A quick word? Velocity! Scotland under Gordon Strachan 2013-2016

probably wise to not go along with them to wherever the fuck they were going to get that one more pint at 1am, though.

Oh well. England miles better in truth but we done good there.

They weren't actually. Big Gordon McQueen was right, this England mob merely average.

Why was Welbeck MOTM? Other than playing for the team that won, Townsend a knob etc?

He was coming deep and linking play and making runs and creating chances and generally doing all the things you'd expect from what Rooney is supposed to be.

this England mob merely average

They are merely average. Merely average is a lot better than Scotland. They were a bad offside call and the width of a post away from racking up a score. That was Scotland playing well last night and they could still easily have lost 6-2.

I am slightly terrified that he's scored his way into staying in the team.

Turns out it was his final appearance. Shame about the defeat but a cracking goal to finish off his international career.

Just searched this thread right now to post that!

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa_news.cfm?page=2986&newsID=12385

I see you're all as excited as me about the Belgium game!

When and how can we have a golden generation? Was it the '78 squad? Beating Holland and making an arse of ourselves against Iran and Peru. Was that it?

Things I learned about Belgians this morning: they all smoke. Every hotel in the city has a crowd of Belgians smoking outside it.

I think we've had a few golden generations, none of whom ever did much of anything at international level, look at the players we had in the 60s, but who cared as long as we beat England eh?

(of course a lot of those golden players in the 60s weren't picked very often)

I was excited! I really wanted to see Belgium but couldn't make it sadly.

The 74-86 generation(s) was about as golden as one could wish for. If Denis Law was a decade later and Andy Goram a decade earlier, we'd've surely managed to play a knock-out tie at some point.

Between the 78 squad and the 74 squad. Bremner's miss against Brazil all that stopped qualification (well, that and not demolishing Zaire).

I think the '74 team was a bit more dour and functional, not all that typical of a Scottish international teams of the period

I read a nice tribute to the 92 team somewhere recently, they were good but a last gasp.

(xp) (for dour and functional read "well-organized and consistent")

ah those halcyon days of dour functionality

Difficult to imagine a less 'dour and functional' Scotland side than the depressing Roxburgh/Broon years, when we laboured under the misapprehension that not conceding goals automatically won games.

Apart from Berti, we've been consistently dour and functional since Roxburgh, not to mention cowrin' and timorous

Odd to think of Sralex as the last flourish of adventurous football.

I think Gogs is attempting to get us to play a bit more with the ball than we have done under any manager since Berti. We're still playing defensively but it looks like our first move on gaining possession isn't to lump it away again.

I remain to be convinced we have enough players with the skill and mentality to make the strategy a reality.

maybe any manager since McLeod when I think about it

Golden generation of Belgians not in danger of winning anything on this evidence. They're better than Scotland but there's not much in it.

Different story now. Scotland in danger of a doing if they keep defending like this.

Nice way to cap it off. Belgium so much fleeter of foot and thought.

That's 25 minutes of comfortable possession away from home against a team that isn't Scotland B.

Aye, been pleasantly surprised thus far.

You're tempting me to watch it now. I normally avoid Scotland games like the plague because we're so bad it hurts.

Be warned; it doesn't take much to pleasantly surprise me with Scotland these days. Going over the halfway line is a victory for me.

Cracking first time strike from Anya.

Oh wow Scotland scored

And with that, we actually score courtesy of the bloke no-one had heard of a fortnight ago.

xpost

i love this wee guy what a goal

I thought he was a bit aimless and no great shakes, huffing and puffing to little effect, but that goal was tidy.

Bit pissed off I had both to score on my accumulator, was expecting to be hoping for a wee consolation rather than actively wanting Scotland to concede. This is why I so rarely bet on my own team. Hopefully we score again and I can hope for a wee consolation for Macedonia.

^jinxy post if ever I saw one.

See?

shit, sorry :-(

(small indiscernible yay)

brb, just suggest banning myself.

Suddenly we are all over the place at the back.

This is the Scotland I remember.

Get in. Brilliant!

Imagine the defence getting worse when you replace a defender from The Best League In The World with a guy from the third tier of Scottish football (note: this is not really an endorsement of Whittaker)

yay wee Shaun. I feel less guilty now.

"Anya was born in Glasgow, Scotland and grew up in the Castlemilk area as a devout Christian and supports Rangers.[1] His father is a Nigerian research scientist, and his mother a Romanian economist. The couple met while studying at the universities in Bucharest. After finishing their studies his parents moved to Scotland in the late 1980s for his father to obtain his doctorate in metallurgy."

Interesting!

Anya was impressive last night, good crosser.

He impressed me at times by not crossing - he seems like a wide player who actually considers his options rather than just lumping balls in - an essential requirement in a team full of wee guys.

I thought he was a lot better last night than he was on Friday.

I thought I read somewhere he was born in Paisley

nah he was dressed there tho

^ getting uppity since he got published here http://www.football365.com/mailbox/8916651/-A-Great-Victory-For-Irish-Football

if ilf picked ten posts a day and sent em in we'd populate that entire mailbox tbf

if ilf had more than ten posts a day i wouldnt have to read f365 tbrr

the not-scotland dig was for onimo tbrr

much appreciated