[0762]

Totally agree re Clarke's poor team choice and IMO we are already out of this tournament after losing a game that we dared not to lose - IT'S OVER!! Listening to all this cringeworthy optimistic stuff (esp after listening to a lotta the same cringeworthy stuff preceding this crucial match - too much!!) coming from all these qualified footie pundits on bbc Scotland plus other media "hangers on" elsewhere. Also my previous concern highlighted in the "Luxembourg thread" very evident in this match - NO CLINICAL STRIKER READY TO PICK UP ANY HALF CHANCE IN THE PEN BOX AND BATTER THE BAW PAST A GOALIE WHO HAS PULLED OFF SAVE AFTER SAVE AFTER SAVE AFTER SAVE.........AD NAUSEUM!! The same prob was evident v Luxembourg - lotsa scorned scoring opps and 0-5 or 0-6 becomes 0-1!! Clinical strikers give top goalies nae chance and that is why they are clinical goal scorers!! I think we created about 5 decent scoring opps and missed them all!! I thought Robertson's shot to make it 1-0 in the 1st half had to be hard n low to score - why high and in the vicinity of such a big goalie????? Schick's goal must already be the goal of the tournament although I agree WTF was Marshall doing in a sweeper role - totally found out!! As for Hendry giving the ball away just preceding Schick's moment of magic? Don't take the shot rather than holding possession and play in O'Donnell on the right wing!!! IMO poor decision making and eventually punished with a world class goal the likes of which one doesn't see very often. BUT WHY AGAINST US!!???? A second goal that really stunned the whole team and the fans and it took a while to pick up any momentum from that sickening moment. I thought there wasn't much between the teams up to that point. As previously commented - it's great to have a clinical striker and they had that skill in this match. I thought the referee was absolute shite btw and irritating with it and that leads me to that pk incident when McTominay (who was shit for most of this match!!) dashed into their pen box and he was blocked by their CB who had a great performance defensively. It was not a pen. But the offence was one of obstruction almost on their 6 yard line!!! Does the rule re obstruction still exist or not??????? I believe it is still a rule that can be applied by any competent referee. I've occasionally applied that rule myself when officiating matches (hand in the air - indirect free kick awarded due to a blatant obstruction offence) and I see no difference when observing what was a blatant block by that Czech CB, IMO a big moment at a crucial point of this game.