England vs Scotland will be shown live on STV

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,751]

Adam is tailor made for this game IMO. Considering we have a team that cannot pass or hold the ball Charlie Adam seems to do that reasonably well in a high level league. On top of that, Scotland's best hope will be deadballs and corners IMO and he has a sweet left foot. Oh wait so has Mulgrew....

[MacK1950 2,376]

Started a thread on 30 October in which I said an unknown left back and Mulgrew would be back,watch for Wallace not getting a game.

Charlie Adam is proved correct in his summing up of the Green Eyed one on players coming in who have hardly played but are pets of the Manager!!!!!!

[boabie 230]

Adam is tailor made for this game IMO. Considering we have a team that cannot pass or hold the ball Charlie Adam seems to do that reasonably well in a high level league. On top of that, Scotland's best hope will be deadballs and corners IMO and he has a sweet left foot. Oh wait so has Mulgrew....

 

While admitting that I don't see much of English football, Charlie must have become a totally different player from the one I watched at Ibrox - constantly looking for and failing at a 40 yard pass when there was a team mate nearby and blowing out his erse after 20 minutes springs to mind.

In saying that, none of the instantly forgettable players who's names I can't even remember after 2 qualifying campaigns seem to hold any skills that Charlie is devoid of - or maybe they are just able to run about a bit longer ??

Fecking Fletcher and Brown sum up what's wrong with that squad. Shoe-horned in despite having been garbage for 10 years or so.

Edited November 9, 2016 by boabie

[ian1964 10,723]

You've pretty much described myself. Back in the day I was a bit of a football obsessive, particularly Scottish football where I was something of a Rain Man. It would have been unthinkable to watch an Old Firm game and every few minutes hear a Celtic player's name and think 'who?' in the way I do now.

 

These days I'm far more into my rugby and cricket. If it wasn't for Rangers, I think I might be lost to football for good.

 

That covers the majority of Scottish football fans:smokin:

[ian1964 10,723]

CHARLIE Adam criticised Scotland manager Gordon Strachan on Tuesday for a failure to select his strongest squad after feeling he deserved a call-up for recent performances with Stoke City.

 

The 30-year-old claimed after the snub that his 'face doesn't fit' before asserting that "I don't think (Strachan) is picking the best players he has available."

 

In light of the former Liverpool midfielder's comments, we've profiled eight Premier League players who have also been overlooked for Friday's meeting with England, beginning with the man himself.

 

Charlie Adam (Stoke City)

 

Adam has recently worked his way back into a starting role for Stoke and played the full 90 minutes in their last two Premier League games, a win over Swansea and a draw with West Ham.

 

The 30-year-old is vastly experienced at the top level of English football, with 177 Premier League appearances and 33 goals to his name, but he didn’t play a single minute of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign under Strachan and hasn’t appeared in a competitive international since a 2-0 defeat to Serbia in March 2013.

 

Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion)

 

West Brom’s number 10 arrived at the Midlands club for £5.5m from QPR in the summer and has since become a regular fixture in Tony Pulis’ side.

 

The winger, who is capable on playing on either flank, gave a man of the match performance on Sunday in a 2-1 win over reigning champions Leicester, contributing a goal and an assist for the Baggies.

 

It was the 25-year-old’s tenth Premier League appearance of the season, but he is yet to be selected in Strachan’s squad for a 2018 World Cup qualifying match and last pulled on a Scotland jersey during the 1-0 friendly defeat to Italy in May.

 

Jordan Rhodes (Middlesbrough)

 

The former Blackburn striker has struggled for game time at the Riverside this season, limited to only one Premier League start since Boro’s return to the Premier League having fallen behind Alvaro Negredo, Cristhian Stuani and David Nugent in the pecking order.

 

On Friday it will be five years to the day since Rhodes was given his Scotland debut by Craig Levein, and he scored three goals in his first five caps including a double against Luxembourg in November 2012.

 

However, the 26-year-old has rarely featured under Strachan and hasn’t played for the national team since providing two assists after coming off the bench in the 6-1 Euro 2016 qualifying win over Gibraltar last March.

 

Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth)

 

The 22-year-old former Aberdeen winger joined the Cherries in the summer after an impressive campaign with Ipswich Town and is fighting for a starting place under Eddie Howe.

 

After being named in the starting line-up for two of Bournemouth’s first three league games this season, he has featured from the bench in his club’s last three. The youngster is one to keep an eye on for the future, with eight Scotland Under-21 caps to his name but no senior debut as yet.

 

George Boyd (Burnley)

 

Burnley’s hard-working midfielder has earned countless plaudits for his exceptional work rate, earning the nickname ‘Running Man’ among Clarets fans.

 

The 31-year-old is now involved in his third Premier League campaign and is a mainstay of Sean Dyche’s resolute side, appearing in all but one of their league games so far this season.

 

Despite his top level experience and ability to play on either flank, Boyd has been largely overlooked by Scotland and has earned only two caps, the last of which was two and a half years ago in a friendly against Nigeria.

 

Shaun Maloney (Hull City)

 

A stalwart of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Maloney scored five goals and provided four assists in the ultimately failed attempt to reach this summer’s showcase event in France.

 

The former Celtic midfielder was called into Strachan’s squad for the October fixtures against Lithuania and Slovakia without making an appearance, before being overlooked once more for the England clash having missed out on the trip to Malta.

 

The 33-year-old is back in the Premier League this season and supplied a goal and an assist in Hull’s win over Swansea back in August. He has been in and out of Mike Phelan’s team, but presents a vastly experienced option on the international stage with 43 caps and six Scotland goals to his name.

 

Phil Bardsley (Stoke City)

 

Having featured only once for Scotland in the last four years, coming off the bench against Poland in March 2014, Bardsley is in something of an international exile.

 

But the 31-year-old is an experienced Premier League defender and has been a regular on the right side of Stoke City’s defence this season, a position currently covered only by Callum Paterson in the Scotland squad.

 

With 239 appearances to his name in the English top-flight, Bardsley may feel hard done by to have only earned 13 caps for his country.

 

Donald Love (Sunderland)

 

The 21-year-old departed Manchester United during the summer to join up with David Moyes at Sunderland after making two outings for the Old Trafford giants last season.

 

Love, who has been capped by Scotland at Under-17, 19 and 21 level, has been limited to only four Premier League appearances since his summer switch but his ability to play at either right-back or as a defensive midfielder make him an intriguing prospect as a potential future internationalist.

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14877029.Charlie_Adam_and_seven_more_Premier_League_players_to_be_overlooked_by_Scotland/

[Norris Cole 0]

I suddenly feel rather old. I've barely heard of some of these names. It's a bit like when you could put Championship Manager on 'random' mode where all players had fake names.

[calscot 0]

Well there is three there we should know...

[calscot 0]

The thing that makes me feel old is Bardsley is 31...

[Norris Cole 0]

Is he? God, seemed like a lifetime ago he was with us.

[StuGers 477]

My disinterest in this match is alarming me!

 

On one hand, I want Scotland to win. I always do, however this piggybacking of Scotland by a lot of Rangers haters does get on my nerves. However, I feel that even if we win, we are miles off qualifying.

 

On the other hand, part of me wants Scotland to lose - partly because of the hating that goes on above and also it would be the nail in the abject failure Strachan's coffin.

 

On a similar vein, I see multiple posts on Facebook on Scottish football pages with fans holding Scotland flags and poppy banners. It is disgusting the amount of people that post abuse at the guys with the poppy banners. It seems to be getting more prevalent that the abuse of any sort of respect to the armed forces, Britain, or any of this country's history is acceptable.