Scotland Squad for March Friendlies

[Jute]

Scotland squad to face Czech Republic

 

Goalkeepers

Scott Bain (Dundee)

Allan McGregor (Hull City)

 

Defenders

Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town)

Gordon Greer (Brighton and Hove Albion)

Alan Hutton (Aston Villa)

Russell Martin (Norwich City)

Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic)

Andrew Robertson (Hull City)

Steven Whittaker (Norwich City)

 

Midfielders

Ikechi Anya (Watford)

Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday)

Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion)

Kevin McDonald (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Kenny McLean (Aberdeen)

Matt Phillips (Queens Park Rangers)

Robert Snodgrass (Hull City)

 

Forwards

Steven Fletcher (Olympique de Marseille*)

Steven Naismith (Norwich City)

Tony Watt (Blackburn Rovers**)

 

Scotland squad to face Denmark

 

Goalkeepers

Craig Gordon (Celtic)

David Marshall (Cardiff City)

 

Defenders

Ikechi Anya (Watford)

Liam Cooper (Leeds United)

Gordon Greer (Brighton and Hove Albion)

Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers)

Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic)

Kieran Tierney (Celtic)

Steven Whittaker (Norwich City)

 

Midfielders

Liam Bridcutt (Leeds United*)

Scott Brown (Celtic)

Oliver Burke (Nottingham Forest)

James Forrest (Celtic)

John McGinn (Hibernian)

Jamie Murphy (Brighton and Hove Albion)

Matt Ritchie (Bournemouth)

 

Forwards

Steven Fletcher (Olympique de Marseille*)

Leigh Griffiths (Celtic)

Chris Martin (Derby County)

 

Good to see McLean called up but No Shinnie is a farce.

 

And as for Gordon Greer....

[Edinburghdon]

Scotland squad to face Czech Republic

 

Goalkeepers

Scott Bain (Dundee)

Allan McGregor (Hull City)

 

Defenders

Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town)

Gordon Greer (Brighton and Hove Albion)

Alan Hutton (Aston Villa)

Russell Martin (Norwich City)

Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic)

Andrew Robertson (Hull City)

Steven Whittaker (Norwich City)

 

Midfielders

Ikechi Anya (Watford)

Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday)

Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion)

Kevin McDonald (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Kenny McLean (Aberdeen)

Matt Phillips (Queens Park Rangers)

Robert Snodgrass (Hull City)

 

Forwards

Steven Fletcher (Olympique de Marseille*)

Steven Naismith (Norwich City)

Tony Watt (Blackburn Rovers**)

 

Scotland squad to face Denmark

 

Goalkeepers

Craig Gordon (Celtic)

David Marshall (Cardiff City)

 

Defenders

Ikechi Anya (Watford)

Liam Cooper (Leeds United)

Gordon Greer (Brighton and Hove Albion)

Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers)

Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic)

Kieran Tierney (Celtic)

Steven Whittaker (Norwich City)

 

Midfielders

Liam Bridcutt (Leeds United*)

Scott Brown (Celtic)

Oliver Burke (Nottingham Forest)

James Forrest (Celtic)

John McGinn (Hibernian)

Jamie Murphy (Brighton and Hove Albion)

Matt Ritchie (Bournemouth)

 

Forwards

Steven Fletcher (Olympique de Marseille*)

Leigh Griffiths (Celtic)

Chris Martin (Derby County)

 

Good to see McLean called up but No Shinnie is a farce.

 

And as for Gordon Greer....

 

Perfect opportunity to blood some fringe players rather than relying on the old shite he's stuck with so far.

 

Strachan has fucked it.

 

Quite glad I didnt renew my SSC membership to be honest.

[manc_don]

Right-back Alan Hutton describes the prospect of winning his 50th cap in Prague as "surreal" and that when he comes to look back on his career he will realise it was a "massive achievement". (Times)

 

Yeah, it is an absolute surreal achievement since you are a pile of shite. Says more about the managers than it does about you as a player.

[Stewart]

McLean starting.

 

#CZESCO | McGregor, Hutton, Martin, Berra, Robertson, Mulgrew, Snodgrass, Fletcher ©, McLean, McCormack, Anya https://t.co/tLz8pavAxI

[RicoS321]

Is it on the TV? Might watch it if McLean is playing.

[Jute]

Is it on the TV? Might watch it if McLean is playing.

 

Premier Sport are showing it.

[RicoS321]

Premier Sport are showing it.

 

Cheers. Might try streaming it. Not paying for it.

[Jute]

No idea how we have got to half time 1-0 up. Czechs have missed numerous chances.

[Jute]

Better 2nd half performance and maybe should have had a penalty when Hutton was brought down in box. Thought Ross McCormack and Anya played well. McLean had a decent chance but missed.

[RicoS321]

Paul Caddis came on. Paul fuckin Caddis? Fucking hell Strachan. Just playing guys he's worked with before at the Tims (T Watt being the other). Along with some (ex)Brighton cunts that McGhee used to work with. It's fucking embarrassing.

[tom_widdows]

McLean had a decent chance but missed.

 

Well that's his international career gone

[Stewart]

I see McLean got the official man of the match.

[RicoS321]

I see McLean got the official man of the match.

 

Really? One of only two players not to get an 8 in Darren Jackson's player ratings (a less intelligent pundit would be difficult to find).

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35894371

 

[RicoS321]

Here's the highlights:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EXM14mooWY

[Stewart]

Really? One of only two players not to get an 8 in Darren Jackson's player ratings (a less intelligent pundit would be difficult to find).

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35894371

 

Well he got the Vauxhall Scotland man of the match anyway.

 

*EDIT*

 

Allan McGregor: This was possibly his best game in a Scotland jersey. He was absolutely outstanding. I'll give him a 9 but it was a "10" performance. 

 

[Tyrant]

Well he got the Vauxhall Scotland man of the match anyway.

 

*EDIT*

 

Allan McGregor: This was possibly his best game in a Scotland jersey. He was absolutely outstanding. I'll give him a 9 but it was a "10" performance. 

 

Aye I stopped reading after that.

[Stewart]

Aye I stopped reading after that.

 

It's like he's trying to be clever.

[rocket_scientist]

All the pundits raving about McGregor's performance.

 

It is possible that the pundits really understand goalkeeping and are qualified to comment.

 

But like everything, there are different ways of looking at things.

 

As the "this is water" speech I put up yesterday identified - and zillions of other sources - how we think determines what we see. The same reality is interpreted completely differently depending on who is doing the viewing and how they view.

 

Consider his performance in a different way. Which of McGregor's saves were exceptional? Which one of them was truly great, one that any competent keeper would not have been expected to save? Which of them, had he not made it, would he not have been slagged for?

 

McGregor's performance was very good because he did the competent well and because he was so busy, he did the competent well repeatedly. Had he let any of them in, it would have been a howler, a piece of total incompetence.

 

Without knowing that they're doing it and born from a total ignorance of the art of goalkeeping, those gushing in praise for McGregor last night are praising him for doing the basic requirements of the role and not fucking up. There was nothing exceptional about any of the saves.

[Tyrant]

All the pundits raving about McGregor's performance.

 

It is possible that the pundits really understand goalkeeping and are qualified to comment.

 

But like everything, there are different ways of looking at things.

 

As the "this is water" speech I put up yesterday identified - and zillions of other sources - how we think determines what we see. The same reality is interpreted completely differently depending on who is doing the viewing and how they view.

 

Consider his performance in a different way. Which of McGregor's saves were exceptional? Which one of them was truly great, one that any competent keeper would not have been expected to save? Which of them, had he not made it, would he not have been slagged for?

 

McGregor's performance was very good because he did the competent well and because he was so busy, he did the competent well repeatedly. Had he let any of them in, it would have been a howler, a piece of total incompetence.

 

Without knowing that they're doing it and born from a total ignorance of the art of goalkeeping, those gushing in praise for McGregor last night are praising him for doing the basic requirements of the role and not fucking up. There was nothing exceptional about any of the saves.

 

 

Agreed. There were some smart saves but definitely nothing that even Jamie Langfield should have struggled with. The best one, in my humble and non self-centred opinion (excellent speech by the way), was after the free kick that hit the bar when the ball was headed back towards goal and McGregor was able to get up and scramble across to claw it away. But even this one I would have expected any semi competent keeper to make. His performance was adequate and consistent.

[rocket_scientist]

 

Agreed. There were some smart saves but definitely nothing that even Jamie Langfield should have struggled with. The best one, in my humble and non self-centred opinion (excellent speech by the way), was after the free kick that hit the bar when the ball was headed back towards goal and McGregor was able to get up and scramble across to claw it away. But even this one I would have expected any semi competent keeper to make. His performance was adequate and consistent.

 

Lol. Just proves how we all see stuff differently.

 

I agree that he got up smart and fisted it past the post by reacting well but what about this as an observation?

 

He should never have been on the ground. His dive towards the free kick was futile. He was never getting near it, as he well knew when he took his dive.

 

This is a common fault, keepers diving when they know they're not getting there. Nobody has the courage to stand up, move towards the other side in the event that it does hit woodwork and rebound. Futile diving happens in every game, for reasons that include everyone else does it, not wanting to look stupid, instinct taking us to that side etc.

 

Glad you liked the This is Water speech. I put up a slide in my own presentation this week that had the subject followed by eh?

 

The e stood for enthusiasm,

the h stood for humility, and

the ? stands for Always Be Asking Questions.

 

The best route to understanding is knowing what the right questions are because none of us have all the answers.

 

This is a totally different issue to delivering opinions with conviction and presenting truths with force. Even then, these can only be done when the presenter has put in the full time and is qualified to know.

 

The best part of that speech for me were these words: -

 

blind certainty - a closed mindedness that amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn’t even know he’s locked up

[Madbadteacher]

This is a common fault, keepers diving when they know they're not getting there. Nobody has the courage to stand up, move towards the other side in the event that it does hit woodwork and rebound. Futile diving happens in every game, for reasons that include everyone else does it, not wanting to look stupid, instinct taking us to that side etc.

 

If my memory serves, Bobby Clark was good at the "stand and stare" if he couldn't get to a shot. I'm sure there are some pics of him doing just this?

[rocket_scientist]

If my memory serves, Bobby Clark was good at the "stand and stare" if he couldn't get to a shot. I'm sure there are some pics of him doing just this?

 

Your memory is good. Bobby Clark, unlike the vast, vast majority in the modern era was never a futile diver.

 

Of the particular incident last night, this is where he was when the ball struck the bar: -

 

 

It's not even close. This happens all the time, with even worse examples than this.

 

 

EDIT: The pic, if seen just in isolation may be misleading in that it might look like the ball went over his hand. The truth was that McGregor's hand in that screen shot was the closest it got during the flight and still never got anywhere near it. The ball didn't go over his hand. This was him being as far right as he could get, having left a big hole over the wall.

[Jute]

Another win tonight but as with Czech game could easily have been a loss. How Teirney got in the squad in front of Shinnie is beyond me. Not even close to being in the same class as Shinnie. Ritchie took his goal well after some awful defending by Ager. Gordon had some great saves in 2nd half.

[Edinburghdon]

Another win tonight but as with Czech game could easily have been a loss. How Teirney got in the squad in front of Shinnie is beyond me. Not even close to being in the same class as Shinnie. Ritchie took his goal well after some awful defending by Ager. Gordon had some great saves in 2nd half.

 

Agree with pretty much all of that.

 

Pretty sure Tierney gave the ball away more in the first half than shinnie has done all season... Yet schmichael said at HT he was by far the best player on the pitch, incredible! Seemed to be growing into the game in the second half but I didn't catch the end.

 

Gordon looked good, as did McGinn and Ritchie. Cant believe he didn't get a second.

 

I really don't see the point in playing Greer, Whittaker, Maloney et all... They're not going to be involved long term so why persist with them when we have the chance to try out some younger players?

 

 

[Tyrant]

It was funny when Agger had the cheek to scream at Schmeichel at the goal!

 

I didn't watch either game. And I'm a little bit annoyed that these flimsy wins have papered over the massive cracks that are McGhee and Strachan.