Daz1982

It didn’t have to be a killer pass though, just a simple ball over the top into an area, and it would almost have certainly been 3-1!!……can you imagine the scenes!!

This is the type of mindset that has held us back over the years. Why should the pinnacle for Scotland be to qualify only? Surely the ultimate goal / pinnacle for any footballing nation is to win a Euros or World Cup! In my lifetime, I have witnessed countries with similar or even smaller populations reach the latter stages of tournaments, and even WIN them!! Why should we not be aiming for this too? I accept qualification is a good achievement , but this ‘it’s great just to be taking part’ attitude really does have to be kicked into touch, it runs through the veins of our country, and it does my head in!!

I’m not convinced that was a strong Croatian side, we stood off them far too much that night and allowed Modric the freedom of Hampden. Was all too familiar with the home performances versus Ukraine and England, rabbits caught in headlights stuff! I’m hoping Clarke and the team have learned from those games.

Also Euro 96, out on goal difference! 🙈

Yes, that plays a big factor in this. Whereas, it looks like Barnes is potentially using our hard earned success to achieve some of his personal goals, such as playing at a major tournament.

Doesn’t sit right with me this one, if true. The timing is poor, we all but qualify for the Euros next year, and now he want to commit all of a sudden. Not for me, regardless of ability.

You couldn’t quite bring yourself to say ‘better than England.’ We certainly were in the 70s, that’s not up for debate.

Spoken like a true downtrodden ‘Scot’ who has no belief in themselves or the capabilities of their fellow countrymen!! Let me guess, we can only win this game if we’re at our very best and England have an off night!! 😆…..which means we can never truly win in your eyes!! Deary me, what a bleak, depressing outlook to have!!

On a broader note, I feel that tournaments are quickly beginning to lose their character and individuality due to having multiple hosts. Neighbouring countries equally sharing a tournament is just about acceptable, but lop-sided bids such as the 2026 WC and the impending Euro 2028 tournament are ridiculous. They also seem to be politically motivated. Cross continent bids will take things even further. Football is fast losing its soul, if it hasn’t already!!……or maybe we just have to move with the times!? UEFA and FIFA have certainly limited their future options by increasing the participants to 24 and 48 for each respective tournament. Therefore, it would seem that single hosts may soon be a thing of the past. To me, it feels like a further dilution of football all in the name of generating more financial gain for those in power.

Uruguay surely have to be involved in 2030 as it will be the centenary WC since first held in 1930

Although maybe not our best ever side on paper, the Euro 92 team could have won that tournament! We played very well in the opening game against the Dutch and arguably deserved a draw. Should definitely have taken something from the next match versus Germany. Beat a solid CIS team in the final match. They still had a chance to qualify having drawn their opening 2 x matches. If we’d progressed through that group it would have been a winnable semi final against Sweden or Denmark and then who knows!!!! To qualify for Euro 92 we topped a very stuffy group which included Bulgaria, Romania and Switzerland. All of these nations went on to reach the knock out stages of USA 94. Bulgaria and and Romania both had golden generation sides. Indeed, off the top of my head, I believe Euro 92 was the only tournament that Romania did not qualify for during that decade (1990 - 2000). Apologies, I have bored my mates with this one on many an occasion after a few pints, saw this thread and grabbed the opportunity to post this with both hands!! Haha

No voter mentality. Happy to play second fiddle to our ‘superior’ neighbours, no ambition or belief that we can be better than them!!

Aye it’s pathetic behaviour, but not surprising from a downtrodden nation such as the one we live in. I’m guessing Clarke ended the conversation with something like, ‘well, if you change your mind or England don’t come calling just give me a call and we’ll get you capped’

Always think he could have made the difference against England at Euro 96 and against them in the 99 play-off games.

Just watched 2nd half of France v Croatia there. Croatia are everything that we could or should be. Tight and compact without the ball. Comfortable when on the ball, and look dangerous also. It’s actually sickening how far behind we are. We’d be lucky to string 3 passes together away to France before shiting the bed and giving the ball away. Croatia were composed throughout. Since becoming independent in the early 90s, Croatia have reached a WC semi final and final. They have also reached the knock out stages on various occasions, taking some massive scalps along the way. All with a population of 4 million people. Yet the dinosaurs in charge of our game, ex players, managers etc seem to think it’s unachievable for us to reach these heights. Why do we have no ambition to achieve more at our national sport, why is there such a deep rooted acceptance of failure?