Scotland - Epitome of Mediocrity

[rangersgreg44]

*George Burley has left the Scotland manager position today by way of mutual consent it has been revealed. In the eyes of the fans Burley has been one of Scotland's worst managers, defeated by only Berti Vogts. All eyes are on the SFA now as the determine who will be the man to take Scotland forward in the world of football.*

"Do you think we should apply Greg?"
"Yeah, definatly, being the Manager of your Country is one of the biggest honours I can think of Peter."
"OK. I've sent the email to the SFA, lets just hope when the Trust finds out, they'll be supportive of us."

Frontrunners for Scotland Job Named
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It has emerged from the SFA that 3 managers have been shortlisted to take the reigns at Hampden. Motherwell boss Craig Brown looks to be eager for a second attempt at the post, while Dundee's Jocky Scott is also interested. The favourite according to Skybet however, is Stirling Albion manager Greg McGuinness. After taking over the struggling club, languishing at the bottom of the Second Division, he has lifted them to the SPL in just three years. It has been common knowledge that McGuinness and his assistant, Peter Houston have both been eager to leave the club after securing SPL status.

*Breaking news to come out of Hampden, SFA President George Peat has announced Stirling Albion manager Greg McGuinness will manage the Scotland squad. With a less than impressive CV, many pundits are asking the question, is he really the man for us?*

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Next part should hopefully come tonight
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[Clark_Messi]

Like Scotland stories.

 

[rangersgreg44]

We had 3 games left in our Qualification process for the 2010 World Cup. As we were in the unique position of having 5 teams in the group instead of 6, only 1 qualification place was assured. Holland had already won this. In order for us to achieve a play-off spot, we had to gain more points than at least one other second placed team. It was going to be difficult, and we needed to gain all 9 points from the last 3 games.

The first game was away to Norway, a hard challenge. After our draw at Hampden, we knew they were going to be a tough side, but we could easily match them.

After a long deliberation, myself and Peter decided on the squad to travel to Norway.

Goalkeepers: Allan McGregor, Neil Alexander, Alan Main

Defenders: Graham Alexander, Gary Caldwell, Andy Webster, David Weir, Alan Hutton, Steven Whittaker, Lee Wallace, Charlie Mulgrew

Midfielders: Graham Dorrans, Darren Fletcher (C), Kevin Thomson, James McArthur, Shaun Maloney, Andy Driver, Danny Swanson, James McFadden, Ross McCormack

Strikers: Steven Fletcher, Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller, Kevin Kyle

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Alan Main was someone we had to spend 5 minutes looking for. With Craig Gordon injured, we had two reliable keepers in the squad, Allan McGregor and Neil Alexander, both of Rangers. David Marshall was also injured, or he would have been picked. Alan has over 20 years of experience under his belt, which would be beneficial to our young squad. Even though he may not be named to play, he will do a good job in the training sessions.

We picked Kevin Kyle mainly for two reasons, his height could be beneficial for our Target Man plan and because Andy Carroll was injured. The English boy born in Gateshead will be in the next squad however.
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After this update, there will be a match report of the Norway game. C'mon Scotland!

 

[rangersgreg44]

A pretty standard 4-4-2. Kevin Kyle playing Target Man with Kris Boyd looking to be on the receiving end of Kevin's headers. Ross McCormack replaced Shaun Maloney on the left as Shaun was not 100% fit. Captaining the side will be Darren Fletcher.


Kick Off

7 mins: A fierce strike at goal from Morten Gamst Pedersen forces Allan McGregor to parry it away. Nothing comes out of the resulting corner.

28 mins: After great passing play from Scotland in the middle of the park, Steven Fletcher races through only to see his shot hit the post, and then being cleared away by Brede Hangeland.

30 mins: GOAL NORWAY. Haseklepp crosses in for John Carew who sends a powerful header past Allan McGregor in goal. 1-0 Norway.

Half-Time

47 mins: An early corner, John-Arneh Riise's header pushed wide by McGregor.

55 mins: Carew finds himself through on goal, succumbing to a last ditch tackle by Alan Hutton. Pedersen's weak shot is easy to save for McGregor.

67 mins: Andy Webster, booked.

80 mins: Kevin Thomson, booked.

91 mins: GOAL SCOTLAND. Scotland win a corner, McCormack delivers the ball in and David Weir slides in to hoof the ball into the roof of the net. The Tartan Army in the corner are jubilant. 1-1.

Full Time

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I don't think we played to our full potential today. The Norwegians were playing 4-1-4-1, which I am not going to be overly critical of since I would consider this tactic. The restricted us from playing our football apart from maybe one or two moments, which we failed to capitalise from. I was disappointed in the defence for the Norwegian goal. John Carew sneaked in behind David [Weir] and Andy [Webster]. However I am proud of the lads, they showed a never-say-die attitude which certainly paid off.

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Not the best result, especially with the same team I won 3-0 in a previous Scotland save!

 

[dean1903]

Unlucky mate, interesting line up, that last minute goal could be the difference though !!!

 

[rangersgreg44]

*Mr. McGuinness, is Goran Pandev a threat to you?*

"I'm not going to focus all of my defence into looking after one player. I will treat Goran like any other player, we would look to expose even a goalkeeper's shortcomings. He is a tricky player to deal with, one we can keep at bay."

Kick-Off

4 mins: A stinging shot from Kevin Thomson flies past the post.

6 mins: GOAL SCOTLAND. Kevin Thomson lays a lovely through ball to Kris Boyd, who beats two men to place the ball in the net. 1-0

17 mins: Darren Fletcher races down on goal, only to be thwarted by a beautifully timed tackle by Sedloski.

18 mins: Shaun Maloney's shot from the edge of the box forces a save from the keeper, Nikolov.

22 mins: GOAL MACEDONIA. Goran Pandev is clearly offside after a long ball from the back, the linesman misses the call and Pandev places his shot in the corner of the net. 1-1.

23 mins: Pandev booked, Jankovski booked.

24 mins: Charlie Mulgrew's free kick is narrowly over.

30 mins: Petreski booked.

31 mins: Nikolov does well to dive at the feet of Graham Dorrans. Corner.

Half-Time

48 mins: Sedloski booked.

58 mins: GOAL MACEDONIA. David Weir is caught in possession, Goran Pandev nips in front of him and rounds the keeper to score his second. 1-2

66 mins: Kevin Thomson goes on a run, strikes at goal and his shot is pushed wide by Nikolov.

70 mins: Alan Hutton trips Pandev in the box. He is booked, penalty given.

71 mins: GOAL MACEDONIA. Stojkov blasts his penalty down the middle, Allan McGregor dived to his right. 1-3

78 mins: Boyd has all the time in the world, but panics and fires his shot wide of the post.

83 mins: Shaun Maloney injured, Ross McCormack will replace him.

84 mins: Excellent passing from Scotland brings no award as McCormack, eager to impress, hits his shot at Nikolov.

86 mins: Ace save from Nikolov as Scotland go for broke. Popov clears the ball down the line.

Full Time

"I'm very disappointed in my team today. We got an early goal which I saw as majorly important. However we couldn't hold on to our lead, which got progressively worse as the game went on. Even with our precautions on Goran Pandev, he showed his immense skill by wriggling free of our defenders on numerous occassions. I think it's safe to say we have missed out on qualification for the World Cup."