Scotland team for Holland

[MissICT]

Team looking okay!

Come close a few times

[Johnboy]

What a tragedy that booking and suspension for McFadden was....

Had he played I think we could have won this one.

But...

That's Scotland.

[Yngwie]

Can't really fault the performances, the tactics or the effort tonight.

The damage was done in earlier games.

[tm4tj]

Plenty of effort from the lads tonight but fell just short. Miller should have buried that chance from the rebound. Weir was found wanting with the header, I think his olde legs were just about giving up.

Did well to run the Dutch close and we gave them a tough game.

[caley100]

Feckin deflated the noo... could have scored 2 or 3 but old man river dived the wrong way, typical Scotland eh!

But as Fletch said after the game the mistakes and bad luck in previous games cost us in the long run.

Too many donkeys and not enough thouroghbreds...

[RednBlackComeback]

No doubt the SFA will make scapegoats of Burley & co and they'll get the boot in a few days. IMHO it's Smith and Peat and, well probably the whole of the SFA, that should be resigning....(no point in half measures!!)

For once tonight I actually agreed with Charlie Nicholas !!! The way the game is coached from a young age in this country needs to change. Our players have much less technical ability than any of the top nations. Or is it that our players do/did have the skills but have them coached out? Ronald de Boer also talked a lot of sense re the coaching side of things. He said that a 10 year old should be taught ball skills, not how to win a championship....that comes later. It should not matter that a 10 year old is not physically strong or extra tall, as if they have the ball skills at an early age then their strength can be gained at a older age.

Tonight, strangely enough, I'm left feeling sorry for Burley ??? He admitted he's made mistakes, but at least he's admitted it! He's had to deal with two of his top players flicking the v sign to the Scottish public. He's had a 'player' take the huff and walk out on the national team (if Boyd ever plays for Scotland again I'll be disgusted). He's had Peat blame everyone but himself.....

FTSFA!

[BA]

Agree with the last few comments. Thought the team were probably the better side tonight, am sure a lot of people will blame Miller for his miss but he has had so many fantastic performances in a dark blue jersey, for me one miss can be easily forgiven.

[tm4tj]

I am sure Mr Iwelumo will be relieved.

[Yngwie]

In our 6 games against the "good" teams in the group, we failed to score in 5 of them.

[caleytillidie]

Was at the game last night and couldnt believe kenny millers miss!! Dont know who is worse! Him or adam rooney!!!

[Caley Stan]

Was at the game last night and couldnt believe kenny millers miss!! Dont know who is worse! Him or adam rooney!!!

Kenny Miller is not a natural goalscorer but i thought he was excellent last night doing what he does best - playing on his own up front, chasing defenders down, making runs down the channels and competing for every ball. I'll remember Kenny for those things and his cracking shot that hit the bar rather than his miss

I had a great time at Hampden last night, the atmosphere was great and the performance from every member of the team was good. I think we're a centre-half or two away from being a decent team and i'm sure we'll qualify for the next Euros - hopefully under George Burley.

[caleytillidie]

Was at the game last night and couldnt believe kenny millers miss!! Dont know who is worse! Him or adam rooney!!!

Kenny Miller is not a natural goalscorer but i thought he was excellent last night doing what he does best - playing on his own up front, chasing defenders down, making runs down the channels and competing for every ball. I'll remember Kenny for those things and his cracking shot that hit the bar rather than his miss

I had a great time at Hampden last night, the atmosphere was great and the performance from every member of the team was good. I think we're a centre-half or two away from being a decent team and i'm sure we'll qualify for the next Euros - hopefully under George Burley.

What?!!! Yeah he was excellent at what he does best - missing great chances in big games!! The game last night, iceland at hampden, holland in amsterdam, italy at the san siro a couple yrs ago - shall i continue? Ok he has scored goals for us but the number of chances he has missed at crucial stages in big games far outnumber those. Its just not good enough

[Yngwie]

Who would you play instead?

[caleytillidie]

Who would you play instead?

Kris Boyd. Part of me says he should never play again after what he did but he is the most natural goalscorer we have had in years. Thats what we lack and everyone in the country knows he would have put those chances away. you cant not pick him

[jaggie1994]

Loved the game last night. Thought it was a brilliant performance despite the defeat. We need a natural goalscorer which Miller is not. He was great at running into space and his workrate was unbelievable but he is not a finisher at that level.

If we can keep playing like we did last night and in the second half of the macedonia game I dont see why Burley should leave but I cant see him being here for the next qualifers.

Love Hampden it is a brilliant stadium and the atmosphere was brilliant

[TheKnowledge]

Who would you play instead?

Kris Boyd. Part of me says he should never play again after what he did but he is the most natural goalscorer we have had in years. Thats what we lack and everyone in the country knows he would have put those chances away. you cant not pick him

100 times no! Boyd should be left out forever. You shouldn't be allowed to pick and choose when your going to play for your country as it makes a mockery of the rest of players. A bit like Larsson and Giggs, except they were good enough to get away with it.

Keep George Burley, please! If not, our next campaign will be another of the players and management getting to know each other. People say get rid of Miller but, we don't have anyone available that is any better, or as experienced. People say get rid of George Burley. Who comes in instead? Levein? What happens if he doesn't qualify for the Euros? Sack him, and then who?

What does need to change though is leaving it to the last game, against the best team. In the last campaign, it was the Gerogia game that cost us, and this time the Macedonia game. I don't think much could have been done about Norway because they have better players than us, and we had bad luck against them.

Roll on September 2010

Edited September 10, 2009 by TheKnowledge

[TSTtiger]

i too think we should keep burley. i've been wanting a manager not scared to attack for years and while he's made some mistakes i also think he's been desperately unlucky at crucial times. he seems to have found his feet now though and really, who would we get thats better anyway, it'll just be the usual suspects touted again like souness etc.

dont think miller should be scapegoat either, at least the likes of him, weir and marshall will bust a gut for the country no matter what's thrown at them unlike that turnip boyd.anyone that can turn their back on playing for their country doesnt deserve a cap

[CaleyD]

Couple of things that I saw watching the game on TV that people at the match probably missed that really worried me about Burley.

First thing was that with about 5 minutes to go Butcher was trying to convince him to make a change of some kind and Burley just stood there shaking his head saying no....looking very much like a man who had given up.

Second thing was that during the post match interview he came across as being a bit "out of it". He looked like he was struggling hard to keep his composure, a man on the edge.

I'm not saying he should be sacked....my opinion on that at the moment is that with the current football setup in this country (from top to bottom) then it doesn't matter who the manager is as they are battling the odds....but, regardless of the players available and the setup in place then we need a manager who is mentally strong and Burley seemed to be wavering a bit in that regard.

I believe that there's only one man able to bring abut the changes needed in football in Scotland....Sir Alex Ferguson....like it or not (and I actually sway towards the not liking it) he's probably the only person with enough presence and clout to get us sorted out. Nobody in the game in this country is going to deny him what he wants, and although that might bring a few problems in the short term, it would benefit us in time. I'm not necessarily talking about making him the Team Manager as he'd probably be more effective as head of the SFA or something along those lines where he'd have real influence.