i only watched the match from 60 mins last night, but from what i saw and what i heard from boyd and mcfadden afterwards, as much as i loathe to say it boyd was correct in a lot of what he said.
the sport in scotland is now middle class, no longer a working class sport, kids and their parents are being asked to pay out astronomical figures for their kids to play the game on a regular basis, and to even play on the pitches. the same pitches the powers that be built to improve grass roots yet you need a second mortgage to even set foot on them. no ball games everywhere you look, kids cant even look at a ball in the street without some old coffin dodger giving it laldy and chasing the kids away.
the sfa dont give two shites about developing the grass roots, and as boyd stated there is nothing coming through, no starlets that we can look at and say they are the future. everyone keeps blaming the managers, but the managers hands are tied based upon what the diehards at hampden want to allow them to do. if it involves outlaying money then you can forget that idea.
clarke will sort out the shambles in defence eventually, unfortunately its not an overnight fix, and he has a week every so often to work with them, where as a club manager can pull them in every day to improve them. a problem just as worrying is the fact that they cant hit a barn door when they do get chances, and cant create chances. we now have no recognised number 9, no layer that you would instantly place on the team sheet knowing they will be worth at least a goal. an even bigger problem than all of this is the fact none of them show any enthusiasm to play for their country. the majority of them run about like headless chickens playing at 30-40% of what they are capable of.
marshall is a decent goalie, good shot stopper but i have concerns with his positioning, robertson - plays and looks good at liverpool because he is surrounded by decent players to bail him out when he makes mistakes, do that for scotland and its going to show big style, hes not a layer to give to much responsibility to, let him play free of captaincy etc and you might see better of him. O'Donnell, Cooper and Mulgrew are not international class, Mulgrew is a liability and Cooper and O'Donnell are just not capable of the positioning and pace of the level. Cooper may lay for Leeds and may blossom later, but at the moment he needs a lot of work.
McTominay, what does anybody see in this guy? hes clueless, always looking for the glamorous ball, never in position and generally a liability to his team mates.
McLean = not unlike Cooper given time and coaching he may improve but for now hes not ready for international football.
McGregor - one of the i cant be arsed crew, happy to parade his skills at celtic park where he knows that every week he doesnt have to give 100% to look half decnt, but found out at international level
McBurnie - signs for a premier league club and suddenly hes one of our top strikers? hes steven fletcher in the making, does well at club level bombs it at international.
as boyd stated last night, its no longer the be all for kids to be a footballer, noone cares anymore, you used to say lace eleven kids on the field from the schemes and you would get guaranteed 110% passion, grit and commitment, probs get beat but id rather get beat showing that than get beat watching the lack of effort, couldnt give a shite, why am i even here mentality that i saw for 20 mins last night. if they dont want to produce, effort, commitment to the cause, or even a bit of passion then get them to f**k out of the way and let in people who want to learn, show passion and are prepared to fight for the cause. too many wasters in the team at the moment who could not care less, [heard them talking about meaningless games upcoming, is any game at international level meaningless?] if it means we have to put up with the likes of cooper, o'donnell et al and a few beatings until they learn and improve so be it, i dont think changing clarke is the answer, get some stability, clear out the muppets at the sfa i say.