Austria v Scotland

[AJF]

11 minutes ago, welldaft said:

Rangers fan wants Rangers player to start for Scotland shocker…

I don’t even think SOD has been playing that well for Motherwell. So I am not a Motherwell fan who wants Motherwell player to start for Scotland. 

All that said he was very good v England which shows what he is capable of. Is possibly a better defender that Patterson and WAY more experienced. 

What is important is Clarke clarifying that McGinn was 3rd choice after Ralston and Liam Palmer. 

SODs would have started tonight and may well continue to do so until end of this campaign based on league form etc. For the next campaign I fully expect Patterson, Ralston and Ramsay to battle it out. 

So if Rangers fans can be a wee bit more patient…..and less critical of SODs. Nah thought not

That's the thing though, it's not just Rangers fans that have been critical of SOD. I think most people would've identified right back and striker as Scotland's main "problem positions" heading into the Euros. We now have a couple of great young candidates that look like they can stake a claim, but people now seem to be adding more weight to the experience of SOD compared to before.

Edited September 7, 2021 by AJF

[G51]

19 minutes ago, welldaft said:

Rangers fan wants Rangers player to start for Scotland shocker…

I don’t even think SOD has been playing that well for Motherwell. So I am not a Motherwell fan who wants Motherwell player to start for Scotland. 

All that said he was very good v England which shows what he is capable of. Is possibly a better defender that Patterson and WAY more experienced. 

What is important is Clarke clarifying that McGinn was 3rd choice after Ralston and Liam Palmer. 

SODs would have started tonight and may well continue to do so until end of this campaign based on league form etc. For the next campaign I fully expect Patterson, Ralston and Ramsay to battle it out. 

So if Rangers fans can be a wee bit more patient…..and less critical of SODs. Nah thought not

I reserve the right to be critical of bad players who can’t play dead.

O’Donnell’s (and Scotland’s) performance in the game against England is on the verge of reaching mythical status. That game was an opportunity to record a famous victory against our greatest rivals who were playing abysmally, and we blew it.

O’Donnell had some nice tackles and was one of our better players, but it was clearly an outlier in his career. His performance against the Czech’s a few days earlier was one of the primary reasons we completely fucked that tournament (along with David Marshall of course). Under most managers, it would have finished his international career.

All I’d like to see is a manager pick the players that give us the best chance of winning a game, and not pick players just because he is their friend. Experience counts for nothing if you don’t have ability.

[Lurkst]

6 hours ago, WeAllDreamOfATeamOfAndyRyans said:

I know it’s not relevant to today’s game at all but thought I’d ask anyway. As an SSC Member I’ve bought tickets for all 3 home games (Moldova, Israel and Denmark) and shows on my account that I have 0 loyalty points, does anyone know when they will be added or should they be there already? Cheers

According to the website the last game that loyalty points were awarded for is still Kazakhstan in November 2019.

My total remains the same as it was before the Euros anyway.

 

[eez-eh]

Inspiring stuff.

It’s technically true but why do players and managers come out with this pish? Just gives the impression that we’ll spend the whole game playing for a draw.

[2426255]

4 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

Inspiring stuff.

It’s technically true but why do players and managers come out with this pish? Just gives the impression that we’ll spend the whole game playing for a draw.

Oh, that's eez-eh to answer.  It's to set expectations and not let fans run away with themselves thinking that we are going to attack relentlessly for 90 minutes. We all know that fans can get a little carried away with what they expect and it typically leads to disappointment, anger, frustration, sadness and striking back by shouting for the manager to be lynched as he is responsible for the pain. 

[lubo_blaha]

Inspiring stuff.
It’s technically true but why do players and managers come out with this pish? Just gives the impression that we’ll spend the whole game playing for a draw.

Would you rather that he came out and said that our campaign is f*cked if we don’t get three points?

Surely anyone who’s watched a press conference before knows that you don’t set yourself up for a fall pre-match.

[Jambomo]

7 hours ago, WeAllDreamOfATeamOfAndyRyans said:

I know it’s not relevant to today’s game at all but thought I’d ask anyway. As an SSC Member I’ve bought tickets for all 3 home games (Moldova, Israel and Denmark) and shows on my account that I have 0 loyalty points, does anyone know when they will be added or should they be there already? Cheers

I don’t have mine added either. I think they haven’t done it yet and I’m not sure when they will. I plan to email and ask them at some point (when I get round to it!).

Edited September 7, 2021 by Jambomo

[Ric]

Just my 2 cents worth.

I don't mind McGinn being brought in, considering other options were not available. You often find players drafted in at the last moment and chucked into it (and there is a good chance he'll never end up on the pitch) will perform quite well. It's when players have time to think that it normally goes a bit Pete Tong.

As for the game, we've lost it, imo. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Clarke, I just don't believe the system he continues to use actually works. Sure, you could argue it got us to the Euro's but even then we struggled in qualifying - and struggled against teams much lower than us in the rankings. It was more luck than ability that got us to the finals, and when we got there that showed.

I would be genuinely shocked if we came out of this with as much as a draw.

[resk]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Is that code for you can't because you made it up? Or failed to realise substitute appearances are not starts in your eagerness to get on here and tell me I was wrong?

What you are alluding to is correct - Ramsay has 17 competitive appearances, not starts, for the Dons.  All his league appearances last season were as a substitute.  

He's started nearly every game for us this season, including all six Europa qualifiers, all of which are at least as important - probably more important financially - than league matches.  And the bigger picture is that he's pretty good at the fitba.  (I'm not pushing him for the Scotland squad here.)

[eez-eh]

19 minutes ago, lubo_blaha said:

Would you rather that he came out and said that our campaign is f*cked if we don’t get three points?

Surely anyone who’s watched a press conference before knows that you don’t set yourself up for a fall pre-match.

No, I’d rather he didn’t say either. Lowering expectations is fine but there’s other ways to do it. Unless you’re dense every man and their dog knows that the phrase “must not lose” in a press conference is ill advised as it gives the impression that we’re going there to park the bus.

[Thumper]

17 minutes ago, lubo_blaha said:

Would you rather that he came out and said that our campaign is f*cked if we don’t get three points?

As opposed to only finally caving in and doing it on the final matchday, where the must-win is inevitably accompanied by requiring a GD swing of +8 and another two results to go just right?

The Scottish media are utter fucking lickspittles and will never hold the national team to account. That means the team has to do it themselves. Evidently nothing has changed on that front since the Levein days.

A draw tonight will be basically the same as the draw with England: a result that sees people dancing in the streets and petitions for Clarke to get a knightood, which ultimately means absolutely nothing.

[Ric]

As for the Paterson chat, it's clear the boy is not ready to step up.

He really needs a couple of seasons in an OF colt team. Apparently they are the only way young players develop.

[Ric]

2 minutes ago, Thumper said:

The Scottish media are utter fucking lickspittles and will never hold the national team to account.

Yeah, going to say that's not really the case though, is it.

Sure, you have absolute plums like English, somehow missing the obvious and writing nonsense, but the media are capricious. They'll stick the boot in alright.

[Lurkst]

Is there a big crowd expected tonight? It's an intimidating old stadium with a 50,000 full house in it.

 

[ropy]

1 hour ago, Dons_1988 said:

I’ve not really seen Patterson play at all as I missed the Moldova game. I’m not sure ramsay is ready for this level yet. 

Patterson is not a good defender, and as far as I know I have not seen Ramsay play.  It is unlikely that all 3 of Patterson, Ramsay and Ralston will progress to the extent that we think they are battling it out for that position in 2 years time.

Unrelated but I have never really seen Messi play, I have seen lots of clips but never watched him in a match.  I understand he is good.  Moral of the story is get the guy I haven’t seen in the team? 

[Skyline Drifter]

12 minutes ago, resk said:

What you are alluding to is correct - Ramsay has 17 competitive appearances, not starts, for the Dons.  All his league appearances last season were as a substitute.  

He's started nearly every game for us this season, including all six Europa qualifiers, all of which are at least as important - probably more important financially - than league matches.  And the bigger picture is that he's pretty good at the fitba.  (I'm not pushing him for the Scotland squad here.)

I've never at any point said otherwise. He could be the second coming of Messi for all I know.

The point is the general incredulity from certain people that I've never heard of a guy with three League starts to his name (and another half dozen Euro ones) in a division my club don't play in and in games which were not televised (not that I'd necessarily have watched them even if they had been).

[German Jag]

7 minutes ago, Lurkst said:

Is there a big crowd expected tonight? It's an intimidating old stadium with a 50,000 full house in it.

 

Not a full house as yet. E-Mail received earlier from the ÖFB saying there are tickets on sale at the stadium this evening. I have my ticket in hand, about to head off out. Reckon there‘ll be be ca. 250 Scotland fans there. 

[Scary Bear]

54 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

Inspiring stuff.

It’s technically true but why do players and managers come out with this pish? Just gives the impression that we’ll spend the whole game playing for a draw.

Playing for a draw and losing seems a very Scottish thing to do. Hopefully we buck the trend tonight.

[Ken Deans]

1 hour ago, G51 said:

I reserve the right to be critical of bad players who can’t play dead.

O’Donnell’s (and Scotland’s) performance in the game against England is on the verge of reaching mythical status. That game was an opportunity to record a famous victory against our greatest rivals who were playing abysmally, and we blew it.

O’Donnell had some nice tackles and was one of our better players, but it was clearly an outlier in his career. His performance against the Czech’s a few days earlier was one of the primary reasons we completely fucked that tournament (along with David Marshall of course). Under most managers, it would have finished his international career.

All I’d like to see is a manager pick the players that give us the best chance of winning a game, and not pick players just because he is their friend. Experience counts for nothing if you don’t have ability.

100%

[kingjoey]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Is that code for you can't because you made it up? Or failed to realise substitute appearances are not starts in your eagerness to get on here and tell me I was wrong?

Absolutely correct. Ok, I was a wee bit naughty in counting his sub appearances, but that was to compensate for you choosing to ignore his starting appearances in the Scottish Cup and Europa Conference League, which are many more than 3. Call it a draw.