BFTD Posted Tuesday at 22:04 Share Posted Tuesday at 22:04 4 minutes ago, tamthebam said: What's Bulgaria's 2024 form been like? I was just thinking that Bulgaria were scudded 5-0 by Norn Iron tonight. They used to be decent back in the day but are now dugmeat. They've been dung for quite some time, I'm afraid. Anybody's for the taking, outside of the wee group of Pot 6 sides. They'd been on a nice unbeaten run of late, but not many of them were wins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria_national_football_team_results_(2020–present) Outside of the Nineties golden side, they've never really been much good - they qualified for tournaments regularly back in the days when UEFA had fewer than half of the currently roster (and half of those were still dire), but (IIRC) held a record with South Korea for the most number of World Cup matches before getting their first win (something like 16 games). Reminiscent of Scotland, only even diddier, but they got to a World Cup semi-final so it's pretty clear who the real winners are 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFTD Posted Tuesday at 22:13 Share Posted Tuesday at 22:13 2 hours ago, tamthebam said: We can rule out Tuchel (ha, as if the SFA would pay out!) replacing Clarke- it's just been announced he's off to manage Engerlund The BBC getting in early with the "we never aught to ov put a furriner in charge of ARE TEAM!" shite. Expect to see plenty of talk about lack of passion and effort after their first defeat. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted Tuesday at 22:32 Share Posted Tuesday at 22:32 (edited) 44 minutes ago, tamthebam said: What's Bulgaria's 2024 form been like? I was just thinking that Bulgaria were scudded 5-0 by Norn Iron tonight. They used to be decent back in the day but are now dugmeat. The friendlies we took on in the last year in Netherlands and France especially were just really poor decisions in my opinion when should have been likes of Bulgaria, Iceland and Slovenia for potentially further confidence boosting wins instead of losing heavily to sides clearly on another level to us then we lost momentum going into Euros. Edited Tuesday at 22:35 by Shannon 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bing Posted Tuesday at 23:13 Share Posted Tuesday at 23:13 32 minutes ago, Shannon said: The friendlies we took on in the last year in Netherlands and France especially were just really poor decisions in my opinion when should have been likes of Bulgaria, Iceland and Slovenia for potentially further confidence boosting wins instead of losing heavily to sides clearly on another level to us then we lost momentum going into Euros. And a few folk tried to point out at the time before and after these games that getting the stuffing knocked out of us wasn't going to do us any favours going into the tournament. Theres some tremendously bad takes on the euro expectations thread around pages 6 onwards such as. On 06/05/2024 at 21:57, 2426255 said: Form is basically looking at things from a results perspective. No context (read excuses) applied. If form was so important then no team would be able to turn their results around. Scotland have been on good and bad runs of form and have always managed to turn it for better or worse. If we beat Gibraltar and Finland are we back on form? It's a daft concept IMO. We're in a tough period as fans, but it'll turn again. Don't understand why fans and media buy into it. Numbers had convinced quite a few people that confidence and form within the group wasn't a factor. In hindsight it's ridiculous, I mean at the time it was ridiculous also. But a couple of people lapped it up I don't think the form issue only affected the players. I think it had a large bearing on clarkes switch to even more regressive tactics also. But tbf clarke certainly seems to have turned a corner with regard to the formation and tactics. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insert Amusing Pseudonym Posted Tuesday at 23:38 Share Posted Tuesday at 23:38 I presume the chripper is up outside Hampden protesting for Clarke to be sacked cause we played 4 at the back again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokerson Posted Wednesday at 08:19 Share Posted Wednesday at 08:19 There is absolutely no grounds to sack him whatsoever. After the Euros possibly, but he has learned a few lessons. Most wanted to bin the 5 at the back - which he has done Most wanted to blood younger players - which he has done Most wanted a more attacking approach - I think we have seen that for most parts across the 4 games The quality of opposition has to be taken into consideration. The next two games will tell you a lot about where we are. I don't think Poland or Croatia are better than us based on the last two. If we can go and take 4 points, then everything is back on track going into next year. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binos Posted Wednesday at 08:23 Share Posted Wednesday at 08:23 9 hours ago, Shannon said: The friendlies we took on in the last year in Netherlands and France especially were just really poor decisions in my opinion when should have been likes of Bulgaria, Iceland and Slovenia for potentially further confidence boosting wins instead of losing heavily to sides clearly on another level to us then we lost momentum going into Euros. The build up schedule to the tournament was an exercise in idiocy and it's taken 6 months to get back on track 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted Wednesday at 08:39 Share Posted Wednesday at 08:39 7 minutes ago, Binos said: The build up schedule to the tournament was an exercise in idiocy and it's taken 6 months to get back on track Totally agree with this was no need for such tough games - aye I get England friendly for 150 years but Netherlands and France games were really unnecessary and very expected doings that shot our confidence we had built up during Euro qualifying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHF-23 Posted Wednesday at 08:47 Share Posted Wednesday at 08:47 (edited) The last few games have had me still very angry about the Euros - the embarrassment by Germany and the approach against Hungary in particular - but no longer wanting him out. He's learned that he needs a different tactical approach, he's gone back to his early period when he was good at getting the best of guys who aren't quite at the level and been humble enough to bring in guys like Morgan and Gauld to offer a bit more creative threat even if they're playing in North America, and he's blooded Doak at what seems like the right time. Think we've reached a level beyond where we can really compete, certainly with injuries we've had, but there's a team there that should keep us competitive for teaching tournaments. 1 point from 12 is shite considering the run we've been on, but I think the performances have been significantly better. To kick on we'd need Doak to become a world beater very quickly, or have every decision re Elliot, Barnes etc's international futures going our way which we can't count on. We at least know we'll hopefully be able to field a midfield of Ferguson, McTominay and Gilmour regularly going forward, which is a good place to start. Edited Wednesday at 08:48 by GHF-23 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bing Posted Wednesday at 09:03 Share Posted Wednesday at 09:03 42 minutes ago, Smokerson said: There is absolutely no grounds to sack him whatsoever. After the Euros possibly, but he has learned a few lessons. Most wanted to bin the 5 at the back - which he has done Most wanted to blood younger players - which he has done Most wanted a more attacking approach - I think we have seen that for most parts across the 4 games The quality of opposition has to be taken into consideration. The next two games will tell you a lot about where we are. I don't think Poland or Croatia are better than us based on the last two. If we can go and take 4 points, then everything is back on track going into next year. For most countries messing up a major tournament would be grounds. He's messed up 2. -3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Ferguson's Hat Posted Wednesday at 10:26 Share Posted Wednesday at 10:26 The thing that tops it all off for me is that Alex Salmond didn't get to see a win on home soil in his last year of life. The man deserved better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted Wednesday at 11:07 Share Posted Wednesday at 11:07 13 hours ago, Barry Ferguson's Hat said: We literally have the worst form of any European nation in 2024. Have San Marino and Lichtenstein improved markedly? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Ferguson's Hat Posted Wednesday at 11:57 Share Posted Wednesday at 11:57 No, which tells its own story. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Parr Posted Wednesday at 12:17 Share Posted Wednesday at 12:17 3 hours ago, Smokerson said: There is absolutely no grounds to sack him whatsoever. After the Euros possibly, but he has learned a few lessons. Most wanted to bin the 5 at the back - which he has done Most wanted to blood younger players - which he has done Most wanted a more attacking approach - I think we have seen that for most parts across the 4 games The quality of opposition has to be taken into consideration. The next two games will tell you a lot about where we are. I don't think Poland or Croatia are better than us based on the last two. If we can go and take 4 points, then everything is back on track going into next year. You can say all this but the lingering problem with Clarke is that he's an unapologetic xenophobe. It's a national embarrassment that the SFA continue to persist with such an individual as the head of the men's football team. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted Wednesday at 13:08 Share Posted Wednesday at 13:08 49 minutes ago, George Parr said: You can say all this but the lingering problem with Clarke is that he's an unapologetic xenophobe. It's a national embarrassment that the SFA continue to persist with such an individual as the head of the men's football team. Make him take Spanish lessons as a public apology? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Parr Posted Wednesday at 13:24 Share Posted Wednesday at 13:24 15 minutes ago, Scary Bear said: Make him take Spanish lessons as a public apology? I'd just take any admission of guilt at this stage tbh. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galajambo Posted Wednesday at 14:23 Share Posted Wednesday at 14:23 6 hours ago, Smokerson said: There is absolutely no grounds to sack him whatsoever. After the Euros possibly, but he has learned a few lessons. Most wanted to bin the 5 at the back - which he has done Most wanted to blood younger players - which he has done Most wanted a more attacking approach - I think we have seen that for most parts across the 4 games The quality of opposition has to be taken into consideration. The next two games will tell you a lot about where we are. I don't think Poland or Croatia are better than us based on the last two. If we can go and take 4 points, then everything is back on track going into next year. A draw against Croatia and a win in Poland and we stay up, now that would be an achievement! There's no reason why we can't do it either. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters Scotch Posted Wednesday at 14:34 Share Posted Wednesday at 14:34 6 minutes ago, Galajambo said: A draw against Croatia and a win in Poland and we stay up, now that would be an achievement! There's no reason why we can't do it either. Seen this script so many times with Scotland, we f**ked up this tournament as soon as we lost our most winnable game against Poland. I can see Poland losing to Portugal and us getting two draws in our next two games and will once again be "unlucky". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galajambo Posted Wednesday at 14:39 Share Posted Wednesday at 14:39 5 minutes ago, Butters Scotch said: Seen this script so many times with Scotland, we f**ked up this tournament as soon as we lost our most winnable game against Poland. I can see Poland losing to Portugal and us getting two draws in our next two games and will once again be "unlucky". That would be just typical Scotland right enough 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiviLion Posted Wednesday at 15:32 Share Posted Wednesday at 15:32 (edited) 1 hour ago, Galajambo said: A draw against Croatia and a win in Poland and we stay up, now that would be an achievement! There's no reason why we can't do it either. That would only get us 3rd which puts us in a play off against someone 2nd place in League B. We'd need to win both games (and turn over an extra goal rather than all being by 1) to keep us up without the play off. Edited Wednesday at 15:36 by LiviLion 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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