Skyline Drifter Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 On 04/04/2023 at 21:43, 2426255 said: Just to add to what @craigkillie has written: 44 players have been called into the squad in the same period if my calculations are correct. *Includes friendy International camps That's based on where they are now obviously. Some have changed divisions in that time period. MCKenna and Christie got promoted. Hanley and McLean got relegated. Porteous and Hickey at least changed country. Whilst technically true, given Calvin Ramsay has never made a Premier League appearance it's slightly misleading to refer to him as a Premier League player. Ross Stewart was actually in League 1 when he got his first call up. 2 hours ago, 2426255 said: I think it's understandable that fans are expecting qualification. The manager has said that's the target, we have today moved up to 36th in the World rankings and 19th in UEFA. If you look at the Euro 2020 squad it's clear that the players available has improved considerably even in that short space of time. That said, Spain can reasonably expect to be qualifying as can Norway so with only 2 spots someone isn't going to meet expectations. Has it? "Considerably"? It's not that different. We're probably weaker at keeper. Most of those outfield players are still in and around the squad. Gallagher and O'Donnell, Fleck and Forrest are probably done. Nisbet's been long term injured. We've added Hickey (and possibly Porteous) in terms of actual starting level players. I'm unsure on what basis Norway can "expect to be qualifying"? They are 3rd seeds for a reason and haven't qualified for the finals of ANYTHING since the 2000 Euros (which is their only Euros). Their most recent World Cup is the same as ours (1998) and they've qualified for three in their entire history, one of which was pre World War II. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satoshi Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Norway's footballing record is dismal compared to ours. However, they are boasting two of the best players in the world at the moment so reasonable for them to expect things will improve. Their team will probably get worse not better in future, so this is their chance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewanandmoreagain Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Satoshi said: Norway's footballing record is dismal compared to ours. However, they are boasting two of the best players in the world at the moment so reasonable for them to expect things will improve. Their team will probably get worse not better in future, so this is their chance. Spot on ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pie Of The Month Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Opportunity for someone to get 5mins from the bench if we are holding on in Oslo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nessies long lost ghost Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Obviously a lot can change between now and Euro 2024 but IF Scotland make it I think these will be the 26 players Goalkeepers - Gordon (If he is not retired), Gunn, Clark, Kelly (If Gordon is retired) Defenders - Patterson, Hickey, Porteous, Souttar, Hanley, Hendry, McKenna, Cooper, Tierney, Robertson Midfielders - Jack, McGregor, Gilmour, McLean, Ferguson, McGinn, McTominay, Armstrong, Turnbull Attackers - Adams, Dykes, Christie, Brown / Shankland Starting 11 Gordon / Gunn Porterous / Hendry Hanley Tierney Hickey Robertson McTominay McGregor Christie / Armstrong McGinn Adams Gunn / Gordon Clark Kelly (Assuming he is there) Patterson Souttar Hendry / Porteous Cooper McKenna Jack Gilmour Ferguson McLean Turnbull Armstrong / Christie Dykes Brown / Shankland I do think this may have too many centre defenders though - But I reckon this will be close to the 26 who go if we do make it there barring injuries etc 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewanandmoreagain Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 3 hours ago, Pie Of The Month said: Opportunity for someone to get 5mins from the bench if we are holding on in Oslo. Hanley is **** injured as well ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewanandmoreagain Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 On 07/04/2023 at 15:58, Pie Of The Month said: Opportunity for someone to get 5mins from the bench if we are holding on in Oslo. and score a legendary goal ! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No_Problemo Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Anyone got any fucking idea what our strongest team actually is now, because I don’t! So many options all over the place. I might edge towards a fit Souttar, Hendry and Tierney being our best back three but then we are leaving out McKenna, Hanley and of course Porteous. We seem to play an entirely different defence every meet up due to injuries though. Midfield I have no idea - McGinn, McGregor and McTominay are undroppable but I would like to see Gilmour in there too. I love Lyndon, but I still like Adams is our best option up front. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuttonDressedAsLahm Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 We've gone from no options at centre half, striker, right-back, and goalkeeper at various points over the last 4-5 years, and now have multiple options at each. We could still do with an international class striker (though, relatively, speaking everyone in Europe seems to be in that position except France and England, and Dykes/Adams have done very well comparatively to what we've often had there). Every position has strong cover now. It's quite the turnaround. The other brilliant reality is that our player ages are probably not quite at their peak, or around their peak, so the majority of this Euro 2024 squad will still be around for Euro 2028. That buys us a lot of time to keep looking and developing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSJ.84 Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Not got a clue and it’s absolutely glorious. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 33 minutes ago, No_Problemo said: Anyone got any fucking idea what our strongest team actually is now, because I don’t! So many options all over the place. I might edge towards a fit Souttar, Hendry and Tierney being our best back three but then we are leaving out McKenna, Hanley and of course Porteous. We seem to play an entirely different defence every meet up due to injuries though. Midfield I have no idea - McGinn, McGregor and McTominay are undroppable but I would like to see Gilmour in there too. I love Lyndon, but I still like Adams is our best option up front. This is why the phrase "the manager doesn't even know his best XI" has never made sense to me. Most managers wouldn't necessarily want or need to have a single strongest team, you want to have a good group of players and to be able to mix and match. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon EF Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 I think we're going to continue tweaking the shape and personel slightly depending on the oppoenents but if we assume the shape against Spain and Norway is the one we'll generally go with againtst similar or superior opposition then for the remainder of the Euro campaign (including finals), I think we're broadly looking at this... guarenteed starters named, the rest just a position: GK RCB - CB - Tierney Hickey Robertson McTominay - McGregor Christie McGinn CF GK - Gunn clearly has the gloves for now, Gordon may well come back and become number 1 again. RCB/CB - So many options here. Porteous and Hendry clearly favoured for now. I think realistically, the only questions are will Hanley and/or McKenna take these spots when they're fit. I think Porteous and Hendry have played their way into the starting 11 in these two's absence. CF - We'll porbably see switching between Dykes and Adams, depending on what we need for particular games. I suppose we'll have to wait and see wheather Clarke continues favouring the 'box' midfield with Gilmour at the base, pushing McTominay a bit further forward and sacrificing christie from the starting 11 more regularly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Don't think there is a best XI. I'd probably look at who gets the most call ups, starts and minutes over the past 6-12 months in competitive games. If you were to try and rank players according to those kind of stats I think you could come up with 15 or so players that would be in the mix. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Atm for me: 1st XI Gunn Porteous-Hanley-Tierney Hickey-McTominay-McGregor-Robertson Christie-Adams-McGinn 2nd XI Gordon Souttar-Hendry-McKenna Patterson-Jack-Gilmour-Taylor Armstrong-Dykes-Ferguson 3rd XI Clark Hyam-Cooper-Gallagher Ralston-Turnbull-McLean-Doig Fraser-Nisbet-Brown But of course it can change for specific matches based on form, tactics etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 1 hour ago, Gordon EF said: I think we're going to continue tweaking the shape and personel slightly depending on the oppoenents but if we assume the shape against Spain and Norway is the one we'll generally go with againtst similar or superior opposition then for the remainder of the Euro campaign (including finals), I think we're broadly looking at this... guarenteed starters named, the rest just a position: GK RCB - CB - Tierney Hickey Robertson McTominay - McGregor Christie McGinn CF GK - Gunn clearly has the gloves for now, Gordon may well come back and become number 1 again. RCB/CB - So many options here. Porteous and Hendry clearly favoured for now. I think realistically, the only questions are will Hanley and/or McKenna take these spots when they're fit. I think Porteous and Hendry have played their way into the starting 11 in these two's absence. CF - We'll porbably see switching between Dykes and Adams, depending on what we need for particular games. I suppose we'll have to wait and see wheather Clarke continues favouring the 'box' midfield with Gilmour at the base, pushing McTominay a bit further forward and sacrificing christie from the starting 11 more regularly. Two of your "guaranteed starters" there have been deliberately left out in the last 4 games! Including Christie on Tuesday night (McTominay didn't start against Cyprus). And I don't think Hickey's a guaranteed starter either if Patterson gets fit and gets in the Everton team that's a toss up. I do think Hanley's a guaranteed starter if fit still though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 4 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said: Two of your "guaranteed starters" there have been deliberately left out in the last 4 games! Including Christie on Tuesday night (McTominay didn't start against Cyprus). Not all games are made equal. Look who Clarke trusts in our most difficult games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Right now, if everyone was fit, I'd edge towards: -------------------- Gordon ------------------- Hickey --- Hendry --- Hanley --- Tierney --- Robertson -------Gilmour--------------McGregor------------ -------McTominay----------McGinn--------------- ---------------------Dykes----------------------- But I'd accept that Gordon may never come back to the same level now and Gunn might be the starter, that Patterson is as liable to be ahead of Hickey in two months as he is behind right now, that Porteous, McKenna, Soutar and even Cooper are in the mix at centre back, though probably all competing for Jack Hendry's shirt., that there will be occasions when he wants a more attacking line up that sees Christie and potentially Armstrong or even Fraser start instead of all four central midfielders and that Adams might be preferred to Dykes on occasion. There may even be times when we play both the front two though I guess that's only likely against true minnows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon EF Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 5 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said: Two of your "guaranteed starters" there have been deliberately left out in the last 4 games! Including Christie on Tuesday night (McTominay didn't start against Cyprus). And I don't think Hickey's a guaranteed starter either if Patterson gets fit and gets in the Everton team that's a toss up. I do think Hanley's a guaranteed starter if fit still though. I did caveat that pretty heavily by saying I think we'll tweak depending on oppoistion and that the shape I put up was on the assumption we were playing similar or superior opposition. I wouldn't count Georgia or Cyprus as either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArabFC Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 I'm leaving McGregor out of my 'strongest XI' because it's between him and Gilmour for a place in this line-up. Gunn Hickey - Hendry - Hanley - Tierney - Robertson McGinn - McTominay - Gilmour - Armstrong Adams 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 1 minute ago, 2426255 said: Not all games are made equal. Look who Clarke trusts in our most difficult games. Not sure what your point is? I'm saying neither Christie nor McTominay are clearly guaranteed starters since both have been sat on the bench within the last 4 games. I think truly guaranteed starters are likely only Robertson, Tierney, McGinn and probably McGregor at this point. Maybe Hanley. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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