Strachan Praise

[Harry Chibber]

BBC link

Well at least he has had to do his homework

[Libero]

"They believe in what they are doing, they have a good group of players and because of where they live, I am sure that they bond well together.

"Up in Inverness there is nothing really close by and the players have got to get on well together, similar to when I was at Aberdeen and we were miles away from everything."

hmmm, its amazing how us highlanders actually manage to live so far from everything! Could that comment be any more condescending?  :008:

[Scotty]

like it or not there is a central belt mentality about Scottish football from both the media and the people in charge of the game. If you are any more than 30-45 minutes outside of Glasgow or Edinburgh then as they see it you are in the middle of nowhere.

I actually think Strachan's comments are pretty spot-on ... he displays some knowledge of our team (at least he knows a couple of names even if they were put on a piece of paper for him 10 minutes before he spoke) and condescending or not, he displays more understanding of a major factor behind our team spirit than most other managers in the SPL or the media pundits. I believe him when he says it was similar at Aberdeen in his days there, in some ways it might have been even worse !!!

[Guest Sandy Cromarty]

Careful with Strachan, he's a clever wee man and it's an old ploy beefing up the opposition that he learned from the old Fox Fergie. Fair heart never fecked a pig!

[Alex MacLeod]

If you read between the lines you'll realise that he's making excuses for when we beat them. To be honest I dont think he is being condescending in any way. He is just stating some facts about why our players bond so well. There is no other attractions or distractions so the players from outside the area will tend to stick together and socialise together during the week.

[Libero]

Could it not be argued that our team spirit is not down to the fact footballers have nothing to do up here other than twiddle their thumbs and is in actual fact down to a great set of level headed dedicated lads that we have in the team who know they are not superstars and will have to rely on teamwork to get results. Because our players are not paid the same as other SPL players, this means they do not have over-inlflated egos and know they have to work hard for their money and the bonuses which the club offers for winning games and finishing as high up the table as possible.

I welcome his praise but i see it more as mind games than general admiration.

I know there is a central belt mentality about teams more than 30 mins from glasgow but what that has to do with football i do not know. As a club we may be relatively small in comparison to other SPL teams but we have shown in the past and as recently a few weeks ago at Ibrox, that we have what it takes to cut it with the big boys in the SPL. Heres hoping we give them another reminder that were not some diddy team from the middle of no-where.

With regards to the comment about Strachan displaying some knowledge of our team, i would say i should **** well think so, an SPL manager should know his opposition inside out including what players he should be looking out for, so to give him credit for doing what he is paid to do seems a bit obvious to me. As a football fan i could tell you a high percentage of players for each of the teams in the SPL and the players which make the team tick and i would hope that SPL managers would be able to know more!

[Harry Chibber]

If we become anywhere near as good as the Aberdeen team that Strachan played in I'd be delighted... put it this way you don't see him speaking of other  teams in the SPL like that, he must be worried :005:

[Alex MacLeod]

Libero, I dont think anyone is saying they have nothing to do. What I think is that the players who's homes are in the central but who spend Monday morning to saturday night in Inverness dont know, or socialise with, people from the area, other than those whom they work with all week, so when they do go out to do other activities, be it golf or a beer in the evening or whatever, they do it with the those same people and so develop more of a bond. I reckon that is what Strach meant in his comments.

[Johnboy]

The bulk of that Dons team in the eighties, did come from the central belt, so yes, it was probably natural for them to be hanging out together a lot of the time.

I don't think Strachan is being disrespectful, or is trying to wind our guys up. He has obviously noticed how hard our players work for each other.... That goes a **** of a long way...like having an extra man in your team....At least Celtic will know they've been in a game come 4.45pm on Saturday.....