stewarty

I'm not suggesting he is a panacea but time will tell regarding Levein. You and many others may have already written him off. But, whilst there are aspects of his approach I do not like (such as his post-match whinging), I am willing to give the guy a break whilst he gets results. If he stops getting results, all bets are off. I have been consistent on my views regarding the structure of our game so I don't see how that is me being unable to see the wood from the trees and I will continue to support the national team despite it being pretty desperate viewing at times. I can't remember us being anything other than inconsistent so yes you are lucky! As said above, I agree regarding root and branch reform of the game.

Your wider points about the structure and organisation of the game I largely agree with. Where I differ from you is the aftermath of last night's game: I see us sitting top of the group with 4 points whereas you seem to see it as us plummeting new depths of desparity. Whilst poor, some of the reaction to last night's performance has been OTT in my opinion.

Sent him a wee reminder text! :spl:

On the contrary. I just don't subscribe to the harbinger of doom sentiments you set out in your original post.

Sad sad news. Get well soon Sir Brian!

I agree with the sentiments on Ferguson - we badly missed him last night and I hope Levein tries again to get him back. He is a natural leader as opposed to Fletcher who seems to struggle with the responsibility.

Fletcher tries to do too much in a Scotland jersey. He wants to fetch and carry from the back four, run the channels, support the strikers, spread the play, make defence splitting passes, the works. There are few footballers in the world who can do all that effectively and consistently. At Man U he mostly keeps it simple - why can't he do the same for the national team? God knows we could do with someone with a bit of composure in the middle because Scott Brown is a headless chicken.

The manager's performance is interesting. On the one hand he is sticking with old favourites who clearly have not performed in a Scotland jersey for a good while now (Brown and Fletcher in particular) but has done enough to keep the team in the hunt, despite playing poorly. He was criticised for playing too defensively yet when Frick was given too much space at the edge of the box by McManus, they scored. Had we played more expansively, there is every chance they would have found more space and today we could have been lamenting another defeat to a minnow. He made immediate changes after going a goal behind and the changes worked! Boyd was getting no change from the linesman/ref with regards off-side decisions; and McFadden was flattering to deceive (again!). The introduction of Robson and Morrison had a significant impact on the game so credit has to go to the manager for bringing them on. You learn more in times of adversity than at any other time. It seems to me that Levein will have learned a lot about his squad in the last 2 games and to have done so without losing is a good sign. We're still in the mixer to qualify in second position and in many ways I expect the next two games to be less nerve-racking than the first two. We always play better against top level opposition so I wouldn't discount us getting a cheeky draw against Spain - however unlikely that would seem on paper. As for Czech, they are must win games both home and away - even more so considering their defeat to Lithuania last night.

That's the bit I mostly can't get my head around. I've seen various comments from people who normally consider themselves to be patriotic Scots, but who are getting stuck right in to the team. At the risk of repeating myself - WE WON!! Better the team that plays poorly but gets results, than the team playing silky football but never gets anywhere meaningful. Although it doesn't work as a direct comparison, there are certain parrallels with the Scottish domestic game...

I should add that I have several gripes about the Scotland set-up, the selection policies, tactics and style of play - I just don't think we can expect to move instantly from the Burley era back to something akin to the performances seen under Smith and Eck.

I refuse to join in with the doom merchants this time. I was quick to get on the Burley Get Tae F*** bandwagon but I don't think Levein deserves that treatment - not yet anyway. Three points is three points, and better we are a lucky team with the points in the bag, than an unlucky team with just one or none. Hopefully this is a turning point but the proof is in the pudding. Levein needs to build on this and learn from the mistakes made.

My maw ain't cheap. You should know! :box:

Welcome aboard!

Nah, just delusional. He'll fit in well over at the tattiedome!

I agree about Fletcher. Doesn't play anything like he does for Man U. I think this is mostly because of the poorer quality of players in the Scotland squad as compared to United's. However, part of his problem is that he hasn't quite understood how to play for Scotland. For Man U he has a job to do and he knows it inside out. But for Scotland, he tries to do too much - i.e. he wants to fetch the ball from the back four, bomb down the channels as well as trying to be a creative player. There are so few players on the planet who can do all of those things together so I think he should just stick to keeping it simple. That said, if Broonaldo is the creative man in the middle of the park, its no wonder Fletcher tries to take on that responsibility too.

Broonaldo shouldn't be anywhere near a Scotland jersey. Apart from one goal in the last qualifiers campaign, he has been consistently useless for Scotland. And, more to the point, he has been consistently hopeless for the Thims too.

A big Gersnet welcome to EuanC and Buzz! :spl:

I've said in other threads about Lennon trying to copy Smith's approach when he returned for his second spell at Ibrox. Smith quickly filled up the squad with fringe players to boost numbers, Lennon has done the same. There are 2 crucial differences though. Firstly, as alluded above, the management team at Ibrox is far more experienced and have built several successful teams in their careers. Secondly, Smith concentrated on signing experienced British players who would know about the club and what the expectations were. Thus, Smith was quickly able to build a team and instill the winning Gers mentality which has served him so well (domestically, at least). Lennon has been forced to bring in foreigners who will need to adapt quickly to their new surroundings, which will no doubt be alien to a number of them. So, its advantage Rangers for me. But, if Lennon can gel a team quickly, the depth of their squad could prove telling later in the season - that's if he can manage to keep them happy as many of them will not be playing regularly.

Many a player has been plucked from obscurity and gone on to become, seemingly, a much better player when playing in a team which has a higher quality of player. Similarly, players have looked good when playing for 'better' teams, but struggled when playing for lesser teams when really they should have stood out. If the guy has the right attitude, works hard and develops his game, there is every chance he could be a decent signing. Similarly, he could be a fish out of water and get only a handful of subs appearances before slipping back to Sheepville without anyone noticing. Time will tell.

I do not disagree with your post in terms of it being a strange signing, however... Beattie is a big lump, a target man - Novo is neither of those and thus, it is difficult to directly compare the two men. Foster has played around 35-40 games for the past 4 seasons for Aberdeen; whereas Smith, I would guess, has barely had 40 first team starts in his entire Rangers career. So, again, I'm not sure its a fair comparison.

I prefer to see how he goes. He may turn out to be a decent squad player, or a dud - I just do not know. I would rather give the lad a chance before slating him.

I suspect you are going on what others have said, i.e. he's from Aberdeen, he must be pish; rather than first hand knowledge. I'll stand corrected on that but it seems too much like a knee-jerk response to me.

Well, its official... http://www.rangers.co.uk/articles/20100831/champs-swoop-for-foster_2254024_2140888

I cannot remember the guy playing so am reluctant to slag him off just yet.

*tumbleweed*