Scotland starting XI the future.

[RandomGuy.]

3 hours ago, Gaz said:

Agree with the poster who said that if Tierney is fit (and I accept it's a big if) we could do a lot worse than play Robertson as a winger rather than a full-back.

And what would actually be different about that and how it currently is?

Baffles me people cry about the back 5, then pick the exact same 11 players and think saying "Robertsons a winger, not a wing back" makes any difference in the slightest.

[Gordopolis]

1 hour ago, ogoftheskye said:

Doak is almost certainly not the answer to that problem. Not because he isn't a potential star in the making, but because he's predominantly a winger and definitely not an out-and-out striker.

Yeah I think that is he's any sort of answer it's more likely to be an indirect one - i.e. his pace can disrupt teams and cross/create space for other to score more. Tho he has been played through the middle at u21 level and IIRC CLarke was making noises about him in that role, so I wouldn't discount him as a focal goal threat.

All ifs buts and maybes at this point. He might be playing in League One in five years time, but I seriously doubt it. I reckon that at worst, we will soon have an explosively speedy, bag of tricks, top half EPL attacker on our hands.

[Gordopolis]

1 hour ago, eez-eh said:

Patterson’s recent performances for us were on a par with Ralston’s.

This. Sold that goal to NIron and looked nervous as feck vs the Dutch.

Higher ceiling than Ralston, but he needs to find his game again.

[Kadouken_]

Patterson is terrible. Anyone who watched him at any level knew he was never a defender. 
 

Ideally we get Livramento to switch and have him and Hickey either side for the next decade. 

[Chripper]

People act like Livramento is the new Cafu.

Probably the same people who bought into the propaganda in the previous Euros that Kalvin Phillips was the incarnation of Andrea Pirlo.

Livramento started 12 matches last season (with a better team) and had 0 assists. Patterson started 9 matches )with a team that was In a relegation battle all season) and managed 2 assists.

He isn't in the England squad even though Trippier and Walker will retire at the end of this Euro's, Trent is playing in central midfield and James is injured.

Anyway.

It'll be interesting to look at former Bologna and current Coventry centerback Louis Binks next season. Only 22 years old. Played in Serie A.

 

[Old Bing]

3 minutes ago, Chripper said:

People act like Livramento is the new Cafu.

Probably the same people who bought into the propaganda in the previous Euros that Kalvin Phillips was the incarnation of Andrea Pirlo.

Livramento started 12 matches last season (with a better team) and had 0 assists. Patterson started 9 matches )with a team that was In a relegation battle all season) and managed 2 assists.

He isn't in the England squad even though Trippier and Walker will retire at the end of this Euro's, Trent is playing in central midfield and James is injured.

Anyway.

It'll be interesting to look at former Bologna and current Coventry centerback Louis Binks next season. Only 22 years old. Played in Serie A.

 

You act like Luis Binks is the new Barasi

[Chripper]

We need to uncover a keeper, at least one centerback, an anchorman, a creative midfielder and a striker.

So, at least 5 players before we can really do ourselves justice at the top table.

I have high hopes for Doak, but he is extremely raw at the moment and definitely not the answer now.

Till that time comes, Scotland fans should just enjoy qualifying. I certainly am.

[Bad Wolf]

5 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

And what would actually be different about that and how it currently is?

Baffles me people cry about the back 5, then pick the exact same 11 players and think saying "Robertsons a winger, not a wing back" makes any difference in the slightest.

I think it was me that Gaz was responding to, so I might as well expand on it here. Given that 1) Robertson's defensive abilities have been at best questionable in recent years and 2) that we have no width whatsoever in the final third of the park; I advocate playing him further up, providing a wide out ball up top, and giving him the opportunity to demonstrate his (IMO overstated) crossing ability, assuming we have someone worth crossing to.

 

I'm not saying it's going to transform us into world-beaters, but at the very least it won't make us any worse.

[RandomGuy.]

4 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

I think it was me that Gaz was responding to, so I might as well expand on it here. Given that 1) Robertson's defensive abilities have been at best questionable in recent years and 2) that we have no width whatsoever in the final third of the park; I advocate playing him further up, providing a wide out ball up top, and giving him the opportunity to demonstrate his (IMO overstated) crossing ability, assuming we have someone worth crossing to.

 

I'm not saying it's going to transform us into world-beaters, but at the very least it won't make us any worse.

Do you not see how high he goes whenever we have possession? He's currently playing as a left winger anyway.

[Ewanandmoreagain]

5 hours ago, Gordopolis said:

Yeah I think that is he's any sort of answer it's more likely to be an indirect one - i.e. his pace can disrupt teams and cross/create space for other to score more. Tho he has been played through the middle at u21 level and IIRC CLarke was making noises about him in that role, so I wouldn't discount him as a focal goal threat.

All ifs buts and maybes at this point. He might be playing in League One in five years time, but I seriously doubt it. I reckon that at worst, we will soon have an explosively speedy, bag of tricks, top half EPL attacker on our hands.

Has he fully recovered from his injury ?

[No_Problemo]

 

23 hours ago, itzdrk said:

https://www.kicker.de/st-pauli-banks-wird-fest-verpflichtet-1034078/artikel#twfeed

Scott Banks gonna be playing in the Bundesliga next season.  Might be an unexpected one to break into the group if he does well. 

Always wanted a Scottish interest in the Bundesliga! What do you think his game time will look like?

8 hours ago, AuldReekie said:

Is Robertson as a winger a light-bulb moment? If Tierney is fit, I've just always assumed Robertson is pushed as far up that wing as you can get him. Don't think he's is a particularly great defender but when fit, can bomb it up and down that line and make some create over-lapping runs. Against tougher opponents though, he's liable to get the run-around a little bit. Regardless, Tierney with Robertson in front of him, and both being fit, is a strong left side and that should be the aim if we're talking best-team-on-paper-2026 type stuff.

While we always suspected Gilmour would be great, Aaron Hickey was the best find of the last couple of years in my opinion and is a stick on for full back for the foreseeable if he can stay fit. Between TIerney and Hickey though, centre-half is a concern.

As others have stated, Gilmour is who we need to be building out team around. For the first 40 minutes on Sunday, he was the engine and was finding really great forward balls through the midfield. The lack of any attacking strategy dulled his efforts but there's no doubt he's the one. Started to hold onto the ball a little too much as the Hungarians started to crowd him out but that's because he was all the threat we had in the middle of the park. Still got loads to learn and may be a luxury in some games, but he needs to start and he needs more in front of him. 

McGinn, McTominay and McGregor all fighting it out for 1, maybe 2, spots. Been great servants but I think McGregor could be on the way out, while McGinn and McTominay have played beyond their abilities and it's unreasonable to expect that to continue. Unless they find another level, I'll be disappointed if all three continue to dominate our midfield in the next two years.

Up front?! Who knows. There's a number of players and options who all need a turn to see what they can do. Adams and Dykes have done their time, I don't buy the Shankland hype, and I actually liked what I could see from the limited time Conway and Morgan has in the last month. When he's fit, I am 100% for Doak and any other young talent being given a stage to perform and hopefully excite the Tartan Army. As an attacking force, we've been absolutely fucking miserable and I'm up for just letting some young lads loose and see what happens.

On the bench, I'm hoping to see Armstrong, McClean, Taylor, Ralston, etc all be replaced with some of the first team dropping to the bench or new players coming through. Those boys have all likely peaked. 

I'd be willing to give Clarke another go if he committed to some of the above.

Genuinely finding it difficult to understand the fact you have just said you don’t want McTominay or McGinn in our team.

The John McGinn who was influential in his side finishing in the Champions League places; and the Scott McTominay who got double figure goals for Manchester United last season. 

[itzdrk]

8 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

 

Always wanted a Scottish interest in the Bundesliga! What do you think his game time will look like?

Hard to say as a new head coach is coming in but if I presume it's continuity then he's probably got a very good chance of at least starting the season as first choice on the right.  New coach I'd say is likely to move Metcalf into the centre which opens up that slot for him.  He was behind Metcalf in the pecking order last season then got injured for pretty much the whole thing so never really got to see him.  

He was only able to get on the pitch 4 times for St Pauli last season as he got injured early and only returned on the final day, came on about 80 minutes, got the assist to win the league and got subbed back off for a defender all in the space of about 10 minutes 

[No_Problemo]

Just now, itzdrk said:

Hard to say as a new head coach is coming in but if I presume it's continuity then he's probably got a very good chance of at least starting the season as first choice on the right.  New coach I'd say is likely to move Metcalf into the centre which opens up that slot for him.  He was behind Metcalf in the pecking order last season then got injured for pretty much the whole thing so never really got to see him.  

He was only able to get on the pitch 4 times for St Pauli last season as he got injured early and only returned on the final day, came on about 80 minutes, got the assist to win the league and got subbed back off for a defender all in the space of about 10 minutes 

Yeah, I remembered that story from the end of last season! 

Ideal - I’ll see if I can watch some of their games at the start of next season.

[ArabFC]

2 hours ago, Chripper said:

People act like Livramento is the new Cafu.

Probably the same people who bought into the propaganda in the previous Euros that Kalvin Phillips was the incarnation of Andrea Pirlo.

Livramento started 12 matches last season (with a better team) and had 0 assists. Patterson started 9 matches )with a team that was In a relegation battle all season) and managed 2 assists.

He isn't in the England squad even though Trippier and Walker will retire at the end of this Euro's

Basing your opinion on a fullback based on assists and Gareth Southgate’s decisions is pretty dumb.

Happy to place on record my opinion, simply having watched him play that Livramento will be a Champions League calibre player for much of his career - barring injury.

ps - never rated Phillips.

[AuldReekie]

2 hours ago, No_Problemo said:

Genuinely finding it difficult to understand the fact you have just said you don’t want McTominay or McGinn in our team.

The John McGinn who was influential in his side finishing in the Champions League places; and the Scott McTominay who got double figure goals for Manchester United last season. 

McGinn has been pretty anonymous for Scotland over the last 6 months IMO and while he's had a great club season, I'm just questioning whether that's his level and one that he can sustain. I hope so.

McTominay is the opposite - a pretty fleeting club season but a remarkable return of goals at international level. Again though, not quite sure we can expect that goal return to continue so he needs to be judged on the merits he's bringing to midfield.

I'm obviously being ultra-critical here. It just feels like some of these guys are untouchable and I don't think that's helping.

Edited June 25 by AuldReekie

[Chripper]

6 hours ago, ArabFC said:

Basing your opinion on a fullback based on assists and Gareth Southgate’s decisions is pretty dumb.

Happy to place on record my opinion, simply having watched him play that Livramento will be a Champions League calibre player for much of his career - barring injury.

ps - never rated Phillips.

Gareth Southgate really doesn't rate Livramento. I've just looked at the starts from last season.

Livramento played right back 14 times and left back 8 times.

Southgate would rather play Tripper at left back than Livramento.

Nah. That's cool. It's all about opinions.

Edited June 26 by Chripper

[Skyline Drifter]

This sort of reactionary change for change sake nonsense needs put in the bin. There's not an obvious way of vastly improving our best 11. With Hickey, Dykes and Tierney back in and McGinn / McGregor in better form we're not in all that bad shape. One of the few positives from the Euros was the return of Grant Hanley. He's not quite where he was yet but he's closer and has a year or two in him yet. The idea that Porteous and McKenna should be ahead of Hanley and Hendry as somone posted earlier is laughable.

We could do with upgrades particularly up front and at centre back and keeper but we have to work with what we have.

Gunn's a competent keeper but he's not the level of peak Gordon, McGregor, Marshall, nor Goram or Leighton. He's the best we have though.

Robertson's playing higher level football than anyone in our squad. He's still a top player. So is Tierney despite his perennial fitness issues. When they are both fit we need to stick with the formation that gets the best from them. Clearly Hickey starts on the other side. But Patterson and Johnston will be options in future, particularly if Hickey switched sides once Robertson is gone.

Hanley probably has another tournament in him and Hendry has done well. McKenna and Porteous are decent cover. I imagine we won't see Cooper again. Souttar? Maybe.

Gilmour, McGregor, McTominay, McGinn, Ferguson and Christie is an excellent midfield group. Lots of options in there. I guess we'll ease the likes of Jack and McLean out over the next year.

I assume Doak will become a regular shortly but we dont use wingers much. Morgan showed fleetingly against Hungary but I doubt he'll be a regular.  Doubt we'll see Forrest again.

Dykes was badly missed at the Euros. He's the best we have at that role. That some still think Adams or Shankland better is bizarre to me. But he's limited and unlikely to score freely. 

What else do we do? The idea Gault is some sort of saviour is likely fanciful. We'd all happily take Harvey Barnes if he'd come. Elliot Anderson too maybe especially if he could play striker but cant see him returning under the current regime.

Edited June 26 by Skyline Drifter

[Theroadlesstravelled]

Genuinely depressed if the likes of Porteous, Greg Taylor, and Souttar are the future. We're on the cusp of spending another generation in the wilderness of International football.

Euro 2024 was our chance to show some progression and we've given it to the Scottish Nigel Farage to play Brexitball.

[DiegoDiego]

6 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

This sort of reactionary change for change sake nonsense needs put in the bin. There's not an obvious way of vastly improving our best 11. With Hickey, Dykes and Tierney back in and McGinn / McGregor in better form we're not in all that bad shape. One of the few positives from the Euros was the return of Grant Hanley. He's not quite where he was yet but he's closer and has a year or two in him yet. The idea that Porteous and McKenna should be ahead of Hanley and Hendry as somone posted earlier is laughable.

We could do with upgrades particularly up front and at centre back and keeper but we have to work with what we have.

Gunn's a competent keeper but he's not the level of peak Gordon, McGregor, Marshall, nor Goram or Leighton. He's the best we have though.

Robertson's playing higher level football than anyone in our squad. He's still a top player. So is Tierney despite his perennial fitness issues. When they are both fit we need to stick with the formation that gets the best from them. Clearly Hickey starts on the other side. But Patterson and Johnston will be options in future, particularly if Hickey switched sides once Robertson is gone.

Hanley probably has another tournament in him and Hendry has done well. McKenna and Porteous are decent cover. I imagine we won't see Cooper again. Souttar? Maybe.

Gilmour, McGregor, McTominay, McGinn, Ferguson and Christie is an excellent midfield group. Lots of options in there. I guess we'll ease the likes of Jack and McLean out over the next year.

I assume Doak will become a regular shortly but we dont use wingers much. Morgan showed fleetingly against Hungary but I doubt he'll be a regular.  Doubt we'll see Forrest again.

Dykes was badly missed at the Euros. He's the best we have at that role. That some still think Adams or Shankland better is bizarre to me. But he's limited and unlikely to score freely. 

What else do we do? The idea Gault is some sort of saviour is likely fanciful. We'd all happily take Harvey Barnes if he'd come. Elliot Anderson too maybe especially if he could play striker but cant see him returning under the current regime.

 

Largely agree with this. I'm not sure Dykes puts clearly better than Adams though. They're different types of players and Dykes will be preferred against certain teams and Adams against others.

Who ends up third choice between Conway, Brown, Nisbet, Stewart, Doak and Shankland is still up for grabs. It seems clear that Shankland is favourite for now, but just as form and injuries propelled him into the side, the same could easily happen the other way over the next season.

I also agree that Hendry and Hanley take a bit more flack than they deserve. I'm probably a bit biased on Hendry, but I think he's decent enough, more good moments than bad, and is better on the ball than some of our other options in that part of the field.

The folk leaving a fit Tierney on the bench are surely at it.

Midfield is a bit more of a conundrum as much of it depends on what system we play and who is chosen elsewhere. I can't see anyone really breaking into the starting eleven other than Ferguson.

Not sure there's any point trying to project lineups more than a year or two away. I remember thinking Feruz and Rhodes would be battling it out for the golden boot at Russia.

[Old Bing]

18 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

And what would actually be different about that and how it currently is?

Baffles me people cry about the back 5, then pick the exact same 11 players and think saying "Robertsons a winger, not a wing back" makes any difference in the slightest.

I'm not sure what you mean, I'm assuming they mean in a back 4 with Robertson in front of a left back (Tierney) So it would be a massive difference. For Robertson and for us. As he would be playing a different position as would all the players.

Unless your suggesting the players would ignore the manager and decide themselves to play 532.