And the Scottish FA want to stop their players playing in an international tournament like the Olympics.
The Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh players may never get another chance.
We may be moving in the right direction on the field. BUT results are absolutely paramount.
---------------------------------
What did you expect? For us to suddenly start playing like Spain?
Like you say the performances are steadily improving. Considering where we were 2 years ago I don't see how we could have asked for much more.
We shoulda beat Eire. We still are sidelining some players over blinkin stubborness (e.g Stevie Fletcher).
------------------------------------------------
Yes we should have beat them and had the chances to do so. The manager can't be blamed for our players missing sitters and a very uncharacteristic howler from a normally reliable keeper. In the other two games we more than comfortably beat Wales and NI, teams we struggled against as little as 2-3 years ago.
On the subject of Fletcher, he sidelined himself by refusing to play for his country as he thinks he is better than he is. I'm totally behind Levein on this one. Levein has opened the door and said all Fletcher has to do is indicate he wants to be called up, if Steven can't pick up the phone or release a press statement saying he is available for selection then he obviously doesn't care about Scotland and can GTF as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather have guys like Miller who are willing to travel from Turkey for friendlies.
It's not just the Brazil game either that has cost us. The fact that under Burley we failed to qualify from our easiest group in years is what has really set us back.
Levein IMO has us on the right track. We are improving, he is clearly learning from his mistakes and we are by no means out of this qualification.
It's not great that we're in pot 4 and it may mean we won't get to the world cup but now that it's done all we can do is focus on the next draw for 2016. We have to stop thinking short term and build for the future. We need to develop top drawer youngsters. This process appears to be starting (fingers crossed) and I'm encouraged that a former Dutch youth coach is helping us out. We are however looking at 10 years at least (probably 15) before we see results from this. We need to stop setting unrealistic targets for players who are not really good enough and focus on bringing through players who are good enough.
I'm not saying these players won't qualify as a lucky draw or some luck on the park (as we showed in the 2006-07 season) could see it happen but we need to develop a group of players who are guaranteed qualification.
The Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh players may never get another chance.
------------------------------
They haven't tried to stop players playing. They simply haven't endorsed it.
They have said they won't stand in the way of any player who wants to take part and is called up and legally I don't think they could anyway.
Personally I don't want it. We don't need a team in the Olympics, we've never needed one before and football shouldn't even be in the Olympics IMO.
Db I wholeheartedly agree. But u get my point. Time to stop any spin and just win. The appointment of Wotte is a good one and a real step forward. It would havebeen easy to shelve Mcleis's report but the SFA deserve credit in this instance. 'Mon the S otland
On the subject of Fletcher, he sidelined himself by refusing to play for his country as he thinks he is better than he is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or it could be that Fletcher is better than Levein and you think he is.
"We still are sidelining some players over blinkin stubborness (e.g Stevie Fletcher)."
Eh? He sidelined himself by refusing to to play for Scotland again, how is that anyone else's fault?
Or it could be that Fletcher is better than Levein and you think he is.
----------------------------------
To be honest it doesn't really matter how good he is. He refused a call up for no good reason.
He refused to play for Scotland so Levein is assuming he isn't as interested as those he is picking. Fletcher has done nothing to contradict that despite Levein saying plenty of times he is not ruling him out he just wants clarification from Steven that he is committed to Scotland. Clearly this is too much to ask and Fletcher is not that interested so IMO he can get tae.
Db I wholeheartedly agree. But u get my point. Time to stop any spin and just win.
------------------------
I'm not really sure what you mean by spin?
Levein can be a bit arrogant and I would have like him to publicly admit he got it wrong against the Czechs but at the end of the day I'm still pretty happy with the progress and so as long as we keep improving I'm not going to grumble too much about his attitude which is exaggerated by our woeful press.
I think you're being over ambitious with the 'start winning' statement. We're simply not good enough to just turn up and win games. We have some good players (all midfielders and goalkeepers) playing at a good level but we also have massive holes in our team. We have no centre halves of any real note and no prolific strikers.
Bulgaria, Romania, Northern Ireland, Austria and Poland
all have illustroius World Cup histories.
You should not mock them.
"Bulgaria, Romania, Austria and Poland
all have illustroius World Cup histories."
Bulgaria - semi finalists
Romania - quarter finalists.
Austria - 4th and 3rd place finishes
Poland - finished 3rd twice
Maybe not "illustrious" exactly, but nothing to be embarrassed about.
Ok. But they get out of the group stages regularly
Bring it on we can take any of the teams from those pots.
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
You are in good company: Poland and Austria.
Who is in pot 3?
Ps How are pots calculated?
Ps How are pots calculated?
-------------
Rankings. If 8 teams are to be in each pot they take the top 8 in the rankings, then draw the next round from 9-16 and so on.
So I believe, there may be a few other technicalities but I think that's the gist.
Sorry meant to say if there are to be 8 groups then they draw the first 8 etc etc.
Bit of luck in the draw would be nice, say Greece, Sweden and ROI from pots 1,2 and 3.
Knowing our luck, we'll get Spain, France and a nightmare from pot 3 and it'll be all over before it's begun.
Greece, Sweden and ROI from pots 1,2 and 3.
--------------------
Two of that three have beaten us in the last year or so.
And we we wonder why we're in pot 4.
How are England ranked fourth?
I will never forgive Levein for that shambles against the Czechs.Then everybody just seemed to gloss over the fact we needed a 97th minute goal to beat Lichtenstein.He should be done for foooking treason.
Yeah, we can't complain about being in pot 4 but there was nothing between us and the Republic and the Sweden game was a shadow side.
I feel we'd be capable of beating both of these teams.
Yeah, we can't complain about being in pot 4 but there was nothing between us and the Republic and the Sweden game was a shadow side.
I feel we'd be capable of beating both of these teams.
------------------------------------------------------
other than a win agains the Faroes and Lichtenstein, what other teams have you beat recently that suggests you could beat any decent side. I think your ranking is about right.
If only the manager didn't pick players on reputation and their ability to be English, we could probably have been nearer the second pot...
I will never forgive Levein for that shambles against the Czechs.Then everybody just seemed to gloss over the fact we needed a 97th minute goal to beat Lichtenstein.He should be done for foooking treason.
-----------------------------
Richard Gough in Cyprus anyone? Numerous lame efforts against the Faroes?
It's hardly the first time we've struggled to beat a minnow.
Yes Levein was ultra defensive in his first few games, but I don't blame him. We spent 2 years shipping goals and scoring very few under Burley.
The Czech game was a poor decision but it was his 3rd competitive game in a job on a different level from anything he's ever done before. He seems to have learned from it and moved on, we should too.
If only the manager didn't pick players on reputation and their ability to be English, we could probably have been nearer the second pot...
--------------------------------
I see you've drifted over to ja606 hobo.
I don't agree with all the 'Englishmen' he's playing but at the same time I don't think there are that many homegrowns who are glaringly better although I'm sure you'll probably quote me half the united squad.
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Pot 4 for us....
Page 1 of 2
posted on 26/6/11
And the Scottish FA want to stop their players playing in an international tournament like the Olympics.
The Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh players may never get another chance.
posted on 26/6/11
We may be moving in the right direction on the field. BUT results are absolutely paramount.
---------------------------------
What did you expect? For us to suddenly start playing like Spain?
Like you say the performances are steadily improving. Considering where we were 2 years ago I don't see how we could have asked for much more.
We shoulda beat Eire. We still are sidelining some players over blinkin stubborness (e.g Stevie Fletcher).
------------------------------------------------
Yes we should have beat them and had the chances to do so. The manager can't be blamed for our players missing sitters and a very uncharacteristic howler from a normally reliable keeper. In the other two games we more than comfortably beat Wales and NI, teams we struggled against as little as 2-3 years ago.
On the subject of Fletcher, he sidelined himself by refusing to play for his country as he thinks he is better than he is. I'm totally behind Levein on this one. Levein has opened the door and said all Fletcher has to do is indicate he wants to be called up, if Steven can't pick up the phone or release a press statement saying he is available for selection then he obviously doesn't care about Scotland and can GTF as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather have guys like Miller who are willing to travel from Turkey for friendlies.
It's not just the Brazil game either that has cost us. The fact that under Burley we failed to qualify from our easiest group in years is what has really set us back.
Levein IMO has us on the right track. We are improving, he is clearly learning from his mistakes and we are by no means out of this qualification.
It's not great that we're in pot 4 and it may mean we won't get to the world cup but now that it's done all we can do is focus on the next draw for 2016. We have to stop thinking short term and build for the future. We need to develop top drawer youngsters. This process appears to be starting (fingers crossed) and I'm encouraged that a former Dutch youth coach is helping us out. We are however looking at 10 years at least (probably 15) before we see results from this. We need to stop setting unrealistic targets for players who are not really good enough and focus on bringing through players who are good enough.
I'm not saying these players won't qualify as a lucky draw or some luck on the park (as we showed in the 2006-07 season) could see it happen but we need to develop a group of players who are guaranteed qualification.
posted on 26/6/11
The Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh players may never get another chance.
------------------------------
They haven't tried to stop players playing. They simply haven't endorsed it.
They have said they won't stand in the way of any player who wants to take part and is called up and legally I don't think they could anyway.
Personally I don't want it. We don't need a team in the Olympics, we've never needed one before and football shouldn't even be in the Olympics IMO.
posted on 26/6/11
Db I wholeheartedly agree. But u get my point. Time to stop any spin and just win. The appointment of Wotte is a good one and a real step forward. It would havebeen easy to shelve Mcleis's report but the SFA deserve credit in this instance. 'Mon the S otland
posted on 26/6/11
On the subject of Fletcher, he sidelined himself by refusing to play for his country as he thinks he is better than he is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or it could be that Fletcher is better than Levein and you think he is.
posted on 26/6/11
"We still are sidelining some players over blinkin stubborness (e.g Stevie Fletcher)."
Eh? He sidelined himself by refusing to to play for Scotland again, how is that anyone else's fault?
posted on 26/6/11
Or it could be that Fletcher is better than Levein and you think he is.
----------------------------------
To be honest it doesn't really matter how good he is. He refused a call up for no good reason.
He refused to play for Scotland so Levein is assuming he isn't as interested as those he is picking. Fletcher has done nothing to contradict that despite Levein saying plenty of times he is not ruling him out he just wants clarification from Steven that he is committed to Scotland. Clearly this is too much to ask and Fletcher is not that interested so IMO he can get tae.
posted on 26/6/11
Db I wholeheartedly agree. But u get my point. Time to stop any spin and just win.
------------------------
I'm not really sure what you mean by spin?
Levein can be a bit arrogant and I would have like him to publicly admit he got it wrong against the Czechs but at the end of the day I'm still pretty happy with the progress and so as long as we keep improving I'm not going to grumble too much about his attitude which is exaggerated by our woeful press.
I think you're being over ambitious with the 'start winning' statement. We're simply not good enough to just turn up and win games. We have some good players (all midfielders and goalkeepers) playing at a good level but we also have massive holes in our team. We have no centre halves of any real note and no prolific strikers.
posted on 27/6/11
Bulgaria, Romania, Northern Ireland, Austria and Poland
all have illustroius World Cup histories.
You should not mock them.
posted on 27/6/11
"Bulgaria, Romania, Austria and Poland
all have illustroius World Cup histories."
Bulgaria - semi finalists
Romania - quarter finalists.
Austria - 4th and 3rd place finishes
Poland - finished 3rd twice
Maybe not "illustrious" exactly, but nothing to be embarrassed about.
posted on 27/6/11
Ok. But they get out of the group stages regularly
posted on 28/6/11
Bring it on we can take any of the teams from those pots.
posted on 28/6/11
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 28/6/11
You are in good company: Poland and Austria.
Who is in pot 3?
posted on 28/6/11
Ps How are pots calculated?
posted on 28/6/11
Ps How are pots calculated?
-------------
Rankings. If 8 teams are to be in each pot they take the top 8 in the rankings, then draw the next round from 9-16 and so on.
So I believe, there may be a few other technicalities but I think that's the gist.
posted on 28/6/11
Sorry meant to say if there are to be 8 groups then they draw the first 8 etc etc.
posted on 28/6/11
Bit of luck in the draw would be nice, say Greece, Sweden and ROI from pots 1,2 and 3.
Knowing our luck, we'll get Spain, France and a nightmare from pot 3 and it'll be all over before it's begun.
posted on 28/6/11
Greece, Sweden and ROI from pots 1,2 and 3.
--------------------
Two of that three have beaten us in the last year or so.
And we we wonder why we're in pot 4.
posted on 28/6/11
How are England ranked fourth?
posted on 28/6/11
I will never forgive Levein for that shambles against the Czechs.Then everybody just seemed to gloss over the fact we needed a 97th minute goal to beat Lichtenstein.He should be done for foooking treason.
posted on 29/6/11
Yeah, we can't complain about being in pot 4 but there was nothing between us and the Republic and the Sweden game was a shadow side.
I feel we'd be capable of beating both of these teams.
posted on 29/6/11
Yeah, we can't complain about being in pot 4 but there was nothing between us and the Republic and the Sweden game was a shadow side.
I feel we'd be capable of beating both of these teams.
------------------------------------------------------
other than a win agains the Faroes and Lichtenstein, what other teams have you beat recently that suggests you could beat any decent side. I think your ranking is about right.
posted on 29/6/11
If only the manager didn't pick players on reputation and their ability to be English, we could probably have been nearer the second pot...
posted on 29/6/11
I will never forgive Levein for that shambles against the Czechs.Then everybody just seemed to gloss over the fact we needed a 97th minute goal to beat Lichtenstein.He should be done for foooking treason.
-----------------------------
Richard Gough in Cyprus anyone? Numerous lame efforts against the Faroes?
It's hardly the first time we've struggled to beat a minnow.
Yes Levein was ultra defensive in his first few games, but I don't blame him. We spent 2 years shipping goals and scoring very few under Burley.
The Czech game was a poor decision but it was his 3rd competitive game in a job on a different level from anything he's ever done before. He seems to have learned from it and moved on, we should too.
If only the manager didn't pick players on reputation and their ability to be English, we could probably have been nearer the second pot...
--------------------------------
I see you've drifted over to ja606 hobo.
I don't agree with all the 'Englishmen' he's playing but at the same time I don't think there are that many homegrowns who are glaringly better although I'm sure you'll probably quote me half the united squad.
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