Euro nations cup

[coatbridgejambo]

34 minutes ago, Cruyff said:

We fought hard tonight. All of them. That sort of effort and aggression has been lacking recently. Much more a Scotland of old performance. We even played some good football at times. 

Hopefully they can continue like this. 

Can't disagree with any of this. 

Just need the effort shown tonight in all of the games & with players to come back in there is definitely hope there that I didn't have before kickoff.

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

Shite 1-0 wins add the same ranking points as 5-0 Belgium type performances - it all adds up. It’s how Ireland ground it’s way up the rankings.

[karipidis]

19 minutes ago, Doc Rob said:

Dykes might not be an amazing player, but tonight was the same as v the Czechs - as soon as he was presented with a decent chance, he buried it.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but did Scotland not play 4 at the back in this game? I’m not sure about that, but Clarke certainly dropped Jack and McBurnie and played Fraser from the start. Bingo, Scotland look better and win the game.

Nope 5 at the back. McTominay, Gallagher and Considine as the 3 CBs

[Pasquale for King]

50 minutes ago, OTT said:

 

Tierney still out right? Leaves Greg Taylor... gulp. IMO Hickey should be getting the 3rd choice LB spot ahead of him. Laddie can barely get game time at Celtic, Hickey is playing first team football in the serie A and can play either side of the pitch. 

 

See for the stick that Considines call up was getting though, I actually think there is something to be said for calling up players who aren't necessarily international standard for a one off. I think it will mean the world to them and you'll get a player who is 100% focused on making sure their call up is a good memory for them. I was really impressed with Considine, very solid. Our whole defensive unit is looking like quite a force now. 

Interestingly, Gallacher is on a free in the summer. Already played with Halkett in a notoriously difficult to beat Livi team, Berra is on the decline and Souttar needs to focus on his recovery. Could do a lot worse (actually we have!). 

He’s played nearly every game at LB for Celtic this season 🙈, the other guy has had a few problems if you hadn’t heard. 

Edited October 11, 2020 by Pasquale for King

[Jambof3tornado]

Not enjoyed a scotland game as much as that in ages. Lots of niggly tackles showing great effort.

[indianajones]

McFadden thinks Naismith is still going to be involved?!

[gashauskis9]

4 minutes ago, indianajones said:

McFadden thinks Naismith is still going to be involved?!

He’ll be lucky to complete 90 mins for us over the next month let alone for Scotland.  

[OTT]

30 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

He’s played nearly every game at LB for Celtic this season 🙈, the other guy has had a few problems if you hadn’t heard. 

 

You’re probably right, pretty sure they brought in Bolingoli to replace him then there was all the covid stuff and I’m fairly certain they spent most of the transfer window trying to get a LB. Point is, Celtic don’t want him. 

 

re Gallachers off field issues. Was a few years ago now, he’s now a Scotland International and Motherwells Captain. Judging him as a player and it’s a no brainer. If he still had baggage Clarke wouldn’t be entertaining him. 

[Pasquale for King]

1 minute ago, OTT said:

 

You’re probably right, pretty sure they brought in Bolingoli to replace him then there was all the covid stuff and I’m fairly certain they spent most of the transfer window trying to get a LB. Point is, Celtic don’t want him. 

 

re Gallachers off field issues. Was a few years ago now, he’s now a Scotland International and Motherwells Captain. Judging him as a player and it’s a no brainer. If he still had baggage Clarke wouldn’t be entertaining him. 

Yeah they’ve signed Laxalt who will be a great signing. 
As long as Gallacher keeps his nose clean he will be fine. 
They just showed Marciano letting the ball run under his foot and into the net, hope he keeps up the good work 😆. 

[Pasquale for King]

11 minutes ago, gashauskis9 said:

He’ll be lucky to complete 90 mins for us over the next month let alone for Scotland.  

We’ve seen his motivation before Scotland games so hopefully he will be trying his hardest until the Serbia game, an eye catching performance in the semi would be good. 

[Smoked-Glass]

Happy with any win. 

 

Could be worse, we could be Republic of Ireland. 

[Turkishcap]

First time in years of watching Scotland and not as bad as I feared.

[beerbandit]

210 minutes of football one shot on target sums up our managers tactics. Watched the two games and to be honest  i wished i never bothered. 

[graygo]

1 hour ago, beerbandit said:

210 minutes of football one shot on target sums up our managers tactics. Watched the two games and to be honest  i wished i never bothered. 

 

I agree, apart from the results I'm not seeing the same level of performance as most folk on here. Happy with the results though.

[Tasavallan]

I never thought I'd hear me say this but Consodine had a decent game.  Nit bad for a 63 year old.

[StirlingJambo]

4 hours ago, beerbandit said:

210 minutes of football one shot on target sums up our managers tactics. Watched the two games and to be honest  i wished i never bothered. 

I’d take these scrappy 1-0 wins all day long if it means qualifying for a finals. 

[Maroonblood22]

A very well fought victory last night. Like everyone else, I've been pretty unimpressed with recent performances but I think two clear aspect we have been lacking is a consistent line-up and confidence. I think that's 7 games unbeaten now (or something like that) and hopefully last night's result galvanises us somewhat for the Serbia game.

 

I thought the subs carried out their tasks brilliantly when they came on as well, McBurnie was good at noising them up when he came on and gave them something else to think about and McGregor (not rated him at all for Scotland) did very well to cause them problems in their half and kept the ball.

 

Overall not a glamorous win but a win nonetheless and hopefully gives the team some momentum and something to build on. 

[John Findlay]

Wasnt a great performance, but better than the performance against Israel.

Will have to improve again to beat the Czechs.

[Midloth_Iain]

I thought it was a promising performance.

 

Could see what Clarke is trying to do and it looks like the players have bought into his ideas. Disciplined shape and hard working, with players looking like they want to be there and showing a bit of pride.

 

Ok, its not the most exciting style to watch but we arent in a position to be fussy and whilst we are still a long way off challenging the top level teams at least we are finding a bit of consistency. 

[Riddley Walker]

For the last few years we've been crying out for a bit of solidity at the back. Our shape has been good the last couple of games and we've barely conceded a chance. 

 

Last night showed some progression going forward, too, and was also Dykes'best game. Hoping we don't change too much on Wed. 

[KyleLafferty]

Was honestly like watching Steve Clarke's Killie. Hard to beat, disciplined, aggressive, then soon as they get a chance they take it.

[The Treasurer]

I had to check that this is a Hearts forum.

We have one thread praising the SFA national team for grinding out a 1-0 win (on the back of a 0-0 draw) and another thread slaughtering our own team for grinding out a 1-0 win (on the back of another 1-0 win)

 

[graygo]

10 minutes ago, The Treasurer said:

I had to check that this is a Hearts forum.

We have one thread praising the SFA national team for grinding out a 1-0 win (on the back of a 0-0 draw) and another thread slaughtering our own team for grinding out a 1-0 win (on the back of another 1-0 win)

 

 

It's strange behaviour.

[Smoked-Glass]

Winning isn't enough these days😂

[TexasAndy]

McTominey is starting to look comfortable in the back 3 although bigger tests to come.  Ryan Fraser makes a big difference for me with his energy.  I am going to enjoy this moment of things looking a bit brighter for our national team.  

[Smoked-Glass]

Since there are no stars in the team we have to play in a boring way. 

 

The thumb will be a good addition to the team as well as giving us a free kick threat. 

[Harry Potter]

42 minutes ago, Smoked-Glass said:

Winning isn't enough these days😂

So it seems.

[Smoked-Glass]

Serbia lost at home to Hungary.  They are beatable. 

[The Future's Maroon]

34 minutes ago, Smoked-Glass said:

Since there are no stars in the team we have to play in a boring way. 

 

The thumb will be a good addition to the team as well as giving us a free kick threat. 

The Thumb reminds me of how I felt about Naismith when he played for Rangers...hated him with a passion, but once he pulled on the dark blue all that was forgiven and it’s the same with Griffiths - I don’t know if I have celebrated Scotland goals the way I did when smashed in those two incredible free kicks against Engerland - the 2nd you just knew he was going to score!!

[Tazio]

It still rankles that McTominay is the one player in the team that spots and executes killer forward passes and he's stuck at the back due to the system being played.

[Mikey1874]

5 minutes ago, Tazio said:

It still rankles that McTominay is the one player in the team that spots and executes killer forward passes and he's stuck at the back due to the system being played.

 

I blame Guardiola for what he did with Mascherano 

[Last Laff]

30 minutes ago, Smoked-Glass said:

Serbia lost at home to Hungary.  They are beatable. 

 

I'm sure they will have more appetite for the Scotland game. 

[iantjambo]

12 hours ago, indianajones said:

McFadden thinks Naismith is still going to be involved?!

If he did. It would be on reputation and not on merit. He’s been poor for us for a while now.

[Gizmo]

38 minutes ago, Tazio said:

It still rankles that McTominay is the one player in the team that spots and executes killer forward passes and he's stuck at the back due to the system being played.

 

Yeah, though he was really good last night, got forward a fair bit and defended really well. 

 

[Smoked-Glass]

48 minutes ago, The Future's Maroon said:

The Thumb reminds me of how I felt about Naismith when he played for Rangers...hated him with a passion, but once he pulled on the dark blue all that was forgiven and it’s the same with Griffiths - I don’t know if I have celebrated Scotland goals the way I did when smashed in those two incredible free kicks against Engerland - the 2nd you just knew he was going to score!!

Exactly.  Dark blue shirt and all is forgiven.  Rare moment when you want them to do well. 

 

Those free kicks were both world class. 

 

So was the one v hearts though 😂😂😂

[Saint Jambo]

Halfway stage of the second edition of the Nations League. As with all football it has suffered from the lack of fans in the stadium, and general covid-related disruption, including the overlap between the end of the last tournament and the beginning of this one. But overall I think it is proving a success again. Close games between teams of comparable quality, which are played as competitive fixtures not glorified friendlies as some predicted. With only first place in the group rewarded it is leading to interesting league tables. Relegation is an interesting addition to international football and again makes the bottom of the table meaningful. Add in small groups and there is very little certainty at this stage as to how groups will finish. Across the 14 groups only Montenegro in the third tier and Gibraltar (who are in the 3-team group so have only played two games) in the fourth tier are on full points at the half-way stage. In the main Europe/WC qualifiers there are normally several teams on full points across the groups. It has also created genuinely meaningful fixtures for the bottom tier teams for the first time ever.

Current Nations League tables

 

I was worried when they expanded the top tier leagues from 3 to 4 teams that it was designed to ensure that the biggest teams weren't relegated. I think that was true and has worked. That has taken some of the jeopardy out of the competition which was undeniably exciting. No longer will we see final matches where winning could see you promoted and defeat lead to relegation. At the same time, the slightly bigger groups do make everything a little less random. I'm still on the fence on this change. It probably trades short-term excitement for longer-term credibility.

 

If Scotland can win our group we are rewarded in five ways.

- The general glory of winning something, even if it is just a group (I still hold to the idea that the primary purpose of sport is to win or come as high as possible, rather than only worrying about what it qualifies you for).

- We move into the top tier, which comes with its own level of prestige even if we might well be whipping boys (a bit like Huddersfield being in the EPL I guess).

- The results in qualifying will improve our FIFA ranking which the World Cup 2022 qualifying seeding will be based on.

- It potentially gives us another backdoor into the World Cup 2022 qualifier play-offs. The two best Nations League group winners who fail to at least qualify for the play-offs through the main qualifiers will get entry into the play-offs. Given the teams currently looking like winning groups in the top 2 tiers, it seems quite likely that winning a second tier group in the Nations League would be enough to get one of these places if we fail to come in the top 2 of our World Cup qualifying group.

- Being in the top tier for the next edition of the Nations League (played in 2022) should result in an improved seeding for Euro 2024 qualification, as those seedings are based on where you finish in the 2022-23 Nations League.

Overall, quite a lot to be gained from doing well in the Nations League.

 

I know that some people will never get behind a new competition and argue it is too complicated. When I was young there were people who still regarded the European Championship as a poor imitation of the World Cup and not something to be taken seriously. That is now a pretty fringe view. I think once the Nations League format settles down and people get used to it, it could prove to be a permanent fixture and grow in prominence, even if it remains definitely the third and lesser of the international competitions European teams play in.

[Andrew Gilbert Wauchope]

13 hours ago, Pasquale for King said:

Yeah they’ve signed Laxalt who will be a great signing. 
As long as Gallacher keeps his nose clean he will be fine. 
They just showed Marciano letting the ball run under his foot and into the net, hope he keeps up the good work 😆. 

 

Marciano demonstrating himself to be a real Hibs goalie.

 

 

[davemclaren]

The Nations League is far better than friendly matches. Poor match, again, but good result. 

[Pasquale for King]

5 minutes ago, Andrew Gilbert Wauchope said:

 

Marciano demonstrating himself to be a real Hibs goalie.

 

 

I couldn’t share the video I took, or find it. Thanks for that. I think he takes a slight touch so it’s his own goal 😆. Let’s hope he’s got another coming up at Hampden. Press the defence and force pass backs, and also cross it right on top of him as he’s hopeless with them too. 

Edited October 12, 2020 by Pasquale for King

[davemclaren]

Just now, Pasquale for King said:

I couldn’t share the video I took, or find it. Thanks for that. Let’s hope he’s got another coming up at Hampden. Press the defence and force pass backs, and also cross it right on top of him as he’s hopeless with them too. 

Hopefully him losing 5 goals last week is an omen. 😎

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, Smoked-Glass said:

Exactly.  Dark blue shirt and all is forgiven.  Rare moment when you want them to do well. 

 

Those free kicks were both world class. 

 

So was the one v hearts though 😂😂😂

The that didn’t count should’ve been saved, he also hit a cracker at Tynie but as per the other one and the two at Hampden the GK wasn’t blameless. 

[Pasquale for King]

1 minute ago, davemclaren said:

Hopefully him losing 5 goals last week is an omen. 😎

Indeed 😆

[JimmyCant]

11 hours ago, graygo said:

 

I agree, apart from the results I'm not seeing the same level of performance as most folk on here. Happy with the results though.

The level of performance thing is only relative to our recent performances . It was better than those. It still wasn’t great. It was bordering on good in some parts in wee spells and certainly an improvement from recent games. We’ve a long way to go before we’re beating France in Paris etc etc.

[Riddley Walker]

1 hour ago, Saint Jambo said:

Halfway stage of the second edition of the Nations League. As with all football it has suffered from the lack of fans in the stadium, and general covid-related disruption, including the overlap between the end of the last tournament and the beginning of this one. But overall I think it is proving a success again. Close games between teams of comparable quality, which are played as competitive fixtures not glorified friendlies as some predicted. With only first place in the group rewarded it is leading to interesting league tables. Relegation is an interesting addition to international football and again makes the bottom of the table meaningful. Add in small groups and there is very little certainty at this stage as to how groups will finish. Across the 14 groups only Montenegro in the third tier and Gibraltar (who are in the 3-team group so have only played two games) in the fourth tier are on full points at the half-way stage. In the main Europe/WC qualifiers there are normally several teams on full points across the groups. It has also created genuinely meaningful fixtures for the bottom tier teams for the first time ever.

Current Nations League tables

 

I was worried when they expanded the top tier leagues from 3 to 4 teams that it was designed to ensure that the biggest teams weren't relegated. I think that was true and has worked. That has taken some of the jeopardy out of the competition which was undeniably exciting. No longer will we see final matches where winning could see you promoted and defeat lead to relegation. At the same time, the slightly bigger groups do make everything a little less random. I'm still on the fence on this change. It probably trades short-term excitement for longer-term credibility.

 

If Scotland can win our group we are rewarded in five ways.

- The general glory of winning something, even if it is just a group (I still hold to the idea that the primary purpose of sport is to win or come as high as possible, rather than only worrying about what it qualifies you for).

- We move into the top tier, which comes with its own level of prestige even if we might well be whipping boys (a bit like Huddersfield being in the EPL I guess).

- The results in qualifying will improve our FIFA ranking which the World Cup 2022 qualifying seeding will be based on.

- It potentially gives us another backdoor into the World Cup 2022 qualifier play-offs. The two best Nations League group winners who fail to at least qualify for the play-offs through the main qualifiers will get entry into the play-offs. Given the teams currently looking like winning groups in the top 2 tiers, it seems quite likely that winning a second tier group in the Nations League would be enough to get one of these places if we fail to come in the top 2 of our World Cup qualifying group.

- Being in the top tier for the next edition of the Nations League (played in 2022) should result in an improved seeding for Euro 2024 qualification, as those seedings are based on where you finish in the 2022-23 Nations League.

Overall, quite a lot to be gained from doing well in the Nations League.

 

I know that some people will never get behind a new competition and argue it is too complicated. When I was young there were people who still regarded the European Championship as a poor imitation of the World Cup and not something to be taken seriously. That is now a pretty fringe view. I think once the Nations League format settles down and people get used to it, it could prove to be a permanent fixture and grow in prominence, even if it remains definitely the third and lesser of the international competitions European teams play in.

 

Really good post.

 

The Nations League has been a huge success overall. 

[Smoked-Glass]

1 hour ago, Pasquale for King said:

The that didn’t count should’ve been saved, he also hit a cracker at Tynie but as per the other one and the two at Hampden the GK wasn’t blameless. 

Yea GK blameless.     Glad one didn't count lol

 

 

The other one at tyne did count but it was an end of season game with nothing much to play for.   Still a pain in the hoop but. 

[VikingHeart]

Being a Viking jambo from way up North I'm still grumpy after Norway's exit to Serbia the other day. It was nice to see Haaland get a hat trick but apart from that it did give me anything as I was still devastated from the former match. However I'm really looking forward to the  upcoming Norway vs Northern Ireland match as I'll at least get to see some familiar faces on both side of the pitch😉 Wish you the best of luck against Serbia in four weeks time🤞

[davemclaren]

12 minutes ago, VikingHeart said:

Being a Viking jambo from way up North I'm still grumpy after Norway's exit to Serbia the other day. It was nice to see Haaland get a hat trick but apart from that it did give me anything as I was still devastated from the former match. However I'm really looking forward to the  upcoming Norway vs Northern Ireland match as I'll at least get to see some familiar faces on both side of the pitch😉 Wish you the best of luck against Serbia in four weeks time🤞

How good did Serbia look? 🤔

[Rick Sanchez]

Hanlon now ffs 🤦‍♂️

[John Findlay]

5 minutes ago, Rick Sanchez said:

Hanlon now ffs 🤦‍♂️

Now we are scraping 6ft below the barrel. 

[ri Alban]

11 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

How good did Serbia look? 🤔

They were pumped at home by Hungary.