Scotland v England 150th year anniversary match

[Brother Blades]

I don’t  think there is any such thing as friendly between us & England & I hope & expect Clark & the team to go all out to win this, momentum is very important in football & going into the Spain game will look a lot different if we get a positive result against one of the strongest European nations than if we experiment & get pumped.

I’m more confident of a win against England than I have been in around 30 years. 

[2426255]

I'm not really overly bothered about this game tbh mostly as it's a friendly so a bit like the Turkey game. Performance more important than the result for me. 

If we win it'll be good as it'll annoy the English. If we lose, it'll be good at least for managing expectations for the rest of the campaign.

[Jambomo]

I’m torn. I want us to win because it’s been too long since we did but if we do, then they might sack Southgate and get someone decent. A draw would be ideal.

[Molotov]

Was our last victory against England at Hampden the 1-0 win with the big Swedish chap Gough scoring in 1985?

Quite a few of these players no longer with us. Both managers sadly gone too. 

It was very wet and wee bit of bother between the fans before, during and after the game. 
 

“The 1985 match was scheduled to take place at Wembley, but after government intervention, the fixture was moved to Hampden Park, the concern being that a May Bank Holiday weekend in London would provide the ideal environment for hooligans to run amok. The decision angered Scottish supporters, and the Scottish FA, with others complaining that the authorities were giving in to the minority. 

The teams were now playing for the Rous Cup, in tribute to the 90-year-old Sir Stanley Rous, the former president of FIFA between 1961 and 1974, but the inaugural event would be disrupted due to fixture congestion. With Coventry playing Everton in a crucial match just two days later, and Liverpool playing the European Cup final in Brussels on the Wednesday, Bobby Robson and Jock Stein would have to cope without the presence of Trevor Steven, Andy Gray, Graeme Sharp, Kenny Dalglish, Steve Nicol, and Alan Hansen.”

[the snudge]

I'm looking forward to the game but part of me is wishing we played a minnow in this fixture window to keep momentum going.

[deadasdillinger]

2 hours ago, the snudge said:

I'm looking forward to the game but part of me is wishing we played a minnow in this fixture window to keep momentum going.

Know what you're saying but you can see the longer term thinking. Got to be able to play against your Englands and Frances if we are going to mix it with the big boys at summer tournaments. 

[Lurkst]

4 hours ago, Molotov said:

 

 

@4:16 Willie Miller goes full Rubiales.

 

[DAFC.]

4 hours ago, the snudge said:

I'm looking forward to the game but part of me is wishing we played a minnow in this fixture window to keep momentum going.

We are playing minnows that think they are sharks, if that helps? 

[ClydeTon]

I wonder if Scotland's clubs will be supporting us (and their players that play for us) in this game...

Ah. Shocker.

[Kevin Finnerty]

21 minutes ago, ClydeTon said:

I wonder if Scotland's clubs will be supporting us (and their players that play for us) in this game...

Ah. Shocker.

Is this still about steve clarke saying bye bye to them

[Merkie84]

For me this is the ideal fixture. After Cyprus, we have almost done it and not qualifying from here would be a disaster. 
 

Preparation for the finals starts now. 
 

Tuesday will be as competitive a game as possible for a “friendly”. With so many English based players in our squad, they will be bursting a gut to win. England, like it or not, won’t be too far away next summer. 
 

Next 3 fixtures are against England , Spain and France, sides you wouldn’t be surprised to make up 3/4 of the semi finalists next summer. A real test for this squad. Whatever happens , it will be good learning opportunity which will allow this squad to grow and develop further. 
 

Then the final 2 qualification fixtures, hopefully finish the group strong and have a go at trying to top the group  ,earning us a higher seeding and hopefully an easier group in the euros, maximising our chances of getting through. 
 

Not sure what the fixtures will be in early 2024, but hopefully our strong showing can get us some warm up games against other top teams. 
 

All being said, we should send Scotland to the Euros with the best preparation of any squad ever. 

 

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

8 hours ago, Kevin Finnerty said:

Is this still about steve clarke saying bye bye to them

That should be the first question if we win.

So, Steve, is that bye-bye England?

[PSJ.84]

Looking at the England team from the weekend there’s not many players on their bench I’d fancy. Their starting XI is obviously still littered with quality but I don’t think we have anything to fear here. I absolutely hate being this optimistic. 

[Dons_1988]

Quite nice going into this 1. Confident we can actually beat them and 2. It not really mattering if we don’t. 

We’ve done the real business in this intl window already so whatever happens tomorrow we can be content. 

It would certainly be fun to beat them though. 

[KirkieRR]

There's no pressure on us and I don't see an especial downside. If we lose it'll feel bad but here's the glass-half-full analysis;

 

1 England win

'Calm down, Nigel, it's just a friendly and we're the ones with a 100% Euro qualifying record.'

2 Draw

'Well-played, plucky little England, a fighting away draw.'

3 Scotland win

'GIRUY English losers! We'd tan you at curling and shinty as well!'

[BB_Bino]

13 hours ago, deadasdillinger said:

Know what you're saying but you can see the longer term thinking. Got to be able to play against your Englands and Frances if we are going to mix it with the big boys at summer tournaments. 

I think with the England & France games, there’s also some long term thinking about the FIFA Rankings here. I’m sure a win gives you more points and a defeat to a nation above you is less damaging, so whilst we are attractive to the big boys, we may as well go for it for a number of reasons.

[ArabFC]

2 hours ago, PSJ.84 said:

Looking at the England team from the weekend there’s not many players on their bench I’d fancy. Their starting XI is obviously still littered with quality but I don’t think we have anything to fear here. I absolutely hate being this optimistic. 

The England team is weird, because as you say they have lots of quality, but every time I see their team listed, its pretty underwhelming... Maguire and Guehi at the back and Henderson somehow still playing.

But they've got outstanding players that can't get into their First XI like Foden, Grealish and Alexander-Arnold. 

The opposite to us - less than the sum of their parts.

[deadasdillinger]

We have to try and isolate their weak players. Henderson has been a great player but is past his best and England fans don't seem to want him starting. Maguire is absolute dugmeat. Pickford isn't the best. They have some real attacking quality but we can get at them and make it uncomfortable. 

[HuttonDressedAsLahm]

33 minutes ago, BB_Bino said:

I think with the England & France games, there’s also some long term thinking about the FIFA Rankings here. I’m sure a win gives you more points and a defeat to a nation above you is less damaging, so whilst we are attractive to the big boys, we may as well go for it for a number of reasons.

They changed the calculations in recent years, so losing to a dominant team is less impactful.

However, if we lose to France/England, we only lose world rankings points.  In those events, we'd be much better playing a friendly against Lithuania/Estonia etc and winning.

From a financial/team preparation point of view, the former options might well be worth more.  

A win in any of the next three games would more than compensate for losing the other two.  A draw in Spain is worth a surprisingly high number of points.

[No_Problemo]

I can’t remember where I saw it now, but there were Southgate comments about using his entire squad so I imagine we might see two different England sides…