I had my first proper taste of international football at Hampden on Tuesday night. What happened was essentially a re-run of everything I have experienced as a Scottish football fan over twenty years, with added atmosphere by the bucketloads. If qualifying for major tournaments was decided on the passion, knowledge and noise of the crowd, we would have had to wait less than what now appears to be at least 16 years without a finals appearence. But hey, that's not how it works - you actually have to play a bit as well.
I say that the Spain match was like a re-run. That can be extended to last Friday's debacle in Prague, now known as 4-6-0-gate. Any Scotland fan is familiar with the way that we seem to pull out a big performance against teams such as the World Champions, only to fall gallantly short. Reference recent performances against Italy and Holland, the France double-header being the exception, but look at the state of them now. Admittedly, Spain were wasteful and Allan McGregor was exceptional, but a lot of heart can be taken from the way we bounced back from 2-0 to fleetingly level, particularly after the hammer blow of conceding a penalty late in the first half. It is clear that this group of players have heart and soul, if not the technical flair of their opponents. National pride is one thing, but professionalism is another. Why on earth do they only seem to get themselves up for "big games", whilst looking utterly bereft of ideas against the archetypal "diddy teams", such as Lithuania and Liechtenstein. True, the players were very much victims of Craig Levein's system against the Czechs but it was still excruciating viewing and ultimately the aesthetic displeasure didn't work!
With almost a year until our next competetive fixture against the Czechs at Hampden, it is impossible to project the way the side will line up and perform. It's hard enough when the gap is four days! However, from a situation where we have statistically gained nothing, there have been some positives, giving the supporters some hope that we may become a stable squad - one capable of finding the holy grail of championship football. It is abundantly clear that Darren Fletcher requires players around him for his natural box-to-box game to flourish, someone to sit deep and display a full range of passes. Like Paul Scholes. Or Barry Ferguson. But not Lee McCulloch. The other midfielders, James Morrison, Graham Dorrans and particularly Stevie Naismith showed skill, vision and a little bit of pace on the rare occasions we got forward and were also willing to track back and nullify the threat the Spanish posed. But still - we need a player in the hole to actually link play with the lone striker, be it Kenny Miller or nobody or whatever. I can vouch for Dorrans in that role - he started as a striker in the centre of the youth academy world (Almondvale) before Livi and West Brom shifted him to the wing and centre-mid repsectively. That allows Morrison and Naismith to play on the wings, with Charlie Adam doing Fletcher's dirty work. A 4-4-1-1 as opposed to 4-5-1.
Whilst we're on the lone striker subject, how many more chances is Kenny Miller going to waste? Form for Rangers against the collective might of St Mirren, Hamilton and Kilmarnock is not an indicator of quality, just a striker's thirst for goals. Yes he will run around, pester defenders and "put in a good shift" but his finishing, Liechtenstein apart, has been mostly woeful for the past 3 or 4 years. And let me tell you, that 90 minutes of international football is in no way a "good shift". 69 days down a mine is a good shift. If we're going to play a guy in the hole, does that mean we can get rid of Kenny? Will Steven Fletcher stay fit to bring his wider skill set to the party? As I say, a year is a long time in football, many of these issues discussed are subject to so many variables. I'm just proving my credentials for when the SFA stumbles across this blog and has no-one else to turn to.
Another positive from Tuesday's defeat is that Steven Whittaker got sent off and is therefore suspended from the September 3rd game. He was dogshite against Spain, displaying the touch of an elephant and the vision of a bat (sorry for the multiple animal metaphors btw, I just feel very strongly about this). I was speaking to Graeme after the game about potential replacements at left-back. In short, there are none. Such is the dearth of ability at that position, we were reminiscing about the days of Gary Naysmith. But anything is better than Whittaker. This is when you realise how sad it was that John Kennedy's career got cut short. We have depth between the sticks, which is good because we need it whilst Weir, McManus and Caldwell are in situ. Which they inevitably will be next year.
So there you go Craig. A blueprint looking forward, all being well. Take it or leave it. Just start firing them up for the smaller games in the same way you manage it for the Spains of this world.
RM
I say that the Spain match was like a re-run. That can be extended to last Friday's debacle in Prague, now known as 4-6-0-gate. Any Scotland fan is familiar with the way that we seem to pull out a big performance against teams such as the World Champions, only to fall gallantly short. Reference recent performances against Italy and Holland, the France double-header being the exception, but look at the state of them now. Admittedly, Spain were wasteful and Allan McGregor was exceptional, but a lot of heart can be taken from the way we bounced back from 2-0 to fleetingly level, particularly after the hammer blow of conceding a penalty late in the first half. It is clear that this group of players have heart and soul, if not the technical flair of their opponents. National pride is one thing, but professionalism is another. Why on earth do they only seem to get themselves up for "big games", whilst looking utterly bereft of ideas against the archetypal "diddy teams", such as Lithuania and Liechtenstein. True, the players were very much victims of Craig Levein's system against the Czechs but it was still excruciating viewing and ultimately the aesthetic displeasure didn't work!
With almost a year until our next competetive fixture against the Czechs at Hampden, it is impossible to project the way the side will line up and perform. It's hard enough when the gap is four days! However, from a situation where we have statistically gained nothing, there have been some positives, giving the supporters some hope that we may become a stable squad - one capable of finding the holy grail of championship football. It is abundantly clear that Darren Fletcher requires players around him for his natural box-to-box game to flourish, someone to sit deep and display a full range of passes. Like Paul Scholes. Or Barry Ferguson. But not Lee McCulloch. The other midfielders, James Morrison, Graham Dorrans and particularly Stevie Naismith showed skill, vision and a little bit of pace on the rare occasions we got forward and were also willing to track back and nullify the threat the Spanish posed. But still - we need a player in the hole to actually link play with the lone striker, be it Kenny Miller or nobody or whatever. I can vouch for Dorrans in that role - he started as a striker in the centre of the youth academy world (Almondvale) before Livi and West Brom shifted him to the wing and centre-mid repsectively. That allows Morrison and Naismith to play on the wings, with Charlie Adam doing Fletcher's dirty work. A 4-4-1-1 as opposed to 4-5-1.
Whilst we're on the lone striker subject, how many more chances is Kenny Miller going to waste? Form for Rangers against the collective might of St Mirren, Hamilton and Kilmarnock is not an indicator of quality, just a striker's thirst for goals. Yes he will run around, pester defenders and "put in a good shift" but his finishing, Liechtenstein apart, has been mostly woeful for the past 3 or 4 years. And let me tell you, that 90 minutes of international football is in no way a "good shift". 69 days down a mine is a good shift. If we're going to play a guy in the hole, does that mean we can get rid of Kenny? Will Steven Fletcher stay fit to bring his wider skill set to the party? As I say, a year is a long time in football, many of these issues discussed are subject to so many variables. I'm just proving my credentials for when the SFA stumbles across this blog and has no-one else to turn to.
Another positive from Tuesday's defeat is that Steven Whittaker got sent off and is therefore suspended from the September 3rd game. He was dogshite against Spain, displaying the touch of an elephant and the vision of a bat (sorry for the multiple animal metaphors btw, I just feel very strongly about this). I was speaking to Graeme after the game about potential replacements at left-back. In short, there are none. Such is the dearth of ability at that position, we were reminiscing about the days of Gary Naysmith. But anything is better than Whittaker. This is when you realise how sad it was that John Kennedy's career got cut short. We have depth between the sticks, which is good because we need it whilst Weir, McManus and Caldwell are in situ. Which they inevitably will be next year.
So there you go Craig. A blueprint looking forward, all being well. Take it or leave it. Just start firing them up for the smaller games in the same way you manage it for the Spains of this world.
RM
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