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Scotland v Ukraine


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57 minutes ago, Ken Deans said:

Is for piles buddy. Am never up at 2 to post shite

And STDs/laryngitis, no?

Been a while since I've listened to that routine, shockingly.

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To add to the good squads etc debate, some countries we have recently beat -  Austria have just humped Croatia in Osijek, Denmark have beaten France in Paris, and the Czechs beat Switzerland.

Our squad, whilst not amazing, was capable of getting through these playoffs against Ukraine and Wales, and every one of them needs to have a right good look in the mirror following their performance on Wednesday and ask themselves how much playing for Scotland really means to them.

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To add to the good squads etc debate, some countries we have recently beat -  Austria have just humped Croatia in Osijek, Denmark have beaten France in Paris, and the Czechs beat Switzerland.
Our squad, whilst not amazing, was capable of getting through these playoffs against Ukraine and Wales, and every one of them needs to have a right good look in the mirror following their performance on Wednesday and ask themselves how much playing for Scotland really means to them.


We definitely possess the means to have gotten through these playoffs.

That we didn't, however, wasn't down to any player not trying. It was because:

a) Ukraine are good and were right on it tactically and in terms of conditioning, and
b) our players were obviously weary and left horrifically exposed by our shape and tactics.

They got just about everything right and we got just about everything wrong.
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13 minutes ago, Gordopolis said:

We definitely possess the means to have gotten through these playoffs.

That we didn't, however, wasn't down to any player not trying. It was because:

a) Ukraine are good and were right on it tactically and in terms of conditioning, and
b) our players were obviously weary and left horrifically exposed by our shape and tactics.

They got just about everything right and we got just about everything wrong.

 

Ach I know, I'm just fed up reading the rather revionist "Ukraine are just better than us" stuff

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What is the obsession with Ralston?
He’s had maybe a half dozen decent games but outside of that looks piss-poor.

You’d think he played for one of the bi…………

Oh, aye, igetit now [emoji849]🥱[emoji35]

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1 hour ago, KingRocketman II said:

Like me, you must have missed all the "we will be lucky to get the ball off Ukraine for large chunks of the match" predictions......

 

On 11/05/2022 at 17:06, 2426255 said:

They are really good with the ball from what ive seen. If we don't keep the ball well this will be Croatia part 2.

 

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7 hours ago, Raidernation said:

What is the obsession with Ralston?
He’s had maybe a half dozen decent games but outside of that looks piss-poor.

You’d think he played for one of the bi…………

Oh, aye, igetit now emoji849.png🥱emoji35.png

I have liked Ralston whenever I have seen him play for Celtic. No nonsense and likes to bomb forward - with a little frailty showing against better attackers. All our right back/wing back options have pros and cons and don't think Ralston way below them when assessing strengths and weaknesses. 

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Like others have said, that’s as annoyed as I’ve been in a long time leaving Hampden.

Literally no-one turned up. In my opinion our worst two players on the night were McGinn & Adams who have been massive players for us recently.

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I thought Clarke's biggest mistake was starting an internationally inexperienced LWB at RWB when you had Ralston/O'Donnell available. I'm sure it was a gamble from Clarke but that was just ludicrous. By all means do that if Kieran Tierney was in the squad to balance out the back-line a bit but not when he's absent.

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On 03/06/2022 at 22:18, Raidernation said:

What is the obsession with Ralston?
He’s had maybe a half dozen decent games but outside of that looks piss-poor.

You’d think he played for one of the bi…………

Oh, aye, igetit now emoji849.png🥱emoji35.png

I wouldn't say it's an "obsession". It just makes more sense to play him, an ACTUAL right-sided defender (with the 2nd highest number of assists and completed passes in the SPFL, 2nd only to Tavernier) instead of simply chucking in a LWB in there and hoping for the best.  

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9 minutes ago, monthefife said:

I thought Clarke's biggest mistake was starting an internationally inexperienced LWB at RWB when you had Ralston/O'Donnell available. I'm sure it was a gamble from Clarke but that was just ludicrous. By all means do that if Kieran Tierney was in the squad to balance out the back-line a bit but not when he's absent.

O’Donnell is presumably not quite fit, and not playing well. Clarke doesn’t rate Ralston hugely, and he wouldn’t be alone there.

Despite progress, RWB is still a potentially problematic position of Patterson is unfit/unavailable, and if SOD isn’t fit.

Hickey may well be an answer, but perhaps not against a strong side and with a weak centre half next to him. Souttar might have been a better decision.

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2 minutes ago, HuttonDressedAsLahm said:

O’Donnell is presumably not quite fit, and not playing well. Clarke doesn’t rate Ralston hugely, and he wouldn’t be alone there.

Despite progress, RWB is still a potentially problematic position of Patterson is unfit/unavailable, and if SOD isn’t fit.

Hickey may well be an answer, but perhaps not against a strong side and with a weak centre half next to him. Souttar might have been a better decision.

I agree with most of that. I just respectfully disagree with Hickey being the 2nd best option if Patterson is unavailable. Ralston clearly has the physicality and at least has some ability to drive forward down the flanks. The number of times Hickey was hesitant to drive down the wing to whip in some crosses from his (weak) side was evident, infuriating but not surprising, and Clarke should have addressed this sooner. 

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5 hours ago, monthefife said:

I agree with most of that. I just respectfully disagree with Hickey being the 2nd best option if Patterson is unavailable. Ralston clearly has the physicality and at least has some ability to drive forward down the flanks. The number of times Hickey was hesitant to drive down the wing to whip in some crosses from his (weak) side was evident, infuriating but not surprising, and Clarke should have addressed this sooner. 

Hickey was definitely hesitant but I’m thoroughly unconvinced as to Ralston being a better choice. 

He may get the opportunity to prove me wrong in the next week or so, but having a purple patch during a few seasons of complete mediocrity makes me doubt its staying power.

Either way, that wasn’t the root of our issues. I really hope to see Souttar start Wednesday, and possibly McTominay in midfield if Gilmour isn’t fit. That will give whatever right back starting much more confidence going forward.

Or revert to 4atb and give it a try against weaker opposition.

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8 minutes ago, Londonwell said:

In no way are Wales “running the game”, extremely fortunate to be ahead. 

I'm not even watching it 😄 well for the 5 mins I watched it they were so couldn't handle any more. 

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