RicoS321

I've not seen a more complete player this century. He's fantastic. I can't see a way that he won't go to the top. Apparently Everton are switching interest from Patterson because of price, but I doubt that. Ramsay is just better (currently). £10M in January with a loan for the remainder of the season sounds reasonable.

The governments of all countries stop people taking drugs all the time, that's kind of one of their jobs. If they deem that there is a risk to people's own safety from taking ivermectin then they would be right to try and prevent it. More likely though is that they are concerned that it will replace vaccination as the popular choice. Unfortunately, ivermectin doesn't reduce infections and spread of covid and so concern around the ability to control the virus in Australia would be fairly genuine, as they're still administering lockdowns due to their previous success. The question for the government is if ivermectin is more efficacious than vaccination and certainly prior to the delta variant that was very much the case. They need something successful enough that they can promise no more lockdowns - they need a cure. The very political nature of the pandemic requires to be seen to be ended, which is pretty much what's happening in the UK. What that shouldn't mean is ruling out the use of ivermectin as a supplement to vaccine treatment, which I suspect we will see (and probably have seen) in the UK as the virus becomes endemic - if it passes the various trials with a high degree of success. I think the deliberate spread of misinformation about ivermectin being a cow wormer or whatever by various media outlets is equally as problematic as vaccine misinformation, as it may be something that is required in the near future. Ivermectin isn't a replacement for vaccination though, in the same way as vitamin D isn't. Vaccination is really the only good option (of the two) for reducing harm to the community over the individual, so I can completely see why a government would be very wary of people expressing their rights to self medicate and treating the pandemic as a personal problem.

I'm guessing there's only so much you can do. It's not like Ramirez should be learning anything new. Even the best professionals snatch at things and are affected by confidence and the general performance of the team. More worryingly, we appeared to get another member of the coaching team red carded yesterday. We seem to have had a lot of run ins, it's not exactly setting a great example. That could be down to unfamiliarity with the refs or whatever, but you expect the coaching staff to be more professional and to be able to remain cool when perhaps the players can't.

When you set up with 4 centre midfielders, you'd hope to have a lot of possession in fairness. Unlike you, I don't see what Glass is trying to do, I really don't think it's obvious in terms of the signings he's made, nor the positions he's playing players in. I didn't see yesterday's game, but the BBC had us playing a 4-3-3 which fits in with the approach in previous games. To be so devoid of pace in that setup makes zero sense, and it doesn't surprise me that our good ball players were able to hold onto possession without many clear cut chances. The whole Ojo experiment has been taken far enough, despite his improvement from last season, it's still a position that doesn't suit him. With the midfield three all desperate to play the "I can confidently take the short ball from our defenders" role, there's very little transition between midfield and attack (which would likely be fine if one of the forward three had pace). Then in attack you've got another central midfielder on one side where a winger should be and then we've signed Watkins who doesn't really fit the winger bill either but needs to play there because we've signed him and his striking partner on long deals. You've highlighted the problems at the back, the biggest of which for me is that we've got four right sided centre halves. Where you see a project that is improving, I see one that needs to be arrested before it slides backwards. There was a period before the turn of the year last year where the goals had dried up, but we were still dominating possession and creating good opportunities. We didn't change things, and our rigid, imbalanced squad meant we could change a few faces, but not the style or the outcome. Once teams realised we weren't that good, the chances then began to dry up and we ended up correctly sacking the manager. I hope we give Glass plenty of time to turn it around, but I think he'll struggle unless he changes course. I think his signings have served to give us a massively bloated squad of very similar senior players which will make it difficult to implement change. I think we've got a lot riding on Hedges' return (I've a feeling Samuels might turn out to be a dud) and hopefully that'll see us through to January when the priority has to be to offload players.

Wrong cheek?

It's who isn't on the bench that's as much a concern. Senior players not stripped due to injury or otherwise include Kennedy, Devlin, Hedges, Samuels, McGeouch, Considine and McGinn. That's a fucking ridiculous state of affairs, what a giant squad. McLennan and Campbell can't really be described as young prospects anymore.

Either way, a solid 4 centre midfielders with zero width. I'm guessing he'll play the sort of weird 4-3-3 type thing where he plays Ojo and Watkins wide(ish) with the very central three in behind. To be honest, it's massive shoe horning, there isn't room for Longstaff, Ferguson, Brown and Ojo on a fitba pitch. Unless we're playing across it?

Wouldn't be surprised to see a back three. To be honest, that'd bring out the best in McRorie in my opinion. I still think that McKenzie is our best replacement for Considine in left of a three, but would imagine he'll want to fit in all the signings and also not fuck off McRorie. Similarly in midfield, we are likely to witness the shoe horning of Ferguson, Brown and Longstaff again. Also, if Watkins is playing we need Ojo to drop out. We've got a seriously imbalanced squad. I expected the opposite post McInnes. Hopefully the new recruitment man sorts this out.

Fuck knows about this one like. No idea what our best team is. I'm guessing Bates will partner Gallagher at the back. Be interesting to see if Samuels turns out to be not shite. Will jet get a start? Oot 0-10, every outfield player scoring a single goal, with Lewis walking off in the 87th minute because Ferguson won't let him take a pen (which he subsequently misses).

Aye, Moldova away is set up nicely for the perfect Scotland.

Difficult to say, looks like one of those that is a slow developer, he seems very slight. If he's good enough at fitba then he'll benefit from the loan move.

Some victory, fantastic performance. Really determined and good all over the park. Can't fault a single player.

Could have just not given the pen. VAR is gash like. He probably felt sorry for Adams for booking him for nothing. Great half though, fantastic energy from Scotland, the front two working so well together.

To be fair, they're only responding to the pathetic questions of the media who spout the same old pish "is this a must win game Calum/Steve?". It's such an inane, idiot, question, I wish they would just tell them to ask something less childish. Or just say "mathematically not" or "every game we play is must win as we don't know what future matches hold in terms of injury or covid aids". But generally, just tell them to ram that type of shite up their bumcracks. The notion that what you day in the media surrounding an approach to a game has any bearing on what is said in the dressing room is ridiculous. Why in the world would anyone announce that? As supporters, we just have to wait and see the evidence on the park when the game kicks off. I don't expect a free flowing attacking performance with midfielders sacrificed for forwards, but I do expect a battle and a lot of pressure put onto them on the ball and a really high work rate.

Annoyingly, we've got the option of a draw tonight. The old Alex Smith conundrum. We've got to setup to win the game, getting the first goal. A draw just sets us up for glorious failure, a win gives us the confidence to do the same against Israel and keep everything in our own hands. There's a point in every single qualification where you need to stretch yourselves and get the difficult points and we've failed every time in the last two decades (discounting the nation's league...). This is the game for us. Clarke needs to be sure the players know that. I don't have faith in that unfortunately.

Again, late notice, McGinn has been with a squad before so knows the drill, so perhaps just a case of pragmatism over ability. It's not a horrendous pick and assuming O'Donnell is fine then we won't see McGinn anyway.

I didn't realise the u21s were away. The logistics of getting Ramsay from Turkey to Austria during covid probably aren't worth it.

Aye, but he's not an inexperienced Hun. The double standard here is staggering. I think I'd have had Rooney ahead of McGinn to be honest. Although maybe he could get a lift fae his brither.

Gilmour is playing for Norwich every week and I'd clearly ready for the first team. He's already better than the other options. I get the impression that there was a little more to it with Marshall, but not sure. Also, a young player coming through would offer more continuity than an older player not playing, so I sort of understand it. I think you're right about Ramsay though, I don't think he's international standard yet either, just that he's better than Patterson. That said, we're really poorly covered in that role. I think Shaun Rooney can probably feel a little disappointed not to be brought along after the season he had last year. Again, he's not "international class" as such, but simply better than the alternatives in the same way that Considine was previously.

Yep, agreed, Patterson's defending isn't good enough for international football yet and Scotland shouldn't be a platform for basic player development. When I said diminishes his potential, I was referring specifically to his composure and confidence, which doesn't have much room for improvement at all. The best part about Ramsay is that you can see an obvious pathway for him to really get better and better, as well as his physical attributes improving. I'm genuinely unsure if Patterson will address the weaker elements of his game. He reminds me of Hutton, who certainly went on to have a great career despite some obvious limitations. It's frustrating that Ramsay isn't even in the discussion when talking about right backs. It shows a pathetic lack of understanding and the obvious bias of the media.

I don't know if Ramsay is the better prospect, I'd have to see more of Patterson, but I'd say that currently he looks the better player of the two. Patterson looks to be a bit quicker, which will really work in his favour and could take him further, Ramsay has a composure and confidence miles beyond his years, but then that means less potential (he's already got it). What irks me a little is the media are putting him in that Scotland team, and they're also making it difficult for Clarke to make the correct decision (in my opinion) to leave him out for the Austria game. If O'Donnell had performed like Patterson yesterday, we'd have been playing down his part in the goal and highlighting the basic errors, poor positioning and poor use of the ball. Patterson looked like a player not playing every week. I don't think it's the job of the national team to develop a young player for a club, thus Ramsay should be in the squad ahead of him, until the point that the Huns actually develop him. I'd raise a slight double standard for Gilmour, who is an exceptional talent - however that is being rewarded with regular fitba.

I don't think we'd have won the game without Gilmour. Fraser isn't playing at the moment, so I can see why he wasn't playing after a fairly average performance against Denmark too. I think the intention would have been to be 3 up and make the changes to rest the the team, but obviously we couldn't hit the ball accurately towards the goal. Hopefully Clarke is scouring the internet for Scottish grannies as we speak to see if they have any strikers hidden abroad. With Israel winning, we've got a fantastic opportunity now, we just need a couple of performances like the one against England (in terms of effort and tempo) and we'll get second place. We need Dykes to have the game of his life as unfortunately he's the best we've got.

Aye, that was brutal stuff. Good to see Gilmour in the flesh, he's going to be phenomenal for Scotland. The rest for fairly gash. Haar Don was right to suggest playing Nisbet tonight. Hopefully we'll never see him in a Scotland top again. The defence was solid because Moldova were gash. I don't get the hype over Patterson - he was just okay. Ramsay looks more ready, but I fully expect the weegie press to hype is performance to the moon when O'Donnell would be far more deserving of a place against Austria. Need more from Christie, or we should shunt him for Turnbull. I think we'll lose on Tuesday. There is very little drive in the team.

I agree with the last couple of paragraphs, but the chopping and changing has been entirely outwith his control. I think we roughly know his preferred team but international football just isn't a priority and as such we have folk missing regularly. You're then into the dregs where you end up trying out players. Because we don't have players in two or three positions that you can rely on to be first picks, you then do have to look at form. Dykes as an example has been poor for his club, so it becomes difficult to justify playing him even though it has obvious tactical merit. Guys like Armstrong are good players who play at the top level but they don't bring the same balance as Jack, McGregor, Gilmour or McGinn, one of whom is nearly always missing.

But Dykes was a proven goalscorer for Livingston in the spfl, as Adams would be too. It's a poor argument. Boyd was a proven spfl goalscorer, as was Griffiths and neither replicated at international level. If he doesn't score against likes of Austria then he's no better than Dykes or Adams. The question was about why Wales etc can perform better than us and the answer is simply that in the key areas such as striker, we're not good enough. We have to basically play the form player, whether that's Shankland, Nisbet or Brophy (or whoever) in the hope that they may improve to a level that offers something against the teams that we need to pick up points in. Nisbet is definitely our best option, but currently he's understandably behind the other two. There are two approaches to today's game. The first is to play Dykes and Adams and hope that they score some goals and develop a partnership in time for Austria, or to play Nisbet with a view to him starting the Austria game alongside Dykes or Adams (I can't see him alongside Adams, he'll need the flick ons and hold up play). It'll be interesting to see what Clarke chooses, it's not an enviable choice. Having McGinn back will make a big difference to the shape of the midfield though which should help.