Group D - opponent watch!

[SkStu]

Gibraltar lost 1-4 at home to the Faroe Islands today in a friendly.

http://youtu.be/TGQ11mBibj8

They're woejus.

[TheBoss]

Sure, its only the Faroe Islands biggest ever away win and equalled their highest ever, which was 3-0 v San Marino. Also, the first time they have scored 4 goals against a full member country. They also had 64% possession aswell! Lets see how Estonia deal with them on Wednesday. Bodes well for Gibraltar.

[BonnieShels]

And the Faroes missed a penalty.

That Germany v Gibraltar game could see a record score.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Mickey Mouse team.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Was there ever any doubt to their ability?

[pineapple stu]

Some really careless tackles going in there as well; I could see them finishing games with 10 or 9 men if they keep that up in the qualifiers.

Interesting that they beat the Faroes 3-0 just three years ago.

[Crosby87]

Isn't there a famous rock somewhere in Gibraltar?

[SkStu]

Isn't there a famous rock somewhere in Gibraltar?

Yes indeed. Here's a pic.

http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110425163321/fatherted/images/5/52/Holy_Stone_Of_Clonrichert.jpg

[DeLorean]

Georgia 2-0 Liechtenstein (http://sport.uk.msn.com/world-cup-2014/georgia-v-liechtenstein/1632750)

[Yard of Pace]

In case anyone missed this pre-Faroes interview with one of the Gibraltar coaches.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26358827


"No disrespect to San Marino or the Faroe Islands, but I see Gibraltar 10 places above them already."

:D

[Charlie Darwin]

In case anyone missed this pre-Faroes interview with one of the Gibraltar coaches.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26358827


:D
Didn't take long for that old-fashioned British arrogance to return.

[geysir]

Didn't take long for that old-fashioned British arrogance to return.
I doubt if they will be strutting their rule brittania '3rd place qual hopes' and '10 places better than other minnows' after that game against the Faroes, who won pulling up.

[Stuttgart88]

Scotland beats Poland 1 nil away. They have beaten Croatia, Norway and Poland away under Strachan. We can't string two passes together without Hoolahan on the pitch.

[paul_oshea]

I said it already Strachan has them going very well against decent opposition they would have to beat favourites for 2nd at the moment

[geysir]

Poland are poor and were beaten against the run of play.
If we can't finish ahead of those two, then we are truly cr'ap.

[DeLorean]

Gibraltar 0-2 Estonia
Germany 1-0 Chile

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Scotland beats Poland 1 nil away. They have beaten Croatia, Norway and Poland away under Strachan. We can't string two passes together without Hoolahan on the pitch.

You only need to look to Scotland's performances against teams like Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and France in recent memory to realise that we may be in trouble.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Poland are poor and were beaten against the run of play.
If we can't finish ahead of those two, then we are truly cr'ap.

Actually, no. Scotland appear to be on the rise and we're definitely on the wane. They can grind out results away from home;can we do, even at home?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I don't think we are going to solve our stage fright within the space of 12 months. I don't think it's enough time. I think Scotland and Poland (by default) have the edge over us and against bigger teams.

Think if we end up playing Ward, Dunne, Whelan and Keane in qualifiers, we could find out the hard way that it's a campaign too far. Hope not.

[DeLorean]

You only need to look to Scotland's performances against teams like Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and France in recent memory to realise that we may be in trouble.

I think their (and our) current form is more of a concern. We battled admirably against Italy and France (and possibly even Czech Rep?) more recently than they did.

[geysir]

Actually, no. Scotland appear to be on the rise and we're definitely on the wane. They can grind out results away from home;can we do, even at home?
To compare, we played Poland plus Lewandowski and it was 50/50, an encouraging enough display, despite some dogged defending at the end. Scotland got a result from their just about their only chance. Scotland on the rise is a theory.

[Stuttgart88]

Here is a balanced opinion from a Scottish football writer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26463457

Extract:

It feels wrong to get overly buoyant about what is clearly an upturn in performance and, more importantly, results.

But equally, for too long the nation's football writers have had to deal in doom and gloom. The desire to wax lyrical about the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Scotland could qualify for a major tournament is difficult to contain.

Looking at it coldly, the past two victories have come in friendlies, won by a solitary goal when the overall team performance was less than scintillating.

Certainly the second half against Poland was better from the Scots but, by Gordon Strachan's own admission, there has been too little for the opposing defence and goalkeeper to do.

That's despite the players admitting that under Strachan they have been given more opportunity to get forward and try to put the opposition under pressure rather than concentrating on not losing.

Old habits die hard, perhaps, but we should accentuate the positive while we can.

Not only do these players look like they are learning the ability to grind out results, they look infinitely more comfortable in possession than they did this time a year ago.

Think back, even to Strachan's first competitive game in charge at home to Wales.

Scotland players couldn't get rid of the ball quickly enough, and they didn't seem overly concerned about where they passed it. Too often possession was turned over to the opposition, immediately putting the Scots on the defensive.

Impressive results aside, if this guy is right the team is making progress on several fronts but there is some way to go before it's evidence that it's sufficient progress.

That said, it'd be nice to see the same sort of progress in our game. We can see it in parts I suppose.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Fair point, but Strachan has been in position for that bit longer, to identify his best players and cleared out some of the previous dead wood which may well put the Scots in a better position in the short-term.

My pal, with the FAI contacts, reckons the Georgia (Spain & France both struggled to get any sort of results there in the latest WCQ's) and Scotland/Alba away matches will be key games in sorting out our likelihood of qualification. Obvious that might seem, but in all seriousness, we have to sort out our very mediocre home 'form' which currently makes only wins over Georgia and the colonial theme park look seriously realistic.

[geysir]

And let's not forget that Italy scraped through with 2 own goals in Georgia, just how lucky can you get?
Trap picked up wins against 4th and 5th seeds, like candy from a baby. I'd expect MON can at least manage a few points :)

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Have we beaten a team that is better than Poland or Scotland in a competitive game over the last ten years? Debatable.

[geysir]

We only have to finish ahead of those perennial plodders, like we finished ahead of 2nd seeds Bulgaria and Slovakia and if we have to win, we can surely beat them at home, like we beat Armenia, world class on their day.

[Stuttgart88]

Both Naismith and Snodgrass doing enough in recent weeks to show they can be more than a handful for Ireland.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

And Ross McCormack seems to score a hat-trick every week in the Championship.

[Stuttgart88]

We'd be waxing lyrical if we had players performing that well.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

McCormack has 27. Rhodes has 20. Bryson has 15.

McCormack alone has more goals than Murphy, Cox, Sammon, Best, Keogh, Madden and Hunt put together.

They have at least half-a-dozen players in the Championship and Dundee United alone who are destined for greater things.

Who do we have? PL interest in Hendrick has never went beyond paper talk, Murray hasn't pushed on yet and other youngsters have progressed sooner than Carruthers, Grealish and Burke at Villa. Furthermore, Byrne and Drennan are not scoring goals at L1 and L2 level (I know, early days).

It's quite depressing.

[Charlie Darwin]

We have two strikers scoring goals in the Premier League and Robbie Keane. I wouldn't be too depressed that we don't have to rely on Steven Fletcher and Craig Bryson.

[Stuttgart88]

Bit harsh on Hendrick there. He's doing just fine for now. The others in that last paragraph are too young to pass judgment on. And the Irish journeymen are a bit of a red herring. The Scots have journeymen in and around their squad too!

[DeLorean]

Yeah not much sense in taking the best of the Scots and comparing them to the worst of the Irish. I'm sure they're looking at us and thinking they wouldn't mind having Coleman, Wilson, Gibson, Hoolahan, Keane, McCarthy, ahem, McGeady, ahem ahem.

[Stuttgart88]

Scotland's Naismith in rational and fair assessment shocker

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26964687

Not to mention what he says about Martinez which is interesting in its own right.

[bennocelt]

We only have to finish ahead of those perennial plodders, like we finished ahead of 2nd seeds Bulgaria and Slovakia and if we have to win, we can surely beat them at home, like we beat Armenia, world class on their day.

Just had to have a chuckle:D

[DannyInvincible]

Scotland are up to 22nd in the latest FIFA rankings, having risen 15 places: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26967553

[DeLorean]

How in the name of God are Scotland 22nd in the World? (rhetorical!) It really is a bizarre system. They've just come off a campaign where Wales did the double over them and were never in contention for even a playoff spot. At least we flirted with the idea for a while.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Chris Martin has been called up for Scotland.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27371603

25 goals in 50 games this season.

[back of the net]

Has looked very good season with derby ,looks like a good acquisition by the scots

[Charlie Darwin]

Well it's clear what we have to do. We have to see their three Derby players and play all FOUR of ours. Keogh and O'Brien at the back, Hendrick in midfield and Super Conor Sammon up front. Is Saul Deeney still there? Make it five, goalkeeper.

[IsMiseSean]

Is Saul Deeney the lad that quit football to play GAA?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Is Saul Deeney the lad that quit football to play GAA?

No. That was Shane Supple, formerly of Ipswich.

[DeLorean]

There could be a serious Derby County representation when we meet Scotland. Craig Forsyth (left back), Craig Bryson (free scoring midfielder) and Chris Martin (top scorer) have all been called up to their most recent squad.

Derby trio called up by Scotland (http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derby-County-trio-Scotland-squad-including/story-21085874-detail/story.html)

[pineapple stu]

Estonia 1-1 Gibraltar

Gibraltar seem to have bucked up since the Faroes game anyway. They play Malta next week.

Still nothing to really suggest they'll affect the final standings in the group though.

[Stuttgart88]

Scotland 1 up on Nigeria after only ten mins. They had already hit the post.

[Charlie Darwin]

We might as well give up now, they're obviously way better than us.

[Stuttgart88]

I'm not saying we should give up. But maybe we should consider a clandestine doping programme. Or selling the country to a Russian oligarch in exchange for an academy and a football ground, and maybe some jobs to keep the rest of the country happy.

[Stuttgart88]

The goal took a wicked deflection looping the ball over the keeper. I love one of the BBC comments: great goal. What a finish. Maybe a bit fortunate.

How can you say what a finish to a goal that owed everything to a deflection?

[Stuttgart88]

1-1 now. Scotland are in freefall.

[Charlie Darwin]

They got nothing on us. We're going to France baby!