Scotland V Southern Ireland

My apathy and tiredness towards Livi is currently being coloured over somewhat by the national teams up and coming internationals against two absolute mobs; Southern Ireland, the bin dippers who love stealing players from other countries and England, they're just England so fuck 'em. Going to Parkhead for both - in the Jock Stein upper for Fridays game. Looking forward to it, should be a fantastic atmosphere and a well contested game between 2 sides going for Euro 2016.

No Hutton for these fixtures, so it'll be interesting to see if Strachan starts Whittaker at RB with Hanley and Martin at centre-back, or if Bardsley plays RB. I'd got with a back 4 of Bardsley - Hanley - Martin - Robertson. Never been a fan of Whittaker.

Team I'd line-up with:


2-1 Scotland.

Fuck McGeady and McCarthy.

Bardsley's pulled out injured unfortunately, Callum Paterson from Hearts called up instead. Think we'll go Whittaker on the right and Robertson on the left.

Think McCarthy is injured for them though so that's good news.

Think it'll be 2-1 Scotland as well, hope McGeady (and McCarthy as well if he plays) get stick for the whole 90 minutes.

Really looking forward to this although a fair bit apprehensive as  well. They'll be a tough nut to crack. I have worries about our defence, more so now at right back.

A win here would be fan fucking tastic, although wouldn't at all be surprised by a draw.

Just can't get into Scotland qualifiers, been burned too many times. Will prob watch it if I remember it's on though.

Used to loathe McGeady for dumping us but we've had enough players who weren't born in Scotland playing for us so couldn't care less now.

I fear for our defence with Robbie Keane playing for Eire; he's not what he once was but still better than anything we have in attack. I also think their defence is stronger than ours.

So with them having a better attack & a better defence we are relying on us upping our game which we won't cause its "only Ireland".

2-1 win for Ireland.

Bertie Bassett wrote:I fear for our defence with Robbie Keane playing for Eire; he's not what he once was but still better than anything we have in attack. I also think their defence is stronger than ours.

So with them having a better attack & a better defence we are relying on us upping our game which we won't cause its "only Ireland".

2-1 win for Ireland.

Are you seriously insinuating that the players won't be up for this one Bertie, because "it's only Ireland"?

Strachan and the crowd will have them right up for this. Everyone knows how massive this game is. Was disappointed to see Whittaker saying that it isn't a must win game. What a daft thing to say, never been a fan of his, keep him away from the team.

mozam76 wrote:

Bertie Bassett wrote:I fear for our defence with Robbie Keane playing for Eire; he's not what he once was but still better than anything we have in attack. I also think their defence is stronger than ours.

So with them having a better attack & a better defence we are relying on us upping our game which we won't cause its "only Ireland".

2-1 win for Ireland.

Are you seriously insinuating that the players won't be up for this one Bertie, because "it's only Ireland"?

No, I am suggesting that Scotland has a track record for playing well against teams we "shouldn't beat" & struggling against teams we "should beat" or at least "shouldn't lose to". I hope Strachan is able to lift us above that tendency but he played in numerous games that uphold my suggestion so whether he can do so or not remains to be seen.

You're not comparing apples with apples then Bertie. I know fine well the standard of opposition you are referring to - the Perus, Costa Ricans, Moroccans of this world all spring to mind - surely you're not suggesting that Ireland are in along with them in the "shouldn't lose to" category? They're a damn sight better than that.

There are a number of reasons why we might lose this game, but the players not being up for it or in the right frame of mind isn't one of them.

Lexi Collector wrote:Strachan and the crowd will have them right up for this. Everyone knows how massive this game is. Was disappointed to see Whittaker saying that it isn't a must win game. What a daft thing to say, never been a fan of his, keep him away from the team.

What an absolute fud he is. No wonder he plays for a pish team like Norwich with an attitude like that.

mozam76 wrote:You're not comparing apples with apples then Bertie. I know fine well the standard of opposition you are referring to - the Perus, Costa Ricans, Moroccans of this world all spring to mind - surely you're not suggesting that Ireland are in along with them in the "shouldn't lose to" category? They're a damn sight better than that.

There are a number of reasons why we might lose this game, but the players not being up for it or in the right frame of mind isn't one of them.

It's a home game too so they should be well prepared for it, no acclimatizing or anything. Just a pity it isn't at Hampden, they seem to play better there.

mozam76 wrote:You're not comparing apples with apples then Bertie. I know fine well the standard of opposition you are referring to - the Perus, Costa Ricans, Moroccans of this world all spring to mind - surely you're not suggesting that Ireland are in along with them in the "shouldn't lose to" category? They're a damn sight better than that.

There are a number of reasons why we might lose this game, but the players not being up for it or in the right frame of mind isn't one of them.

IMO we OUGHT to be good enough that we would beat Ireland more often than they would beat us; however we currently aren't; the problem though is that when the draw was made the perception was generally, "Germany will win the group & despite being 4th seeds we have an outstanding opportunity to qualify in second" - in other words the perception was we could beat the Poles & Irish to second place. In all honesty we COULD but I don't think we will & part of the reason we won't is because the perception was/is that we could - we almost always defeat ourselves with our mindset. The draw in Poland was a superb result but the return match will be just as difficult to get something from & I wouldn't be surprised to see us fail to win against the Poles (similarly I suspect the Germans will have got themselves back into the groove when they arrive over here). Which makes this match against Ireland massive... I think the pressure of this (& the fact we are slight favourites at the bookies) will undermine our mindset (which so far has allowed us to punch above our weight against the Germans & Poles). Don't get me wrong, beating Ireland would be an excellent result but I don't think they are perceived to be as big a threat as the Poles or the Germans & that will work against us because we invariably play better against the guys that ought to wipe the floor with us.

Going back to Peru; that Peru side in Argentina was always favourites in my mind to beat us...so I wouldn't actually include them as a side we "shouldn't lose to" (at least back in '78, not so sure now, as I think they are not up to much these days).

Excellent goal & delighted to be wrong tonight!

Ironic though that we win & drop a place!

An absolutely outstanding win. Not without its low points - Hanley is a likeable guy but an absolute liability. Chris Martin looked useless, and perhaps showed up the paucity of our striking options (would love to see Stevie May get a shout).

On the flip side, Maloney was excellent. Mulgrew is looking imperious in the midfield, and in Andy Robertson we have a wonderful left back.

That is a brilliant three points. Badly needed, richly deserved.

That was wonderful. They are a bad team and I'll be disappointed if we don't get at least a point at the Aviva.

EdinburghLivi wrote:That was wonderful. They are a bad team and I'll be disappointed if we don't get at least a point at the Aviva.

I think they're better than they showed last night EL. That said, I reckon a point at the Aviva is well within our capabilities, if we have a strong team out of course.