Steve Clarke - What did O'Donnell do wrong?

As the debate regarding the berth rages on, Jack – and whilst we must stress the Rangers midfielder was only having a laugh – revealed that O’Donnell is sarcastically referred to as the “teacher’s pet” on Scotland duties.

“Stephen O’Donnell at Motherwell worked with Steve Clarke at Kilmarnock when he was manager there,” said Jack.


“So SOD – which is his nickname – is the teacher’s pet, every day he’s over at the gaffer or at the staff table. So I’d definitely say him.”
 
Might give him a laugh. But that's not the question here. Fans often want players from their club to get picked for their national side but it's not necessarily the best thing for a young, inexperienced player - or for the national side.

So what you're saying is that O'Donnell would put in better performances than Patterson?
 
Stubborn, bitter prick unwilling to pick his best team. Deserves all he gets.

In the tournament through the most extreme of back doors and he has the arrogance of a successful man.
 
I don’t want Patterson anywhere near that side on Friday.

O’Donnell will get shredded.
To be honest, I think for the England game I'd rather Forrest start than Patterson. Patterson up against Foden or Sterling is going to be a tough ask, and you just know after the game people will say "that's why he should be nowhere near the team".

Forrest while extremely limited, would offer an attacking threat that O'Donnell doesn't offer at all.
 
Someone said in the H&H hot mic watch along before the game “Clarke is going to Kilmarnock the shit out of this”. He was spot on! That’s the problem, a national team manager who’s only occasion of setting up his own system was that Kilmarnock team.

The SFA get what they deserve.
We should count our blessings, Andy Robertson got the nod over Greg Taylor.
 
He’s hardly going to hang his own player out to dry in the press, during a tournament, is he?

I’m not convinced O’Donnell will start on Friday but he might still be required at some stage, whether that be against England or Croatia.

It’ll be about keeping his confidence up as I’m sure O’Donnell knows he didn’t play well, neither did the majority of his teammates too btw.
 
Tbh, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Forrest start at RWB ahead of O’Donnell on Friday

We all know it should be Patterson but Clarke is a fucking dinosaur so won’t Chuck a youngster in
 
Aye, he was so good defensively that he decided to help Czech Rep with their defending and tackle Ryan Christie.
Yes, he didn't make any glaring errors defensively, but he was hopeless in everything else he did & Clarke knows that.

Also, going by Clarke's logic he must have thought Marshall was trash as his job is to keep the ball out of the net yet he didn't seem like he wanted to protect his goal at the 2nd.

If he plays O'Donnell on Fri then Clarke is done for me.
 
Wasn't O'Donnell also the player who was slow to shutdown the cross for the first goal? Failed in his first duty then, no?
If he is going down the first duty of defence line then where was O'Donnell for the second goal? Shot from just inside the Scotland half on the right side, you know the part where the right back usually defends.
He was played as a WB not a FB and he was sh*te both going forward and defending. Clarke defending the indefensible. He will end up in the East end of Glasgow.
 
I'd like to see some advanced stats from the game - I would bet money that shows that O'Donnell completed more passes to Marshall than to all other players combined.

More than the backheel out, crashing into Christie, failing to pick up man in 2nd phase at the corner, that is what the worst problem was.
 
He has to back the players up slagging them isnt going to help, the boy is rubbish though England and Croatia are just to target that side. Hes really looks terrified and his teammates are nervous playing beside him. I think Patterson will play though with 2 right backs which would just sum up what an absolute arse of these finals this fool has made of it.
 
Well, first goal on Monday he's the closest defensive player to stop the cross coming into an already crowded penalty area. No need for him to hesitate. Can clearly see their man making the run and McGinn is on his own against two Czech players. O'Donnell needs to be out quicker - not lumbering towards him once he's just about to cross.

It's basic stuff.
 
That’ll be on his gravestone.

He’s finished as Scotland manager. Deplorable stuff. Dinosaur
No he isn't barely any of the media have criticised him for Monday there's too much of 'at least we are there' attitude within them. Had Mcleish been in charge for example the coverage would have been totally different.

O'Donnell is only in that squad because he played for Clarke at Kilmarnock had that not happened then he wouldn't be anywhere near the squad giving him form last season. If Clarke puts the bottle down and watches the first goal back then he will see a clear error from his man.
 
Aye, he was so good defensively that he decided to help Czech Rep with their defending and tackle Ryan Christie.
Yes, he didn't make any glaring errors defensively, but he was hopeless in everything else he did & Clarke knows that.

Also, going by Clarke's logic he must have thought Marshall was trash as his job is to keep the ball out of the net yet he didn't seem like he wanted to protect his goal at the 2nd.

If he plays O'Donnell on Fri then Clarke is done for me.
Exactly - Marshalls first job is a goalkeeper so fck knows why he's escaped criticism for losing a goal by wandering about in midfield.
 
What did he do right? He should not be getting played as a right wingback, he’s got no attacking sense! 3 at the back is to suit Robertson and KT in the same team. Without KT there’s no need to shoehorn players in. Christie as well, utter shit form yet he starts over Adams! Clark is going to %^*& this up!
 
At least we know Patterson won’t get an opportunity to show his stuff. Will maybe get a brief appearance in the last game when we’ve already been knocked out. Clarke is a dinosaur. At least when we get ripped apart by England there won’t be any rangers players to blame.
 
I almost, almost got myself up for supporting Scotland enthusiastically on Monday. Until I saw the team sheet. No ambition, the old pals act and got the result to match. Now this pish?

Reading that reads to me like he might start him again on Friday and if so, I hope he gets torn apart and Scotland get a right doing. Just to get it up that old alky cunt.
 
I want him to play on Friday, i don't want Nathan to play to be the scapegoat when they get beat
I don't want any Rangers player playing for that lot, but there you go, the way Clarke defended his player by saying that it's because of what or who he is tells me it's religeon that he is digging at, a real mentally challenged.
 
He's really going to put Stephen O'Donnell up against an overlapping Ben Chilwell and roaming-agent-of-chaos Raheem Sterling?

As an Englishman, this is the stuff of dreams.
 
That just about seals the deal that Patterson won't get any minutes in the next two games. Clarke is clearly in full on 'don't back down, double down' mode.

Good experience for the lad but maybe for the best if he isn't directly associated with a team heading for 0 points and 0 goals, can come back fresh to a team who appreciates his talents over absolute jobbers like O'Donnell.
 
Not only is he a better player / athlete....Patterson has a confidence, enthusiasm, and energy that you can sense just needs to be released

Clarke is doubling down because he’s bitter and stubborn

This isn’t a Rangers thing because most Scotland fans recognized O’Donell is not the right man for the job
 
If Clarke wants to play a back 4, he could argue that O’Donnell is the best choice but he’s playing him wingback.

Patterson, Forrest, Fraser and even Armstrong could play that role to a far higher standard.

He’s beginning to look utterly clueless.
I’d say that ship has sailed and he’s been there for a while as he’s playing practically everyone out of position meaning he’s not getting the best out of them and has no clue how to turn a game if when plan A fails. One of the most pointless subs and call ups for that matter was brining on McGregor who offered nothing when he came on.
 
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I think Clarke with that statement is clearly under huge pressure, it's almost like he now realises he's out his depth, it could be the end for him after the Croatia game as the tartan army are turning on him, for the players it's not too late to oust him and carver and give eg wee neil a call to pick the team.
 
The fact this is even being discussed just highlights how fucked in the head this country is when it comes to football

We're going to get shagged rotten by England and only then will the knives properly come out for Clarke, which again highlights our wee guy mentality that its only about England rather than holding ourselves to higher standards against the mid/small sized countries like our own.

There's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't be consistently doing well in tournaments like Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Denmark and so on. You could make an argument we have a better league than all of those, and we certainly have more footballing tradition than them.

Again, we're a country thats fucked in the head when it comes to football.
 
By the time Croatia game comes around and we out on our arse, he may make a few changes. Can't see many on Friday tbh
 
To be honest, I think for the England game I'd rather Forrest start than Patterson. Patterson up against Foden or Sterling is going to be a tough ask, and you just know after the game people will say "that's why he should be nowhere near the team".

Forrest while extremely limited, would offer an attacking threat that O'Donnell doesn't offer at all.

Alternatively it could be a breakout performance that tells everybody he is and has always been ready - he will come against strong opposition eventually, no need to ease him into it - Billy Gilmour got thrown in against Liverpool for something like his 10th senior game and was man of the match!

He might NOT have that breakout performance either, but one thing is absolutely certain - he won't be worse than O'Donnell.
 
Just know he will double down now and play the same team other than Adams. After the inevitable pumping he will change it for the last game when it is too late
 
Stephens first job is a defender and yet you played him as an attacking wing back to provide creativity?

Boom...exactly mate.

An effective 3 5 2 needs dynamic wingback with the desire and ability to attack e.g. Nathan Patterson. Not a useless diddy with a touch like an elephant and zero positional awareness.
 
As the debate regarding the berth rages on, Jack – and whilst we must stress the Rangers midfielder was only having a laugh – revealed that O’Donnell is sarcastically referred to as the “teacher’s pet” on Scotland duties.

“Stephen O’Donnell at Motherwell worked with Steve Clarke at Kilmarnock when he was manager there,” said Jack.


“So SOD – which is his nickname – is the teacher’s pet, every day he’s over at the gaffer or at the staff table. So I’d definitely say him.”
I’m shocked haha
 
O'Donnell is a fullback. When you set the team up with attacking wingbacks, you don't pick Stephen O'Donnell. It's not his fault that he isnt suited to the role that the manager picked him for. Thats down to Clarke. We conceded 1 goal from a decent attacking move and 1 from an absolute howler - Marshall's positioning was laughable.

O'Donnell didnt do anything wrong. He was picked to play a role he wasn't suited by and he did it to the best of his very limited ability. It's entirely on Clarke's selection and tactics.
 
O'Donnell will be humiliated by sterling, foden etc, totally out of his depth, painful to watch, saying that %^*& O'Donnell the t@rrier bastard.
 
ODonnel is shit but so are the rest bar 1 or 2.

Really? You honestly think most of the team are shit?

We’ve got players that are starters for their clubs in the EPL, championship and playing in Europe with rangers and Celtic

Don’t want to overstate how good they are but there’s a decent group of players there that a good manager would get more out of

The only real weaknesses I see are at CB and Striker, also taking into account Tierney gets shoe-horned in
 
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