March and June friendlies

[2426255]

10 minutes ago, HuttonDressedAsLahm said:

I like the Netherlands game.

12 sides are out for playoffs, and 3 more for the Euros. You also lose England, Spain, France, Turkey, and Cyprus for recency issues. Probably the same situation for a side like Austria, or Poland if they were available.

It also depends on who is available to come play us away, as most sides don’t want two away games (NI aside apparently).

Given all those restrictions, and taking out the real minnows: 53-12 playoffs-3 Euro sides-6 recent sides, remove the worst 13 sides from the UNL then divide the remaining by 2… leaves 9/10 sides to choose from.

Not a huge number all things considered, unless we start looking outwith Europe.

 

I think personally they will have tried to get another game other than Northern Ireland and it hasn't been possible to come to an agreement.

Northern Ireland have agreed to Romania and Scotland away in March. Perhaps Scotland wanted to play Romania, but only at home and so couldn't find an agreement or maybe a better example is Sweden who are playing away to Portugal in March when Scotland play Northern Ireland so maybe Scotland tried that too, but were turned down in favour of more glamorous opposition.

I just find it hard to believe that we chose Northern Ireland as our first choice as it doesn't fit previous comments basically.

Edited December 11, 2023 by 2426255

[Skyline Drifter]

4 hours ago, Pie Of The Month said:

Standard away allocation in Amsterdam is 2750 and Rotterdam is 2106. The French didn't even give us the minimum last time since it was a friendly though and if the Dutch move it somewhere else in the country where it's a novelty to see the national team we could end up shafted a bit like we were in Lille.

It's near impossible to have an educated guess as to how many points games like this will drop down to these days. It's after the Euros tickets are bought plus people will be saving for Germany which might help it drop a bit but anyone with a bit of optimism might have noticed the last 16 allocation is 6000 rather than the 10k we got in the group stages and want to get the extra points just in case we get through.

Thanks. More or less what I thought. Wee man was asking if we might go to this since we're apparently not getting to Germany. I think it's unlikely though. Even leaving aside the fact that I doubt tickets would drop to 6 points, it's a Friday night in the school term which would mean him missing at least one and potentially two days of school. Doubt his mother would wear that and not convinced I will either to be honest. Plus QoS are playing on the Saturday so means dashing back after the game too.

The cynic in me is also well aware that the last 16 in Germany if we get there may see people who were at group games unable to take the time or money to stay longer and that if we can climb to 11 & 9 points respectively before then we might just have a chance of those.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Skyline Drifter

[doulikefish]

"Do you know what they call a quarter pounder in Amsterdam? " 

 

 

Ps hope it's not Amsterdam..overpriced big city 

[KirkieRR]

Yay! Norn Iron. Another chance to boo GSTK.

[ClydeTon]

The S*n have gone ahead and described the Nor'n Iron friendly as a "Battle of Britain" - someone needs to be brushing up on their geography skills! NI isn't in Britain, it's in Ireland!

Can't wait to boo GSTK, mind you.

On another note; in the same article, they also reported that SSC is up for 'Best International Manager', so that's good.

[Am Featha Taigh Nan Clach]

A chance to boo God Save the King?

Count me in!

[DiegoDiego]

3 hours ago, ClydeTon said:

On another note; in the same article, they also reported that SSC is up for 'Best International Manager', so that's good.

As awarded by whom? If it's Radio Clyde, then probably not that big a deal.

[2426255]

Quote

He is on the shortlist of nominations in the International Federation of Football History and Statistics awards for 2023 for top international boss. He is the only Scot to be nominated in any of the categories, which include 'World's Best Player', 'World's Best Youth Player', 'World's Best Playmaker', 'World's Best Goalkeeper' and 'World's Best Club Coach.'

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni, England boss Gareth Southgate, Didier Deschamps of France and new Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa are also up for the prize. Previous winners have included former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque, Germany's Joachim Low and Italy's Roberto Mancini.

Daily Record

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/scotland-fans-euro-2024-battle-31645214

International Federation of Football History and Statistics. I've never heard of them.

https://www.iffhs.com/posts/3236

[Skyline Drifter]

8 hours ago, 2426255 said:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/scotland-fans-euro-2024-battle-31645214

International Federation of Football History and Statistics. I've never heard of them.

https://www.iffhs.com/posts/3236

Not exactly a 'short list' is it?

[ClydeTon]

10 hours ago, 2426255 said:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/scotland-fans-euro-2024-battle-31645214

International Federation of Football History and Statistics. I've never heard of them.

https://www.iffhs.com/posts/3236

They're German, so I can only assume that this is foreshadowing for Clarke's Euros title.

[Pie Of The Month]

Amsterdam confirmed now. 

[PSJ.84]

There goes any hope of having a cheap trip. Looking like I’ll be doing a serious amount of overtime for the next six months. 

[Pie Of The Month]

32 minutes ago, PSJ.84 said:

There goes any hope of having a cheap trip. Looking like I’ll be doing a serious amount of overtime for the next six months. 

I'm seriously considering just keeping my Rotterdam hotel and doing Amsterdam as an in and out job on the night. Choices in Amsterdam seem to be stay in a shitehole or spent a few hundred quid. 

[Marten]

If anyone is looking for a cheaper place to stay, I'd recommend looking at Utrecht. A fair bit cheaper than Amsterdam, plenty to do in the city, nice pubs / restaurants and only just over 15 minutes by train to the stadium from Utrecht central station.

Edit: just to add, if you don't mind making your way to a relatively small town that might not have that much to do but has enough affordable hotels and direct train connections to the stadium, the following towns are also worth looking at: Breukelen, Woerden & Hoofddorp.

Edit 2: I asked a mate who lives close to these towns. He said Woerden is the best of those 3: Best Western hotel next to the station & decent pubs so no need to go elsewhere for drinks if you don't want to.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Marten

[2426255]

On 11/12/2023 at 17:45, HuttonDressedAsLahm said:

I like the Netherlands game.

12 sides are out for playoffs, and 3 more for the Euros. You also lose England, Spain, France, Turkey, and Cyprus for recency issues. Probably the same situation for a side like Austria, or Poland/Ukraine/Israel if they were available.

It also depends on who is available to come play us away, as most sides don’t want two away games (NI aside apparently).

Given all those restrictions, and taking out the real minnows: 53-12 playoffs-3 Euro sides-6 recent sides, remove the worst 11 sides from the UNL then divide the remaining by 2… leaves ~10 sides to choose from.

Not a huge number all things considered, unless we start looking outwith Europe.

Edit: I never like playing the home nations in any match, so it’s a bit of a ‘meh’ choice. Still, if it was Kosovo/Iceland/Bulgaria/Lithuania we wouldn’t think much different either. I suspect it’s a combination of availability, cost, and pragmatism.

If nothing else, we should dominate the ball and can try a couple of changes in formation/players if someone’s making a push or the Dutch game forces a response in some way.

I took away all the Euros teams, playoff teams and any team that has a friendly already left and it leaves little.

Given some of the distances involved that could rule out teams wanting to play at Hampden and with what's left probably NI is the easiest sell.

I suppose we will look to play teams that failed in the play-off in June. I'd be interested to know why we've stayed away from qualified teams. Both arranged games are just outside of the criteria quoted.

Edited December 13, 2023 by 2426255

[The Holiday Song]

Another vote for Utrecht as a place to stay. Because the arena is on the east of Amsterdam, Utrecht Centraal is pretty much the same distance time wise. Great wee city with plenty of bars and nice canals. (although accommodation is getting more and more expensive there I've noticed)

[doulikefish]

Look I've stayed in Utrecht last couple of games in Amsterdam can folk stop recommending it to others please

[Anfield 1977]

Stayed in Utrecht when we played there back in 94 - also a Friday night game.

Had four nights there and it had everything you needed.

90% of the Scots fans spent their time in Amsterdam and came down for the game but I had no regrets.  Mind you it was last century! 

Wouldn't have minded if the forthcoming match was scheduled for there - or elsewhere outside of the Dam.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Anfield 1977

[the snudge]

5 hours ago, Pie Of The Month said:

I'm seriously considering just keeping my Rotterdam hotel and doing Amsterdam as an in and out job on the night. Choices in Amsterdam seem to be stay in a shitehole or spent a few hundred quid. 

In and out job in Amsterdam

[velo army]

I have a mate with whom I can crash in Amsterdam. I also need to go and reccy a festival venue near Venlo in the Spring, so this is great timing to combine both.

Never been to.an away game before. This'll be class.