Steve Clarke - in/out/general discussion

[Chripper]

At the end of the day, the main issue that Scottish football has to address is Scottish youngsters not being given enough chances in the SPL.

Having the Performance Schools is all well and good, but if these graduates aren't being played by their clubs then what's the point.

Pointing the finger at Steve Clarke as if he's the only reason for Scotland's perpetual failure is just plain wrong.

[Butters Scotch]

1 minute ago, Chripper said:

At the end of the day, the main issue that Scottish football has to address is Scottish youngsters not being given enough chances in the SPL.

Having the Performance Schools is all well and good, but if these graduates aren't being played by their clubs then what's the point.

Pointing the finger at Steve Clarke as if he's the only reason for Scotland's perpetual failure is just plain wrong.

It's been proven countless times that young players will be given chances if they are good enough in the SPFL. The problem is that a lot of these players are not quite good enough to make it. Also, the very best youngsters are getting snapped up by English clubs by the time they reach 17/18.

Many clubs are trying to follow the model of bringing academy players into the first team to then sell them on for a profit as player trading is the only way Scottish clubs can run a sustainable business so you're just picking this theory from your arse once again. 

 

[immcinto]

58 minutes ago, Chripper said:

.

 

Steve Clarke has proven that he can succeed in qualifying and with him at the helm we'll be in the mix to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

 

 

[Chripper]

1 hour ago, Scary Bear said:

are you just wanting more red dots? 

Honestly, I couldn't care less. People don't like to hear the truth.

The easiest thing to do in the world is to be in an echo chamber and agree with everyone, despite your own opinion.

If people don't have the intelligence to form a reasonable and cogent rebuttal and would rather go the easy route by giving a red dot and/or posting silly memes, they are free to do so.

Mass hysteria and mob pile-ons don't cut any ice with me.

I even had some dude saying I say "3 at the back" a lot. Can't remember who said it.

Cool.

You could offer me £1m and I couldn't remember one thing that anyone said in this place, let alone anyone's name.

It's nice being noticed. Back handed compliment.

Edited Wednesday at 17:39 by Chripper

[2426255]

1 hour ago, Butters Scotch said:

I am thinking he probably has a lot of regrets over his team selections and wished he did things differently now.

He has done that a few times: Ukraine, Czech Republic. I don't think he regrets that. Why would he keep doing it if he regrets it? 

Clarke played a back-4 at Kilmarnock, so it's not something he is fundamentally opposed to. His time with Scotland started with your preferred setup and he moved away from that.

[Bing.McCrosby]

13 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

He has done that a few times: Ukraine, Czech Republic. I don't think he regrets that. Why would he keep doing it if he regrets it? 

Clarke played a back-4 at Kilmarnock, so it's not something he is fundamentally opposed to. His time with Scotland started with your preferred setup and he moved away from that.

[Chripper]

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stance-steve-clarkes-future-sfa-33148359

Hopefully that shuts down the empty barrels and negative nigels.

[Butters Scotch]

16 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

He has done that a few times: Ukraine, Czech Republic. I don't think he regrets that. Why would he keep doing it if he regrets it? 

Clarke played a back-4 at Kilmarnock, so it's not something he is fundamentally opposed to. His time with Scotland started with your preferred setup and he moved away from that.

 

So are you trying to say Clarke doesn't regret his team selections at the euros?

[Butters Scotch]

1 hour ago, Chripper said:

Honestly, I couldn't care less. People don't like to hear the truth.

The easiest thing to do in the world is to be in an echo chamber and agree with everyone, despite your own opinion.

If people don't have the intelligence to form a reasonable and cogent rebuttal and would rather go the easy route by giving a red dot and/or posting silly memes, they are free to do so.

Mass hysteria and mob pile-ons don't cut any ice with me.

I even had some dude saying I say "3 at the back" a lot. Can't remember who said it.

Cool.

You could offer me £1m and I couldn't remember one thing that anyone said in this place, let alone anyone's name.

It's nice being noticed. Back handed compliment.

[Billy Jean King]

10 minutes ago, Chripper said:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stance-steve-clarkes-future-sfa-33148359

Hopefully that shuts down the empty barrels and negative nigels.

So Steve, are you going to resign or carry on with your contract ( you are Steve Clarke right ?)

[PSJ.84]

Glad to learn that because I don’t want rid of Clarke, I’m still allowed to be a Scotland fan. Shite for the rest of you. 

[Scary Bear]

22 minutes ago, Chripper said:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stance-steve-clarkes-future-sfa-33148359

Hopefully that shuts down the empty barrels and negative nigels.

Negative Nigels must be the English folks. According to Steve we are Negative Normans.

That article basically just says it’s up to Clarke to decide his own future.

Will he decide he can get us to a World Cup or will he decide that with the players he can call on that’s a long shot? I suppose it depends on the draw. Maybe he’ll see how the Nations League goes. Maybe he’ll be decide to call it a day.

Edited Wednesday at 18:26 by Scary Bear

[2426255]

42 minutes ago, Butters Scotch said:

So are you trying to say Clarke doesn't regret his team selections at the euros?

Haven't a clue. He can't have regretted playing three centre-backs that much if he did it at Euro-2020 and for the World Cup play-off before repeating the trick a third time against Hungary.

He knows the back-4 inside out from his time at Kilmarnock and earlier, so he could have gone that way but chose not to. 

[Bing.McCrosby]

34 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

Negative Nigels must be the English folks. According to Steve we are Negative Normans.

That article basically just says it’s up to Clarke to decide his own future.

Will he decide he can get us to a World Cup or will he decide that with the players he can call on that’s a long shot? I suppose it depends on the draw. Maybe he’ll see how the Nations League goes. Maybe he’ll be decide to call it a day.

Negative Norman's are now Correct Colins, and Positive Peters are now Simple Simons.

[Bad Wolf]

3 hours ago, Chripper said:

We went 20 years without qualifying for a major football tournament. We went through Vogts, Burley, Smith, McLeish, Levein, McLeish again with no success in sight.

 

We give the job to Steve Clarke. He proceeds to not only get us to play as a team, he also gets us to play the best football we've seen in years, and also manages to get a ragtag squad of waifs and strays to two major football tournaments.

 

Against all odds he's done the improbable.

 

And now, because we managed only one point from a possible nine from the group stage, so called Scotland "fans" want Steve Clarke to leave.

 

I'm not going to mention the hitting the post against Switzerland and being denied a stonewall penalty against Hungary that Christina Unkel has admitted should have been given.

 

Oops. I just did.

 

The Scotland "fans" who want Steve Clarke gone are delusional ingrates.

 

Either they are ungrateful or they are just moaning gits who yearn for the return of those fruitless two decades so that they have a justification to be miserable.

 

Look at England. The football world heralds them as a collection of world class talent. Pundits, ex managers, commentators and fans all believe that England are overflowing with football heavyweights.

 

You see these players strutting their stuff, every week, in the EPL. You seem them bossing the league. Forgetting that amongst those "superstar" England players are players like Saliba, Rodri, De Bruyne, Haaland, Bruno (Both Newcastle and Manchester United), Garnacho, Goku, etc, that make them look good.

 

The consensus amongst the England fans is that the problem lays with Gareth Southgate. The same as it was the fault of Hoddle, Sven, McLaren, Keegan, Capello, etc.

 

The world think that Southgate has a plethora of world class attacking players.

 

The inconvenient truth is in this England squad there are two world class players attackers, and they both scored against Slovakia. Surrounding these two are attacking players ranging from OK to good.

 

If an apparent "world class" squad of England struggle at this level what chance have Scotland, with four players from the EPL and the rest from the English Championship, SPL, Danish league and the Saudi league got?

 

With the standard of players Scotland have got, all Scotland fans ought to be thoroughly grateful to Steve Clarke and the job that he's currently doing. And we should be begging him to extend his contract.

 

Steve Clarke has proven that he can succeed in qualifying and with him at the helm we'll be in the mix to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

 

Or Scotland could gamble, get rid of Clarke. Appoint someone like Gemmill or McInnes, who proceeds to rip up the Clarke's successful blueprint, and pinball from mediocre manager to mediocre manager, failing to qualify for a major tournament for another twenty years.

 

I'll reiterate:

 

The so called Scotland fans who want Steve Clarke to leave are just moaning gits who yearn for the return of those fruitless two decades so that they have a justification reason to be miserable.

 

Or, they haven't a clue about football.

 

I vote all the above. With much confidence.

 

If people want Steve Clarke to leave. Fine. Stop supporting Scotland and let the Scotland  SUPPORTERS enjoy the ride to the 2026 World Cup.

 

These moaning gits that want Clarke out probably all voted No at IndyRef and then proceeded to complain that the no vote won.

I'm a Killie fan (and therefore unsurprisingly well-disposed towards him) who voted yes in 2014 and I think he should go too. Happy clappers like yourself are accepting that we're too wee, too poor and too stupid (to coin a phrase) to compete at the top level. Some of us don't.

[Bad Wolf]

Speaking of his time at Killie, he somehow managed to get Kirk Broadfoot, Alan Power and Gary Dicker looking like footballers, for a while at least. He has better players at his disposal now, but has been unable to take them to a higher level, or in fact keep them at the same one they at were a year or so ago. He can't take us any further, and there is still time to change before the Nations League starts. Not that it will happen, I fear. So we have more disappointment to come.

Edited Wednesday at 19:07 by Bad Wolf

[Gordon EF]

You know what makes someone seem like a reasonable person who doesn't care what others say or think? Incessantly posting the same lengthy spiel filled with emojis.

Edited Wednesday at 19:10 by Gordon EF

[Ewanandmoreagain]

4 hours ago, Butters Scotch said:

I've explained the reasoning as to why it would be more beneficial having a midfielder in previous posts. It's pretty obvious to everyone on here barring yourself it seems that if we are looking to score a goal then you would want someone that is more comfortable on the ball, someone that can be creative, someone that can pass it better, strike it better, dribble it better, someone that can make forward runs, etc on the pitch ahead of a lump of a CB that is mainly there to defend and will be behind the ball majority of the time.

During the tournament, we had too many passes going backwards or sideways, our forward and attacking midfield players were being marked out the game, there wasn't enough running beyond/off the striker as he was often isolated, too many players behind the ball when building attacks. It was all very toothless. Having an extra man in there would of helped us get up the pitch IMO although the downside to that is we would lose some defensive protection. 

 

Can we afford to lose some defensive protection ?

Depends eg. the opposition 

[Ewanandmoreagain]

17 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

I'm a Killie fan (and therefore unsurprisingly well-disposed towards him) who voted yes in 2014 and I think he should go too. Happy clappers like yourself are accepting that we're too wee, too poor and too stupid (to coin a phrase) to compete at the top level. Some of us don't.

For one reason or another our players were poor

[Ewanandmoreagain]

24 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

Haven't a clue. He can't have regretted playing three centre-backs that much if he did it at Euro-2020 and for the World Cup play-off before repeating the trick a third time against Hungary.

 

I do not think playing 3atb was a problem at Euro 2020 and Ukraine 

At least partly it was playing two up front