Euro 2020 Scotland Vs Czech Republic


I like my stats, and in the main I do think these paint a picture that Scotland did have the better chances.

The flip side to that is there is no context here, these stats don’t tell you just how bad Scotland played.

Scotland had chances in the better areas, finishing was woeful though.

Those stats mainly show that they got comfortably beat by a side who weren't great.
 
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Sadly, it's all too predictable with Scotland. Led by dinosaurs of the game. Mentally stuck in the past, with no ideas. I would start with ripping up every single thing about the game here, from grassroots to the boardroom at the sfa. For decades those running the game have displayed outdated attitudes and have done nothing to improve the game. Every idea suggested by clubs or players or managers who think differently is shut down with the old tired excuses of funding, we are a small country etc.
That excuse no longer has weight. There are plenty of countries with our size and population who produce teams that can at least compete whilst trying to play good football, and who have players who have decent technical ability. The difference between those countries and ours is not one of money, it's attitude. They strive to be better, we don't. We accept mediocrity. Our clubs accept it, our players accept it, our fans accept it, and the media promotes it.
One of my sons was pretty decent at football for his school team, not pro level good but progressed well through to the under 16's. He was about the 3rd best player in that team. After that there was nowhere to go, the three of them weren't big n strong enough for the next level up which was under 18 ...they were still growing. They just drifted out of the game and just played the odd games of indoor 5's. If that was being replicated around the country then theres a definite gap in devlopment for that mid teen age where the players are still 'too wee'. He was about 5'5' then but over 6' by the time he was 20.
Dont get me started on Primary school mixed girl's n boys teams :rolleyes:
 
How do they work out xg.
Czech Rep had about 4 good shots saved by Marshall outwith the 2 goals, Scotland had maybe the same but Dykes effort was hand ball by Mcginn.
Basically how easy the chance is and the probability of scoring, from memory the Czech’s chances were all outside the area with most of them straight at Marshall.

Where as Dykes had two good chances within a 10 yard area, I’m not a proper statto with these things but I believe that’s the gist of it.

They analyse the position in terms of distance and angle along with the speed of the ball coming towards the striker.

I mentioned the context earlier, I don’t believe they account for who the striker is though which means the picture isn’t totally true.

Still gives a rough idea.

The Dykes effort stands by the way, if it had gone in then maybe it would have been a different story though.
 
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How do they work out xg.
Czech Rep had about 4 good shots saved by Marshall outwith the 2 goals, Scotland had maybe the same but Dykes effort was hand ball by Mcginn.
Honestly have no idea. Baffles me tbh

I’m old fashioned in the only stat that really matters is the score line.
 
The way we coach football, and our league structure meaning every team barring three or four are fighting relegation from day one, means nothing will change.

It’s been this way for decades. The 1976 change to the smaller Premier League was the start and the group of youngsters who fledged through from the old First Division were the last players we really produced en masse.

By the mid 90’s they were all retiring out of the game and we‘ve been left with journeymen battlers ever since.
 
Serious hat on for a second.

Scotland is a footballing backwater. And the tragic thing is, it really, really shouldn't be.

It is a country stuck firmly in the past. The mindset in this country, considering it is home to two of the "winningest" club sides in the history of the sport, is nothing short of fucking diabolical. If the nation as a whole could channel the big baws mindset that these clubs typically have had when it comes to their standards, we'd actually get somewhere. Neither Rangers fans, or even the tims, tolerate this garbage at their clubs - and never have. I'm not usually one to include the tims in this because its probably a compliment but if the country as a whole had the standards and demands that the Old Firm fans have of their clubs, our football culture would improve beyond belief.

We certainly wouldn't be celebrating bang average shot stoppers like David Marshall as if they are heroes. We wouldn't be giving our 50th in a row "jobs for the boys" appointment in the dugout which is doubtless another dinosaur drafted in from the lower leagues in England or from one of the diddy clubs in Scotland. We wouldn't be playing guys based on loyalty or who their mates are or what club side they play for. We wouldn't be turning a blind eye to the corrupt and incompetent governance of football in this country. We wouldn't be celebrating "just being there".

A lot of the blame lies with the support, and when I say the support, I actually mean the ones who ONLY support Scotland and no club side, the ones who support the diddy clubs, the ones who support English teams, and the ones who only show up for big games and don't care about football during the regular season. These people have dominated the Scotland support for too long and their mindset has crept in to the very fabric of football in this country. Acceptance of mediocrity, romanticism about "glorious failure", happy with participation, glorification of average performances, and turning a blind eye to incompetence.

I could do a similar post about the problems in the SFA and the general attitude to playstyle and coaching but every Rangers fan already knows about the debilitating problems of the SFA. However the root of it all is the culture and mindset, which starts and ends with the punters watching. It is no coincidence that we have languished and been routinely embarrassed, meanwhile Sweden, Croatia, Finland, Iceland, Wales, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czechia, Denmark, Belgium, NI, ROI, Greece and others have thrived in comparison - in many cases with lesser players.
 
From a managerial point of view Clarke has royally f#cked this up, from the moment he didn't give Gilmour 90 minutes against the Dutch ditto with Patterson v Luxembourg. His non selection of Adams yesterday was Ally McLeod level lunacy. He's now painted himself into a corner regarding the first two whereby if he selects them for clearly the most challenging fixture, it's an admittance that he has indeed f#cked up. For what it's worth he'll revert to type, pick an even more cautious side/set up, with possibly Forrest replacing the Motherwell Cafu.
 
One of my sons was pretty decent at football for his school team, not pro level good but progressed well through to the under 16's. He was about the 3rd best player in that team. After that there was nowhere to go, the three of them weren't big n strong enough for the next level up which was under 18 ...they were still growing. They just drifted out of the game and just played the odd games of indoor 5's. If that was being replicated around the country then theres a definite gap in devlopment for that mid teen age where the players are still 'too wee'. He was about 5'5' then but over 6' by the time he was 20.
Dont get me started on Primary school mixed girl's n boys teams :rolleyes:
For me, the age groups under ten should be playing on small pitches, with a smaller size ball. There is too much space for them at that age. Restricting the space would encourage more skill and touches on the ball. As for the coaching, I've seen some coaches shout at a player for shooting, yes, shooting. Why? Because that boy was told he was a defender and he wasn't allowed to go up the park. The boy was 7 years old, and this coach had decided he was a defender.
There should be an emphasis on skill and technique from a young age. These are just my thoughts as a fan of the game but it annoys me that coaches take the enjoyment out of the game at a young age.
 
Serious hat on for a second.

Scotland is a footballing backwater. And the tragic thing is, it really, really shouldn't be.

It is a country stuck firmly in the past. The mindset in this country, considering it is home to two of the "winningest" club sides in the history of the sport, is nothing short of fucking diabolical. If the nation as a whole could channel the big baws mindset that these clubs typically have had when it comes to their standards, we'd actually get somewhere. Neither Rangers fans, or even the tims, tolerate this garbage at their clubs - and never have. I'm not usually one to include the tims in this because its probably a compliment but if the country as a whole had the standards and demands that the Old Firm fans have of their clubs, our football culture would improve beyond belief.

We certainly wouldn't be celebrating bang average shot stoppers like David Marshall as if they are heroes. We wouldn't be giving our 50th in a row "jobs for the boys" appointment in the dugout which is doubtless another dinosaur drafted in from the lower leagues in England or from one of the diddy clubs in Scotland. We wouldn't be playing guys based on loyalty or who their mates are or what club side they play for. We wouldn't be turning a blind eye to the corrupt and incompetent governance of football in this country. We wouldn't be celebrating "just being there".

A lot of the blame lies with the support, and when I say the support, I actually mean the ones who ONLY support Scotland and no club side, the ones who support the diddy clubs, the ones who support English teams, and the ones who only show up for big games and don't care about football during the regular season. These people have dominated the Scotland support for too long and their mindset has crept in to the very fabric of football in this country. Acceptance of mediocrity, romanticism about "glorious failure", happy with participation, glorification of average performances, and turning a blind eye to incompetence.

I could do a similar post about the problems in the SFA and the general attitude to playstyle and coaching but every Rangers fan already knows about the debilitating problems of the SFA. However the root of it all is the culture and mindset, which starts and ends with the punters watching. It is no coincidence that we have languished and been routinely embarrassed, meanwhile Sweden, Croatia, Finland, Iceland, Wales, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czechia, Denmark, Belgium, NI, ROI, Greece and others have thrived in comparison - in many cases with lesser players.
I had a debate with a Queens Park diehard years ago who's two great loves in his life were QP and Scotland. I asked him how he dealt with constant failure with little prospect of ever winning anything. The attitude was that winning wasnt important, he enjoyed the 'purism' of the amateur game, a defeatist attitude which carried over to his support for Scotland, who I had to remind him were run by amateurs. At least he laughed with me and agreed the last point. My offer to take him to Ibrox to see a game being won was firmly rejected.

Its not going to get better guys, best just stick with the Rangers.
 
For me, the age groups under ten should be playing on small pitches, with a smaller size ball. There is too much space for them at that age. Restricting the space would encourage more skill and touches on the ball. As for the coaching, I've seen some coaches shout at a player for shooting, yes, shooting. Why? Because that boy was told he was a defender and he wasn't allowed to go up the park. The boy was 7 years old, and this coach had decided he was a defender.
There should be an emphasis on skill and technique from a young age. These are just my thoughts as a fan of the game but it annoys me that coaches take the enjoyment out of the game at a young age.
Agreed, worse when the parents are shouting to the bairns 'Get f*cking intae them' from the touchline.
 
Can I Wade in here.

My wee brother plays under 10s, 7 aside pitch, size 3/4 ball etc.

Their coach is brilliant, really good and encourages them to create space in order to play out from the back by splitting the defenders.

The keepers are encouraged to play passes, rather than % punts up the park. Being totally honest, I seldom see any big launches up the park.

It’s really good to watch, and usually entertaining as well as there’s some good kids encouraged to express themselves but also guided on their decision making.

I think this will be the norm in the next few years.
 
I was confident until i saw the line-up today. I thought when this was our game most likely to win out of the 3 that we should have gone 2 up top because if you don't score first then you end up chasing the game, which is exactly what happened.
Clarke went with sentiment, which there is no place for. On another day, yes, we could have taken something from the game but the players that let him down at crucial times today were O'Donnell, Dykes & to a degree Marshall.
People may say its harsh on Marshall as the boy has scored a wonder goal, but there is no reason he should be that far out. I don't think that goal get scored against the 2 goalies in our squad. He was almost in the centre circle ffs! I've never seen him as a Scotland number 1 - I think Gordon is superior.
O'Donnell is out of his depth and has always looked it, not just in this game. If he starts another game in this tournament then Clarke is not the man for the job medium to long term. That is how bad a decision i think that is.
Dykes, you know what you get, but starting up top by himself in a major tournament - no. I understand he wanted him to work the defence which Adams is less likely to do, but Adams on a bad day is as good as Dykes on a good day.

He says we need to learn from today in terms of decision making & take our chances, but will he learn from his own mistakes? Let's see.
Its pathetic from Clarke imo, he needs to learn to stop being so negative and the players are there to compete not learn ffs
 
From a managerial point of view Clarke has royally f#cked this up, from the moment he didn't give Gilmour 90 minutes against the Dutch ditto with Patterson v Luxembourg. His non selection of Adams yesterday was Ally McLeod level lunacy. He's now painted himself into a corner regarding the first two whereby if he selects them for clearly the most challenging fixture, it's an admittance that he has indeed f#cked up. For what it's worth he'll revert to type, pick an even more cautious side/set up, with possibly Forrest replacing the Motherwell Cafu.
Gilmour and Patterson will be given their chance……

When it’s all too late!
 
Can I Wade in here.

My wee brother plays under 10s, 7 aside pitch, size 3/4 ball etc.

Their coach is brilliant, really good and encourages them to create space in order to play out from the back by splitting the defenders.

The keepers are encouraged to play passes, rather than % punts up the park. Being totally honest, I seldom see any big launches up the park.

It’s really good to watch, and usually entertaining as well as there’s some good kids encouraged to express themselves but also guided on their decision making.

I think this will be the norm in the next few years.
Should be good in time for world cup 2034 if we qualify :)) , all joking aside your right coaching in Scotland at all levels is where we need to start.
 
I had a debate with a Queens Park diehard years ago who's two great loves in his life were QP and Scotland. I asked him how he dealt with constant failure with little prospect of ever winning anything. The attitude was that winning wasnt important, he enjoyed the 'purism' of the amateur game, a defeatist attitude which carried over to his support for Scotland, who I had to remind him were run by amateurs. At least he laughed with me and agreed the last point. My offer to take him to Ibrox to see a game being won was firmly rejected.

Its not going to get better guys, best just stick with the Rangers.
I made a broadly similar point in another thread a few days ago, citing the difference in reaction between the Argentina debacle and a 3 nil gubbing in a winner take all match 20 years later vs Morrocco. The fact that failure was not viewed as a debacle says everything about the shift in attitudes over those years and it's got much worse. ''Doh a dear'' ffs.
 
That's true but if your manager is coming out and saying that people deserve to play based on something that happened 6 months ago, you're probably right to be criticizing his input. For what it's worth I thought we would have to play well and be lucky to beat a team that qualifies as a consistently as the Czech Republic do. I don't think it's a massively surprising result.
I don’t think it was either tbf however the first tournament in 20 odd years we could have at least had a positive formation and players
 
Exactly. Going with the same tired old failures time after time and expecting things to be different. The game in this country has needed root and branch change for what seems like my entire life. Why can't we produce technically gifted, tactically aware footballers? Watching O'Donnell yesterday was genuinely painful. He'd be a Sunday league player down south.
The thing is mate, although I agree 100% with what you say, the rest of the clubs would need to buy into it and thats just not going to happen.

As a nation we should listen to borna. As he said, the Croatian league is technically better, that's where the real work needs to start.

In fact the more I think about it, Croatia is where we should be looking. Similar population and they have been an ever present since the country broke from Yugoslavia.

The fact, they've managed to get to a wc final, blows the small country excuse out the water. We need coaches from there, to teach our coaches who in turn teach our kids.

Make being comfortable on the ball, with good technique natural to them. Right now they dont look comfortable and need far too much time on the ball.
 
Your fourth paragraph is a really interesting point @BrooklynBlue. It's wound me up too.

It's hard to articulate properly, but I think there's an element of defeatism in that the reaction is microcosmic of the wider mentality. The narrative that this was some kind of unlucky failure - the game could have went either way - is nonsense. It was a complete disaster in the end. We lost the most important game of the group by picking the wrong players. Pure and simple.

It is probably me with both my Scotland and Rangers hat on, but i don't know how you look at that and take any positives. Maybe that's how Hibs fans react when they lose to Aberdeen or the likes on "another day".

It just isn't anywhere near good enough.

Scotland has little desire for improvement in football and - sadly - other aspects of daily life.

I can’t imagine there are many other nations that so easily embrace and perpetuate a ‘glorious failure’ narrative.

Instead of addressing why we fall short, we seem to revel in it.

Maybe an absolute hammering from England will create a pause for thought. I doubt it. We’d find excuses.
 

I like my stats, and in the main I do think these paint a picture that Scotland did have the better chances.

The flip side to that is there is no context here, these stats don’t tell you just how bad Scotland played.
I think it shows exactly what happened in the game, poor individual decisions and errors are ultimately what caused the game. The fact this happened is down some what to the coach not instilling a belief in the players, a system to bring out the best and picking best form available players.

It was obvious what team would be selected by the friendliest. Against the NL Gilmour and Patterson should have been given 60mins at least to see if they were ready and fitted in, it should have been the dress rehearsal. Luxembourg should have been about the fringe getting game time, those you’re thinking as possibles too impress or equally look bad and get dropped. It should have been giving a few confidence in attack and trying to get goals. Ultimately they done pretty much nothing and were played with no eye to the competition. He’d picked his team before we got there, picked it based on a game in November!

There was a stat the England team was first time no Man U or Liverpool players started for them, yet Scotland had a Liverpool and Man U starter. Of the starting line up 3 (or 4 if you include Hendry - Hanley too but has got promotion) play outside of the EPL or top teams from other leagues, if he’d picked on best available that number would have been 2 at most (GK no one available as first choice from any decent team). Scotland have good players, players that are comparable with some other teams so it’s down to application, system and set up that lets us down. A coach and players thinking they’re beaten before they go on the pitch. It’s tiresome as it is always the same. Yes the squad is thin and lacks quality in certain areas but I’m sure a good coach looking at that squad would think they’d actually be able to achieve something. Look at what Wales and Northern Ireland have done is last few years are Scotland really that far behind them in players!?? I’d say there isn’t much between the squads.
 
Right from the off you just knew I was going to be turgid. All creativity was on the bench and that sums up Clarke for me. As soon as we lost the first goal you knew it was a bigger struggle.

And how in God's name can anyone applaud that team off the park after that performance and result. Oh I forgot it was the eternal losers of the Tranny Army.
I thought at the time we were spoiled last season watching the swagger Rangers played with. We never played a short goal kick or even attempted to build and pass, no attacker can stand within 12 yards of you, yet we aren't capable of taking a pass under relatively no pressure at the back.

I honestly think you could go to the deepest parts of the Amazon, find 3 men from a tribe who have never even seen anything or anyone from the modern world, fire a ball at them and they'd control it and be more composed than the 4 haddys we had at the back yesterday
 
I’d be curious to see where ours is coming from, I presume the two Dykes chances and the Robertson one (I think the Robertson one wasn’t easy).

Wonder if there’s a breakdown anywhere.
Hard and low, across the goal...2 simple instructions drilled into all of us at a young age. Robertson's should have been nestling in the bottom corner
 
I like my stats too so thanks for posting.

I also wonder how many of the xG were added when we were 2-0 down and they were happy to concede possession to us.

The xG fuels the 'we were unlucky' narrative. The question for me is how much is our lack of goals down to poor luck or poor quality
That is very true. I think it just highlights Scotland’s lack of quality when it comes to sticking the ball in the net. The good chances were created (higher xG) but the strikers / person taking the chance is shite at scoring (lower G).
 
I had a debate with a Queens Park diehard years ago who's two great loves in his life were QP and Scotland. I asked him how he dealt with constant failure with little prospect of ever winning anything. The attitude was that winning wasnt important, he enjoyed the 'purism' of the amateur game, a defeatist attitude which carried over to his support for Scotland, who I had to remind him were run by amateurs. At least he laughed with me and agreed the last point. My offer to take him to Ibrox to see a game being won was firmly rejected.

Its not going to get better guys, best just stick with the Rangers.

Queen's Park probably aren't the right target to direct any ire at. Some clubs aren't in the position to win every week due to their resources, that doesn't stop them being of benefit to the football of the country as a whole.

They have a club style and approach to their play and coaching unlike 90% of Scottish clubs. Most with resources well beyond theirs.

Their youth system is progressive and takes on boys deemed 'too wee' by other clubs.

The result of that - Scotland's best and most decorated player yesterday came through their youth academy. He'd have most likely fell out of the game without their set-up.

We could do with more teams in Scotland with their outlook and approach.
 
I could have told you that game was going to happen as soon as they qualified.

Scotland have fully embraced the diddy team mindset of being 'just happy to be there'. About a decade ago, Roy Keane absolutely slaughtered ROI fans and coaches for having that mentality. You won't hear such dissenting voices in the Scottish media, instead you have Darren Fletcher giving it the happy clappy pish post-match and them talking about how great the atmosphere was when the game started.

Ryan Christie was always going to start despite turning in a season that shouldn't have even seen him included in the squad. David Marshall was always going to start in goal despite being dropped by a Derby team who were on the verge of being relegated from the English Championship. This is allowed to pass without much scrutiny or criticism.

Clarke basically gets a free pass from the media because he won a few penalty shoot outs that another coach put him in the position for. No one asks why a manager is entering a tournament without even roughly knowing his best starting eleven. No one asks why we're the only country that seems to see lumping it up to the big guy up front and picking a genuinely dreadful footballer at right back so he can challenge for long diagonals as legitimate offensive tactics in 2021.

It's utter pish and being a wee country isn't the excuse for it.
Brilliantly summed up. Agree 100%. Clarke is vastly overrated. He has no tactical awareness. An utter relic
 
Argument could be made that any actual coaches that were hired would know less than the regular teachers

Not sure there would be much of an argument that Uefa qualified coaches wouldn't provide better football coaching in their specialised area than PE teachers.

Scotland needs more qualified youth coaches coaching a wider amount of players. That's the approach taken on by Germany and Portugal who you mentioned in a previous post.
 
Exactly. Going with the same tired old failures time after time and expecting things to be different. The game in this country has needed root and branch change for what seems like my entire life. Why can't we produce technically gifted, tactically aware footballers? Watching O'Donnell yesterday was genuinely painful. He'd be a Sunday league player down south.
It was embarrassing when he couldn’t basically control the ball and it bobbled of both his legs and trundled out for a throw and his lack of a football brain was so evident when he ran right into the path of Christie.He was out of his depth and that comes down to the manager picking a Motherwell player signed on a free because nobody else wanted him.
 
That is very true. I think it just highlights Scotland’s lack of quality when it comes to sticking the ball in the net. The good chances were created (higher xG) but the strikers / person taking the chance is shite at scoring (lower G).
I agree. The Dykes chance at 2-0 is a good example.

It comes to him quickly & unexpectedly but he hits it straight at the keeper. At international level you need someone who's putting that away
 
I blame Davy Peace Process as well he slaughtered the strikers during the last friendly game and basically said they were hopeless cos we missed some chances......very nasty did not help at all. It wasnt a bad performance we could have scored 4 or 5 and for the first time in a long time had a partnership in attack whch was linking up quite well.

Dykes set him up and Adams finished nicely.

Big lad missed a heady that was a great chance as if Dalglish, Superally or any other Scotland striker hasnt missed a sitter, and its a friendly fs.

Had we stuck with the same 2 i really think we would have won or at the very least gave them more problems and got a draw, which would have left us in a tough position but not out of it. Over now though, i wouldnt be surprised if its a point against England with backs to the wall performance crowding the box, tactical fouls 7 yellas (2 right backs ?), and then last game the roof comes in. You will get snp saying this is better than winning the competition.

Its quite sad watching the tourney and game after game where you think these sides are not that strong or powerful and yet no matter who we draw we find a way to feck it up ourselves. The Czechs and their manager seemed to be thinking just sit back defend properly wait for them to make an arse of it they always do. Ive also noticed all the teams managers look smart, tidy, seem polite and respectful, ours looks like an extra from rab c or still game.
 
Sadly there a lot of parents who act like that. Sucks the joy out of you when watching your kids play.
See parents like that, they should get one chance. Abuse of any sort and your out.

There was a youth football competition held over a weekend a few years back at the king george playing fields in Renfrew

On the sunday afternoon, a mass brawl erupted in one of the games between parents. Police called, arrests made,match abandoned with kids in tears. Absolutely disgraceful. Wonder how many decided to quit playing after that debacle. No wonder the skatepark is the busiest place for the youngsters.
 
For me, the age groups under ten should be playing on small pitches, with a smaller size ball. There is too much space for them at that age. Restricting the space would encourage more skill and touches on the ball. As for the coaching, I've seen some coaches shout at a player for shooting, yes, shooting. Why? Because that boy was told he was a defender and he wasn't allowed to go up the park. The boy was 7 years old, and this coach had decided he was a defender.
There should be an emphasis on skill and technique from a young age. These are just my thoughts as a fan of the game but it annoys me that coaches take the enjoyment out of the game at a young age.
Back when I played it was all about who can smash a player on the other team hardest, who can kick a long ball furthest and which parents on the side were going to get into a punch up. Can’t imagine much has changed in youth football over the years

and we wonder why we’re absolutely gash at football as a nation. All our talented skilful players end up chucking it and we end up with players like O’Donnell playing in our national team
 
As soon as I seen the interview with the scotland manager when he said “the first games is not a must win but a must not lose” I had that sinking feeling that just screamed “I cannot set up a team to take the game to an opponent”
 
I blame Davy Peace Process as well he slaughtered the strikers during the last friendly game and basically said they were hopeless cos we missed some chances......very nasty did not help at all. It wasnt a bad performance we could have scored 4 or 5 and for the first time in a long time had a partnership in attack whch was linking up quite well.

Dykes set him up and Adams finished nicely.

Big lad missed a heady that was a great chance as if Dalglish, Superally or any other Scotland striker hasnt missed a sitter, and its a friendly fs.

Had we stuck with the same 2 i really think we would have won or at the very least gave them more problems and got a draw, which would have left us in a tough position but not out of it. Over now though, i wouldnt be surprised if its a point against England with backs to the wall performance crowding the box, tactical fouls 7 yellas (2 right backs ?), and then last game the roof comes in. You will get snp saying this is better than winning the competition.

Its quite sad watching the tourney and game after game where you think these sides are not that strong or powerful and yet no matter who we draw we find a way to feck it up ourselves. The Czechs and their manager seemed to be thinking just sit back defend properly wait for them to make an arse of it they always do. Ive also noticed all the teams managers look smart, tidy, seem polite and respectful, ours looks like an extra from rab c or still game.
We have all seen this movie before and the inevitable patronizing “ah the plucky scots”
 
Agreed, worse when the parents are shouting to the bairns 'Get f*cking intae them' from the touchline.
My old man came and watched me through under 15’s right through to amateur in my late 30’s and this was his mantle.
Then he went to see his grandson from under 7 ‘ still under 13’s And he would act the same same -get intae them !
Funny when I think back , but not funny at the tine :)
 
I had a debate with a Queens Park diehard years ago who's two great loves in his life were QP and Scotland. I asked him how he dealt with constant failure with little prospect of ever winning anything. The attitude was that winning wasnt important, he enjoyed the 'purism' of the amateur game, a defeatist attitude which carried over to his support for Scotland, who I had to remind him were run by amateurs. At least he laughed with me and agreed the last point. My offer to take him to Ibrox to see a game being won was firmly rejected.

Its not going to get better guys, best just stick with the Rangers.
Was it a guy called KeithMcAllister by any chance?
 
I think Clarke will go with the following team for the England game:

Marshall
Hanley Cooper Hendry
Forrest McTominay McGinn McGregor Robertson
Adams Nisbet

Personally I'd have Gilmour in ahead of McGregor.

Forrest actually did well when he came on and offered a lot more than O'Donnell but that wouldn't have been hard.

Can Forrest defend?

Defending is going to be important to say the least.
 
Not a hope in hell. England will win comfortably, and after today’s showing I’m pretty sure Croatia will too.

The facts are that Scotland are only in this tournament because 1) it’s been expanded, and 2) there was a convoluted qualification process that effectively allowed countries two or three bites at the cherry, and even then we only scraped in by the skin of our teeth.

In short, we’re pish and will be found out at this level.
Told you so. :D
 
Some wonderful revisions going on now about how Scotland didnt play badly, they were just not clinical enough etc.

What tosh. They were beyond abysmal and for all their running about like headless chickens they never looked like being able to get anything from the game.

Now, they either revert totally to form and get tanked vs Croatia or the England buzz dopes them a little longer and they pull of the unimaginable.

Either way, a mistake ridden performance like this Czech game indicates its closer to the norm than a blip for this group.
 
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