🔵🟡Scotland v Poland 🔴⚪

[Jacksgranda]

Not the first time we've lost to a last minute goal against Poland at Hampden.

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=238d8da92564b693JmltdHM9MTcyNTU4MDgwMCZpZ3VpZD0xZDEyMjk3YS01NjAxLTY3MWQtMWNlNi0zZDMzNTdlMTY2ZmMmaW5zaWQ9NTU0NA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=1d12297a-5601-671d-1ce6-3d3357e166fc&u=a1L3ZpZGVvcy9yaXZlcnZpZXcvcmVsYXRlZHZpZGVvP3E9c2NvdGxhbmQrditwb2xhbmQrMTk2NSZtaWQ9QUUxODRBN0VCNDg5RkY2QTg2MjBBRTE4NEE3RUI0ODlGRjZBODYyMCZGT1JNPVZJUkU&ntb=1

Not as disappointed as I was then.

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

1 minute ago, Jacksgranda said:

Not the first time we've lost to a last minute goal against Poland at Hampden.

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=238d8da92564b693JmltdHM9MTcyNTU4MDgwMCZpZ3VpZD0xZDEyMjk3YS01NjAxLTY3MWQtMWNlNi0zZDMzNTdlMTY2ZmMmaW5zaWQ9NTU0NA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=1d12297a-5601-671d-1ce6-3d3357e166fc&u=a1L3ZpZGVvcy9yaXZlcnZpZXcvcmVsYXRlZHZpZGVvP3E9c2NvdGxhbmQrditwb2xhbmQrMTk2NSZtaWQ9QUUxODRBN0VCNDg5RkY2QTg2MjBBRTE4NEE3RUI0ODlGRjZBODYyMCZGT1JNPVZJUkU&ntb=1

Not as disappointed as I was then.

3 in a row they've scored in injury time.   2 penalties and an offside goal.   

[Bacchus]

2 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

McKenna plays for Las Palmas in La Liga.

Yes because not wanted in England or by Old Firm. Did any Scottish team offer him a contract?

[Scary Bear]

2 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

Dunno.

Their players seem to play for slightly better teams overall but they aren’t a brilliant team. They failed to qualify outright from a much easier qualifying group as ours and had to scrape past Wales on penalties in the play-offs.

The answer is no. Our record against Poland Is drawtastic.

They certainly aren’t a brilliant team, but the other two boys who scored for them last night played for Roma and Fenerbahce. That’s decent quality and Hanley mistake apart, that’s another draw, which is probably what we deserved.

[Nightmare]

38 minutes ago, kennie makevin said:

Uruguay , twice World Cup winners and no idea how many South American championships has a smaller population than Scotland. They are by some distance the best performing nation by population size in football history. 

Correct. Uruguay, and to a lesser but still impressive extent Croatia disprove the notion that population has anything to do with the ability of a nation to produce top players and international teams.

(Where’s Supras these days anyway?)

[craigkillie]

Just now, Bacchus said:

Yes because not wanted in England or by Old Firm. Did any Scottish team offer him a contract?

You've just made that up though, we have no idea whether clubs elsewhere wanted him. Playing for Las Palmas in La Liga is clearly a better move than Rangers right now, so I don't know why you'd assume he wasn't offered anything. I am pretty sure most English Championship clubs would have been very interested in him given his performances at that level (and the level above), but he was given a chance to play top flight football in a very good league and presumably earn a bit more than most of them could pay.

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

The worst part about last night for me isn't the result,  it's the proof that our approach in the summer was so completely unnecessary.

If we'd put in 3 games like that in Germany Clarke would be facing minimal dissent, regardless of result.   

 

[Nightmare]

1 minute ago, Bacchus said:

Yes because not wanted in England or by Old Firm. Did any Scottish team offer him a contract?

How do you know nobody in England offered him a contract?

Just a hunch here, but I’d say there might be a chance that if offered a chance to play in La Liga and live in the Canary Islands, that some players might decide to do rather than sign for, say, Hull.

[eez-eh]

2 minutes ago, Bacchus said:

Yes because not wanted in England or by Old Firm. Did any Scottish team offer him a contract?

He’s playing in La Liga against Barca and Real Madrid but let’s talk him down because Aberdeen didn’t offer him a contract.

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

2 minutes ago, Bacchus said:

Yes because not wanted in England or by Old Firm. Did any Scottish team offer him a contract?

So he should be disappointed he's in La Liga instead of Plymouth?

[Skyline Drifter]

11 hours ago, Dunning1874 said:

Christie was our best player tonight and comfortably our biggest attacking threat, despite being given an even harder job in having to put up with the worst player on the park behind him in Robertson.

Robertson and McGinn are obviously two of the best players we've got, but neither of them have had a remotely competent game for Scotland since Spain away. While our form has gone to shit in that time there are plenty of individuals who've still made positive contributions and had good games, the pair of them however have been consistently f**king useless and need dropped.

 

7 hours ago, craigkillie said:

I usually like your posts but I genuinely think you must have been watching a different game to me in your assessment of all three of those players tonight.

^^^ what he said.

McGinn was excellent and I thought Christie was arguably our poorest starter on the night in terms of his general performance level. I accept didn't make any game changing mistakes in the way McGinn, Hanley, Ralston and McLean did.

Robertson was ok last night without being especially good.

7 hours ago, craigkillie said:

 

Not a huge Shankland fan but I thought he was good when he came on. Agree with you about the overall performance.

Really? I was in the stadium, parallel with the penalty area he was attacking when he came on and I thought he was an absolute mile off it. Never where he should have been, beaten every time the ball went near him and noticeably a yard or more short of pace when chasing anything. The latter isn't a surprise of course, we know it before he goes on, but he doesn't give us anything like the ability to harass opposing defenders that Adams and Dykes do.

 

1 hour ago, HoBNob said:

Is it perhaps your fondness for Dykes that has led to you criticising Adams and Shankland the most SD? 

I'm inevitably biased to an extent about Dykes but I'm surprised if people think Shankland offered anything positive last night when he came on. I'm perfectly capable of giving praise to both Adams and Shankland when they deserve it. I thought Shankland had a good game in Holland for instance and given his form 2nd half of last season there was a good argument for giving him more game time for Scotland. He's miles away from that level right now though. I think a lot of our fans are very guilty of over-rating Adams and his contributions lately. I like him but it's over two years since he had a decent game for Scotland.

 

1 hour ago, No_Problemo said:

Even apart from his horrific mistake, Grant Hanley must be one of the worst footballing centre halves you could ever see - surely with McKenna in there and his physicality you can play Porteous for a bit more balance.

This is a pretty wild take for me. There's not much football about Grant Hanley, you're right. The idea that Porteous is any better at it though is fanciful. Hanley's your basic stopper who had a useful turn of pace (not sure he still has it). McKenna is the one who has a wee bit of football about him though he's slow. He's currently in form and playing regularly though so he simply has to start.

Interesting to see if Clarke largely sends out the same again on Sunday despite the mistakes or makes changes.

[Billy Jean King]

Wildly chaotic game last night and can't help but think had Hanley not made that ridiculous challenge the overall mood would have been pretty different, a step in the right direction but again a catalogue of individual errors cost us.

McGinn was just as culpable as Hanley in their winner ! Overall there were positives but we all know where the issues lie yet there are precious few obvious solutions. Hanley needs replaced but by who ? Porto just as rash and with Tierney permanent crocked it's a nigh on impossible issue, only leaves Hendry who is limited too.

Clarke has to move Christie in beside Gilmour if persisting with that formation and drop McLean (I would persist for now) and up top might as well give Conway a go now as no one else is doing enough to deny that.

Positives were Mctominay was superb and Robertson and Gilmour looked better. Ralston bar his brain fart for the 1st pen was decent especially considering his lack of football. Again the haters need to come up with a viable alternative in the current injury situation. 

Oh and the fat bald uber kunt in West B8 (about row SS) who constantly hurled the most vile abuse at Andy Robertson for 90m can get himself to fuk. I and a couple of others called him out umpteen times but plenty more should have been. He slinked off after we equalised only to miraculously reappear at ft to start the abuse again. It was targeted and some of it was utterly vile. It was mentioned to a stewards who was totally uninterested but there is simply no place for that in any walk if life let alone a family audience that were present last night.

[gannonball]

8 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

He’s playing in La Liga against Barca and Real Madrid but let’s talk him down because Aberdeen didn’t offer him a contract.

He did very well against Real Madrid the other week too. Yes he had a brain fart last night but he gets in the Celtic team ahead of Scales for me.

Back to the game given I was expecting a routine win to nil for Poland I think Scotland did quite well last night. Easy for the heads to go being 2-0 down but they didnt and I felt the tempo the team was miles better than during the euros, it was basically individual errors that cost the game.

Edited September 6 by gannonball

[Skyline Drifter]

4 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

Wildly chaotic game last night and can't help but think had Hanley not made that ridiculous challenge the overall mood would have been pretty different, a step in the right direction but again a catalogue of individual errors cost us.

McGinn was just as culpable as Hanley in their winner ! Overall there were positives but we all know where the issues lie yet there are precious few obvious solutions. Hanley needs replaced but by who ? Porto just as rash and with Tierney permanent crocked it's a nigh on impossible issue, only leaves Hendry who is limited too.

Clarke has to move Christie in beside Gilmour if persisting with that formation and drop McLean (I would persist for now) and up top might as well give Conway a go now as no one else is doing enough to deny that.

Positives were Mctominay was superb and Robertson and Gilmour looked better. Ralston bar his brain fart for the 1st pen was decent especially considering his lack of football. Again the haters need to come up with a viable alternative in the current injury situation.

Tierney can't play centre back in a back four either. You can only use Tierney in there if it's a five so the same problem exists. You're still playing two from McKenna, Hanley, Hendry, Porteous and Souttar. Hendry helps. He's probably the best of them. But McKenna's not really effective as the sweeper. His best position is left centre back and therefore he's a victim of Tierney playing there when fit. This is why he's been playing the five ultimately. Mainly to fit in both Robertson and Tierney but partly because it leaves the centre backs less exposed than a four does. It's why things like last night happen when we play a four. We've an extra body further forward and had more ball, played better, offered a threat etc. But we lost three stupid goals partially from having a body less in there.

As for right back, you're right. Until Patterson comes back then our choices are basically Ralston (Celtic's reserve right back), Johnston (Sturm Graz' reserve right back), neither of whom get much football away from Scotland, or going back to Stephen O'Donnell! Ralston is limited, he played quite well last night and even laid a goal on for McTominay but he's always liable to give one away. Again, the chances of him doing so would be minimised by playing an extra centre half but do we want to do that?

[Bacchus]

Playing in La Liga for a team always struggling to avoid relegation. Yes there are the bright lights of La Liga and living in the Canary Isles.  As for not wanting to go to play for Rangers. Rangers are a better team than Las Palmas

[Jives Miguel]

6 minutes ago, Nightmare said:

Correct. Uruguay, and to a lesser but still impressive extent Croatia disprove the notion that population has anything to do with the ability of a nation to produce top players and international teams.

(Where’s Supras these days anyway?)

 

People like you are as bad as the folk on the other side of the debate. Why can't people have some nuance on this topic?

Population is obviously hugely important. Or is it just complete and utter chance that European football has been dominated by 5 of the most populous countries in the continent? Again it must be complete and utter chance that no country under 40mill people have won the World Cup in the post-plumber era?  

 

 

[Central Belt Caley]

25 minutes ago, Bacchus said:

Yes because not wanted in England or by Old Firm. Did any Scottish team offer him a contract?

McKenna playing in La Liga but he’s pish because the OF didn’t want him  

[Nightmare]

8 minutes ago, Jives Miguel said:

 

People like you are as bad as the folk on the other side of the debate. Why can't people have some nuance on this topic?

Population is obviously hugely important. Or is it just complete and utter chance that European football has been dominated by 5 of the most populous countries in the continent? Again it must be complete and utter chance that no country under 40mill people have won the World Cup in the post-plumber era?  

 

 

The poster “Jives Miguel” with his tryhard confrontational takes, is talking about nuance.

Nice one.

[Billy Jean King]

9 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Tierney can't play centre back in a back four either. You can only use Tierney in there if it's a five so the same problem exists. You're still playing two from McKenna, Hanley, Hendry, Porteous and Souttar. Hendry helps. He's probably the best of them. But McKenna's not really effective as the sweeper. His best position is left centre back and therefore he's a victim of Tierney playing there when fit. This is why he's been playing the five ultimately. Mainly to fit in both Robertson and Tierney but partly because it leaves the centre backs less exposed than a four does. It's why things like last night happen when we play a four. We've an extra body further forward and had more ball, played better, offered a threat etc. But we lost three stupid goals partially from having a body less in there.

As for right back, you're right. Until Patterson comes back then our choices are basically Ralston (Celtic's reserve right back), Johnston (Sturm Graz' reserve right back), neither of whom get much football away from Scotland, or going back to Stephen O'Donnell! Ralston is limited, he played quite well last night and even laid a goal on for McTominay but he's always liable to give one away. Again, the chances of him doing so would be minimised by playing an extra centre half but do we want to do that?

I agree if everyone was fit and available it would probably be back to 3 CBs but it seems highly unlikely in the foreseeable so until then I think last nights formation made sense. Christie would be better option deeper instead of McLean and I thought we got forward well 2nd half when Clarke was finally forced to go for it. The big winner from the formation last night was Mctominay but we really need to magic up a decent striker from somewhere.

Tierney really wouldn't been any worse in a 4 at CB than what we saw last night would he ?

[The Moonster]

Bully Gilmur.