The Squad

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12016/8860748/rickie-lambert-and-wayne-rooney-in-england-squad-for-friendly-against-Scotland

 

Put £20 on Scotland win £130

Edited August 8, 201312 yr by Laurence

Who you backing L?

 

Norman Tebbit "cricket test" type question.

Scotland will win.

I love Caley Thistle but England have to win I just wouldn't hear the end of it with all my Scottish mates

It's a friendly - Sorry, but I can't really get excited about it.

I'm dreading this.  Can't see Scotland getting anything, especially with a new manager.

That England squad really doesn't worry me. Its full of overhyped players who are nothing more than average. There are a few very good players in there but as a whole I dont think its as good as people have said.

That England squad really doesn't worry me. Its full of overhyped players who are nothing more than average. There are a few very good players in there but as a whole I dont think its as good as people have said.

True, the Scotland squad worries me more.

They always say Scotland play for the shirt.

Can't really say that about England

I think it will be a scrappy match.  Rooney is injured, Lambert is untried

Rhodes can steal the winner and I will kick myself for not investing £20

Stachan knows the England game more than anybody, so can pull a rabbit out of the hat 

I am typing this in a BT hotspot with a dongle plugged into my laptop

Never done that before.

Think I .pint and go home. Or maybe two?

 

That England squad really doesn't worry me. Its full of overhyped players who are nothing more than average. There are a few very good players in there but as a whole I dont think its as good as people have said.

True, the Scotland squad worries me more.

 

Haha. A few questionable call ups but on the whole I don't think its too bad. I can see us sneaking a win if I'm honest.

Which players arent too bad? There is not a single defender of any real quality and no attackers wanted by EPL clubs except the benchwarming Naismith. Midfield ok but not amazing. If Scotland were an EPL club, we would be relegated. England midtable at best. But relying on Championship players like Bridcutt and Hanley in defence is not a mark of excellence.

Relying on players like Bridcutt and Hanley is looking to the future as they're both decent young players playing at a good level and succeeding. You're right in saying its not a mark of excellence by any lengths but it is positive to include these lads as they're our better younger players. Steven Fletcher is a proven EPL goalscorer(albeit injured for this one) with another young promising striker in Rhodes banging the goals in for Blackburn and will no doubt make the step up to the EPL if he continues this season but we have an in form Grittiths too. I dont think it looks all that bad for our NT at all, we just need to get away from giving more caps to the likes of Kenny Miller when they are past their sell by dates. We should give England a good game, id be happy with a good performance regardless of result and to not be too negative! It is a friendly after all. Id like to see Martin and Hanley at the back again as they did so well against the Croats but looking at the squad im not sure what pairing he will choose. In the middle we are strongest, Maloney, MacArthur, Morrison, GMS, Snodgrass, Forrest, Bridcutt. Some good potential in there imo, although no stand out stars which we have been missing. We are a bit unfortunate having arguably our two best players out in the two fletchers.

 

Englands squad is as strong as it can be but never really gets the juices flowing. For a team with such a strong league and a large population, they really do lack at international level. Lambert is a dangerous player though and any of those 4 players they have listed can put the ball in the back of our net.

Scotland will win.

 

Got my ticket, cannae wait. Haven't seen us beat England since 1985.

Its only a friendly, cant get excited really. England should hammer us by 3 or 4 clear goals by rights, probably with out reply. But I will be recording the game, and watching from behind upheld fingers, hoping for the chance to gloat an unexpected world beating performance with a 93rd minute own goal winner from one of those English guys that I love to hate, Cleverly, Jones, Carrick or even Cole. Cant see it some how, but the game will only matter if we win!

They always say Scotland play for the shirt.

Can't really say that about England

I think it will be a scrappy match.  Rooney is injured, Lambert is untried

Rhodes can steal the winner and I will kick myself for not investing £20

Stachan knows the England game more than anybody, so can pull a rabbit out of the hat 

I am typing this in a BT hotspot with a dongle plugged into my laptop

Never done that before.

Think I .pint and go home. Or maybe two?

That's up to you Laurence

I'm supporting Scotland obviously but tbh I'm keeping an eye out for TBs performance as a Tv pundit more than the game!

The Line up no Michael Carrick

 

England (4-3-3): Hart; Walker, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines; Gerrard, Cleverley, Wilshere; Walcott, Rooney, Welbeck. 
Subs: Foster, Ruddy, Johnson, Cole, Jones, Smalling, Milner, Lampard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Zaha, Defoe, Lambert.

Scotland (4-2-3-1): McGregor; Hutton, Hanley, Martin, Whittaker; Brown, Morrison; Snodgrass, Maloney, Forrest; Miller.
Subs: Gilks, Marshall, Greer, Hammell, Mulgrew, Webster, Adam, Bannan, Boyd, Bridcutt, Burke, Conway, Dorrans, Mackay-Steven, McArthur, Griffiths, Naismith, Rhodes.

 

Hopefully Snodgrass will stay on the field , he is a class act.

Carrick has an eye infection.

 

But Miller ? Why him ?! I would have preferred Griffiths.

Edited August 14, 201312 yr by Gavroche

Billy Mackay is on the bench tonight for NI v Russia.

Get in Morrision! 1-0, 11 mins.

18 players on the Scottish bench - is he going to put out a 2nd XI in the 2nd half :-)

A much more competitive match than could be expected

 

STV got on my wick a bit, never could stand Gary Brazil I switched to  channel 973 ( ITV) and found more balanced coverage

 

Terry gave a good summery of the game, I don't think he was too impressed with the defending for both sides.

 

.

Great win for Northern Ireland in the match that mattered tonight.  It's a shame that Billy didn't get on but I'm sure he will get his chance later in the year.

 

Gary Brazil

 

It's Alan Brazil that annoyed me..................

Shame it wasnt on BBC, then we could have had David Hansen and Sergei Lawrenson, with Hamish Lineker.

Seriously, cracking match and gives me more confidence for the future. Even felt vaguely pleased for Lambert, although would have preferred Griffiths to have nicked one.

That was only my second trip to 'new' Wembley.  Previous visit was for an EFL2 play-off final where the crowd was only c40k  With double that crowd last night I was really impressed with the crowd management arrangements, both from the Wembley staff, and especially the railway staff at the local Wembley Stadium rail station.  Getting in and out was absolutely no problem.  We were actually on a train, on the way home, within 15 mins of game finishing.

 

As to the game itself, Scotland did better than many expected, took their goals well, and, had they been more organised at defending from set pieces, an upset was not out of the question.  Just briefly, a couple of times, memories of 1967 came back to me!.

 

Rooney did himself no favours 'in the shop window', and I thought it was ironic that his replacement, Lambert, scored with virtually his first touch of the ball.

 

Tartan army did themselves proud all through the game, and in our section, where we were vastly outnumbered by home supporters, there was some great banter between us, all good natured, and the stewards kept a low profile, not bothering about folks standing up for long periods.