Squad for Lithuania and Malta

[kenny131]

8 minutes ago, Adolfo Rios said:

I get the feeling we will need to score 2 to win tonight. Another nerve shredding 90 minutes await.

I just hope strachan doesn't shite it tonight by sending out a defensive immobile team as defending is our weakest area,  going forward with the right selections we have pace and it's best way to play for us. If we try to grind out a 1 nil never going to happen

[IggyStooge]

Nerve shredding indeed. Apart from a 3-0 humping in 1999, the games have always been taut affairs. Even the 3-1 during the glorious failure of the Euro 2008 campaign was anything but comfortable.

Games won:     5
Games drawn:  3
Games lost:      1

Date                 Match                  Result Score  Competition
05 Sep 1998    Lithuania v Scotland     D     0-0    UEFA European Championship
09 Oct 1999     Scotland v Lithuania     W    3-0    UEFA European Championship
02 Apr 2003     Lithuania v Scotland     L     1-0    UEFA European Championship
11 Oct 2003     Scotland v Lithuania     W    1-0    UEFA European Championship
06 Sep 2006    Lithuania v Scotland     W    1-2    UEFA European Championship
08 Sep 2007    Scotland v Lithuania     W    3-1    UEFA European Championship
03 Sep 2010    Lithuania v Scotland     D     0-0    UEFA European Championship
06 Sep 2011    Scotland v Lithuania     W    1-0    UEFA European Championship
08 Oct 2016     Scotland v Lithuania     D    1-1    FIFA World Cup
01 Sep 2017    Lithuania v Scotland     W    0-3    FIFA World Cup

[IggyStooge]

Looking at that, we've only ever achieved the required result once in Lithuania... And that was with Walter Smith's 5-4-1 'Tartanaccio.'

[SilverWolfe]

Looking at that, we've only ever achieved the required result once in Lithuania... And that was with Walter Smith's 5-4-1 'Tartanaccio.'

I think stracham will go 5-4-1 tonight. I can see Anya being RWB with Robertson on the other side and KT at LCB

[pandarilla]

I think stracham will go 5-4-1 tonight. I can see Anya being RWB with Robertson on the other side and KT at LCB

Yep.

We're simply not good enough to go gung ho, especially against a competent team like this.

[woof!]

8 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

 

Yep.

We're simply not good enough to go gung ho, especially against a competent team like this.

 

Gung ho not being suggested but we have good enough players to attack and win.

[pandarilla]

Gung ho not being suggested but we have good enough players to attack and win.

I don't care how we play tonight. We just need a win. Any way will do, in what is a difficult fixture (even for the good teams).

[Estragon]

50 minutes ago, IggyStooge said:

Nerve shredding indeed. Apart from a 3-0 humping in 1999, the games have always been taut affairs. Even the 3-1 during the glorious failure of the Euro 2008 campaign was anything but comfortable.

Games won:     5
Games drawn:  3
Games lost:      1

Date                 Match                  Result Score  Competition
05 Sep 1998    Lithuania v Scotland     D     0-0    UEFA European Championship
09 Oct 1999     Scotland v Lithuania     W    3-0    UEFA European Championship
02 Apr 2003     Lithuania v Scotland     L     1-0    UEFA European Championship
11 Oct 2003     Scotland v Lithuania     W    1-0    UEFA European Championship
06 Sep 2006    Lithuania v Scotland     W    1-2    UEFA European Championship
08 Sep 2007    Scotland v Lithuania     W    3-1    UEFA European Championship
03 Sep 2010    Lithuania v Scotland     D     0-0    UEFA European Championship
06 Sep 2011    Scotland v Lithuania     W    1-0    UEFA European Championship
08 Oct 2016     Scotland v Lithuania     D    1-1    FIFA World Cup
01 Sep 2017    Lithuania v Scotland     ?     ?-?    FIFA World Cup

When you see this it's so striking the extent to which Lithuania have really been the mainstays of our shite period. 

It's like the baddie from the power rangers keeps flinging them and Georgia at us at any given opportunity.

[forameus]

Plenty of people will label anything they consider remotely defensive as dreadful, and say we need to go out and attack them.  Particularly laughable when it's used with "our defence is shit".  Giving a shit defence less protection is never going to work, particularly when we can't guarantee we're going to score enough for it not to matter.  Not to mention that Lithuania - and other sides like them - are nowhere near the diddies they used to be, and are often better than us from a technical perspective.

I fully expect Lithuania to sit in.  They may believe we're there for the taking, but that's much more likely to be on the break rather than taking the game to us.  I expect we'll see them defend in numbers, hoping that we just bang fruitlessly on the door while we've got the key in our hand, knowing that if they get a chance, we're likely to let them score.  If we score first, we'll win.  If we don't then I can't see us unlocking them.

[accies1874]

Lithuania are hugely vulnerable when the ball is wide. 8 of their 11 goals conceded have come from wide positions (including set pieces), so I'd play Fraser and Phillips to give us a bit of width, or the likes of Bannan and Ritchie to create space for the full-backs a la the last game against them.

[Guest DAVIDB69]

With strachan playing the don't need to win card, it will be the usually defensive shitfest. When was the last away competitive game we won against anything other than a minnow when it meant something

[Guest DAVIDB69]

Gung ho not being suggested but we have good enough players to attack and win.

Who are our good quality attacking players ? would say Armstrong , but not sure he will start, after that I am struggling.

I expect the team to be full of unfit players not getting club games

[Carl Cort's Hamstring]

1 hour ago, IggyStooge said:

Nerve shredding indeed. Apart from a 3-0 humping in 1999, the games have always been taut affairs. Even the 3-1 during the glorious failure of the Euro 2008 campaign was anything but comfortable.

Games won:     5
Games drawn:  3
Games lost:      1

Date                 Match                  Result Score  Competition
05 Sep 1998    Lithuania v Scotland     D     0-0    UEFA European Championship
09 Oct 1999     Scotland v Lithuania     W    3-0    UEFA European Championship
02 Apr 2003     Lithuania v Scotland     L     1-0    UEFA European Championship
11 Oct 2003     Scotland v Lithuania     W    1-0    UEFA European Championship
06 Sep 2006    Lithuania v Scotland     W    1-2    UEFA European Championship
08 Sep 2007    Scotland v Lithuania     W    3-1    UEFA European Championship
03 Sep 2010    Lithuania v Scotland     D     0-0    UEFA European Championship
06 Sep 2011    Scotland v Lithuania     W    1-0    UEFA European Championship
08 Oct 2016     Scotland v Lithuania     D    1-1    FIFA World Cup
01 Sep 2017    Lithuania v Scotland     ?     ?-?    FIFA World Cup

I always thought that the 0-0 with Lithuania was the biggest disaster of Levein's reign, and not the 4-6-0. Scotland clearly played for a clean sheet and a point, and then he lauded it as some sort of great result. Twelve months later, a very ordinary Czech team scudded them 4-1 away from home to seal their play-off place ahead of you.

[troopio]

am I the only one hoping we lose both games so Strachan's position is essentially untenable? Even if we win both these games, which we wont, it is complete fantasy to think we will get 6 points from the final 2 games as well. With Strachan in charge it simply will not happen, the man is a complete fool who is obsessed with his media image and nothing else. I do hope I am so very wrong here and will accept the flack later on but at the moment I do not think I am.

[The Moonster]

Just now, troopio said:

am I the only one hoping we lose both games so Strachan's position is essentially untenable? Even if we win both these games, which we wont, it is complete fantasy to think we will get 6 points from the final 2 games as well. With Strachan in charge it simply will not happen, the man is a complete fool who is obsessed with his media image and nothing else. I do hope I am so very wrong here and will accept the flack later on but at the moment I do not think I am.

We don't need to lose both games for that. Fail to win tonight and we're out, no matter what Strachan says, and he should go if that's the case.

[skippy2015]

am I the only one hoping we lose both games so Strachan's position is essentially untenable? Even if we win both these games, which we wont, it is complete fantasy to think we will get 6 points from the final 2 games as well. With Strachan in charge it simply will not happen, the man is a complete fool who is obsessed with his media image and nothing else. I do hope I am so very wrong here and will accept the flack later on but at the moment I do not think I am.

It's his last campaign anyway unless we actually qualify so hoping for us to lose is nonsensical. We should always be behind the team even if you don't support the manager hoping for your country to lose is really sad. Scottish fans tend to have problems with every manager anyway Roxburgh brown vogts burley Levein and now Strachan- law of averages you will be against the new manager whoever that may be. (Mcleish and smith more popular choices although smith still had a lot of critics especially after the 1-0 home defeat to Belarus)

[pandarilla]

am I the only one hoping we lose both games so Strachan's position is essentially untenable? Even if we win both these games, which we wont, it is complete fantasy to think we will get 6 points from the final 2 games as well. With Strachan in charge it simply will not happen, the man is a complete fool who is obsessed with his media image and nothing else. I do hope I am so very wrong here and will accept the flack later on but at the moment I do not think I am.

No, there will be plenty other utter bell-ends doing it too troopio.

[forameus]

8 minutes ago, troopio said:

am I the only one hoping we lose both games so Strachan's position is essentially untenable? Even if we win both these games, which we wont, it is complete fantasy to think we will get 6 points from the final 2 games as well. With Strachan in charge it simply will not happen, the man is a complete fool who is obsessed with his media image and nothing else. I do hope I am so very wrong here and will accept the flack later on but at the moment I do not think I am.

No, because if we don't qualify he's gone anyway, either walking or punted.  If he gets us to the tournament from this position he deserves the next 2 years.  Wanting us to actively lose when it likely won't change anything even if we win is pretty cretinous.

7 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

We don't need to lose both games for that. Fail to win tonight and we're out, no matter what Strachan says, and he should go if that's the case.

You're right about the first part, but the only thing I see the point in is giving him the Malta game (because they're not going to punt him 2 days before the next game) then get a caretaker boss in for the final two absolutely pointless games.  If they plan to sack him and then rush in someone for those games, I cannot see any way how we can get anyone particularly good.  I wouldn't even be against him being told he's gone after the final qualifier just so the SFA can make the right decision.  No guarantees of course, but more chance.

[forameus]

1 hour ago, skippy2015 said:

It's his last campaign anyway unless we actually qualify so hoping for us to lose is nonsensical. We should always be behind the team even if you don't support the manager hoping for your country to lose is really sad. Scottish fans tend to have problems with every manager anyway Roxburgh brown vogts burley Levein and now Strachan- law of averages you will be against the new manager whoever that may be. (Mcleish and smith more popular choices although smith still had a lot of critics especially after the 1-0 home defeat to Belarus)

It'll be the same for the next manager too.  I had reservations about Strachan initially but soon changed my mind, but general consensus seemed to be that it was a great appointment.  Now he's hated, generally speaking.  The same will happen with the next guy, and I look forward to him being a pariah in 2 years time.

[IggyStooge]

1 hour ago, Carl Cort's Hamstring said:

I always thought that the 0-0 with Lithuania was the biggest disaster of Levein's reign, and not the 4-6-0. Scotland clearly played for a clean sheet and a point, and then he lauded it as some sort of great result. Twelve months later, a very ordinary Czech team scudded them 4-1 away from home to seal their play-off place ahead of you.

To be fair, the Levein era was just a disaster in it's entirety.

Let's wildly celebrate a 97th minute winner against Liechtenstein. Yay.

That was actually the high point; watching Levein groping around for his specs Velma Dinkley-style.