Oh God our help in ages past

Jist keep the baw doon oan the grass

Let the Georgians slip an? faw

That every pass be Scotland?s baw

Let their keeper drap a few

Wae Faddy waitin? in the queue

A few wee goals right it the start

Wid gladden every Scottish heart

So even wae wir new red strip

Please don?t let thum hae a slip

Gee us glory oan the night

An? please don?t gee us any sh*te

Italy weve still tae play

So please god let us beat them tae

with thanks - i think! - to Doug 1745...

Barry Ferguson's gash and Scotland play better without him!

Eh hardly , you're talking garbage

Hearts are still holding the frogs after more than an hour.

Scotland went out there with a very rigid game plan and didn't count on the fact that Georgia may have had one of their own and they did.  They chased every ball, hounded every one of our players and when they got possession they held on to it and controlled the tempo of the game.  They also attacked and defended in numbers and we just couldn't cope with that.

The more Georgia did that the more we fell apart.  Instead of realising what was happening early doors, easing off and getting some control on the game we kept stubbornly banging our heads against the wall.  We were being hammered in the middle of the park, but had no option to play through it because we chose to go with one up front and never had the right players on the field to allow us to make an early change to the formation.

Also, did anyone else notice that during the first 45 minutes we played nearly every attack down the left hand side despite having guys open on the right?  The number of times I was yelling at the TV for us to switch the ball was unreal.

trust me, the froggies have just scored two goals in a minute

Don't think a draw would have helped our situation anyway Manny.

Barry Ferguson's gash and Scotland play better without him!

Eh hardly , you're talking garbage

We run a sweep on how many forward passes he'll make during a game, and we cheer him if he manages one. Needless to say he doesn't get cheered very often. He's always looking to see if theres a defender available, or even better, the goalie. When he goes forward he's actually OK, its just that it doesn't happen very often  :014:

Maybe it is becos I have been here b4 (note the txt speak  :023:) or I have personally witnessed so many broken dreams but get a feckin grip folks.

We had a totally understrength team out there - We are still a 20-30 rate team in the World reckoning - the FIFA placements are pure crap. We should have gone fer the jugular from the off - but I can appreciate that Tin Tin went fer the cautious, play on the break approach. We were fecked after the Ukraine effort. We went fer the draw or a win on the break.

Their goal fecked it up but - Fletcher wasnt fit - Pearson is out of his depth - McFadden was over arrogant until we were 1-0 down - we were fecked by an appaling no penalty decision.

Bang Hutton - Hartley - Brown - a fit Fletcher - a released Bazza - O-Connor (sub) in to the mix and hey presto -the future is bright.

Fereguson was feckin superb - he almost lost it but held it - which he aint done b4 (txt speak  :022:) - he could have been banned from the next game - which we couldnt afford - and he held it - that clearly affected him - and ditto fer Fletcher :clapping03: :clapping03:

If we had held it to 1-0 b4  :023: the subs came on we may have pinched a point. Did yas notice that the intended subs switched off ??

We have and always will be a small nation in the footballing sense. We were totally understrength tonite - I half expected it - although I thought that we would follow the usual script and score with two feckin minutes to go !!  :crazy07:

This was always going to be down to the Eyetie game - at Hampden - lets feck them.  :001:

I am really worried becos I am looking like the only feckin **** on this site who is talking sense recently - that must be a major worry.  :017:

And guess who will be at hampden when he is most needed.  :001: :sillywave:

thought the problem was more that scotland actually went for it when a more defensive hit on the break approach would have suited away from home. should have played one up not two with dailly in midfield.

our midfield was pish tonight. fletcher had his worst game in a scotland shirt and fergusons passing was pish.

really missed brown hutton and hartley tonight.

stonewall penalty.again!! and great chance for faddy  early on and it could have been so different

but its not exactly a surprise, it wouldn't be scotland if we weren't left with a nightmare winner takes all showdown with the world champions.

bring it on. they've never won here and they aint starting now

Poor performance, bad result, but we're still in the mix going into the last game and it's still in our own hands,would have settled for that after the draw came oot of the hat

Also, did anyone else notice that during the first 45 minutes we played nearly every attack down the left hand side despite having guys open on the right?  The number of times I was yelling at the TV for us to switch the ball was unreal.

Yeah... I noticed that - it's frustrating when you yell at the TV and no one, apart from your English next door neighbour, takes a blind bit of notice... :029:

Quote from IHE....

I am really worried becos I am looking like the only feckin **** on this site who is talking sense recently - that must be a major worry.  :017:

You're ok - IHE - can't see that you've got too much to worry about... Just you keep up with your medication and everything will be just fine... :014:  

Thank you Johnboy - that confirms my initial post.  :001:

We have and always will be a small nation in the footballing sense. We were totally understrength tonite - I half expected it - although I thought that we would follow the usual script and score with two feckin minutes to go !!  :crazy07:

This was always going to be down to the Eyetie game - at Hampden - lets feck them.  :001:

Agree with that.

Only needing a draw next month was a recipe we know too well. At least it's all clear now and big credit to McLeish and his squads for getting us to this point.

PS Great to see Scotland so high up the FIFA rankings but can someone brighter than me explain how that system works. Seems to me if you are regularly playing top Euro opposition then you are bound to yo-yo up and down the table. A couple of half decent results there and bang...top 30, no probs. What about New Zealand, Qatar, Mali to name 3. Are they ever playing the sort of opposition that's going to make a serious impact on their ranking? Is there some complicated seeding system? Should I have started a new thread?  :029:

     

Yes.

This is the first time Scotland have lost to a team 90 (yes, 90) places below us in the FIFA rankings. And yet  it doesn't remotely feel like the worst or most embarrassing result in our history.

Another thing that doesn't quite make sense is that despite the awfulness of the Berti Vogts reign we still got to within 90 minutes of qualifying, and only needed a draw in that crunch game (v Holland) as opposed to the victory we now need against Italy.

As Wanderer was saying,  :029:

Normal service is resumed - Scotland beaten by the Georgian 6th form select !

should have played one up not two with dailly in midfield.

I thought we did have one up front (Miller) with McFadden in a more withdrawn role behind the lone striker?

Anyway, given that we needed (realistically) 4 points to qualify would this not have been the "easier" game to get the 3 points from rather than Italy?

Will people never learn:

Reply #27 on: October 17, 2007, 09:35:15 PM

Hearts are still holding the frogs after more than an hour.

Posted on: October 17, 2007, 09:38:14 PM

trust me, the froggies have just scored two goals in a minute

Poor game, seemed like some players were scared to attack their opponents.

I try to look it from a positive side though, you now know what you have to do against the Italians. Attack and win, which does suit Scotland better, I guess, than playing and hoping for a draw.

You guys won all homegames and every European club travels to Ibrox or Celtic Park with brown pants to camouflage their fear (  :004:) for the fantastic atmosphere there always is . Italy will do the same, even though they act like they are full of confidence (just as Milan was against Celtic and like Lyon was for their homegame against Rangers).

If Scotland can get their full squad and play like they played in Paris, with pride and passion, fighting for every inch, than there surely is a chance to beat Italy.

Too bad we can not watch this game here in the Netherlands, even listening to it on the radio is impossible. I guess I will sit in front of my PC and look Ceefax for 90 minutes  :003:

Why do you hate ferguson so much he is by far our best midfielder

That awful punt of a free-kick in the last few minutes was great!!

Barry Ferguson's gash and Scotland play better without him!

100 % agree

And forget Graeme Alexander I reckon Wendy Alexander would've more chance of scoring than him or Ferguson.

The team selection was wrong. Miller and McFadden might be a decent partnership when you're playing on the break - but against a team who were sitting deep it was a non starter. We should have taken a target man on, maybe even bypassing the midfield and going 4-3-3 or 4-2-4?

There was far too much pitter patter passing in our own half a la Alex Smith. They packed the midfield - so it was never going to work (no wonder our first shot on target was in the 70th minute!) especially when you take into account how bad the pitch was, plus the fact that we had Pearson  :014: in the center of the park - a total lightweight who couldn't hold onto possession, and who can seemingly only touch the ball with one foot.

The only midfielder who got stuck in was Fletcher, him apart Georgia were first to almost every loose ball - Maloney and Pearson reacted like zombies most of the time. Ferguson did OK but he didn't get up the park often enough. It was a shame that Barry Robson didn't get a run out - I would have liked to have seen him running at their defense and whipping in a few decent crosses. He couldn't have done any worse than the players who started.

plus the fact that we had Pearson  :014: in the center of the park - a total lightweight who couldn't hold onto possession, and who can seemingly only touch the ball with one foot.

The only midfielder who got stuck in was Fletcher,

Fletcher was poor as well and Pearson wasn't playing in the centre of the pitch. He was being played wide. Fletcher and Ferguson were in the middle of the park.

We just lost it in midfield sadly.

Pearson was played in the middle for spells.

Why do you hate ferguson so much he is by far our best midfielder

That awful punt of a free-kick in the last few minutes was great!!

Barry Ferguson's gash and Scotland play better without him!

100 % agree

And forget Graeme Alexander I reckon Wendy Alexander would've more chance of scoring than him or Ferguson.

Oh aye, and I suppose he was gash on Saturday and all.  :rolleyes02:

You have some personal vendetta against Ferguson, but he gives 100% for the shirt, I saw him do well to restrain himself during that big scuffle after the Georgians were awarded that freekick.

Agree with those who say Ferguson needs someone to do his attacking play for him (Brown) but wether its going backwards or not, Ferguson never gives the ball away

Oh yeah and Alexander is a defender :017:

IMO he is completely and utterly useless.  He is a player who is basically unseen whilst on the pitch and the only time he does get the ball he seems to pass it backwards.  If I was even manager of a team like Buckie Thistle I wouldn't sign that waste of space.

IMO he is completely and utterly useless.  He is a player who is basically unseen whilst on the pitch and the only time he does get the ball he seems to pass it backwards.  If I was even manager of a team like Buckie Thistle I wouldn't sign that waste of space.

As was Keane

But I suppose he was "utterly useless" aswell

Roy Keane was a great player for Man U.  He was a great tackler, shooter and leader.  On the other hand though he wasn't that great for Celtic.