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Its a wonder how many less points Man U would have if De Gea hadn’t been in goal this season, some of the saves have been incredible. Man U are certainly getting better and whilst their defence is still ridiculously fragile they are going to score and therefore getting the results as well as showing real determination and team spirit. 

Liverpool on the other hand have the same defensive frailties but without a competent keeper and nowhere near the same threat going forward (Sterling’s dithering when one on one with De Gea was awful to see but sums up his whole season). Gerrard is a pale imposter of his former self but Rogers can’t drop him as a) they have no decent replacement and b) the fans and many in the English media would crucify him before the game even started. The amount of money Liverpool have wasted on signings under Rogers is breath-taking.

Definitely need an attacker what with RVP and Falcao already gone and reports suggest that Hernandez will be off, which wouldnt be a surprise considering he was shipped out 5 minutes ater LVG arrived. Two forwards in Rooney and the inexperienced Wilson isnt anywhere near enough; Depay can play in that position but its not a season long solution. You could also do with a goalkeeper as its likely De Gea will be off to Real Madrid (tho who knows with both teams playing a game of hard ball with players). If De Gea does go you will probably get Ramos which means you’re back line wont be too bad – tho I saw a BBC line-up that placed Smalling in defence!!! Getting a competent right back in was a huge step forward as Rafael is a major liability against the top sides.  

Its certainly a better quality in-depth squad and who knows with such additions it might spark some life in Di Maria and a few others who were disappointing last season. Who is in goal next season is the biggest factor; keep De Gea and get a couple more players in and you’ll be a force. 

I’m not English, i’m Scottish.

Thankfully!!

Yip. We just fail to qualify, makes it so much easier to deal with the disappointment. We can then thoroughly amuse ourselves with the English media talking their team up from being an embarrassment to possible World Cup winners within the space of a 90 minute 2-1 victory over Estonia in a warm-up game. There then normally follows a number of crap performances that get them into the second round or qualifiers where it becomes a guaranteed certainty they will win the World Cup before they are defeated by a far better side and get slated by the press for not being as good as the country became to believe because of the press..

Of course last year this cycle was abandoned quickly by not even getting out of the group stages. Much to Scotland’s delight.

trcanberra said

meanmistermustard said
I’m not English, i’m Scottish.

 

Thankfully!!

And I’m Welsh 🙂

You have my sympathy. 

There will be another independence referendum and we will as a country vote Yes. There was a feeling of a missed opportunity after the last one, we hate being governed by the Tories and a ton of other things will tip the balance. I voted Yes last time and would do again.

Football wise i could possibly give some support to England if it wasnt for the media who are so smug about all things England yet condescending to every other country and player. The way they managed to write off and belittle Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in the last world cup yet so quickly promote their own team as almost flawless in every position was breathtaking in its stupidity.

Scotland havent reached any important tournament since 1998 and its an embarrassment to all Scots. Too many domestic sides threw money at crap foreigners instead of blooding youth for most of the 90’s and early 00’s; nothing came thru and so the National team became filled with no-hopers and shit that looking back we cringe at the names of the players in the squads. The lack of money in the Scottish game meant that teams had to look to youngsters again as they couldnt afford to buy shit expensive foreigners and now we are starting to see the benefit. Our 2016 campaign is going well (third in a group with Germany, Poland and the Republic of Ireland; could be a little better, could be far worse), we have our best national team squad since who knows when and the league is more competitive.

If you ignore the complete bullshit coming out from much of the media (English and Scottish, by either those who know nothing about our game or are ex-Rangers or Celtic and have to peddle the myth) about how our game is in deep poo as Rangers (as they are now known) aren’t in the top league you’ll find that crowds are up, matches are more competitive and teams are far more financially secure than they have been for years. Unfortunately we have the biggest arses (the politest word i can use on this forum) in charge of our game who seem eternally set on talking our game down and bitching that we arent in England and we dont have 7 Old Firm matches each season – no one in Scotland outside the Old Firm and sections of the media give a fuck about the Rangers v Celtic matches. Those matches are generally shit, the cost of policing the games are ridiculous and domestic violence increases as their numskull fans go home and beat their wives/partners if they lose. It does next to nothing to promote the Scottish game in a positive light. The only two sides who have suffered from Rangers going bankrupt are Rangers and Celtic. And the absolute bollocks that is portrayed about our game being poor and non-competitive irritates the hell out of me. Since 2011 Aberdeen, Inverness Caley Thistle, Hearts, St Mirren, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone have all won domestic trophies for the first time in years (if not for the first time ever in their history). Celtic may have comfortably won the league all those years but they have the biggest squad and budget by a mile so its not a surprise that over 38 matches they come out on top.

As for not winning anything as a country we have a population of 6 million and a far smaller pool of players, we’re not going to be as good as France, Italy, Germany, England, Brazil etc. Regularly qualifying for major tournaments is what we should be achieving, possibly even getting into the later stages.

Team GB at the 2012 Olympics comprised of English and Welsh players, Scotland decided not to be included as we felt it may encourage UEFA (or FIFA) to remove our independence as a footballing nation. I was delighted that we did.

Regarding ‘Ally’s Army’ we built ourselves up and failed miserably; its both hilarious and embarrassing looking back. We learnt our lesson. If England did the same and accepted reaching the quarter finals and the occasional semi-final as the level to attain you might be able to improve and not self-crucify yourselves. Instead you look back at 1966, immediately believe you should be beating Brazil 6 nil in the upcoming final to repeat that incredible achievement (god knows why considering your squad of players, apologies you have Harry Kane to save the day ), and when you fail to do so lash out at everything and everyone in the game and even beyond demanding everything changes from grass roots up. However nothing does, despite all those spoken words, and still you’re all amazed when at the next tournament you fail to meet the impossible expectations set despite knowing 3 weeks before the tournament begins you’re not good enough.