[0762]

IMO this is an international fixture, this time in a Nations League group, that is becoming far too regular for my liking. There seems to be a dearth in striking choices and quality, prob the worst I've seen for a long time, and it results in the great possibility that an untried striker like Lyndon Dykes could well be "given a start" by Steve Clarke. Thankfully the opposition is nowhere close to being of any great footie quality but neither is Scotland at the moment! Another "area of concern" is the centre of our defence and again it is a weak area that has festered for a few years - never properly resolved due to a lack of top quality defenders at this level. Previous incumbents have lacked discipline and focus in certain games where Scotland have been exposed and "shown up" v poor opponents particularly in away matches and this needs to resolved. Another prob for Clarke is that age old one where two top class full backs, Robertson and Tierney, are either fielded in an accommodating defensive line up or one of them is dropped. Our midfield area is decent and it is a case of trying to "strike the right balance" for Steve Clarke. I suspect this match will end up in a stalemate and just hope that Scotland surprise me with a win.

[hibeejim21]

Lyndon Dykes.... He is just a big lump of a player. I don't see it with that Mcburnie either, I'm amazed he is in the EPL. In fact all our strikers are poor apart from Griffiths but he seems to have lost the plot of late..

Wouldn't surprise me if we got beat frankly.

[0762]

McBurnie withdrawn from the Scotland squad due to a foot injury - never trained properly for weeks! No loss anyway as not a prolific goal scorer!

[hibeejim21]

He played for Sheffield Utd in a friendly ffs - that's how committed to the cause he is.

I wonder if Clarke might be tempted to play Tierney in a back 3 like Arteta has done at arsenal and go 3-5-2? As we have said before the basis for a good midfield is there with maginn,mcgregor,armstrong,fleck,mctominay....

[BouncingHibees]

My main concern already is we have no regular goal scoring striker.

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1-0 Christie from the spot, bit of a poor game.

[BouncingHibees]

Wrong formation, wrong tactics and utterly eyebleeding.

[0762]

FT 1-1 and the lack of a prolific striker was glaring. Agreed it was an uninspiring match, not a "great watch", and Scotland certainly didn't deserve to win it. As for trying to see out a 1-0 win victory in the final quarter of the match with this defensive lineup - don't think so and the expected equalising goal came as no surprise! Still unbeaten in the last four matches if one is gonna pluck any positivity from this result. We move on to a very tough match v a decent Czech international side.

[hibeejim21]

Too many players out of position, too many players phoning in their performances and the tactics were baffling. Despite my misgivings I thought Dykes did ok, and christie put in a shift.

The manager is unfortunate in that his 2 best players are left backs. Robertson isn't a left midfielder in a million years, so Clarke has to make a decision instead of trying to shoehorn people into positions. It wasnt a good performance.

I guess we have to factor in that the players fitness is all over the shop right now but Israel looked a better footballing side.

[BouncingHibees]

Czech match in doubt due to coronavirus in Czech camp, Czechs saying its off currently.

[hibeejim21]

Games going ahead according to UEFA.