JFK-1 1,690 Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Russell Martin, Robertson, Paterson, Hanley, Bannan, Ritchie, Chris Martin, Burke If any of these players from the starting line up was sitting at my table I would have no idea who they are. I might recognise Bannan but that's about it. Its scary to think these are the players who will be at Wembley in two months, 17 years after our last proper team who won there 1-0 from Don Hutch goal. But had you ever heard of any of the Iceland team who beat them at the World Cup? A nation with a smaller population than Glasgow managed it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 743 Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 But had you ever heard of any of the Iceland team who beat them at the World Cup? A nation with a smaller population than Glasgow managed it. Im not from Iceland though. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFK-1 1,690 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Im not from Iceland though. We can only hope for the best and I think that's the first time in a long time we won the first qualifying match. We have an ideal start to work off with the next game at Hampden against Lithuania which should be winnable all things being equal to put us on 6 points from a possible 6 then 3 days later we will be away in Slovakia and they have a population no bigger than Scotland. Even a draw there would be a decent result before heading to Wembley the following month. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 743 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 We can only hope for the best and I think that's the first time in a long time we won the first qualifying match. We have an ideal start to work off with the next game at Hampden against Lithuania which should be winnable all things being equal to put us on 6 points from a possible 6 then 3 days later we will be away in Slovakia and they have a population no bigger than Scotland. Even a draw there would be a decent result before heading to Wembley the following month. Id take 8 points from the first 4 straight away. Lithuania is a must win already, it wont be pretty but I can see a 1-0 or a 2-0. Slovakia away is tough, they held England at the Euro's and were 1 kick away from doing so with 10 men last night. Id bite at a point now. Cant see us getting anything at Wembley but England are still a poor side with most of their players on poor form so there is a chance considering the surprises in football results in the last 12 months. Id be more worried if Allardyce actually changed things and played a team full of form and pace. If he played something like this I think it would transfer them 4-1-4-1: Forster, Walker, Stones, Dier, Rose, Drinkwater, Antonio, Ox-Chamberlain, Barkley, Sterling, Rashford. But the current crop of Henderson, Lallana, Rooney is nothing to be afraid of. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Ritchie at least is a cracking player. Bannan I really like but his quality is certainly up for debate. Personally there are 4 or 5 on that list I would love to have at rangers. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 (edited) Ritchie at least is a cracking player. Bannan I really like but his quality is certainly up for debate. Personally there are 4 or 5 on that list I would love to have at rangers. I don't think that really counts for much, given the level we're at just now. Edited September 5, 2016 by Ser Barristan Selmy 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 (edited) The centre halves are better certainly. We're better now up front. Truth is the epl has moved on lots since then. Almost all our current crop would play easily in the epl of 2000. But let's say he's got the most to work with in 12 years. We can probably both agree on that. I'm not sure. I think the Premiership peaked about 10 or so years ago and seems to be in free fall now, as indicated by the regular poor performance in both European trophies. I'm sure a number of the players last night wouldn't look out of place at low end Premiership teams, but that isn't really the point. Back in the day the decent old firm and Premiership players we had were a level above that. I don't think the standard in the bottom half of the Premiership is particularly high. To go back to Wales, they don't have the best of squads, but they have Bale, Ramsey, Williams and Allen. These are all players on their day who could compete at a decent Champions League level. I think the last time we produced such a player was Barry Ferguson. What are Wales getting right that we aren't? They followed up one world class player in Giggs with another in Bale. I don't think that's a fluke. When is the last time Scotland produced a genuine world class player? Someone of the very highest ability who wouldn't look out of place for any team in the world? Edited September 5, 2016 by Ser Barristan Selmy 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 But had you ever heard of any of the Iceland team who beat them at the World Cup? A nation with a smaller population than Glasgow managed it. In fairness, Gylfi Sigurdsson alone is probably worth more than most of our XI put together. And that's the problem. Even these little teams have one or two top level players. Why don't we? Our players are all just middle to upper Championship, perhaps bottom end EPL level. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott7 5,513 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Giggs is only slightly Welsh. All his football development was in Manchester. But the point is valid. Every top English side had at least two Scottish internationalists. The best had even more. In the old days the selectors plcked the eleven for the game and a reserve eleven. The reserves were mostly just as good as the first picks and there were stil plenty of good players left out. Now we're hard put to get a team plus subs, scouring the Register of Births to find Scottish grannies of Englishmen who can't make their own top forty. I don't know the answer to the problem. Abolish Rugby? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 I'm not sure. I think the Premiership peaked about 10 or so years ago and seems to be in free fall now, as indicated by the regular poor performance in both European trophies. I'm sure a number of the players last night wouldn't look out of place at low end Premiership teams, but that isn't really the point. Back in the day the decent old firm and Premiership players we had were a level above that. I don't think the standard in the bottom half of the Premiership is particularly high. To go back to Wales, they don't have the best of squads, but they have Bale, Ramsey, Williams and Allen. These are all players on their day who could compete at a decent Champions League level. I think the last time we produced such a player was Barry Ferguson. What are Wales getting right that we aren't? They followed up one world class player in Giggs with another in Bale. I don't think that's a fluke. When is the last time Scotland produced a genuine world class player? Someone of the very highest ability who wouldn't look out of place for any team in the world? Maybe at the top but the overall quality has risen remarkably since 2000. It was a one and a bit horse race then. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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