Team For Tonight

[yoda-jag]

A further thought. Levein's interview was similar to the rubbish we get from McCall in his after match "comments", e.g. idiotic excuses and blaming others. Is this, along with talking up a terrible performance, part of the UEFA coaching course?

 

The similarities between Jobby and Avril, as well as Scotland and Thistle, and following and watching their purported performances, are frightening. Don't know if its anything to do with UEFA but I am beginning to wonder if there is some dark side conspiracy afoot.

 

 

Avril........that's extremely poor patter

 

so i'm stealing it for work the morra

 

Go Forth and Prosper or something like that with it, young apprentice.

[Blackpool Jags]

All our failings adequately covered above. I would like to add that Robson's prowess with free-kicks in scoring range is not up to the standard of Adam's. For me, the result apart, the only semblance of a positive was McCulloch's booking, keeeping him out of the Spain game. This should mean bringing in Adam to play alongside Robson who, despite my comment above, puts in a decent shift and is probably worth a start in this set-up. The omission of Dorrans, even from the bench, is baffling and hopefully isn't down to injury. Btw, Brown was mince and the starting 4(?) midfielders for the Spain game should be: Dorrans, Fletcher, Adam & Robson.

 

Final point: I usually have a bit of respect for street teams like Liechtenstein, but in the last half hour they were so thuggish that I wanted the polis involved. I really ended up hating them for their animal approach. Basturts.

[sandy]

We squeaked that one last night. Made for pretty grim watching until the late, late winner.

 

I don't know why Dorrans was not given a run out - he could have helped energise things.

[Charlie Endell]

I left at HT . I would have to say that's the most inept performance ever - a total embarrassment. Levein's a buffoon but as someone has already pointed out, when you're playing Liechtenstein, it shouldn't matter who the coach / manager is.

[Lindau]

Packing a team with done h*ns and done Tims

 

Exactly. Must have the oldest central defender playing international football. McGregor, McCulloch and Boyd should never have been picked again. Only pass marks go to Morrison and Robson. Just why Dorrans wasnt even on the bench mystifies me. It will be embarrasing against Spain if we play like that. Would have respected Levein a lot more if he had come out and told the truth and that was...WE WERE CRAP!!

[Mr Bunny]

I left at HT . I would have to say that's the most inept performance ever - a total embarrassment. Levein's a buffoon but as someone has already pointed out, when you're playing Liechtenstein, it shouldn't matter who the coach / manager is.

 

I does matter actually because you must pick the right players when you know a team is going to sit back like that (yes they did come at us at times but only after we'd spent a good while demonstrating how inept we were).

 

Brown has been off form for a while now, McCulloch who was used purley defensively the previous game added nothing to this one. Even McFadden did little. You need players who will unlock a defence like that. I thought Boyd did OK as he was in really good positions several times but didn't get the delivery he should have. The likes of Adam can do that and he also can run at players.

 

Even when we have to play defensively in away games I'd rather see Hartley play instead of McCulloch - he may not tackle as well but he reads the game, makes good interceptions and can play the ball out of defence well. He's also played that role before and done it well.

[Alan Murray]

W

Whilst being a tad relieved that we were saved from total embarrassment and potentially football oblivion tonight; I'm afraid the truly awful state of Scottish football is no longer serious. In point of fact if action isn't taken at all levels from schoolboy to the so-called "elite" to foster basic footballing ability ability and to develop skill levels, to say nothing of a fundamental restructuring of the allegedly professional game in this country, I fear it will be terminal. I doubt this will be the song sung by Chick Dung and his colleagues. Nonetheless its the truth , hard as it is to swallow.

 

[uberteeb]

Average SPL players instead of on form up and coming Premiership players. Excellent decision by Levein. Seems he is more afraid of upsetting the gutter press up here than doing his best for the team.

 

That team is full of overgrown neds who think they are the dogs, someone like Levein (and Burley before him) is never going to command their respect, I mean what has he done? He husnae managed Rangurs or ra Sellic. The job should have gone to someone like Souness, he would have commanded respect or even a well respected older foreign coach. Guys like that also wouldn’t pander to the Daily Record by picking out of form OF players.

[Big Welshy]

We're pish and we're going to the Euros.

[Fearchar]

W

Whilst being a tad relieved that we were saved from total embarrassment and potentially football oblivion tonight; I'm afraid the truly awful state of Scottish football is no longer serious. In point of fact if action isn't taken at all levels from schoolboy to the so-called "elite" to foster basic footballing ability ability and to develop skill levels, to say nothing of a fundamental restructuring of the allegedly professional game in this country, I fear it will be terminal. I doubt this will be the song sung by Chick Dung and his colleagues. Nonetheless its the truth , hard as it is to swallow.

Scottish football is reaching a new nadir, but then it's run by a strange mixture from two centuries ago - would-be Corinthians with would-be 19th century mill owners. Whoever thinks that small joint-stock companies are an effective way of organising football (or any sports) clubs in the 21st century needs his or her head examined. After all, we have the proof of where it leads us - to minute divisions and leagues; the dominance of two clubs at the highest level; a fractured, divisive administration (SFA, SPL, SFL, SJFA,....); overwhelming indebtedness at all levels; a national squad that can barely compete with the likes of Liechtenstein (that tiny refuge of absolutism and secretive tax evasion); and hopes placed in the likes of Craig Brown as managers and the likes of Kenny Black and Uncle Dick as SFA coaches. Even the media commentators are permitted to deliver an incoherence that would instantly render them unsuitable for any other type of news delivery.

 

If you didn't laugh, you'd have to cry.

[Blackpool Jags]

Even the media commentators are permitted to deliver an incoherence that would instantly render them unsuitable for any other type of news delivery.

 

If you didn't laugh, you'd have to cry.

 

Another thing that got my goat: the English commentator on SS3. With over 25 minutes to play he was congratulating them on "a remarkable result that will have every citizen in Liechtenstein raise a glass to their football team"; "they'll be having some party in Vaduz tonight"; etc etc. This pish continued right to (virtually) the bitter end.

 

Can't remember this clown's name, but to whoever it was GIRFUY!

[graham]

At 1-0 last night there was part of me hoping it stayed that way. We need a Year Zero in Scottish football, and a result like that might just have precipitated it.

[Diego]

At 1-0 last night there was part of me hoping it stayed that way. We need a Year Zero in Scottish football, and a result like that might just have precipitated it.

I don't think you're the only one. A friend I went to Liechtenstein with told me he was actually kinda hoping Scotland would lose. I went into the match thinking a 2-1 result would be satisfactory for me, Liechtenstein would have played well, got a goal and Scotland would have picked up all three points. The reality was that I was raging at the end of the game.

[Jaggyman]

Our national team is mince and our teams in european competition are a joke 9 times out of 10. Football in this country is dying an ugly death and i dont know if it will recover

[gianlucatoni]

Went to the game last night and was truly depressed at the standard in the blue jerseys. I was also disappointed that it was pretty much a Rangers team versus a pub team from a 'country' half the size of East Kilbride ffs.

 

Boyd was lamentable and should have been hooked at half time instead of McFadden - it was a joke he wasn't subbed until the 65th minute - at least wee Faddy looked like he was up for it but his several mistakes were no releasing the ball. Hutton had a howler and deserved a right good kicking. Robson was unfit when he replaced Wallace (sorry to hear about the big mans knackered cruciate ligament). There was nothing in midield apart from Fletcher who ran his socks off but was let down by crap movement. Morrison and bombscare Berra should have been on from the start and Dorrans should have played but wasn't even in the squad .... and the list goes on.

 

I went for a slash in the 95th minute when the Liechties had a corner - thought game was abogey but when the noise went up for the 2nd goal I carried on mid-stream - it was the most satisfying minute of the whole game and it all hit the target too. It also summed up the night - what a load of p*sh!

[1876Jag]

The old British sense of entitlement is alive and well, it seems. I thought it resided with the Old Firm support but it seems it's everywhere. Goodness me, teams aren't rolling over and taking it up the wazoo. That's not fair. Didn't we beat some of these countries in the war?

 

If we can't expect to beat Liechtenstein, with a population less than the crowd inside Hampden the other night, then we might as well lock the gates and have a UK team.

 

It's got nothing to do with entitlement. It's a comparison of the so called qualities of our players against them.

 

If you were Portuguese, Spanish, Italian or Brazilian is it a sense of entitlement to expect to beat Scotland? Of course not - you simply are viewing the comparative strengths of both teams.

 

If you are Brazilian and expect to beat Italy or Spain etc then that is a different matter.

[McKennan]

If we can't expect to beat Liechtenstein, with a population less than the crowd inside Hampden the other night, then we might as well lock the gates and have a UK team.

 

Oh right. It's all about size. Nothing to do with the skill and character of those on the park. We just have to turn up and win, do we?