Liam Cooper is out for six weeks so is presumably ruled out of the Scotland squad, gaping problem for them at the moment.
Surely there has to be concerns at the amount of drop outs for the most recent Scotland side, including both Kieran Tierney, Andy Robertson and Ryan Fraser? Not ideal preparation in the last games you'll play going in to your qualifiers in March. The Scotland side that's picked looks a complete shell of a side that it could be, particularly defensively and I wouldn't be massively surprised if another embarrassing defeat comes as a result. I'd be livid if our players were showing the same levels of commitment for the country.
Who are they playing, is it Cyprus? If so, then they will be favourites to beat Scotland, particularly if it's in Cyprus.
Cyprus away, Kazakhstan home. Both potential banana skins, Scotland go in to the Cyprus game as bookies favourite but not by much.
The truth is, a few of the team just don’t care about playing for their country. A dismal qualifying campaign and an unimpressive manager doesn’t help.
It shouldn't really matter who the manager is, this should be far beyond that, this is playing for your country. If they've got too big time and they think they're above their country, then bring in Billy Gilmour, Mikey Johnston and that now as you've not got much of a hope of achieving much internationally with the attitude of some of your current players.
It should be a win but i've literally lost all respect for the national side. Steve Clarke isn't the man to take Scotland forward. The football that we are playing is absolute garbage. That game against Cyprus at the weekend was dogshit. I was listening to the podcast with Slaney & Ferry and they suggested Shaun Maloney to take the team forward. I think that would be a step into the right direction. Clarke has been in charge for a while now and he doesn't even know his best squad. It's an absolute farce.
It was pretty dross. Clarke is so safe with selections, I don't see why Gilmour isn't getting given a go against these sides as by March he might well be ready for the play-offs. If he can start for Chelsea against Man. United then surely he can start against Cyprus? Yeah he might well be, something needs to change anyway. The fact so many people haven't even bothered turning up and Scottish fans don't seem to care that much, it's just kind of expected, says it all for the general feeling towards the side. Anything other than a win tonight would be a real confidence blow, but looking at the play-offs you still have a great chance of qualifying. Looks like Israel/Bulgaria at home in the play-off Semi Final at Hampden.
He chops and changes far to often. Even the players that he is calling up to replace injured players is baffling. Nothing against Lewis Morgan, he is good player.. but he's not kicked a ball all season. Ryan Portueas from Hibs too.. he's been woeful since his injury. I don't understand why the likes of Callum Paterson etc doesn't get picked, he may not be playing week in, week out but he's much better than what we have. If i was to pick a squad of 26 players, half od Clarke's selections probably wouldn't even make it. It's bad days when the likes of Robertson, Tierney etc don't even want to play/.
Like most folk I've lost a fair bit of interest in the national side, but I don't think changing managers on a regular basis is going to make much of a difference. There are some decent/good players in the squad, but also a number of guys who wouldn't have got near even the most average Scotland sides of the past 20 years. Until we can find a couple of good centre halves and a reliable striker we will struggle regardless of who the manager is.
Lewis Morgan shouldn't be in the squad, he was rubbish for Sunderland and since he's come back hasn't done anything to suggest he should be in the squad. He's 23 now as well, Mikey Johnston's well ahead of him in the pecking order despite being three years younger and I know he's had trouble with injury recently but when he has been fit he's only been in the U21s. I don't know how it's been allowed to happen, especially when Robertson is your captain. If the captain isn't bothered, then it just sets the tone for the rest of the side. I think that's the main issue, rather than the quality of the players you have. You've got a good enough side to qualify through the play-offs, but your not going to get through if you haven't got any team spirit or desire to prepare properly for those games. I'd be fuming, it's the way Wales were ten years ago but it couldn't be more different now. Gareth Bale's getting stick in Madrid for only caring about playing for Wales, and has recently talked about how playing for Wales is like playing with his mates down the park. To have a player of his quality is one thing, but to have someone like him as committed as he is to the nation is another. Lots of the players at big clubs like Ramsey, Davies and Allen are taking time to do Welsh language interviews when they don't need to as well and it means a lot for Welsh language supporters.
We should win the game but without a decent striker and CB options we can always find ourselves in trouble. I agree about Clarks selections so far in they are baffling at times, since Strachan the team has went backwards and his side would wipe the floor with the current picks. I would have gave a few u21s a call up to these games, Campbell, Gilmore, Ferguson, Johnstone and even Hornby who has an excellent u21 goals record.
Clarke should be given time IMO. There are decent players there but the problem is the squad is very lopsided. Agree Lewis Morgan shouldn't be there but the question is who should be? Also agree we need centre halfs and a striker. Griffiths is that man but how long is it going to take? Hearing he's playing in a friendly against Stenhousemuir tonight so hopefully the start of a comeback.
He should not be looking anywhere near the Scotland set up. He needs to get his head back and perform for us not them.
So much potential in this side but as stated before not having a real striker and two good CBs makes us look ****ing terrible at times. The passing play between the midfield is very good at times but the lack of options in the Final third is killing us, Forrest being relied on too much and Christie is getting pulled too wide. McGregor has been a class above though, his calmness om the ball is a joy to watch.
