Nice to have a weekend away from ICT and all its problems....

Do Scotland have a realistic chance on Saturday or will it end in a glorious defeat - 90 mins of solid pressure with the Scots hitting the woodwork on several occasions and denied a couple of stonewall penalties... only for Italy to score after a Craig Gordon fumble during one of Italy's few attacks....?

I think they'll make it...

Who would have given them a cat in ****'s chance of beating the frogs home & away..?

Predictions and scores here please.....

That free kick at the end was a bl0ody joke....

I still can't believe the way Scotland started this game - especially as we kicked off.... In a game like this you don't start hoofin' the ball up the park right from the off - you keep possession in your own half - give everone a touch on the ball.... let the keeper handle it - Craig Gordon's first touch was to pick the ball out the net....  :020:

They said on Radio Scotland that Italy's disallowed goal was onside.  I haven't seen it yet but should it have counted?

I couldn't see why it was adjudged offside...

Also Ferguson's goal was reckoned by co-commentator Davie Provan to be half a yard offside

So that kind of evens it out then.

Kind of...    :020:

Although our game was over after 1minute 15secs....  :008:

I am gutted  :019:

Thought we played really well (bar the 2 goals) and I really thought Italy were there for the taking today.

Bloody football why does it have such an effect on me ?

I am away to sulk for the rest of the week now

The far side linesman helped us out with a couple of marginal offside decisions, but the last minute Hutton foul was just baffling. Was it an honest mistake?

From 15 to 89 minutes we did very well against the World Champions and overall I thought we deserved a draw. It's a real shame we haven't forced France to go out and earn their place in the finals.

:021: no i aint gutted just dissapointed , we have reached heights we never thought were possible, when the draw was made we all went "fir Fecks sake" now we are back on the world stage, this was not a glorious failure but a tremedios achievment , so thanks big Eck and all the players and fans , for bringing belief and pride back to a nation :021:

  I an totally gutted the way we went out but proud to be Scottish we have a brilliant team & WILL qualify for world cup 2010

I'm disappointed the Italians were allowed to bring their pet ref, but I'm really proud of the way we played in every game (maybe except away to Georgia), and even though we didn't qualify, we have a great team with loads of potential for the future.  :003:

Scotland were let off the hook big time with the Italy goal being adjudged offside. We were lucky that the linesman had a view of only the Italian player and not the Scottish defender behind him who was playing him on. Also Fergusons goal was offside as well. So basically the linesman on that side of the pitch had no idea what offside is all about.

Then the other one who never gave the penalty and it *appears* to have been him that gave the free kick at the end. I thought the ref was fine it was his assistants who let him down. That said Scotland did a great job of that themselves by paying absolutely no attention for the first Italy goal.

We had some harsh decisions not given for us but we also have ourselves to blame just as much.

We started too slowly, got punished for it then took on the world champions and gave them a hard time.  Fantastic effort by our guys, baffling decision by the lineman, apparently, for the decisive free kick.  Spot on with the offside goals RIG penalty decision we never got and Faddy missing a sitter at the end, unbelievable.  Only Scotland can do this with uncanny regularity, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but still give the fans enormous pride in the manner of the defeat.

Hutton was magnificent yesterday, in fact most of them were, but he stood out.

proud of everyone of them bad start but so near by the end  :clapping03: :clapping03: :clapping03:

Very poor show from the oficials which had it not been for the foul given against Hutton I would say were a series of very bad but honest mistakes largely evening themselves out.

I can't, however, for the life of me, see how that last decision was anything other than corrupt the assistant referee had a close and clear view of Hutton, who was in control of th ball, being shoulder charged off his feet by the Italian player. How could he then indicate to the referee that the Free kickshould be awarded against Scotland ?

Anyway, it was a valiant effort and pride has been restored in the national side. For the first time in a decade or so I feel optimistic about Sctland's immediate future.

It was the Georgia game that blew it for us.

Yet another glorius failure!. I've lost count of how many of these I've endured in my 50+ years watching Scotland.  Its made worse this time by the fact that England, who, from any easy group, haven't really deserved to qualify but probably will now.  Still, I'll console myself with the knowledge that means they'll now be stuck with McLaren until after the World Cup.

It was the Georgia game that blew it for us.

Absofeckinlutely.

Yet another glorius failure!. I've lost count of how many of these I've endured in my 50+ years watching Scotland.  Its made worse this time by the fact that England, who, from any easy group, haven't really deserved to qualify but probably will now.  Still, I'll console myself with the knowledge that means they'll now be stuck with McLaren until after the World Cup.

This is, of course, a huge source of consolation for all of Scotland's long suffering supporters...

We'll be watching the fixture with Croatia with intense optimism.....  :023:

It was the Georgia game that blew it for us.

I'm blaming those awful red shirts.