I see Steve Clarke is unhappy fans booed at the end of an insipid Scottish 0-1 defeat at the hands of Japan!

Suck it up Stevie boy, the standard bearer of mediocrity!

bc

That game should have been played behind closed doors! £40 for a ticket a disgrace and folk entitled to boo if they want. I didnt but no probs with those that did.

The whole point of these friendly games so close to heading to the world cup is look at various different options. This helps the managers get the best information to put the most appropriate players on the pitch and adopt the best tactics when the team takes the field in June. This means playing fringe players who haven't played with some of their international team mates before. The manager needs to see how they interact in a competitive game and how they fit in with a style of play which is maybe quite different from that in which they excel at club level. And given the fact that there is nothing at stake for the team if they win or lose, the match will lack the urgency and competitive edge. Friendly matches are never going to be as exciting as those with something at stake. Think of it as a training session rather than a competitive match.

Having said that, it is important this close to the world cup for teams to play this type of game in front of a large crowd. The problem for me, is the price. If you pay £40, you can reasonably expect to be entertained. If the purpose of the game is to learn more about the team, and for the team to familiarise themselves with the international experience, it is wrong to exploit the fans by excessive ticket prices. Cap it at £10 and maybe people will have more realistic expectations of what to expect. Hopefully they will then cheer more and boo less.

It is worth noting too, that Japan are a very good side. They are currently ranked 26 places above Scotland in the FIFA rankings. It may not have been the greatest watch ever, but I'll bet Steve Clarke got some useful information from it.

Incidentally, England are playing Japan in a friendly tomorrow. It'l be interesting to see how that one goes.

While Scotland was losing to Japan, I was at BMO Field in Toronto watching Canada go down 2-0 in the first half against Iceland due to really bad defensive errors, before scraping a late draw courtesy of TWO Jonathan David penalties. There was a long list of Canadian players not selected - including Alphonso Davies - due to either injury or trying out a few other players, but the atmosphere was pretty flat, the performance insipid and uninspired, and the weather was brutal (0c at kick off and we had both sunshine and snow during the game). Richie Laryea and Ali Ahmed had decent performances, and Tajon Buchanan was the standout for Canada before getting a straight red near the end for a completely unnecessary elbow to one of the Icelandic players as he was trying to shepherd the ball out of play. Canada has 3 more friendlies before the world cup so any ban will have luckily expired before then, but it was a stupid end to the game for him when playing so well.

On the plus side, we got free tickets from my son's football club, but others paid anything from $30 to $100 depending on the section so likely as pissed off as Scotland fans paying £40 for a Hampden ticket, but call it World Cup preparation as everything over this side of the pond is going to be extortionate for fans this year. From a Caley Thistle perspective, there was a link as Aribim Pepple was called up to the full Canada squad for the first time and was on the bench for this game. Disappointing he did not get onto the park, but maybe tomorrow in the next friendly against Tunisia.

I compared this game to the last time I was at an international - which was probably in the 90s at Hampden Park and the atmosphere was nothing like I recall experiencing with Scotland. 70+ days from now though I know the stadium will be rocking for what is likely to be Canada -v- Italy in the opening game of Canada's group. If the play like Saturday, then the Azzurri will have a field day.

23 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

The whole point of these friendly games so close to heading to the world cup is look at various different options. This helps the managers get the best information to put the most appropriate players on the pitch and adopt the best tactics when the team takes the field in June. This means playing fringe players who haven't played with some of their international team mates before.

I understand the point you argue but Clarke has openly said he will remain loyal to his squad players that got him to the WC. That means (in my language) he will overlook any on-form players and press on with players that may have, (kindly) went of the boil, simply aged /slowed down or helped him in the press supporting Clarke’s ‘line’ when things go pear shaped. Ie this week!

Clarke knows every game pattern and best position / strengths of all players yonks ago, so there was little to nothing learnt from Saturday’s match IMO. Of the fringe players brought in I don’t even know if any of them (rangers kid at Killie) got any game time. Again Clarke had the habit of bringing in youngsters to after one game disappear.

The SFA I suggest wanted the money more than the players having a jolly at Hampden. Clarke simply has to go along with his masters (particularly as he tries to secure another term); god help us if he succeeds.

just my tuppence worth.

bc

Edited March 31Mar 31 by big cherly

Our record in friendlies is horrific so it was no great surprise to me that we lost to Japan and we’ll probably lose tonight as well.

Clarke has got us to three major tournaments, which his predecessors failed to do over many years, and he may be the first to get us beyond the group stages: we’ll know that in a few weeks time.

For me, this week is more about the squad bonding than anything else.

The time for judgement is once we know how we’ve done in the World Cup itself.

The problem I see going forward is who would want to take the role on anyway.