All Activity
- Today
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There were moments for Canada, but your assessment is pretty accurate. Oluwaseyi is not first choice striker. It should be Jonathan David and/or Cyle Larin. JD and CL have 74 goals between them in 174 combined appearances. Much like Scotland however, the striker depth chart is pretty weak ... recent call-ups included former ICT player Aribim Pepple. What Canada had that Scotland didn't (other than an easier group) however was team spirit and effort. Perhaps I am being a little disingenuous, but too many Scotland players seemed less than interested, jaded after a long season, or simply didn't perform. For Canada, they may not have the skill of the bigger nations, and for sure I think Netherlands or Morocco may put an end to their journey, but in most of their games they battled for every ball. Manager Jesse Marsch got a lot of criticism south of the border for encouraging his guys to keep going when they were playing Qatar and it was 5-0, then 6-0. He wanted them to compete to the very end and score 7, 8, or 9 if they could. These players would crawl over broken glass to play for him and for their country and that's how we used to be. Heck, look at all the others who overtook us in the hunt for a last 32 slot and almost every one of them took their last game by the scruff of the neck and left nothing out there on the pitch at the end of their respective games. We did not. Going back to the Canada game, one thing I did notice was that as soon as Alphonso Davies came on in the 75th minute, that lifted Canada immensely and the remaining 15 minutes were spent pretty much camped out in the South African half. He had some nice touches and his presence, even not fully fit gave a lift and some extra energy to all around the team. I think they also knew he only had 20 minutes in him at this stage of his recovery so needed to get it done before it went to extra-time! Not sure if this was broadcast outside Canada, but at the end, the media here of course stayed with the players and coach as they huddled on the pitch, and he gave them a team-talk. He was calling them "Canadian Heroes" which is true as they have gone further than Canada ever has before, and noting that kids will start playing, or become re-invigorated by the game because of how far they have got so far and the feelgood factor around the team. It was a very inspirational talk and very emotional for many of the players (and the manager). If somehow, they can make it past their next opponents, then that would be amazing, but they would need to lift their game, and Davies would also need to be available for longer than 15 minutes. The manager himself described it as a "free hit" and has come in for some flak for saying that, but I think what he meant in the heat of the moment is that qualifying for the last 32 was the (realistic) goal, and getting to the last 16 or any further is totally and utterly a bonus and most Canadian fans will agree with that realistic assessment - even if hoping for a bit of luck and far more :)
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I see Saturday's game with C*unty has been switched to Clach Park to give Sarens PSG pitch more time to grow??? KO 1pm
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Struggled through the SA - CAN match last night. Dreadful spectacle but pleased Canada won. South Africa’s tactics appeared to be kill the game (for most of the second half with umpteen pass back to their goalie) and draw CAN towards them, then when the opportunity presented itself attack with speed. The thing for me was SA appeared to be the more skilful and quicker team. If they had simply attacked CDN more then I believe SA would have got through. Glad they didn’t seeing the antics they displayed. No wonder a great number of fans were booing SA! Canada were no great shakes however (reminded me of most Morton teams) and they’ll have to improve if they wish to stay in the tournament. I’m not sure if Oluwaseyi was the Canadian centre forward last night. He had the mobility of a broken washing machine IMO and made Chanka Zimba almost gazelle like. Looking forward to the JPN - BRL being a much needed injection of attacking football. bc
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Duncan Ferguson open to Scotland Manager talks.....reminds me of Rafeal Shyte at Celtic....
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This is a very salient point. It also applies to England to a degree. With the Auld Firm's dominance of the league they are always trying to get above the other. To this end they recruit overseas players. The Scottish players then are spread amongst the Auld Firm benches or other teams, but crucially get little European experience. Top Scottish players of the past would often have moved to England (Dalglish, Souness, Hansen, Jordan, McQueen, etc.), but with the money available to English clubs now, they too are looking for a higher quality player abroad, leaving fewer options for Scots (and Irish, Welsh and English) in England. With this as the backdrop it'll be hard to buck the trend as what the best players are lacking is experience against high quality opposition. As I said at the start the same actually applies to English players, the depth of top quality players is not great. Even if you have, say, four top quality players - if they aren't testing themselves against better players regularly they won't improve anywhere near as quickly as they could. Whilst Norway may be doing OK now, how long will it last when Haarland retires (or goes off the boil) - their second string got thumped by France. Denmark were in the same qualifying group as Scotland but weren't good enough to win it. Ireland didn't qualify either. I don't know the answer, but I do know that it won't be easy to come by. Perhaps a domestic quota on overseas players is what is needed (for all national teams), but I don't see that happening any time soon.
- Yesterday
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I feel sorry for Steve Clarke. He seems a decent guy who was doing the best he could with the hand he was dealt, and I’m not sure that we can come up with a replacement who will be able to achieve more. His task was to get us to major tournaments, and he did that. Sadly, we failed at them, in part due to being too cautious and in part because in some positions we are just not good enough. I believe he has handled himself with dignity, including in his decision to step down, which I think is the right decision for him given the last few weeks. As others have said, our structure doesn’t seem to help the national team and young talent is stifled as a result. An example is Finlay Curtis, who is seen by many as integral to our national team’s future, but he’d to go out on loan from a poor Rangers team to get regular action. How many of our squad of 26 were first pick starters at their club sides? Not as many as we needed, and it showed. A disappointing campaign, but our fans were magnificent.
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Ben Gardiner has also joined Brora.
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Get Ange in 👍 Haven’t even seen the Brazil game although I’ve recorded it. We booked a cruise leaving from Helsinki a year ago. So left Helsinki on the Wednesday night for Tallin, and being 2 hours ahead, it kicked off at 1am. TV was dodgy at sea by satellite and saw a few minutes before it froze (a bit like Scott McKenna maybe). Saw two more snatches, each time realising we had lost another goal, then another bit in the second period when we seemed to be on top, before I gave up.
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Some possibilities - including Ange - discussed here - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/28/scotland-search-new-coach-replace-steve-clarke
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So who next for manager? Derek McInnes would’ve been the obvious choice until he got the Rangers job. I know a lot of people will insist that we need a Scottish manager, but I’d be happy with Ange Postecoglu if he wanted it and was affordable.
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Is the reason Clarke plays cautiously because he knows/believes that central defence is the weakest link? Hanley/Hendry/McKenna are obviously good defenders to a certain level but play for Hibs, Al Ettifaq and Dinamo Zagreb, and are past their best. Been a long time since there was a pairing you could really trust.
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We now know that the size of our defeat to Brazil actually made no difference, we weren’t even close and would’ve needed a 5 or 6 goal GD improvement to qualify. Realistically we needed to snatch a draw against Morocco.
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I don’t want to criticise the individual as he was just the latest person to have to deal with a almost impossible task, which was to develop and progress a national team that could take the next step of qualifying to the knockout out stage of the Euro or WC tournaments. I give credit to Clarke for having the common sense to know his time ‘had run’. It’s a statement (to anyone listening IMO) we neither have the organisational structure, people running the ‘show’ or players with the requisite ability or skills to take us to that level. When to take in the populations of the major (successful) footballing nations then it’s clear numbers (players -competition-standards) count. eg GRM - 85; FR - 70; ENG - 60; SPN - 48 Million. Of our WC group, BRL-214, Morocco-39, HTI -12 M. Equivalent Euro countries with Scotland 6 million, DMK -6, SWD -11, NWY-6, BLM-12, IRL - 6, PGL - 11. Belgium and Portugal has proved that with the right vision, structure and people (weather may also be an important factor here), it is possible to compete against the ‘big’ countries. The WC has proved that ‘small’ nations can however can provide exciting football, Curacao the prime example with there flair and quick moving football. They came unstuck of course points wise (2), however was an example (to me) that an adventurous approach is more appreciated than a Don’t - Loose one. I think ‘adventure’ wasn’t in the Stevie Clarke training manual. It only happened by luck. So to close, good luck to Mr Clarke if he wishes to continue in football management. There will be clubs willing to use his talents and experience. For Scotland (and more importantly its fans). the challenge and expectations need to be kept in check. Ie what is realistically possible. Thats not to say don’t stop the tartan army having a great time at tournaments when we quality, quite the reverse, their brilliant ambassadors. The only thing I would do is change the model (and leaders) at the SFA has for the development of our young players. The current one (employed for decades) has not worked or progressed your players skill set IMO. I don’t wait in great expectation! Thats it off my chest!! bc
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Such a shame and a sad ending for him after all he’s achieved climbing up the Nations League and getting us back to the World Cup and UEFAs. He did make us competitive again to a certain degree but after those displays I think he’s done the right and honourable thing by resigning. So a new chapter awaits, Whoever takes over has plenty of time to work with his chosen squad before the next tournament and hopefully can build on the base Steve Clarke created and move us forward to the next level.
- Last week
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Steve Clarke no longer the manager, just 3 weeks after signing a 4 year extension!
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Can Scotland still win the World Cup in 2026? Asking for a friend!
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I'll just have half of whatever you're on. 🤣
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It’s the feeling of Déjà vu from ‘74 that I hoped wouldnae happen - well 50% of it anyway. In ‘74 we came home losing out on goal difference because we failed to score enough goals - this time it was because we screwed ourselves by faffing about in our own penalty box and failed to learn from it. We came home with our heads held high in ‘74. The guys did us proud and the reception we gave them at Renfrew airport on their return was awesome. This time I’ve never felt so p’d off about our national team failing to reach the knockout stages - what a wasted opportunity!
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We will add brief reports on here as and when we complete our pre-season fixtures. We started with a testimonial at Nairn and followed that with a friendly at Grant Street against Clach. 23.06.2026/19:30, 3-1 Nairn County(A): 27.06.2026/13:00, 3-1 Clachnacuddin(A): Next game is at home against Ross County next Saturday 04.07.2026/14:00, - Ross County(H): 07.07.2026/19:00, - Cove Rangers(A): TESTIMONIAL FOR DYLAN MACLEAN, CALLUM MACLEAN & KENNY McKENZIE T14 - Daniel Mackay. T15 - Joseph Edward Walters T20 - Hamzad Sayeed Kargbo 18' | 0-1 GOAL! T20 opens the scoring Clearance blocked and he scored with a near-post shot. 21' | 0-2 GOAL! Paul Allan scores after ball played through out wide which was cut back and slotted away. 34 | 0-2 Good move from Nairn County as Calum MacKay's effort comes off the post. 41’ | 1-2 Goal Nairn! Ball is won in the middle of the park by Kenny McKenzie and plays through Calum Mackay who puts it past the keeper. 45+| 1-2 Shae Keogh sees his effort held right on the stroke of half time HALF TIME: 1-2 ICTFC Subs at the break: Ross Munro, Luis Longstaff and Liam Sole on Logan Ross, Shae Keogh and T14 off 47' | 1-2 Good ball from Adam Mackinnon finds T20 in the box but his effort is just over. 53' | 1-2 ICTFC Sub: Morgan Bates on, T20 off 63' | 1-3 GOAL! Luis Longstaff's free-kick finds the bottom corner from the edge of the box. FULL TIME: 1-3 Looks like everybody got some game time. NAIRN: Dylan Maclean, Jamie Carnihan, Leo Walker, Callum Maclean, Fraser Dingwall, Millar Gamble, Calum Mackay, Tyler Eadie, Paul Brindle, Jonathan Bain, Kenny McKenzie SUBS: Kyle Jeffrey (GK), Kenny MacInnes, Angus Dey, Jake Thomson, Ben Barron, Ben Kelly, Adrian Voigt, Trialist SUBS MADE: Ben Barron --> Paul Brindle (46), Adrian Voigt --> Jonathan Bain (46), Jake Thomson --> Callum Maclean (60), Angus Dey --> Calum Mackay (74), Ben Kelly --> Jamie Carnihan (74), Trialist --> Tyler Eadie (74), Kyle Jeffrey --> Dylan Maclean (81) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friendlies (3): 27.06.2026/13:00, 3-1 Clachnacuddin(A): After the pyrotechnic display on Friars Bridge earlier in the day, this pre-season game got underway at Grant Street with Championship Caley Jags fielding a strong starting XI. Here's the highlights lifted from X 6' | 0-0 First real chance of the match as Graeme Shinnie sees his effort from range bounce just wide. At the other end, Craig Lawrie sees his effort from range go just wide. 12' | 0-1 GOAL! We take the lead! Paul Allan's free-kick is swung in and looks to have gone straight in! 26' | 0-1 Noa Boutin sees his effort held by Mark Ridgers. 30' | 0-1 Boutin picks out Adam Mackinnon in the box but his effort is over and behind. 36' | 0-1 Ross Munro called into action as he saves Jordan MacRae's initial effort and follow-up header. 40' | 0-1 Luis Longstaff sees his effort from just outside the box held by Mark Ridgers HALF TIME: 0-1 45' | 0-1 HT Subs for ICTFC: Logan Ross and Trialist (No 15) on, Ross Munro and Danny Devine off 51' | 1-1 Goal. Mikey Mackenzie equalises for Clach 61' | 1-1 ICTFC Subs: Trialist (No 14), Trialist (No 20), Alfie Bavidge on Morgan Bates, Liam Sole and Luis Longstaff off 73' | 1-1 Sam Thompson and Shae Keogh on, Adam Mackinnon and Paul Allan off 75' | 1-1 Noa Boutin picks out Shae Keogh but his effort is turned just wide. 82'| 1-2 GOAL! Trialist (No 14) gives us the lead! They can't kid us. It's our very own Dan Mackay. 85' | 1-3 GOAL! Shae Keogh makes it 3-1! And that's how it finished... FULL TIME: 1-3 ICTFC Substitutions: 46: Logan Ross and Trialist (No 15) on, Ross Munro and Danny Devine off 61: Trialist (No 14), Trialist (No 20), Alfie Bavidge on Morgan Bates, Liam Sole and Luis Longstaff off 73: Sam Thomson & Shae Keogh on, Adam MacKinnon & Paul Allan off Clach Starting XI Mark Ridgers Michael Finnis Harry Nicolson Ally Gillies Kuba Leszczynski Allan MacPhee Mikey Mackenzie Jordan Macrae Craig Lawrie Jacob Kerr ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 04.07.2026/14:00, - Ross County(H): 07.07.2026/19:00, - Cove Rangers(A): -
Second half at Grant Street: 45' | 0-1 HT Subs for ICTFC: Logan Ross and Trialist (No 15) on, Ross Munro and Danny Devine off 51' | 1-1 Goal. Mikey Mackenzie equalises for Clach 61' | 1-1 ICTFC Subs: Trialist (No 14), Trialist (No 20), Alfie Bavidge on Morgan Bates, Liam Sole and Luis Longstaff off 73' | 1-1 Sam Thompson and Shae Keogh on, Adam Mackinnon and Paul Allan off 75' | 1-1 Noa Boutin picks out Shae Keogh but his effort is turned just wide. 82'| 1-2 GOAL! Trialist (No 14) gives us the lead! They can't kid us. It's our very own Dan Mackay. 85' | 1-3 GOAL! Shae Keogh makes it 3-1! And that's how it finished... FULL TIME: 1-3
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What, with the third? I was distracted at the time but thought it was Mackay again but happy to be corrected. I don’t think we played as well as at Nairn on Tuesday, although we picked up after Mackay, Bavidge and the big no 20 came on, and probably deserved to win, although I wouldn’t have grudged Clach a draw. We defended poorly for their goal, and nearly gifted them a second at 1-1. Minutes in legs and no injuries, so mission accomplished, and still a few weeks to get sharpness up for when the main business starts.
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May be Shae Keogh?
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Mackay again so we lead 3-1. Edit: ok, it was Shae Keogh.
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Dan Mackay puts us in front. A very even game.
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After the pyrotechnic display on Friars Bridge earlier in the day, this pre-season game got underway at Grant Street with Championship Caley Jags fielding a strong starting XI. Here's the highlights lifted from X 6' | 0-0 First real chance of the match as Graeme Shinnie sees his effort from range bounce just wide. At the other end, Craig Lawrie sees his effort from range go just wide. 12' | 0-1 GOAL! We take the lead! Paul Allan's free-kick is swung in and looks to have gone straight in! 26' | 0-1 Noa Boutin sees his effort held by Mark Ridgers. 30' | 0-1 Boutin picks out Adam Mackinnon in the box but his effort is over and behind. 36' | 0-1 Ross Munro called into action as he saves Jordan MacRae's initial effort and follow-up header. 40' | 0-1 Luis Longstaff sees his effort from just outside the box held by Mark Ridgers HALF TIME: 0-1 45' | 0-1 HT Subs for ICTFC: Logan Ross and Trialist (No 15) on, Ross Munro and Danny Devine off 51' | 1-1 Goal. Mikey Mackenzie equalises for Clach 61' | 1-1 ICTFC Subs: Trialist (No 14), Trialist (No 20), Alfie Bavidge on Morgan Bates, Liam Sole and Luis Longstaff off 73' | 1-1 Sam Thompson and Shae Keogh on, Adam Mackinnon and Paul Allan off 75' | 1-1 Noa Boutin picks out Shae Keogh but his effort is turned just wide.
