Better team but points are shared

Pre-match, opinion was split between whether 1 point would be good enough for Scotland in Lithuania. Some had the opinion that avoiding defeat would be a solid start but in a 5 team group, there isn’t the opportunity to make up too many lost points, which meant all 3 points were a must for many fans.

After the game, disappointment is the only thing that can be said after the game because Scotland were the better team over the course of the game. Not so much in working the oppositions defence but in terms of possession and looking to push on, by the end Scotland were the only team looking to grab all three points.

As we said, not too many chances but there were moments when Scotland fans were on their feet thinking they could grab the goal.

Much like in Norway and against Holland in the last campaign, Kenny Miller looked likely to score but spurned the chance. It was a hard shift for the striker who has been in good goal-scoring form for Rangers but when his country needed it, Miller’s goal-scoring touch deserted him.

Scotland never worked the Lithuanian goalkeeper often enough, Naismith may also have been culpable but when you consider the amount of the ball Scotland had and the number of free-kicks in good positions, there can be no excuse for not making more chances.

Barry Robson’s delivery was mainly deplorable from dead-balls and Darren Fletcher was close to being invisible for the 90 minutes. Scott Brown wasn’t invisible but a lot of that was due to him getting involved in the usual niggles and scrapes he sometimes winds up in. Not a vintage night for the midfield.

Craig Levein attempted to deflect criticism away from his offensive players by slating the ref…who didn’t have a terrible game. He clamped down on some fouls but equally, he let away a good few things from both teams. Craig should steel himself because there will be games when the ref is much worse than the one which officiated the match tonight.

The BBC Sportscene team, in the time it took for their analysis to end had unsurprisingly sided with their media friend Craig Levein and had the ref blamed for dropping two points. Which is a shame because there are some positive elements to take from it.

Coming away from home and looking comfortable is not too common for the Scottish team, regardless of what the opposition. Alan Hutton may not have played too much of late but the full-back looked strong the length of the left-flank and all will be hoping that he retains fitness and gets some more matches under his belt.

On another night it might have been very different but with just one game in, Scotland are facing at taking the hard route to Euro 2012.

You dejected or ready to fight another day?

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Some Friday night games for the Tartan Army

The fixture list in full:

2010
Friday 3 September - Lithuania v Scotland
Tuesday 7 September – Scotland v Liechtenstein
Friday 8 October - Czech Republic v Scotland
Tuesday 12 October - Scotland v Spain

2011
Saturday 3 September - Scotland v Czech Republic
Tuesday 6 September - Scotland v Lithuania
Saturday 8 October - Liechtenstein v Scotland
Tuesday 11 October - Spain v Scotland

8 games in the campaign and only two being played on a Saturday? International football is definitely changing and it will be interesting to see how the switch to Friday and Tuesday games will affect the Scottish side.

Friday the 3rd of September is when it all kicks off with a trip to Tynecastle, err Lithuania and this is quickly followed by Liechtenstein at home on the Tuesday night.

Czech Republic away and Spain at home (again, a Tuesday night) will be tough games putting more pressure on the team to pick up points in the opening two matches.

After the last campaign, Kenny Miller was quick to moan about playing the big team (Holland) at home in midweek so it will be interesting to see if Miller will moan to Levein about the Spanish tie taking place in midweek.

We expect Miller to keep quiet this time around!

After the Spanish lose at Hampden (c’mon, live a little for now), Scotland will have a crucial home double-header in September 2011 where 6 points could go a long way to securing qualification or a play-off spot.

This is followed by a trip to Lichtenstein before concluding in Spain on Tuesday 11th October 2011.

Wow, that is a long way away isn’t it? Those fans who were looking forward to the Spanish trip have a long time to wait!

So, the fixture list, some initial thoughts:

It is very drawn out, over a year to play effectively 4 double headers. This could be good or bad I suppose. Almost a year of a break between the first group of games and second group is a long time.

Finishing with two away ties isn’t ideal although if the Spanish have top place sewn up by their last game, it could be ripe for the Scots to plunder a point or three.

6 points need to be grabbed in September 2011.

Can Scotland at least grab a play-off place?

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Craig Levein’s Scotland were drawn in Group I for the Euro 2012 Qualifiers.

The draw took place in Warsaw Sunday lunchtime for the upcoming Championships being held jointly in Poland and Ukraine.

Group I: Spain, Czech Republic, SCOTLAND Lithuania, Liechtenstein

The current Euro Champions Spain head another daunting group for Scotland.

The other groups:

Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan
Group B: Russia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, FYR Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra
Group C: Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands
Group D: France, Romania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg
Group E: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino
Group F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta
Group G: Eengland, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Montenegro
Group H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland

WeKnowSFA will be back later for more insight and updates on Scotland’s latest attempts to qualify for a major tournament.

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Bold statement from the new boss

Craig Levein wants England in the draw for the Euro 2012 qualifiers this Sunday. That may seem like a strange request from any Scottish manger but perhaps Levein knows what he is doing. After all, you have to play one of the top seeds, perhaps the passion involved in these clashes could make for an unlikely outcome.

Don’t forget, Levein managed to get his Dundee United players fired up for the games against Celtic and Rangers…only to see them perform under-par against teams like Hamilton Academical and Falkirk. The big games may bring out the best in manager and players.

A draw against England would also bring further benefits:

John Terry and Alan McGregor could swap notes

We might just give them a bloody nose (and not at Central Station)

Another important thing for Levein to do, and a reason why the SFA said they wanted their man in charge by this point, is to assist with the fixture list and hopefully get it working in Scotlands favour.

“I’ve got a strategy that I think might work,”

“I’ll need to sit down once the draw has been made and finalise that and go over to the draws meeting and see if we can get what we are looking for.

“There are loads of factors that you have to take into account. You have to think about which teams are playing in the World Cup – will that have an effect on their performances early in the Euro qualifying?”

“You have to look at the temperature in the countries when you are playing, which countries have different seasons to ours.”

The last few of these comments can easily be read alongside Scotland’s World Cup 2010 campaign so hopefully Levein has a plan of action that he can get into place. Make no mistake, if Scotland are to get back to a major tournament, a lot of things need to go in their favour.

Who do you want in Sunday’s draw?

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