Rangers v Scotland – And then there were none

12
Rangers v Scotland – And then there were none
By Greg Roots

It wasn’t so long ago, and traditionally it was always the case, that a Scotland squad would be made up of the best players from each half of the Old-Firm. Simply put, The Scottish National Team’s best players would be the best players playing in the top tier of Scottish football.

Various things have happened of late, most notably our drop into the bowels of our game, which have exacerbated the ongoing problems that we face as a footballing nation. Failure to qualify for a major tournament since the turn of the century, coupled with the fact that our UEFA coefficient is in freefall as no Scottish team seems capable of punching above their weight in Europe, has left punters following the national team in a state of disarray.

Gordon Strachan is the latest figure tasked with the challenge of getting us to a major tournament, and all-in-all he has not been a total disaster. I still like to follow Scotland, despite many Rangers fans choosing to turn their back on the national team. We are now playing slightly more attractive football, and are still more than capable of putting in solid displays against the so-called big boys. However, our ability to make a complete mess of things against the ‘minnows’ is a burden which I cannot foresee shifting any time soon.

Strachan’s latest squad announcement has certainly caused a rift amongst our fans, with strong emotions being displayed on each side of the coin. There are those who are glad no player has been called up, for various reasons, and then we have people like myself who are slightly concerned that John McGinn of Hibs is getting the nod before the finest from Ibrox such as Holt or even McKay (although the latter has been called up to the under 21s).  I suspect that those who are happy with no-call ups are exactly that because they either don’t follow Scotland or they simply want our players to be 100% focused on Warburton’s ways of doing things. Both are amicable views and there is no denying that at such a crucial time of the season, losing key players to international duty is far from ideal – especially when it is only friendly matches in question.

On the other hand, I am of the opinion that some Rangers players do deserve a call up. When we were first demoted, Strachan said that our players would not be up for selection because he wanted to choose from the top tier of our game. That is fair enough, but in this latest selection we saw a lower league player picked, and this time it was at the expense of one of our own. Jason Holt outshines John McGinn in every aspect of their respective games, and to boot Holt is playing for a team sitting 14 points ahead of his counterpart’s. This may be a very biased line, but perhaps we are going to have to get used to an ex-Celtic manager continuously overlooking our players?

Their loss is our gain.

No posts to display

12 COMMENTS

  1. As long as Strachan is boss of Scotland……Rangers fans should boycott…his games..
    send him the message….we know you hate Rangers….so fuck you..

  2. I am delighted Scotland has no Rangers players involved!! Absolute waste of time and energy representing this country!

    Rangers are far more professional than Scotland and everything it represents. The SFA and it's ethos is 'minnow' to say the least. They f**k up cup draws live on TV, they promise hampden seat allocations then go back on it, half the stadiums in Scotland are empty and the SFA are doing nothing about it. Oh and we now play around with the league cup campaign and still have a league split in the Premiership??!! Mickey Mouse behaviour.

    Rangers players need only focus on our own goals.

  3. Lets not fu*k around here!…That little ginger weasel should sling his hook because,make no mistake,he is blatantly anti Rangers,or,he knows fu*kall about football…At Ibrox tonight we should all let that SFA know how we feel…Give them the chorus of "Stick your tartan army up your arse"

  4. I am a 100% Rangers and Scotland man. If I can keep my emotions out of it for a second, The Scotland manager has picked players that he thinks will do a job for Scotland. That is his choice and if he gets a result then he has been justified. I would love to see Rangers players representing Scotland but quite simply they have not been chosen. From a Rangers point of view at this stage in the season I am delighted no-one has been selected. It could be that Strachan has done this with fixtures in mind and how important fresh players are for our club.
    Ultimately the manager makes his decision and as supporters of our great club, we will do well to keep a dignified silence at this point. I have no doubt that next season none of our Scottish players will be ignored by the Scotland manager, this will be due to them having a good go at winning the league and keeping up their immaculate performances.

    Iain

    • another wait and see'er wake up from your slumber and smell the coffee.Or in strachans case the sh-te.

    • Agree 100% with Iain above , there's plenty time for Gers players to get back on the Scotland scene , lets concentrate on getting back to where we belong first . I hate this anti Scotland element among some of our support , it's actually losing us punters as many are giving up on Gers because of it . Also it play's right into Celtics hands and makes that Irish mob look more Scottish than we do ! Players like John Greig , Davy Cooper , Jim Baxter and hundreds more , were proud and delighted to wear the Scotland jersey and some Gers fans do them a disservice with their attitudes toward their own country .

    • Keeps our players free of injury in nothing games for Scotland. Allows more time to focus on more important things over the next few weeks to achieve the treble.Keeps our momentum going, lovin' it.

    • Yes those players are legends in the blue of Scotland too but unfortunately our once great nation has been hijacked by the Irish lot you refer to. They hate us so don't tell me I do them a disservice they wish Rangers were dead

  5. rangers are the pride of Britain the smellys have there own country eire Scotland wont qualify for another tournament until there is at least 5 bluenoses in the team and that's a fact.

  6. It's clear that Strachan is more concerned with keeping the drooling Jacobites onside. John McGinn? Ah, ok, he is Sellick minded. His granda helped to cover up for Torbett.

    These people are not making footballing descisions.

    Fuck Strapon, fuck the SFA and the face-painting Brit-hating mob.

  7. Mr Strachan has flattered to deceive throughout his managerial career. He has, for far too long, believed the media hype that he is a clever wit, when he is neither. To mix two well used Scottish phrases, he's a 'ticket' and I wouldn't give him 'hoose room'.

  8. Look lets just put this to bed, these F*ckwits dont like us, so do we really give a sh*t. lets just get on with winning the league getting back into the prem & take it from their. If Wallace continues to shine & Strachan still chooses to ignore hm & play sh*te like Hutton then so be it. But quite frankly Scotland dont give 2fcuks about us so we should return the compliment

Comments are closed.