Making 'The Tartan Army' Sing once more.

D

DeanMcDonnell

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It was the hardest decision of my life. I'd loved playing football, it was my passion all i was good for, then after 18 years of it, it was ended on a sad and painful note. It was Ibrox away, we were 5 points infont, 2 two games remained, and we'd win the SPL. i'd got through one on one. Then it happend, a slight turn and i'd done a footballers nightmare, cruciate ligaments. At the age of 35, it now seemed unlikely i'd return. Eager and loyal though, i soldiered on to impress my fans, thats when on 58th cap for Scotland, i lasted 6 mins and was taken off, I was finished.

Next day i did what interviews i needed to, i wanted peace and time to reflect. Then minutes before i was due to start i got a phonecall,
"Dean, it's Sir Alex, get your **** to Manchester, and see me and the squad at 0900 at Carrington."

He hung up.

So next day i did as i was told, after all it was 'The' Sir Alex!!!
Upon arriving, Sir Alex said that this would take 20 minutes at most.

It didn't even take 10, it was simple Sir Alex had offered to pay for me to train myself up too a UEFA Pro Licence, meaning i'd become a proffessional manager. I accepted this great offer, and at the age of 41 went pro.
2 years passed me by, still no job offers even though my refrence had came from Sir Alex.

Then one day i got a phone call from the SFA;
"Dean, as you know Scotland is going through a tough time at the moment and we are looking at NOT qualifying or even going into the 2nd place part of the 2010 World Cup, so we need a new boss to replace George Burley, and you are that man, or are you not.....?


**** PS - Thanks to anyone who follows this :-)! ******
 
Looks a good start! I'll follow as a proud Scot, hope you keep this one going, and make Scotland the best in the world :)
 
good op mate!

i hope we are smiling after the match tonight :)
 
good op mate! Sounds like The Goalies introduction to Man Utd at the start-up :)

I'll go Lithuania 1 - 3 Scotland or Lithuania 0 - 3 Scotland :D
 
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The damage that had already been done.​



Now that I’d taken over Scotland the already in-progress World Cup campaign had become more of an interest to me. Scotland’s results previous to my appointment were;​

Macedonia 1 - 0 Scotland.​

Iceland 1 - 2 Scotland.​

Scotland 0 - 0 Norway.​

Holland 3 - 0 Scotland.​

Scotland 2 - 1 Iceland.​

As you can see from the above results, the campaign was in chaos, we were struggling and needed 9 points from our last 3 games. The loyal Scotland fans deserved better and i was to be their hero, or another dud who lost the last 3 games and was sacked, still things could only get better....​

 
Norway Vs. Scotland
World Cup 2010 Quals (EUR) Group 9​

Scotland Team.​

GOALKEEPER.
McGregor​

DEFENCE.
Hutton
Wilson
Webster
Berra​


MIDFEILD
Dorrans
Brown
D.Fletcher
Adam
Maloney​

STRIKER
S.Fletcher​


SUBS
Alexander
Whittaker
McFadden
Miller
Diamond
Morrison
Naismith​

My squad was primed and ready for the test which faced them in Oslo.​

Half time came, goaless but we had 74% ball possession, i knew it was time to ditch the 4-5-1 and go 4-4-2, i told the team,
"Same again boys, provide more killer balls for McFadden and Fletcher."​

`68mins - Mcgregor kicks up the goal kick high and foward to the sub, Miller who takes it forward and is fouled, Scotland freekick. ​

Adam to take, he hits it....
GOOOAAALL!!! Scotland take the lead, Adam freekick curls high and past the keeper!​

We bossed the game from here on in, taking an counter attacking approach.
then....
80` Ball to Mcfadden who runs at the defence and shoots...GOOOOAAAALLL!! Norway 0 Scotland 2!
View attachment 104325​

We held out for the 2-0 win, we'd done suprebly and now had the remaining two games against Macedonia and Holland to think about, only time would tell how far we'd come.
:)​

 
We had two games left in this group, both were must wins, one of which was much easier than the other. Macedonia are easily beatable, Holland... <)​

Sqaud to face Macadonia (H)​

GOALKEEPER
McGregor​

DEFENCE
Hutton
Wilson
Webster
Berra​

MIDFEILD
Robson
Brown
D.Fletcher
Adam​

STRIKERS
McFadden
Boyd​

I'd set a more attacking 4-4-2 against Macadonia as they were a weaker side than Norway, and we were at home.​

Scott Brown opened the scoring for the Scots on 13 minutes, a low shot rifled past the keeper, in truth atleast 3 yards offside, but still the first for his country.​

At half time we held a very comfortable lead of 1-0, but in truth it could have been 5, i replaced the sturggling Adam with the inform debutant, Danny Swanson.​

Swanson had been dangerous all second half and got his reward on 73mins, exchanging a one-two with Miller before slotting home past the keeper on his debut.​

The drama wasn't done yet though, as McFadden lunged in miss-timed and landed himself a straight red-card on 75mins.​

Finally Maloney rounded off the game with a solo run and cool finish on 88mins.​


Scotland 3 - 0 Macedonia.
View attachment 104379​


Finally to round off our World Cup quals we faced Holland at home, a tough task for any side, even tougher when you need 3 points.​

GOALKEEPER
McGregor​

DEFENCE
Hutton
Wilson
Webster
Berra​

MIDFIELD
Dorrans
Brown
D.Fletcher
Adam
Swanson​

STRIKER
Boyd​

Scotland returned to a more typical 4-5-1, aiming to counter.
Before the game, Scotland manager Dean McDonnell had this to say;
"I want my team to make our fans proud, restore our nations proud reputation, and most importantly, enjoy themselves."​

Scotland started bright and managed to conjure some early chances.
A Dutch counter was cleared off the line by Berra on 9mins.​

On 19 minutes Scotland borke,,, and....
DARREN FLETCHER SHOOTS..... GOOOAAAAAALLL!!
Scotland 1 - 0 Holland
View attachment 104381
The screams deafend me, i knew this wasn't going to be easy to hold.
Somehow we did it though Scotland beat Holland by a single goal to nil.​


Next update tmoz, including play off round draw & nasty injury news. Thanks :):wub:
View attachment 104382​
 
Good old darren fletcher you can always count on him.

Great result against holland there mate.
 
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