How good are Scotland?

Bounty Hunter

fourth seeds who were written off when the group was drawn, especially after the joke that was Bertie Vogts tenure. Yet they now find theselves leading the group that has both WC finalists (Italy & France) in it and a WC quaterfinalist (Ukraine) with only two games to go. They are playing with huge amounts of self belief and confidence and after todays result (3-1 vs Ukraine) there are only 3 teams going for the two qualifying places. Although it must be noted they could still not make it to the finals, they have been sensational so far. However is this a true reflection of the quality in the squad? i dont know, but well done boys.

mike65

Are they punching above thier weight or being lucky?

The results say they are a team working in harmony and with belief, and they have some half-decent players too!

Mike.

Mossy Monk

Scotland is an example of good management. Take note FAI.

~Rebel~

Aye, Scotland is the shining beacon of an answer to those who say Ireland deserve to be where we are and simply dont have the players to qualify for any tournaments.

Our squad is probably on a par with Scotlands (probably even slightly better, not sure), but they have spirit, beleif, confidence, work as a team and play to their strengths, as well as being led by good management. Pretty much all the things we lack.

To be honest i never would have expected Scotland to be able to get out of this group. 3 great other teams to contend with, and they're at the top. Incredible stuff, and something to be very proud of. Will help no end with their rankings for the WC qualifiers as well, so they can push on and keep qualifying.

DubDani

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

especially after the joke that was Bertie Vogts tenure.

For some strange reason IMO Berti Vogts is one of the reasons that they are standing where they are now.

He made changes to the setup of the scottish FA and their U21 and youth teams. He also brought loads of the younger players into the team and gave them the opportunity to play on international level. His problem was that all these young players (expectedly) couldn't deliever the results straight away. That cost him (deservedly) his job in the end, but strangely enough they wouldn't be in their current position without him and his changes.

_blank_

We'll be saying the same about Stevie Staunton in a few years.

He's playing lots of potential for Ireland.

Unearthly

I have a real bad feeling for them against Georgia away on Wednesday. Hopefully they'll win but a slip up there could screw them up big time.

A Dub in Glasgo

How good are Scotland?

Better than Ireland and good enough to be top the group of death after 10 games

shane86

Their squad on paper isnt as good as Ireland, but they have more drive and determination than us, as well as good management, and Ill be delighted if they go through. McFaddens goal in Paris was unbelieveable.

5:45 Wednesday on BBC 2 is it? At least there is one game on that matters so

MrJoeSoap

shane86 wrote: »

Their squad on paper isnt as good as Ireland, but they have more drive and determination than us

Luckily enough football isn't played on paper.

kinaldo

I would be disappointed if Italy or France weren't at the European Championships next summer. Kinda like when Holland failed to make 2002. These competitions are always more interesting with potential winners involved.

No disrespect to Scotland, if they qualify then they certainly deserve to be there ahead of either France or Italy. To top that group would be an incredible achievement.

Blackjack

Scotland will top their group if they beat Georgia on Wednesday and take a point from their Game against Italy.

If France drop points against Ukraine or Lithuania, then beating Georgia on Wednesday should be enough for them to qualify.

eirebhoy

We've better defenders and better strikers. They have a better midfield but injuries haven't been kind to us. If we could keep our best players fit we have better players than Scotland in almost every position. A central midfield of Ferguson and Brown is excellent for them though.

mike65

Still need a decent manager though!

Mike.

Balmed Out

As a collection of players we have a better team and a far better squad but they play far better together. They are very well organised and look like they play together reguraly, were a complete shambles.

Dub13

This group proves what Giles has been saying for the last couple of years,there are no great teams in international football.A well organized,well managed team with some passion and balls can go far.

Well done Scotland.

ziggy

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PHB

We've better strikers and defenders. They've better midfielders. We really fall down in midfield, really badly, and this is one area it's looking bleak for us.
Maybe S. Reid/Ireland can form a good partnership in the future, Carsley shouldn't play after this campaign, he's not good enough and he's stopping others.

Hunt / S.Reid / Ireland / Duff
would be good, but even then, we need something from the manager that he hasn't shown he can give.

Sizzler

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Scotland is an example of good management. Take note FAI.

Bang on my friend. Player for player I think we are better in most cases. Just goes to show you what a decent manager can do for you.

Stan will remain in charge as long as people are stupid enough to pay top whack to see the Irish team . They made €10m from last nights game FFS :eek: 10% of that would pay a years salary to a top class manager with experience, but no....we stick with Staunton.

eirebhoy

Sizzler wrote: »

Stan will remain in charge as long as people are stupid enough to pay top whack to see the Irish team . They made €10m from last nights game FFS :eek: 10% of that would pay a years salary to a top class manager with experience, but no....we stick with Staunton.

The FAI are planning to sell 10,000 premium seats for Lansdowne at €10k each. You have the seat for 10 years. They had to up it to 10,000 so they could afford to pay their share of the stadium. I think they'd have a much easier time selling them if they employed a top manager. 10% of the money from premium seats would pay the wages of an excellent manager for the next decade.

Kanney

How good were Greece? But i've been really impressed by Scotland, and its not as if they're grinding out 1-nil results, its entertaining too... Long Live McFadden, 50-1 to score against France, thank you 1 euro coin.

Call Me Jimmy

Dub13 wrote: »

This group proves what Giles has been saying for the last couple of years,there are no great teams in international football.A well organized,well managed team with some passion and balls can go far.

Well done Scotland.

Exactly. Sure Grease won the euros ffs.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Call Me Jimmy wrote: »

Exactly. Sure Grease won the euros ffs.

Yeah and who was their star, it was that one with the funny name,





Olivia Newton John that was it,




had a great performance too...

OhNoYouDidn't

The bulk of the Scottish side are Scots who began their carrers domestically and are either there now (Brown, Weir, Hutton, McCullogh) recently moved to England (Pearson, Miller, Gordon, Maloney).

Its a combination of good management and a resurgant domestic game. Barstoolers take note.

Green Giant

They're top of a group containing three of the eight 2006 World Cup quarter-finalists, two of whom got to the final itself. Also, qualification is nearly over, so they're definitely up there on merit. In previous years, teams such as Lithuania and Georgia would have frustrated them but eight wins from ten games is remarkable. I'd hate to see them blow it, but I don't think they will.
I also believe Italy and not France will accompany them to the finals.

Keano

Shows what a decent manager can do...

I hope they get there. Playing some decent football and have a bit of pride in their bellies!!

event

well it shows what two decent managers can do

shane86

Is BBC NI showing the match? The paper says BBC 2 in the evening (5:45 iirc), but i just saw an ad for the nordies match at 7:20 odd, cant imagine them doing back to back football on a Wednesday evening. According to http://www.4thegame.com/matchcentre/next-seven-days.html kick off is at 18:00 (dunno if they mean in Georgia or in Scotland, but the match is being played in Georgia).

edit- the BBC website says N.I BBC will be showing the Scottish match but makes no mention of the Nordies game Wouldnt bank on them showing the Scots unfortunately. Besides that the Scots match isnt over when the Nordies kick off.

Bounty Hunter

1-0 down in Georgia after 35mins, and a fan just ran onto the pitch but luckily didnt do anything stupid (except invading the pitch itself) a la Milan vs Celtic.

d22ontour

Finished 2:0 , shame they made a balls out of it after playing so well so far in their group.

ziggy

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KdjaCL

Scotland played tonight with 8 prem players and 3 SPL, usually they have 7 SPL and 4 PL. Brown Mac Donald Hartley and someone else may have played ?

Bit odd but they looked clueless tonight with no outlet, anyone think the above may have something to do with it?


*numbers may not be exactly right but close.

Finished 2:0 , shame they made a balls out of it after playing so well so far in their group.

Why? They had to beat italy before the georgia game and now they have to beat italy after the georgia, no change.

kdjac

ziggy

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kinaldo

Looks like we're heading for a European Championships with no British or Irish players involved. Who will the media focus their attention on? We should have a Celtic Cup or something.

StickyMcGinty

still 0-0 in the France v Lituania game... the scots could get lucky yet..

KdjaCL

StickyMcGinty wrote: »

still 0-0 in the France v Lituania game... the scots could get lucky yet..

its 2-0 to france


kdjac

Dub13

Yea two Henry goals.

ziggy

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A Dub in Glasgo

Dreadful performance from Scotland. Interesting end to the goup on the cards

StickyMcGinty

KdjaCL wrote: »

its 2-0 to france


kdjac

bah! it was still 0-0 when i checked

if scotland throw this away i'll feel pretty sorry for them, but i suppose beating the french home and away is no good if you take a beating in Tsibilisi

goals from the scottish game are up on 101greatgoals.com if anyones interested, sloppy defending for both goals. same that was evident against the Ukraine at the weekend.

shane86

Very disappointed for them after coming so far, the ref was right infront of the penalty box foul, really should have given it. And the pitch invasion halted play which looked promising Would love to see them qualify but taking Italy is a tall order. The general bad luck re the decisions seemed to deflate their drive.