These pages have seen Gordon Strachan written off many times since those four days in August 2005 when Celtic conceded nine goals to Artmedia and Motherwell. Last night, as Scotland manager, he got the breaks. First, at the most ridiculous dive for a penalty ever perpetrated by a player on a yellow card (and I have seen Steven Naismith), then, when tired defensive limbs contrived to concede a late winner for Scotland.
If he gets a result away to Slovenia on Sunday, he will have earned whatever grudging appreciation goes his way. A generation of adults have never seen Scotland at an international tournament. They don’t know the joys of losing 3-0 to Morocco, watching a defensive wall shirk at a free kick, or celebrating as an Iranian scored an own goal to deliver a point. It’s time they learned.
Little about Scotland’s success is good news for Celtic. Should we win the league, our first qualification round will start two weeks after the tournament kicks off. Although that round is unlikely to provide a particularly stiff challenge, consider what happened to Newco when they arrived unprepared against Luxembourg semi-professionals.
Even if Scotland don’t reach the finals in Russia, a second place finish in the group for Scotland would see the players face two play-off games in the middle of our Champions League group games, and the possibility of a League Cup final.
Brendan Rodgers will wish his players every success, but he would surely not be too distressed to share hard luck stories with them when they return to training next week. The club-v-country debate has kicked around for decades, but I doubt if any club/country combo has seen it as acute as it is for Celtic and Scotland right now.
Catch up with this CQN Podcast from last month when we interviewed Celtic star from the Centenary season, full back Chris Morris. It’s a great listen…
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Any normal person can see that we have no chance of qualifying for any World Cup before the farce in Quatar. Why would anyone want to go there anyway!
Time for some radical thinking? Ignore the next World Cups and plan accordingly. Start with the young players and ditch the EPL and EFL dross like Steven Fletcher, Bannen, Philips and the likes.
That second half performance was not a one off, that was symptomatic of Scotland performances in the last 5 years.
Surely Davie Moyes is a shoein
WGS has not done himself or us any favours……………
Only qualified once since the 80s. What a disgrace.
I blame Billy Connolly for saying that Scotland always qualified for the World Cup.
Celtic revived WGS campaign
When it really matter he reverted to his favs
GORDYBHOY64 get back on here there are scottish fans and irish fans on here im scottish like you we are hurtin but dont take it too seriously. hail hail.
Michael Stewart on Sportsound just now calling it correctly. Wrong team, nothing in midfield and the run of recent form was down to Celtic players. Pointed out that by the end of the game tonight only Gordon and Griff on the pitch, and sparked how did Forrest remain on the bench when Phillips was so bad.
NOTTHEBUS on 8TH OCTOBER 2017 7:01 PM
Surely Davie Moyes is a shoein
Could play all internationals at Broadwood, his ‘style’ of hoofball would drive even the tartan army away.
GARY67
I could care less.
It wont be whose the best available. it will be whose available
WGS Celtic Legend, Scotland Legned.
A draw away to Slovenia is under normal circumstances a good result. It was Lithuania at home that killed our chances, no Celtic player started that night. Had we beaten Lithuania at home we’d have secured second place with Thursday’s win against Slovakia.
Two campaigns under Strachan, underperformed in both, Georgia last time, Lithuania this time.
I am not surprised that Scotland could not get the win required. I watched the first half hour, that was enough for me. Not really bothered one way or the other.
……………..If we’d beat England at home?
Stuart Armstrong?
We lost it when we dropped two points at home to Lithuania, with not a single Celt in the team. Tonight’s result was not bad, but why not be a bit bolder, bring on Calmac – all four Scotland midfielders cannot shoot to save their lives. Wales brought on a 17 year old who has scarcely played a league game and he won the game for them against Austria. Be bold!
When it comes to International matches we obviously need a strong Rangers (sick) to supply us with better players (sick).
Cannot get upset or excited about Scotland, beyond hoping our players do well.
Strachan was a decent stop-gap for us, a shrewd guy in a downsizing era. But he is a football dinosaur, as is his pal, McGhee.
Every Scotland team should include Gordon, Tierney, Brown, McGregor, Armstrong, and Griffiths. And they should play the way modern teams like Celtic play: fast, short passes, high energy and pressing.
But I genuinely believe there are many at the SFA – perhaps including WGS – who find the prospect of Celtic dominating the national team both in personnel and philosophy, to be a deeply uncomfortable one.
So Scotland gives cap to journeymen like Bannon, Phillips, McArthur, Martin…
As for the Tartan Army, with their SNP flags and Catalan flags… give it a break, morons…
Lubo are you lurking? Got some news for you. H H Hebcelt
Gutted for our players but wgs is his own worst enemy, a stubborn man
I didn’t expect Callum or McGinn to get a sniff but why James Forrest didn’t get on the park I will never know, am afraid Gordon got everything so wrong, watching Scotland & the Republic of Ireland of late, it really hits home how lucky we are to have Brendan
Because Celtic is immeasurably more important to me than is Scotland, I am happy that we will not be losing players at a possibly very important time ie CL Qualifying.
There was a time when I was a passionate supporter of Scotland. The nature of The Establishment here has put paid to that feeling.
JJ
Michael Stewart again talking sense about WGS not taking the opportunity of picking the Celtic players available to him. Willie Miller agrees. He mentions it is down to Brendan Rodgers.
Great result for Celtic.
Davie Moyes
*shudder*
Scotland just do not have enough quality in depth and no matter what formation they play they are just not good enough. Yes the Manager does contribute but you could argue that certain games cost them e.g. had they not conceded the late goal at Hampden to Kane they would have qualified.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Steven Fletcher????
You would be better off with Norman Stanley Fletcher HH
Scotland are where they deserve to be for the last 19 or so years.
Nowhere near any major tournament final stages.
I would have thought we/you would be used to it now.
No point in getting upset.
Hopefully Broonie retires from international football for good now.
Itlaiabhoy,
your post was excellent, on the money, correctumundo except for the last sentence.
i am no fan of the tartan army, mostly they are middle class twee accountants and the like who support wee teams, what they certainly are not is the bigots of the past, why shouldnt they show their snp and/or catalonian sympathies ?
why doe it bother you ?
their coming round a mountain annoys me more.
PHILBHOY
That’s what I was trying to say, if you sow potatoes you grow potatoes.
WGS realises the importance of keeping Celtic players fit for the CL. That is where Scotland can raise its profile – through Celtic in Europe. International football is not important anymore.
The talent is there in Scotland – apart from CalMac and JF, McGinn was unused tonight – but WGS is, like so many, in thrall to EFL journeymen.
If you’ve play a season for WBA you’re almost guaranteed a starting slot in this Scotland team.
Fact is, Scotland were outplayed tonight, and won on Thursday thanks to playing against 10 men for so long, and an own goal… They were hammered by Slovakia in Slovakia, and couldn’t beat Lithuania at home.
The evidence is there for all to see: WGS gets his team selections and tactic wrong, again and again.
Like many other Celtic fans, I struggle to care these days. The whole SFA is so corrupt and biased against us it would actually have stuck in the throat thinking of people like Regan, Petrie, and Doncaster congratulating themselves if Scotland had gone through.
Anyone really surprised?
I believe that it was e-tims the other day that was speculating on the dire financial consequences for the Hampden blazers should Scotland fail to win today.
Saint Stivs – because by waving SNP flags they are introducing politics into football, when one of the SNP’s main policies in the criminalising of football fans for displaying political opinions they don’t like.
The hypocrisy is breath-taking.
If you can’t get a game for the team who have made the worst start ever in the EPL, 8 losses on the trot no goals scored, you can guarantee Strachan will pick you ahead of someone who wins week in week out for a team with the unique pressure of having to win week on week out.
McArthur instead of McGregor on Thursday and tonight sums the (hopefully soon to be ex) manager up.
ITALIABHOY much as it grieves me i agree ftsfa.
Well I feel disappointed for the country. However, failure to qualify can be put down to the stubbornness and ego of the manager, in my opinion. He had the players with the guile and the talent to take Scotland through to the play offs but chose to go down the ‘loyalty to his favourite players’ route and thus seized failure from the jaws of victory. As far as I’m concerned, his nose was put out of joint in recent weeks by credit for Scotland’s success being given to Brendan Rodgers and the six Celtic players who formed the backbone of the team. He firstly, stubbornly refused to bring Callum McGregor into the squad only doing so after Broonie’s and Stuart were ruled out due to injury. He then, inexplicably, refuses to play him for any part of the final two games. His attitude can be summed up as sod the credit being given to Brendan Rodgers. With Broonie’s and Tiara being injured it was obvious that McGinn and Calmac should have played both these games as it meant replacing like for like and causing least interruption to the team.
Still I like to look on the bright side. Qualification would have caused Celtic problems with the timing for the CL qualifiers. I’m happy for Celtic, being a Celtic fan. Come on the Republic tomorrow night!
UONNO on 8TH OCTOBER 2017 7:27 PM
‘I believe that it was e-tims the other day that was speculating on the dire financial consequences for the Hampden blazers should Scotland fail to win today.’
###
Here’s hoping.
Tiara?????? Stuart! Predictive text.
Personally I could not give a monkey’s.
However, can any of those calling for Strachan’s head, name anyone likely to do any better?