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A red dot is basically a criticism. Most people don't take criticism well even if it's constructive and often take it as a personal attack even if wasn't intended in that way. So it used to annoy me, but now I have my notifications turned off I hardly ever notice it. Probably one of the best things I did since I joined the board for me and for other users. I can tell just from the fact that you brought it up, that one fact alone that you noticed it tells me that it bugged you.

It always amazes me the effect red-dotting can have on people, myself included. Took me quite a while to recognise that red dots aren't that important and more popularity based or if a post gets a laugh than anything else in terms of quality of posting. Not worth taking red dot's personally, if you feel the need to mention being red-dotted then it has too big an impact in your life imo. I just turned notifications off a while back and it just takes the who karma farming thing away.

I think A Nation Again has or is being released fairly soon in an audio format if that suits you better. I have the book, but never really got round to reading it to be honest.

That's right, so he did - thanks! I was looking for him amongst the defenders.

I haven't looked at the specifics of injuries like I normally do. Don't have the time plus it's just as easy to check once the season ends and save all the handwringing. I think Ferguson is the only player ruled out with Patterson unlikely to make it. The rest there's varying levels of hope at this point in time so fine with that.

Great result for Sturm Graz at the weekend drawing 2-2 with RB Salzburg. It would be cool for Max Johnston to be part of a squad that wins the Austrian Bundesliga.

I have a record of minutes played in 2023 and it agrees in general with the idea that Christie and Gilmour are interchangeable. The interchangeability wasn't related to injuries recently imo. That can come into it, but not last year. Christie, McGregor, Gilmour, McGinn and McTominay (5) were all available for selection across every game Scotland played in 2023, friendlies and competitive. The primary factor driving selection and game time is which player best suits the challenges of each game. It's horses for courses. Simply put, Christie starts when it's going to be a graft, lots without the ball - the 'big games'. Gilmour starts if we want to try to control the game with the ball. That's my analysis. Gilmour and McGregor started 3 competitive games together in 2023. Georgia (Home and away), Cyprus [and England]. That tells it's own story. Is there anything pointing away from the idea that Gilmour replaced McGregor in March?

Seeing we're nearly in May and there's only a few weeks of the season left, here are the players minutes and percentage game time since the clubs started back after the March International break. Judge for yourself who needs to do what. I've checked and double checked, but if there are any errors then please let me know!

Just a quick summary of the players that are injured from the regulars, not adding anything new - just putting them all together. The positive. Hanley and Gilmour returned to their club's matchday squads. Gilmour and Nisbet got game-time. The unknown. Robertson's doesn't appear too bad, not as sure about McTominay or Tierney. The negative. The rest we know about - either on the road to recovery after a long period out (Hickey, Jack, Brown) or recently injured and touch and go or completely ruled out (Ferguson, Armstrong, Patterson). If sunny side up you're probably saying Ferguson and Patterson aren't making it and hopeful for the rest. That's where I am at the moment.

beat me to it.

Our squad depth's been tested several times with injuries and we've used alternative options. (Taylor, Hyam, Jack, Armstrong, Ferguson, Ralston, Souttar, McKenna, Clark, McLean, Cooper etc) They've been bedded in over a period of years. Depends if you think the players below that will make a significant difference. Turnbull and Fraser have been in squads before reasonably recently.

More contentious, but it's arguably better to lose players from positions where we have some strength (Midfield, Full-back) than where we don't (Strikers, Goalkeepers, Centre-Backs)

I said it before, but the squads going up to 26 is a massive plus for Scotland as it provides room to gamble on some core players even if they might miss one or two of the group games or are only able to play a percentage of each game due to fitness concerns.

Hello, I noticed the number of "members who have voted" don't match the total when you add up the total of the individual votes. It isn't the first poll where this has happened. The total votes equal 60, but the number of member who've voted is 62. I looked for the answer on here, but it appears not to have been addressed previously. I suspect one possibility is that 2 people have tried to cast two votes in this case from alias accounts (or 1 person has tried to cast 3 votes) that are recorded as the number of members who's voted, but don't count to the percentage. It could also just be some other kind of error. The question is basically why might the numbers not match?

He is the one.

Spot on, the boy's on fire. He was out of form, but on the turn of a coin he's now the man in form. Goals. Confidence. Man in form. Fox in the box. Needs to start against Germany. Let's get this clamor started. Get him capped, call him up, tie the boy down - let's see what he can do in the friendlies. Big Daddy Dykes. Goals, Goals, Goals, hungry for goals.

That's why I mentioned Scotland. They will have the same problem an averagey side in the EPL/EFL have this summer. It will be decided on the results by the fans, with hindsight whether we should have 'had a go' or been more pragmatic - that's basically it, that's how fans by and large work.

It depends, when it works it looks great. Playing out from the back isn't necessarily patient, controlled pass you to death kind of stuff. It can be rapid almost counter-attacking. Obviously the clip below doesn't show the f**k ups. It's about expectations rising. First fan's want winning football, then they want style - in that order. Look at David Moyes, winning isn't enough anymore.

I understand, Why not use the bomber lane, do a full loop of the roundabout, exit the 'North' exit and crack on. That's what I'd do. I know you shouldn't have to, but it's just a practical way of keeping the blood pressure down and avoiding a smash.

Playing out from the back is about trying to keep the ball, possession and control of the game rather than scoring goals. The alternative of clearing your lines just tends to give the ball straight back to the opposition. It's a risk/reward thing. Scotland will face the same problem at the Euro's against Germany. Do Scotland try control the game with the ball (The Netherlands) or do we try to control the game without the ball (Spain). I couldn't really say what the best approach to take is.

Aye, it's annoying. One solution is to block them off by occupying that lane. At that roundabout it would mean you either do a full loop before you find your exit, you take the wrong exit or you copy their behaviour. It's very effective at traffic lights at stopping similar behaviour, the downside being that you rely on someone to let you in. It just comes down to how much it annoys you or what your mood is like on the day. I tend to just let it go mostly, but have it in my back pocket if I'm in a bad mood anyway.

It’s around the midway point from the disappointment of the March camp to the June camp. The excitement will ramp up as the media spotlight turns towards the tournament so probably the best time to do this type of post before the frenzy hits. So what are you expecting from Scotland at Euro-2024 and does it match what you think our aim should be? I don’t have any expectations for the tournament. I think the aim should be to qualify from our group, but if we fall short it wouldn't necessarily be failure. Steve Clarke suggested for the most part that the aim is just to be competitive and see where it takes us although has also touched on trying to get out of the group. Clarke did an interview with Tom English that was released today which touches on the aims for the tournament amongst other things. Most of the comments made by Steve Clarke on the subject since we qualified back in October:

Just drive as if you always have right of way even if you don't. That's the key. I quite like them as it's chaos rules and you just go for it and see what happens. It's like when a pundit says if you don't commit fully to the tackle you're more likely to get injured. Just pile on in there, take a leap of faith even if cars are flying past you/in front of you.

Sack the manager, sell all the players.

Guess he was wrong about this as well then. 2 for 2, some guy. What's the value in an opinion if it doesn't stand the test of time and if you change it every five minutes.