have picked, Greer and Martin being these but they are so I just accept it wothout greeting about them!!

I would have had Rhodes in ahead of Chris Martin but due to not playing at Boro, I understand why he is omitted and Chris is in.

Instead of greeting, why not say who you would replace in the squad and who would come in, in their place?

 

Some Scotland fans just make me laugh lol.

[Kirk]

38 minutes ago, bonny78 said:

am thinking of going to shakespears pub in Lothian road.  but anywhere with a big screen could be on the cards.

Going to hit a pub just before 5 and watch da games.

 

 

Too far away for me Ill be in sunny glasgow.

21 minutes ago, dandydunn said:

Remember and take ear protectors for all the noises Kirk

??? think Ill just go to hampden

[Rossy]

The usual shite from Scotland's master dickhead and his idiot sidekick.

A tedious mixture of the favoured (Fletcher, Forrest, Martin etc), the proven useless (Bannan, Hutton, Berra, Greer, most of them actually), and the inexplicably omitted (Rhodes, Maloney,McCormack, Shinnie).

I'll be amazed if we finish higher than 4th.

 

 

[deecie]

4 minutes ago, Rossy said:

The usual shite from Scotland's master dickhead and his idiot sidekick.

A tedious mixture of the favoured (Fletcher, Forrest, Martin etc), the proven useless (Bannan, Hutton, Berra, Greer, most of them actually), and the inexplicably omitted (Rhodes, Maloney,McCormack, Shinnie).

I'll be amazed if we finish higher than 4th.

A disgustingly true summary.

We'll be coming.... 

[Rab The Crab]

10 minutes ago, Rossy said:

The usual shite from Scotland's master dickhead and his idiot sidekick.

A tedious mixture of the favoured (Fletcher, Forrest, Martin etc), the proven useless (Bannan, Hutton, Berra, Greer, most of them actually), and the inexplicably omitted (Rhodes, Maloney,McCormack, Shinnie).

I'll be amazed if we finish higher than 4th.

 

 

So inexplicable that he explained why they didn't make the squad.

Maloney needs games, Rhodes and McCormack are obviously similar to Griffiths in his opinion and he's gone for him and well, in the case of Shinnie it's pretty obvious, he's probably 6th choice left back after Robertson, Tierney, Kingsley, Forsyth and Wallace.

Agree or not, those are the facts.

[wembley67lisbon]

Tierney has to play, hopefully Robertson can play right back.

 

martin and Greer, ffs 

[ceudmilefailte]

14 minutes ago, Rossy said:

the inexplicably omitted (Rhodes, Maloney,, Shinnie).

 I take it you are having a laugh?

 

 

 

 

[ceudmilefailte]

2 minutes ago, wembley67lisbon said:

Tierney has to play, hopefully Robertson can play right back.

 

martin and Greer, ffs 

Robertson is better than Tierney Hopefully one of them can play right back.