Squad face Slovenia and Slovakia

[vikingTON]

34 minutes ago, forameus said:

Oh, you disagree.  Oh dear, never mind.

I can see that you're used to having your ridiculous claims dismantled by now. 

[Biscuits]

Skrtel was outstanding last night – was exactly the type of player Liverpool need......

Anyway Sunday is gonna be fuckin tense but it’s what being a Scotland fan is all about.

[DanMc99]

7 minutes ago, Biscuits said:

Skrtel was outstanding last night – was exactly the type of player Liverpool need......

Anyway Sunday is gonna be fuckin tense but it’s what being a Scotland fan is all about.

to be fair , he was fuckin dire in his last 18months at liverpool but absolutely outstanding last night and you're right could be doing with a player like him now

[DanMc99]

52 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

 

What a place Scotland would be without these self loathing losers.

 

dont get the whole "hatred" for scotland , i dont believe these people actually hate them, its just cool to dislike scotland with some sets of fans.

[accies1874]

dont get the whole "hatred" for scotland , i dont believe these people actually hate them, its just cool to dislike scotland with some sets of fans.

Search “Scotland fans” into Twitter.
They hate Scotland.

[Menzel]

7 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

Search “Scotland fans” into Twitter.
They hate Scotland.

[DanMc99]

7 minutes ago, Menzel said:

get nothing but joy seeing folk like that ragin

[Thistle_do_nicely]

We've made our own luck there.

I'm delighted we've manage to make it this far with it still in our own hands. The only things nagging at me from that game to consider for Sunday are:

a) James Forrest; not convinced he contributes enough to merit inclusion, got to be worth playing someone else in his position? Martin on for Forrest absolutely the right sub at the right time

and

b) Tierney didn't look comfortable at right back. Maybe Robertson RB, Tierney LB? Needs looking at imo

Other than that I've got trust in the players and Strachan, whatever he decides to do for Sunday. Can't believe I'm saying that but he/they have earned that much at least.

edit: Robert mhak (thanks, word filter!) is an absolute fanny and I love him

[DanMc99]

2 minutes ago, Thistle_do_nicely said:

We've made our own luck there.

I'm delighted we've manage to make it this far with it still in our own hands. The only things nagging at me from that game to consider for Sunday are:

a) James Forrest; not convinced he contributes enough to merit inclusion, got to be worth playing someone else in his position? Martin on for Forrest absolutely the right sub at the right time

and

b) Tierney didn't look comfortable at right back. Maybe Robertson RB, Tierney LB? Needs looking at imo

Other than that I've got trust in the players and Strachan, whatever he decides to do for Sunday. Can't believe I'm saying that but he/they have earned that much at least.

robertsons delivery from the left probably makes him first choice for LB, tierney probably better defensively

[lichtie23]

I personally thought we played well yesterday. Created plenty of chances and would have won comfortably if it wasn’t for the Slovak keeper having a blinder. A few players were average but overall I can’t fault that performance. Same attitude and desire on Sunday and we will be playoff bound.

[Guest bernardblack]

Shite how the playoffs are seeded - unfair advantage for the bigger teams

[Fraser Fyvie]

Hopefully Slovenia pump us. 

[dd23]

I can't get my head around anyone suggesting dropping Griffiths, a couple of poor deliveries at corners weighed against the incredible amount of work he puts in, physically competitive against blokes almost twice his size, energy through the full 90 plus - witness the awareness to get the ball away after the challenge for the goal, most of them would have rolled around for a free kick.
Also nobody seems to give us much credit for defending well. They passed it about impressively but as far as I recall only got one shot away.

[forameus]

7 minutes ago, dd23 said:

I can't get my head around anyone suggesting dropping Griffiths, a couple of poor deliveries at corners weighed against the incredible amount of work he puts in, physically competitive against blokes almost twice his size, energy through the full 90 plus - witness the awareness to get the ball away after the challenge for the goal, most of them would have rolled around for a free kick.
Also nobody seems to give us much credit for defending well. They passed it about impressively but as far as I recall only got one shot away.

Think that's me getting pelters for that...I'll admit, was probably pretty harsh, and on looking at the highlights rather than at the game, his chances drew far better saves than it seemed at the time.  I don't think his movement off the ball was quite good enough, and he often hangs around in an offside position a little longer than necessary, but he worked very hard.  His dropping deep was often made to look worse by our midfield rarely getting beyond him, unfortunately for him.

And I didn't mention it, but we did defend very well.  Don't think Mulgrew put a foot wrong, and Berra's only real issues were a few hairy clearances going straight up in the air.  Short of looking a bit lost in Slovakia's decent first half period, we were rarely troubled.

[M0rtonfc]

We were excellent last night, very unlucky not to have scored a few earlier goals, all the players looked right up for it, chasing every ball, final delivery was poor but overall very pleased!

[Ya Bezzer!]

Is Jan Kozak the Neil Lennon of Slovakia?

P - a - r - a - n - o - i - a

 

[M0rtonfc]

Oh and Griffiths was incredible yet again, his movement and working the channels alone has changed our attacking threat so much, anyone who thinks he should be dropped on Sunday is a complete and utter moron.

 

[dogmc]

Oh and Griffiths was incredible yet again, his movement and working the channels alone has changed our attacking threat so much, anyone who thinks he should be dropped on Sunday is a complete and utter moron.
 

I'd say that starting him has been the catalyst to our results and performances improving. We would really struggle without him.

[vikingTON]

59 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

 

Seeding the playoffs is a joke. Teams have already had the benefit of a high seeding or had to battle on through a low one and ultimately all have a second place finish in common.

 

Italy quite clearly did not get an equal benefit from being second seed (v Spain and utter dross), as France got by having garbage like The Netherlands as top seed, or everyone in the group got by having Wales as top seeds.  Groups are not roughly as strong as each other, and never will be.

It's therefore only right that the seeding system carries over to the play-offs, ensuring that any dross that slithers into second place  has to actually beat somebody decent in order to qualify for a World Cup. 

[vikingTON]

Wales and The Netherlands being dross are demonstrable facts.  A team that finishes runners-up in a group behind (in theory) them or Romania did not have a comparable group to one with Spain or Germany as top seeds. As the groups are wildly uneven in terms of quality in practice, it is only right that seeding* should be again used to determine the play-off ties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Play-off seeding would still of course favour dross like Romania etc.  due to their high place in the rankings,  but it also correctly gives high performing second seeds a justified edge that they did not necessarily receive in the group stage.  On balance it is therefore the correct solution.