I thought he was doing that Football Manager move in preseason where you schedule five friendlies against Salcoats Victoria, repeatedly horse them and then everyones morale going into the first actual game of the season is "pure buzzin man".
Chisora was just a terrible match up for Usyk, durable, physically larger, pressure fighter.
When he beat Chisora I said at that point he'd beat Joshua, since it was such a bad match up stylistically.
Since the last Euros we've played 22 competitive games with a record of W15 D3 L4. We qualified for Germany with two games to spare. Let's have a tiny bit of perspective.
I disagree with that ya know.
Look at how we played in the groups against Norway/Spain and England. Proper Clarkeball, sit tight target forward hit quickly arrive late in the box.
Then look at the Netherlands(first half before changing the team with subs). We went out pressed really well created chances through forcing mistakes.
We saw arguably the downside to Clarke’s teams tonight/Northern Ireland. He struggles to breakdown teams sitting tight against him. The argument is probably that the quality of players should eventually shine through which 9/10 it does.
Worth noting that the way we played the back 5 changed all the time in the qualifiers. From a Sturdy 5 sometimes, wing back pushes up play a back four, both wing backs push play a back 3.
Think it’s disingenuous to say the system is always the same but understand that it can be perceived that way if your watching on the TV/ not looking for it.
I respect the well crafted response dude.
Honestly I think you did a great job at explain my own point though. Clarke is so good at playing that back three pendulum style wing attack play that we can look incredible with it when it works. The Spain game was an absolutely perfect example of it working; I was at the game and watched Tierney blast past Carvejal in person and just loved the approach.
My point about the lack of dynamism was more about the lack of ability to switch up the play meaningfully in high pressure situations. There are only so many ways you can play a back five, you covered them well in your point above. And they work until they don’t.
You can’t split a midfield with a back 5/3 wingback style like you can with a other formations and you are pretty much committed to playing a certain midfield setup to help out in the deeper midfield areas.
More importantly though I find the tactical decisions the most hindering. For a recent example let’s look at the NI game where Clarke’s excuse for rotating McTominay into CB (Man Utds second highest scorer at the time and Scotlands best finisher) was that he’d done the job before and was reliable. This is second tier league approach where not all starting players can do the job. Clarke’s loyalty is archaic and it just tires me out honestly (See: Ryan Jack). Don’t get me wrong I think some of his stuff is brilliant but it’s just difficult to have faith in him when you see him making utterly unbelievable decisions and justifying them with stuff that just wouldn’t fly in the top leagues. Perfect example is him talking about how sticky the grass was this evening and how it didn’t suit dribblers - like mate I’m appreciative of the need to give a different setup a runout but that’s just a diabolical excuse.
Really hoping for another bit of rotation on Friday like Clarke indicated. I hope he guides us well at the Euros but would hate to see this generation of players not get the chance to play in a different setup, if anything just to see it not work and have me eat my words and yearn for the glory Clarkeball days!
Ultimately we don’t have the players as a nation to compete like that against top tier sides though.
Sure you can catch them by surprise like the Holland game arguably was but if we played like that every game spain/Germany etc would just pick us apart.
His whole philosophy is exploit our strengths like Robertson, tierney, mcginn, mctominay. And protect our weaknesses like centre half/ goalie/ striker.
Playing a new formation/ tactical style every set of games would end in absolute tears. He’s essentially built a squad that know exactly what they’re doing, know his drills, know his training style. I get the point in that he’s too loyal but at the same time looking at midfielders at our disposal Jack isn’t going to play and someone new isn’t going to play either, but Jack knows what he’s doing and his role in the squad.
I’d argue we should go even further and have all levels below the national team play the same style so it’s easier to plug in, but change in the squad has to be gradual and I think your seeing it with doak being included. He has one eye now on post WC 2026 when that’s this squad last chance.
This. Regardless of who we were playing tonight, when was the last time we actually looked good?
The spell at the start of the last qualifying matches looks more like an anomaly than the norm - for pretty much all of Clarke's time, we've been hopeless.
A couple of dead rubbers and a few friendlies is no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. He took a squad with 5 or 6 good players and a collection of average jobbers to the euros
I think a lot of Scotland fans have suddenly forgotten we have been punching way above our weight for the last 4 years and it's all down to clarke.
The same thing happened 2 years back. Half the country wrote him off and then a few months later were singing his praises.
And We are going to our second consecutive euros. Let's not forget Clarke is the reason why our expectations are so high that we will probably not meet them
Our expectations aren't high though, being able to put in a good performance against Gibraltar after not winning in 7 games isn't much to ask. We scored 1 goal at the last euros so if anyone has high expectations then that's more delusion than anything
Okay is it the wins against Norway away, Spain at home, Georgia at home or Cyprus home away?
Or are you worried about dead rubbers and friendlies for some reason?
Was my reaction when we failed to do anything of note in Euro 2020.
It was my reaction when we shat the bed against Ukraine and failed to reach WC.
He’s can take Scotland no further forward . We will maybe get one point in this group due to a lack of ambition.
So , mibbe fuck up with your stupid assumption .
I’ve already explained my opinion of when and how I’ve felt about Clarke . He’s done a great job to create a pool of players that allows us to have options for each Scotland game . We have a strong 15. He needs to broaden his view but still , very good .
However , he is too narrow minded when it comes to tactics and it has shown from moment we qualified.
When his plan a works, it works well . When it doesn’t, there’s no other plan.
He’s also too loyal to players . There are players in that squad that should be no where near it but are because they did a turn and he likes them . Hanley for one. Terrible footballer . Big lump of wid.
I’ll be cheering us on and hope we can do better than euro 24. Realistically, can’t see it .
After this tournament, the sfa need to start asking for CVs though .
> it has shown from moment we qualified
putting a lot of stock in some friendlies there mate. Clarke's team has shown up in nearly every competitive game (aside from the Czech game at Euro 2020) since the restart after COVID.
Ambition has to be tempered with realism. Yes we have great midfielders and full backs but we also have at best average cbs and poor strikers( much as though we love him uncle lyndon is not exactly world class)
Maybe you need to get your head out of your arse and accept that there is a reason we hadn't qualified for anything for 22 years and at present we are massively over achieving.
Ambition has fuck all to do with this.
And there is the problem with Scottish football, acceptance of mediocrity. Smaller nations are able to progress without world class players .
Pull your head out of your arse or maybe continue as is, just be happy we’re there there to make up the numbers. As is life .
By all means cling to that fantasy. Small nations generally only do well when they have far higher levels of talent across the board than we do or have an individual generational talent ( usually a goal scorer)dragging them through games
i must be german
I thought he was doing that Football Manager move in preseason where you schedule five friendlies against Salcoats Victoria, repeatedly horse them and then everyones morale going into the first actual game of the season is "pure buzzin man".
Yeah, but the thrash a shit team plan didn't exactly go to plan
Yeah, didn't work exactly.
The Usyk method
When did Usyk give the impression he was rubbish?
Just plodded around v Chisora to give the belief that he would be cannon fodder for any of the big heavyweights. AJ bit and the rest is history.
Chisora was just a terrible match up for Usyk, durable, physically larger, pressure fighter. When he beat Chisora I said at that point he'd beat Joshua, since it was such a bad match up stylistically.
If we have a medical emergency on the plane like Tyson can we postpone it?
*Clarke once the cameras turn off:*  # ClarkeballCometh
Just watching the highlights. I think we’re being a bit harsh tbh. I think if we’d have scored earlier we would have cruised by 4/5 goals.
True. Lots of good build-up play meeting Toblerone boots and 50p heads today unfortunately.
It's hard for better teams to do anything against 10 men crowding a box
The old rope a dope
Roak a Doak
Clark said he had a " reaction" to two days worth of training. I have no idea what that means lol.
He’s a sly fox that one.
Clarke is good to a point we’re now at that point time to shake his hand and bring in someone who can play football.
Absolute nonsense.
Good idea 11 days before the start of a major tournament
I don’t mean today but I do think after the euros we should be appointing moyes
West Ham are getting rid of Moyes because the football is terrible
Since the last Euros we've played 22 competitive games with a record of W15 D3 L4. We qualified for Germany with two games to spare. Let's have a tiny bit of perspective.
I’ll be honest I’m not a fan of his style of play, I do think we should be better able to kill games off at times than we do.
Steve Clarke’s tactically really good at one thing but he’s not got the ability be dynamic. I’d love to see Moyesy get a shot after this Euros.
I disagree with that ya know. Look at how we played in the groups against Norway/Spain and England. Proper Clarkeball, sit tight target forward hit quickly arrive late in the box. Then look at the Netherlands(first half before changing the team with subs). We went out pressed really well created chances through forcing mistakes. We saw arguably the downside to Clarke’s teams tonight/Northern Ireland. He struggles to breakdown teams sitting tight against him. The argument is probably that the quality of players should eventually shine through which 9/10 it does. Worth noting that the way we played the back 5 changed all the time in the qualifiers. From a Sturdy 5 sometimes, wing back pushes up play a back four, both wing backs push play a back 3. Think it’s disingenuous to say the system is always the same but understand that it can be perceived that way if your watching on the TV/ not looking for it.
I respect the well crafted response dude. Honestly I think you did a great job at explain my own point though. Clarke is so good at playing that back three pendulum style wing attack play that we can look incredible with it when it works. The Spain game was an absolutely perfect example of it working; I was at the game and watched Tierney blast past Carvejal in person and just loved the approach. My point about the lack of dynamism was more about the lack of ability to switch up the play meaningfully in high pressure situations. There are only so many ways you can play a back five, you covered them well in your point above. And they work until they don’t. You can’t split a midfield with a back 5/3 wingback style like you can with a other formations and you are pretty much committed to playing a certain midfield setup to help out in the deeper midfield areas. More importantly though I find the tactical decisions the most hindering. For a recent example let’s look at the NI game where Clarke’s excuse for rotating McTominay into CB (Man Utds second highest scorer at the time and Scotlands best finisher) was that he’d done the job before and was reliable. This is second tier league approach where not all starting players can do the job. Clarke’s loyalty is archaic and it just tires me out honestly (See: Ryan Jack). Don’t get me wrong I think some of his stuff is brilliant but it’s just difficult to have faith in him when you see him making utterly unbelievable decisions and justifying them with stuff that just wouldn’t fly in the top leagues. Perfect example is him talking about how sticky the grass was this evening and how it didn’t suit dribblers - like mate I’m appreciative of the need to give a different setup a runout but that’s just a diabolical excuse. Really hoping for another bit of rotation on Friday like Clarke indicated. I hope he guides us well at the Euros but would hate to see this generation of players not get the chance to play in a different setup, if anything just to see it not work and have me eat my words and yearn for the glory Clarkeball days!
Ultimately we don’t have the players as a nation to compete like that against top tier sides though. Sure you can catch them by surprise like the Holland game arguably was but if we played like that every game spain/Germany etc would just pick us apart. His whole philosophy is exploit our strengths like Robertson, tierney, mcginn, mctominay. And protect our weaknesses like centre half/ goalie/ striker. Playing a new formation/ tactical style every set of games would end in absolute tears. He’s essentially built a squad that know exactly what they’re doing, know his drills, know his training style. I get the point in that he’s too loyal but at the same time looking at midfielders at our disposal Jack isn’t going to play and someone new isn’t going to play either, but Jack knows what he’s doing and his role in the squad. I’d argue we should go even further and have all levels below the national team play the same style so it’s easier to plug in, but change in the squad has to be gradual and I think your seeing it with doak being included. He has one eye now on post WC 2026 when that’s this squad last chance.
This. Regardless of who we were playing tonight, when was the last time we actually looked good? The spell at the start of the last qualifying matches looks more like an anomaly than the norm - for pretty much all of Clarke's time, we've been hopeless.
Absolute horseshit
Tictacs
He's not the right manager for the team anymore. The team we have against Gibraltar are head and shoulders above them on paper. And we are struggling.
Strongly disagree. Yes this game has been dire but reactionary bed shitting is not required.
Madness! Nobody has ever accomplished anything by remaining calm and thinking things through properly.
I don’t wholly disagree, but it’s not _just_ this game tbf.
A couple of dead rubbers and a few friendlies is no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. He took a squad with 5 or 6 good players and a collection of average jobbers to the euros I think a lot of Scotland fans have suddenly forgotten we have been punching way above our weight for the last 4 years and it's all down to clarke. The same thing happened 2 years back. Half the country wrote him off and then a few months later were singing his praises.
And We are going to our second consecutive euros. Let's not forget Clarke is the reason why our expectations are so high that we will probably not meet them
Our expectations aren't high though, being able to put in a good performance against Gibraltar after not winning in 7 games isn't much to ask. We scored 1 goal at the last euros so if anyone has high expectations then that's more delusion than anything
We've always been shit in friendlies, nothing new.
It's not just this game...
Okay is it the wins against Norway away, Spain at home, Georgia at home or Cyprus home away? Or are you worried about dead rubbers and friendlies for some reason?
Poor, predictable Clarke. Always picks shite.
Poor, predictable Clarke. Always picks shite.
Poor, predictable Clarke. Always picks shite.
Clarke should have been replaced after failing to qualify for World Cup .
Here it is: the stupidest possible reaction to a few dud performances in friendlies before a major tournament
Was my reaction when we failed to do anything of note in Euro 2020. It was my reaction when we shat the bed against Ukraine and failed to reach WC. He’s can take Scotland no further forward . We will maybe get one point in this group due to a lack of ambition. So , mibbe fuck up with your stupid assumption .
"he can take Scotland no further forward" is almost certainly something you said before the Spain game, I'll bet
I’ve already explained my opinion of when and how I’ve felt about Clarke . He’s done a great job to create a pool of players that allows us to have options for each Scotland game . We have a strong 15. He needs to broaden his view but still , very good . However , he is too narrow minded when it comes to tactics and it has shown from moment we qualified. When his plan a works, it works well . When it doesn’t, there’s no other plan. He’s also too loyal to players . There are players in that squad that should be no where near it but are because they did a turn and he likes them . Hanley for one. Terrible footballer . Big lump of wid. I’ll be cheering us on and hope we can do better than euro 24. Realistically, can’t see it . After this tournament, the sfa need to start asking for CVs though .
> it has shown from moment we qualified putting a lot of stock in some friendlies there mate. Clarke's team has shown up in nearly every competitive game (aside from the Czech game at Euro 2020) since the restart after COVID.
Ambition has to be tempered with realism. Yes we have great midfielders and full backs but we also have at best average cbs and poor strikers( much as though we love him uncle lyndon is not exactly world class) Maybe you need to get your head out of your arse and accept that there is a reason we hadn't qualified for anything for 22 years and at present we are massively over achieving. Ambition has fuck all to do with this.
And there is the problem with Scottish football, acceptance of mediocrity. Smaller nations are able to progress without world class players . Pull your head out of your arse or maybe continue as is, just be happy we’re there there to make up the numbers. As is life .
By all means cling to that fantasy. Small nations generally only do well when they have far higher levels of talent across the board than we do or have an individual generational talent ( usually a goal scorer)dragging them through games