New World rankings...

[Jambosimmy]

Fifa rankings (previous position in brackets):

 

1. (1) Spain

2. (3) Italy

3. (2) Germany

4. (4) Netherlands

5. (5) Croatia

6. (6) Brazil

7. (7) Argentina

8. (8) Czech Republic

9. (9) Portugal

10. (13) Turkey

11. (12) France

12. (10) Russia

13. (11) Romania

14. (15) Cameroon

15. (14) England

16 (16) Scotland

16 (17) Bulgaria

18. (18) Greece

19. (20) Israel

20. (19) Ghana

 

I still think that these rankings are false and alot of nonsense but good to see england down next to us.

 

Also another point.. the mighty Ghana still in the top 20

[alwaysthereinspirit]

Wow. How does a country so void of real talent and run by total losers do so well.

Barry Ferguson will return soon and we'll be back to our rightful spot.

[Praha06]

Whatever people think about the merits of these rankings, its good to see Scotland in the top 16 of the world. Hopefully we will benefit from these placings when getting drawn in our next qualifying group.

[heartsfc_fan]

Interesting. Ghana are 20th

[Spellczech]

Interesting. Ghana are 20th

 

I think there are a good few other African teams which would beat Scotland or Greece. We never play them though as we don't actually qualify for tournaments anymore...

[heartsfc_fan]

Fifa rankings (previous position in brackets):

 

1. (1) Spain

2. (3) Italy

3. (2) Germany

4. (4) Netherlands

5. (5) Croatia

6. (6) Brazil

7. (7) Argentina

8. (8) Czech Republic

9. (9) Portugal

10. (13) Turkey

11. (12) France

12. (10) Russia

13. (11) Romania

14. (15) Cameroon

15. (14) England

16 (16) Scotland

16 (17) Bulgaria

18. (18) Greece

19. (20) Israel

20. (19) Ghana

 

 

....."You're not famous any moooooooooore!"

[Doc Rob]

How bad must Greece's results have been for them to rank below us 4 years after winning Euro 04?

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

France!!

[Mac_fae_Gillie]

Biggest surprise I thought was Israel as they play in Euro groups.

France just not a TEAM anymore very talented players but no spirit

makes Scotslands wins over them less impressive,wins that raised scotland

in the rankings(to 14th at 1 point).

Would love to see us overtake england though...

[Ribble]

Every chance we could overtake England this month if we win both our games and they don't get a result v Croatia! (that could be made easier for them if West Ham do as expected and approach Bilic before next wednesday)

[Larry]

How bad must Greece's results have been for them to rank below us 4 years after winning Euro 04?

 

And the fact they actually qualified for 2008. Just shows you what a couple of wins against France can do for your coefficient(dunno how thats spelt..lol)..Greece must have also lost to some teams ranked quite a bit lower than them in the last couple of years.

 

I just hope we can get our campaign of to a good start, i would take 4 points from these games to be honest. We definately have it in us to win both, but im slightly concerned with burleys tactics. I still think one up front away from home is the way to go for scotland..We have more players capable of influencing the game from the middle of the park anyway...I'd stick miller up top and have mcfadden on the left...but I think Burley is going to go 4-4-2 in every game. Lets hope it pays off.

[jamcow1]

Wow. How does a country so void of real talent and run by total losers do so well.

Barry Ferguson will return soon and we'll be back to our rightful spot.

 

what!? i hope that was sarcasm

[Therapist]

Every chance we could overtake England this month if we win both our games

 

:rolleyes:

 

I'd be very surprised if Scotland get a point which, in itself, will also prove just how ridiculous these rankings are.

[rudi must stay]

suprising to see Brazil in 6th, not so long ago they were ranked number 1

[Swanyl]

suprising to see Brazil in 6th, not so long ago they were ranked number 1

 

Living in south America you get to see a lot of south American football funnily enough

 

anyway Brazil recently lost in a friendly to Venezuela (at home) and lost against Paraguay in the WC qualifiers (away)

 

add in the 0-0 draw at home to Argentina and they wont have gained many points in the last few months

[BlackJAC?]

Don't understand how France managed to move up considering they were **** poor during the Euros. In fact, they were **** poor before the Euros too.

[H.A.N.S]

If we beat Macedonia and Iceland and England beat Andorra but lose to Croatia, would we overtake them?

[tommythejambo]

I'm actaully embarassed that Ghana, Bulgaria and Greece are below us.

 

We have absolutely no really talented players in our squad.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

I'm actaully embarassed that Ghana, Bulgaria and Greece are below us.

 

We have absolutely no really talented players in our squad.

 

 

Gordon

McFadden

Ferguson (I know very few would agree to that)

 

 

Some would also say Fletcher, but still to be convinced by him.

[rudi must stay]

I'm actaully embarassed that Ghana, Bulgaria and Greece are below us.

 

We have absolutely no really talented players in our squad.

 

we have a good team spirit though which means that we never let ourselves down in the big games. Unlike France who have talented players, but they don't get on

[Ivan Drago]

:rolleyes:

 

I'd be very surprised if Scotland get a point which, in itself, will also prove just how ridiculous these rankings are.

 

To be fair, your not exactly the best with predictions.....

[topcat]

 

I still think that these rankings are false and alot of nonsense but good to see england down next to us.

 

Surely that should read "Us up next to England"

[bobbydee]

And the fact they actually qualified for 2008. Just shows you what a couple of wins against France can do for your coefficient(dunno how thats spelt..lol)..Greece must have also lost to some teams ranked quite a bit lower than them in the last couple of years.

 

I just hope we can get our campaign of to a good start, i would take 4 points from these games to be honest. We definately have it in us to win both, but im slightly concerned with burleys tactics. I still think one up front away from home is the way to go for scotland..We have more players capable of influencing the game from the middle of the park anyway...I'd stick miller up top and have mcfadden on the left...but I think Burley is going to go 4-4-2 in every game. Lets hope it pays off.

 

dont think greece qualified they went in as holders....

[Larry]

dont think greece qualified they went in as holders....

 

nope they qualified...in this group

 

 

Greece 12 10 1 1 25 10 31

Turkey 12 7 3 2 25 11 24

Norway 12 7 2 3 27 11 23

Bosnia 12 4 1 7 16 22 13

Moldova 12 3 3 6 12 19 12

Hungary 12 4 0 8 11 22 12

Malta 12 1 2 9 10 31 5

 

Its only the hosts that auto qualify.

 

So greece had some good results in there qualifying campaign.

 

I like the ranking system. And I agree mostly with whos in the top 10. Spain and argentina are definately the two best teams in the world right now..france and england both deserve to be outwith the top 10..croatias results ove rthe last two years makes them a deserved top 10 ranking..as another poster said, Brazil havent had great results recently,they've lost a couple of matches against lower ranked nations and I would agree that they dont deserve to be in the top5..I think the ranking system works and is about as fair a system as we will get...of course just because a team is ranked higher than another doesn't make them better, all it means is theyve had better results recently.

 

People who look at the rankings and say "how can croatia be better than france? these rankings are ridiculous" are stupid..the rankings are all about results, and not about who has the better players, have a more succesful history, or who would even win if they where to play tomorrow.

[Larry]

Ha ive just seen that argentina are infact 7th, and Italy? Italy are ranked 2nd in the world!!! Forget everything ive just said, these Rankings are ridiculous!!!!!!

[tommythejambo]

Gordon

McFadden

Ferguson (I know very few would agree to that)

 

 

Some would also say Fletcher, but still to be convinced by him.

 

I did mean outfield players. Gordon is a given. McFadden looked out of place in the Prem, Ferguson is past it and Fletcher wouldn't look out of place playing for a mid-table SPL team.

[chuck677]

Italy and Argentina should be swapped.

[Seymour M Hersh]

Does anyone know how they go about awarding the points? I'm guessing but I can't see it being a simple formula. Imo the ranking thing is a load of nonsense.

[The Old Tolbooth]

 

 

Greece 12 10 1 1 25 10 31

Turkey 12 7 3 2 25 11 24

Norway 12 7 2 3 27 11 23

Bosnia 12 4 1 7 16 22 13

Moldova 12 3 3 6 12 19 12

Hungary 12 4 0 8 11 22 12

Malta 12 1 2 9 10 31 5

 

 

Looking at that group, can anyone actually see Scotland qualifying from a group with Holland and Norway in it?

 

Look at Norway's goal difference, even although they failed to qualify, I cant remember Scotland ever having a goal difference as good as that in a group.

[Therapist]

we have a good team spirit though which means that we never let ourselves down in the big games.

 

That's right. That's what carried us through in the final Yooro qualification game against Italy. It's also been a major factor in our excellent qualification record for major tournaments. No, wait......

 

Honestly, the "we never let ourselves down in big games" is a myth of Atlantis proportions.

[Dr Ian Malcolm]

I did mean outfield players. Gordon is a given. McFadden looked out of place in the Prem, Ferguson is past it and Fletcher wouldn't look out of place playing for a mid-table SPL team.[/QUOTE]

 

 

Can't agree with you there Tam. McFadden more than held his own when playing for Everton, Moyes just didn't start him regularly. Was suprised he didn't get a better move than Birmingham. As much as anyone dislikes Ferguson, he is talented. He gets a reidiculous amount of praise when playing for Scotland, but that doesn't mean he's not played well for us.

 

As for Fletcher - you've had too much Tennents! He'd get a game for most Prem sides outside the top 4 (he's up against Scholes, Hargreaves, Ronaldo etc. for a place in Utds team) and would pretty much walk through SPL games. Predro Mendes is doing it, and I wouldn't say he's all that better, if at all, than Fletcher.

[Stanley_]

That's right. That's what carried us through in the final Yooro qualification game against Italy. It's also been a major factor in our excellent qualification record for major tournaments. No, wait......

 

Honestly, the "we never let ourselves down in big games" is a myth of Atlantis proportions.

 

Why do you bother posting about Scotland if you have no interest our national team?

[tommythejambo]

I did mean outfield players. Gordon is a given. McFadden looked out of place in the Prem' date=' Ferguson is past it and Fletcher wouldn't look out of place playing for a mid-table SPL team.[/[/b']QUOTE]

 

 

Can't agree with you there Tam. McFadden more than held his own when playing for Everton, Moyes just didn't start him regularly. Was suprised he didn't get a better move than Birmingham. As much as anyone dislikes Ferguson, he is talented. He gets a reidiculous amount of praise when playing for Scotland, but that doesn't mean he's not played well for us.

 

As for Fletcher - you've had too much Tennents! He'd get a game for most Prem sides outside the top 4 (he's up against Scholes, Hargreaves, Ronaldo etc. for a place in Utds team) and would pretty much walk through SPL games. Predro Mendes is doing it, and I wouldn't say he's all that better, if at all, than Fletcher.

 

To be fair, McFadden does have a bit of quality, he's just very lazy and does himself absolutely no favours.

 

Ferguson is a good player, but I don't think he'd get a look in any of the other top 20 teams in the world rankings, and I think the same is true for Fletcher.

[Dr Ian Malcolm]

 

To be fair' date=' McFadden does have a bit of quality, he's just very lazy and does himself absolutely no favours.

 

Ferguson is a good player, but I don't think he'd get a look in any of the other top 20 teams in the world rankings, and I think the same is true for Fletcher.[/quote']

 

 

At international level yeah they're far from the best compared to other teams but the rankings show (somewhat) that we're punching above our weight when you look at our squad. Within that squad though, they're two of the best we can call upon.

 

Broadfoot aside, obsiously.

[Therapist]

Why do you bother posting about Scotland if you have no interest our national team?

 

I'd love there to be an excellent Scotland team as there was in the 60s and 70s. But it's not going to happen while the poor deluded fools that follow them today are satisfied with mediocrity and embarrassment.

 

For what it's worth, I hope Scotland get absolutely horsed in the upcoming games. Then we might get some radical thinking and subsequent improvement. But while the SFA, players and fan(nie)s are happy with mediocrity I'm cheering on the opposition.

[Therapist]

the rankings show (somewhat) that we're punching above our weight

 

That's only a valid argument if you believe the scoring system that underpins the rankings is accurate and reliable.

[Therapist]

Moyes just didn't start him regularly. Was suprised he didn't get a better move than Birmingham.

 

Translation: McFadden's brilliant but every single EPL manager is wrong.

[Larry]

I'd love there to be an excellent Scotland team as there was in the 60s and 70s. But it's not going to happen while the poor deluded fools that follow them today are satisfied with mediocrity and embarrassment.

 

For what it's worth, I hope Scotland get absolutely horsed in the upcoming games. Then we might get some radical thinking and subsequent improvement. But while the SFA, players and fan(nie)s are happy with mediocrity I'm cheering on the opposition.

 

Have you ever got anything positive to say?

[Therapist]

Have you ever got anything positive to say?

 

Not about the Tartan Army racists or the current incarnation of our national team, no.

[Ivan Drago]

Why do you bother posting about Scotland if you have no interest our national team?

 

international football doesnt bother him apparently

[Therapist]

I'd be very surprised if Scotland get a point which, in itself, will also prove just how ridiculous these rankings are.

 

I hate to say I told you so, but yesterday's result proves that Scotland's ranking is utter tosh.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

I hate to say I told you so, but yesterday's result proves that Scotland's ranking is utter tosh.

[redm]

I hate to say I told you so, but yesterday's result proves that Scotland's ranking is utter tosh.

 

What are you rambling on about now? What thinly veiled and provocative remarks are we working on today? Jings, don't you ever get tired of trying to upset and annoy people or are you so desperate to be an internet 'renegade' that you'll do literally anything to maintain your position as chief irritant?

 

You spend half of yesterday muttering on about how you can't support Scotland because you can't tolerate mediocrity (but you survive as a Jambo?) and the weeks running up to these games harping on about bloody 'Doe a Deer' and how you can't support people who sing that cos they're pathetic....or something along those lines...to the point where you weren't getting the recognition you so obviously wanted that you actually came out with some rubbish about supporting Macedonia! Christ on a bike.....

 

You at least used to think carefully about how you approach these things, you were maybe even a little bit clever about it. Now you're just a pain in the jacks, and a predictable one at that.

 

I wouldn't have anything to say about it if you weren't so inconsistent. You're still harping on about Scotland and 'being right' but you haven't ever come out with any decent reason for your hatred towards your own national team. This board is full of Scotland supporters - don't you feel a bit like a Hobo in disguise when you attack the national team in this way? What exactly do you gain from this other than the eternal devotion of your even less creative ned minions?

 

Yes - I'm probably debating the poster rather than the post, but really...there's only so many crap attempts at wind up I can stomach in the space of a few days.

 

[Therapist]

Red, don't shoot the messenger. All I've done is predict that the world rankings would be made to look foolish by Scotland's performance against Macedonia. It's not my fault I'm invariably right.

[redm]

Red, don't shoot the messenger. All I've done is predict that the world rankings would be made to look foolish by Scotland's performance against Macedonia. It's not my fault I'm invariably right.

 

I think you're missing the gist of my post but then again, if I were you, I wouldn't really have much to say in response either. If you're going to be a wind up merchant, at least be a good one Therapist.

 

Scotland supporters didn't make those rankings, the Scotland team didn't make them up either....they're dictated by the results Scotland have had and the results of the other teams around them. Go and blame England for being a disappointment for the last year or two, or maybe even Greece for having a shock win at the Euros. Every other team is just as much to 'blame' (although that's not really an appropriate word) for the rankings. Go and write to FIFA and tell them....I don't know.

 

For what it's worth, wouldn't you say that the world rankings were also made to look slightly odd by a number of other results yesterday?

[Therapist]

Scotland supporters didn't make those rankings

 

That is very true, but many Scotland fans on here were creaming themselves about being ranked so highly and having the opportunity to overtake England. All I did was point out their hopes were built on sand.

[redm]

That is very true, but many Scotland fans on here were creaming themselves about being ranked so highly and having the opportunity to overtake England. All I did was point out their hopes were built on sand.

 

Not exactly. It still might happen. Unlikely, of course...but not impossible. And what would your response be if it does? Could you be gracious about it?

[Therapist]

Could you be gracious about it?

 

I doubt it. Not because I'd have a problem with Scotland being above England, but because I think the ratings are a farce so it would be a hollow and meaningless victory.

[redm]

I doubt it. Not because I'd have a problem with Scotland being above England, but because I think the ratings are a farce so it would be a hollow and meaningless victory.

 

So it's the rankings you have an issue with, rather than Scotland team or the supporters? Well, that's a relief.

 

Perhaps you're simply misunderstood Therapist.

[Therapist]

So it's the rankings you have an issue with, rather than Scotland team or the supporters? Well, that's a relief.

 

I wouldn't say I have an issue with the rankings. I have an issue with those who are stupid enough to believe them. I have a major problem with the TA due to their willingness to revel in defeat and the backward image of Scotland that they project. I have no issue with the Scotland team; they are simply pesh and irrelevant.