[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

1 hour ago, Donathan said:

Seething mess opponents - 3 (I’ll give Cyprus a pass) 

Spain, can you handle this?

Norway, can you handle this?

Georgia, can you handle this?

I don't think they can handle this!

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

McTominay > Mbappe

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

Just now, craigkillie said:

They'll still have an eye on Spain.

Oh aye. Forgot about them.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

If we can just beat Cyprus and lose the last 3, Norway would have to win all four of their remianing games to finish above us.

If we beat Cyprus and lose the last 3, Georgia would have to pick up 9 points (8 if they beat us on H2H), which means winning two of these three fixtures ESP(H), NOR(A), ESP(A), (or winning one and drawing two plus beating us by 2+ in Georgia).

If we were in their position, we'd have accepted defeat and be preparing / hoping for play-offs.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

4 games, 8 halfs of football.

We have won 7 out of those 8 halfs (0-0 first half v Norway is the only one we haven't won).

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

We beat Georgia and nature.

get it up ye nature!

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

Just now, DeeTillEhDeh said:

If we geat Cyprus then Norway or Georgia would need to beat Spain to beat us to second place.

Beat Cyprus and I think we are all but there.

 

 

Yep. Pretty sure it's only ever happened twice that a team has got 15 points and not finished in the top 2 with a 5 team qualifying group.

Calm yourselves lads. It's done.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

Just now, ClydeTon said:

and a loch, apparently.

by land, or sea, or foam

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

Don't want to get too carried away but I think we might be the best team to ever grace a football pitch.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

Georgians are shiting it. Just come out and take your beating.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

2 minutes ago, Donathan said:

If that’s the case then I hope the wing backs are given licence to bomb right forward into the six yard box.

 

No point playing a back five and three CDMs at home to Georgia so there’s definitely going to be one of more players given licence to have a free role. I think it’s McTominay but could be the wing backs. 

You'd have to imagine Robertson and Tierney will be given huge license to get forward. Hickey and Porteous will probably be more cautious to keep Kvara in check on their left.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

3 minutes ago, Donathan said:

Wouldn’t surprise me if McTominay is in the role that’s normally occupied by Christie/Armstrong. After his run of goals I wondered if Clarke would find a way to give him more licence to get forward.

Aye. Good shout. He could certainly be effective in that role I think. I'd be a wee bit worried about losing his physicality and energy in the centre but I've got full trust in Stevie Clarke.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

Do we think that's basically a 3-5-2 then? Porteous, Hendry, Tierney in the back 3, Hickey and Robertson wing backs, midfield three of McTominay, McGregor and Gilmour with McGinn playing just off Dykes.

[Will Scotland ever lose again?]

On 17/06/2023 at 22:14, deadasdillinger said:

I voted yes, purely because I don't think Steve Clarke will live forever. 

Sorry to be a downer, guys.

We're not far off being able to program all of Steve Clarke's characteristics into an AI.

Clarkotron 3000 will lead us to a record-breaking 6th world cup win in 2046.

[Spain]

Even looking the other way and viewing Georgia as the main threat. Let's say they beat Cyprus at home, Norway in Oslo, and Spain at home, that gives them 13 points. As long as we beat Cyprus, all we need to to is better Georgia in the head-to-head, or draw with them head-to-head and get a positive result at home to Norway, plus have a better goal difference.

If Spain tank everyone, it's hugely unlikely that either Norway or Georgia can catch us.

If Spain bleed points to Norway or Georgia you're still looking at these two having to pull off a great run of results and then beat us in head-to-heads.

I really don't think Spain completely bottling it to the point where Norway and Georgia can finish top 2 is worth considering. It would be one of the most spectacularly unlikely endings to a qualifying group ever.

[Spain]

1 minute ago, Merkie84 said:

Because a positive result against Spain might bring Norway back into the running or have Georgia breathing down our neck. 
 

Spain beating everyone (apart from us) is good for us. 
 

I also fear Cyprus might gain a few points, hopefully not against us!

I don't think folk are quite appreciating what a commanding position we're in right now.

Let's make some assumptions -

1. Everyone beats Cyprus and they end up on 0 points.
2. We lose in Spain.
3. Every other result not involving us goes against us (Spain beat Georgia twice, Norway beat Spain and Georgia in Oslo).

That would leave the group looking like this...

1. Spain - 18 points

2. Norway - 13 points

3. Scotland - 12 points

4. Georgia - 7 points

5. Cyprus - 0 points

With three games left to play (all involving Scotland): Georgia (H), Georgia (A), Norway (H)

In that scenario there are still so many ways we qualify.

1. A win vs Norway is good enough on it's own
2. A draw vs Norway and only 1 point from two games against Georgia would be enough.
3. A defeat against Norway and we'd likely need 6 points vs Georgia (4 if Norway beat us by 1 goal and we have a better goal difference).

Even if Norway manage to beat Spain, Georgia, and Cyprus twice, we'd still be more likely to qualify than them.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

12 minutes ago, Autistisches Nilpferd said:

The guy is a w**k and complete patronising pish throughout. Would be good to see someone like Tifo cover this though

They did one after the Spain game

 

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

6 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

They are more likely than not to win every single game individually, but that doesn't mean it's highly likely they'll win all six. They might, but the odds won't be that high.

That's arithmatic right there.

[Norway (a) - 17/6/23]

Monkey Tennis on this thread, suffering for our sins.

[The Goalkeeper - Next Big Problem]

I've been impressed with Gunn so far but it is true that he's not really been given a stern test yet. He's definitely better with the ball at his feet than Gordon is but Craig Gordon has been immense for Scotland over the past couple of years.

You have to imagine Gordon is setting his sights on Euro 2024 as his internaitonal swansong and from a sentimental point of view, I'd love to see him playing in Germany next summer.

We're in a good position when he comes back in that we'll have two good keepers to pick from. For me, Gunn has the gloves right now and it's going to be up to Craig Gordon to win them back.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

To be honest, natural caution is fine, but we really should be setting ourselves the target of winning the group now and guarenteeing at least a pot 2 spot in Germany.

[🦄 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 v 🇬🇪 Georgia 🐺]

42 minutes ago, ArabFC said:

Simulation models are lovely, but I'd suggest Spain are more likely than not to win every remaining game they've got.

Spain tend not to pick up 6 points regularly against seed 3 and above teams. In fact, they do it very rarely (only twice since 2015 across Euros qualifiers, world cup qualifiers, and nations league). They also tend to drop points in more than one game in qualifying and their away record in Euros / WC qualifiers / Nations League against decent opposition isn't atcually that great.

Given that nobody thinks the current Spain team is an improvement on recent versions, I'll take the model over gut feeling.

Still think Spain will win the group though.

[Norway (a) - 17/6/23]

3 minutes ago, Bing.McCrosby said:

I wasn't talking about you I think your posts are always rational and reasonable. Wether we agree or disagree.

I didn't say you were.

[Norway (a) - 17/6/23]

7 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Yes. Yes I am, because the fact that like me they wanted Scotland to win, would have completely dictated the view they took.

Which would be fine if you weren't bleating about being the only objective one here. Because that argument is utterly subjective.

[Norway (a) - 17/6/23]

3 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

The claim existed.

The response to it on here was the starkest example of objectivity vacating the premises.  It's genuinely nuts.

 

So you're saying that most people on here don't think it was a penalty but if it had happened at the other end, they would have thought it was a penalty? You might be correct, but that's absolutely not a position reached from a point of objectivity. You're completely making up a scenario and then being smug about people being wrong in your hypothetical scenario.