[FM16] If I had a Nicol for every goal, I'd have just over six dollars

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

<Youtube videos to be inserted here to explain the genesis of the thread title>

Apologies for what is going to be considered a bit of an essay as a pre-amble, but when it comes to post 2, it'll seem more necessary.

It's fair to say, it hasn't been the best time to be a Scotland fan for the past 18 years. That's how long it's been since we've qualified for a major tournament, with France 98 being the last. In fact, some fans are too young to even remember that. Personally, all I remember from France 98 was rushing home from school to catch our opening game with Brazil, and then France upsetting the odds in the final. I had yet to have my football awakening, so I remain a frustrated fan.

We've gone close in that time, of course we have. For Euro 2000, Paul Scholes refused to let the fact that he's Ginger affect him, and sunk us after we won 1-0 at Wembley.



Again we reached a playoff for 2004, and again we took a 1-0 lead into the second leg. Unfortunately, Holland then stamped all over us, winning 6-0.



For Euro 2008, we probably had our biggest match in decades when we faced Italy at Hampden, with qualification possible. We had already beaten World Cup finalists France. Twice. But unfortunately (and this'll become a recurring theme) we lost in Georgia, to mean we had to beat Italy. It was a Saturday evening game for the ages, but a (very) dodgy free kick late in the game gave Italy a 2-1 win, and alas it was all over again.



However, we did move into the top 20 in the World. Things is good.

Then George Burley arrived, and proceeded to turn every Scotland fan against him. He was truly hopeless, so the less said about him the better. Probably the biggest part of his reign was excluding Barry "I'm just scratching my face" Ferguson and Alan "Shagger" McGregor from international football after their part in a late night drunken breach of discipline, and subsequent antics.

In fact, his entire reign can probably be summed up by this.



But surely the next manager would be better?

Craig Levein. He can be summed up with the following.

• Gets drawn in a generous group with Spain, a fading Czech side, Lithuania and Liechtenstein.
  
• Proceeds to draw opening game against Lithuania, says we don't need to win any of our away games anyway.
  
• Needs a 97th minute winner against Liechtenstein.
  
• Plays 4-6-0 formation against Czech's saying that Rubin Kazan did it once against Barcelona, missing the irony that the Czech's aren't Barcelona, and we still lost. Stays unrepentant.
  
• Has victory against the Czech's snatched from him at Hampden through another poor refereeing decision.
  
• Fails to beat Spain in the final game, Czech's sneak through.
  
• Plays Ian Black of Rangers in a friendly for 5 minutes purely to get it up the fans. Remains unrepentant.
  
• Gets absolutely horsed 5-1 off of the USA in Florida in a poorly planned, poorly timed, poorly executed end of season friendly.
  
• Draws first two home matches of the 2014 campaign. Remains unrepentant.
  
• Loses to a poor Wales side (with Gareth Bale) and then loses to a good Belgium side without a whimper. Remains unrepentant.
  
• Gets sacked.
  

I shuddered several times through that. I don't have a good enough picture to go with this section (maybe my aggressive google image search terms stopped that), so here's him doing his best "Deal With It" pose, because that's pretty much what he did his entire reign.



Which brings us on to Wee Gordon Strachan. Always one for a quote, with a dry sense of humour, and a not bad manager too for the most part. Had my reservations about him, but he led us into battle and had us actually believing in ourselves again. With a tough group - containing World Champions Germany, Poland, Ireland, Georgia and new boys Gibraltar - we had our reservations, but with 2.5 spots up for grabs, we also had some hope.

Started off against Germany - unlucky to lose - and then managed a hard-fought win over Georgia. We were magnificent in Poland, but got pegged back from a winning position to draw 2-2 (keep that in mind...). And then, again, got a hard-fought win against Ireland at Celtic Park to leave us looking good in the group prior to facing bottom seeds Gibraltar.

Gibraltar was probably the oddest game I've ever attended. Very strange atmosphere, and our suicidal defensive tactics (we'll drop one center back, and then let our full-backs continue to bomb on...that's a plan) led to the away team getting their first ever competitive goal.



Luckily we picked our ideas up and ran out 6-1 winners, and at the half-way point we still remained in with a chance of qualifying automatically. Wee Gordon Strachan was flavour of the month, and you probably couldn't find a bad word said about him.

Then it all started going a bit Pete Tong. We got a creditable 1-1 draw in Dublin, but we were pretty insipid, and the opposition weren't much better. Had we played how we had in previous games, we'd have gotten the three points. Ireland's goal was also offside. Would that come back to haunt us?

Tbilisi. Remember when I mentioned us getting beat 1-0 a few years back? Lightning surely couldn't strike twice, could it? Aye. The tide well and truly turned on Strachan as we recorded an absolutely woeful performance. What could have easily been 6 points became 1, and suddenly we were all but out. With Germany, Poland and Gibraltar left, we needed at least 6 points from those, and to hope that other results went our way.



It started encouragingly, with us kind of giving Germany a game. 3-2 it finished, but in all truth it could and should have been much worse. Still though, next game we played Poland and Ireland played Germany. On that form, Germany should have steamrollered Ireland, leaving a win or draw for us a good result.

We go behind against Poland after 2 and a half minutes. Lewandowski continuing his electric form by scything through our defence and finishing well. I remember turning to a mate and saying that this was going to be a long old night. Made even longer by the fact that the Polish fans were trying to set fire to everything around them.



Stroke of half-time, Matt Ritchie blooters in something from absolutely nothing. Then later, Steven Fletcher, so often derided for being a bit ****, scores an absolute beauty of a goal to put us 2-1 up. Hampden rocking, but somehow Ireland have taken the lead against Germany. Disaster.

94th minute at Hampden, we're 2-1 up on Poland, and somehow Ireland are beating a lackluster Germany 1-0. If we hold on, we're still in until the final day. A soft free-kick. The keeper's up. It's fired in agonisingly slowly...Marshall misses it, it hits the past...across the line...

And Lewandowski touches it home.

It's over.



And that is why I'm rewinding the clock. To that point where there were just four games to go, and qualification is still possible.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

The Preamble

So a bit of admin first. How was I going to set up this save? I already mentioned in the previous post that I made a few changes. At first, I loaded all UK leagues, and a small database. Didn't want it to be too big for a throwaway early beta save, but realised once I played a few games that national squads were a little odd. The aforementioned Ziggy Gordon playing for Poland struck me as odd, but perhaps it's not so bad.



Now I've updated the database, adding all international players worldwide, and loading all of the UK, the top divisions of France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and also the USA. Why USA? Well it's a possible avenue if I ever leave Scotland to give something different, but mainly it's there to give me an earlier starting date. The regular date starts me with 6 games played, meaning the group is pretty much decided. This way, we've played two less games, giving me more of a job on. Makes things more interesting.

Plus the real names fix is in, so I shouldn't have to play the ridiculous fake German side in my group.

The Manager



Meet Hamish...



God I love the Manager Creator. It's allowed me to create the most Scottish sounding man I could think of, with a face that only a Glesga' Mother could love. Seriously, look at him.







I'm not sure his happy face is an improvement really...

Hamish is an ex-International footballer (to give me a decent enough start to FM16 life) with a Continental A License.



He's a Partick Thistle supporter (obvs) but that shouldn't really come into play in the life of this save. Ideally I'm Scotland manager for a few tournaments before the call of Gibraltar becomes too strong once the Editor is released.





The Beginning





Happy enough with expectations. Fairly realistic, as in a group with Poland, Ireland and Germany, we should realistically only hope to finish in 3rd. Germany are obviously heavy favourites, and I'd put Poland just ahead of us. In a sensible world, it'll be between ourselves and Ireland for 3rd, but we could very well push for an automatic place with a few good results.

Talking of the group, a bit of background into what FM does with groups in progress for those that aren't aware.

European Championship Qualifying is not a fully licensed competition, and for some reason both the fixture list and the results (and standings along with them) are verboten unless you pay for them. Modern football, eh? That means that on every game start, results are "randomised" between teams in groups. I emphasise that because they look vaguely reputation based, but do have some variance. For example, Germany had brutalised everyone in my first save, with Poland, Ireland and ourselves close to each other. When I started on my new date, I took the first set of results we'd get, hoping that they were good ones.



That will do nicely...









Hard to imagine, but we really should have done better. We shouldn't be dropping points against Georgia (even though we did in real life), but then those results against Ireland and Poland were fantastic. The Gibraltar result was expected, and that set leaves us in 2nd behind Germany, with Poland struggling at the moment.

However...there's one big thing to point out with the way the group stands. We obviously have one round of games left before everyone has played everyone...



We have Germany, which is obviously a tough game. Poland and Ireland will both be expected to get full points, so I fully expect to be in 3rd after that, with Poland breathing down our necks. It's still very close.



And our remaining fixtures. Germany up next at home, and then a trip over there for our final game. Very tough run of fixtures, especially once our must-win games against the other two G-sides are out of the way. Wins against Ireland and Poland should be enough to give us 2nd providing we win the games against Georgia and Gibraltar. But we shall see.

World Rankings



We're 27th currently, so not too bad. These usually only really matter for World Cup draws, and I'm pretty sure they're hard-coded to be the ones that happened in real life. That means that we're guaranteed a nice little double header against a little nation fairly close to us.

You might have heard of them.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

A Bug? Not according to SI!

Now, a disclosure before we start. As I mentioned, I started in January 2015 to try and get a few more games to play in the group. However, I seem to now have fallen foul of a few intricacies of doing so. According to SI, if you start at that date, then the winners of the leagues/cups that should now be in progress are already set, and clubs enter a sort of "pre-season" mode, playing no games until the new 2015/16 season gets started. I assumed it was a bug, but apparently it's working as intended, same as it has in previous versions.

What's the problem, I hear you cry. Well, no players I will be able to call up will have played any games by the time they step onto the pitch against Germany, and every single one of them will be lacking match sharpness. It will be the same for the German side, as as far as I know every one of them will play in a normal Winter scheduled league, but it's still a bit annoying.

It should just affect this double header (where we face Germany and then Peru) and the June fixture against Georgia. I'm already really looking forward to taking to 40 degree height in Tbilisi as my players struggle to run. Can't be helped though.

March 2015



My first squad has a very non-controversial look to it. In fact, given that I don't expect to trouble Germany, I let my assistant guide me initially, before I checked over the results. It's the best squad we could really hope to play in the situation, and still holds the possibility of a few debuts.

I'm going to highlight three "key" players in each squad for now, but once the new season gets underway I'll give a little more detail in terms of form and the like.





Andrew Robertson

The youngster from Glasgow has had quite the meteoric rise in his career so far. Spotted playing for always-amateur Queens Park in 2012, he was passed over by Rangers before signing for Dundee United in 2013. A year later, he was on his way to Hull for £2.85 million. Made a few appearances for Scotland, including a goal against England at Parkhead. He's fallen down the pecking order a little, but it's easy to see how important he's going to be. We have an aging squad, so to have players like him already primed for the first team, it's a great thing.

Steven Fletcher

In FM terms, he's not going to be the main man, as Jordan Rhodes is always brutally good, but I have a soft spot for the man who was one step short of having a burning effigy tribute a few weeks back. The striker who fits best into the real world system that Scotland play, and an always capable backup for when Rhodes isn't available.

Craig Gordon

Again, like Fletcher, Craig Gordon may be passed over for another player. David Marshall is very close to him in terms of ability, but Craig Gordon gets a mention purely because of his story. He got a big-money move to Sunderland a while back, but then persistent injuries made it look like his career was over. Since then, he's got fit, moved to Celtic, and looks to be getting back to the form that made him one of the highest rated keepers around.



A nice little summary screen of the squad (well done SI). A number of possible debuts, but I'll be aiming to stick to a tried-and-tested formula against Germany.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

March 2015

SCOTLAND vs Germany - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Peru - Friendly, Hampden Park



And now the injuries come in...

Stuart Armstrong will now miss the chance to make his debut, so I decided to call up young Ryan Gauld instead. I'm sure I'll be talking about him a lot more in future, as he is the future. I did offer the place to one Leigh Griffiths first though, and he did this...



I clicked the button to call him up twice, and had two of the above messages. When I tried to talk to him, the options were blank, so not sure if bugged or whether I broke it by asking twice. No matter which though, it's a marking of the card for Griffiths. To reject a call-up is unforgivable in my eyes. I don't care if I didn't pick you originally, you join up when I ask you.



Starting right-back Alan Hutton then picked up an injury, making us pretty light in that position. Steven Whittaker would probably deputise, so I brought in U21 right back Callum Paterson of Hearts to get some experience.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

March 2015

SCOTLAND vs Germany - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Peru - Friendly, Hampden Park







We're massive underdogs, and just as likely to get a draw as a win, which is of course very little chance indeed.

In terms of tactics...



I'll be setting up like this. We are probably strongest in the midfield areas, and have a wealth of wingers we can turn to, so I think this will give us the best chance. It's perhaps a little more attacking than is advisable, but we need to get players up to support the lone front-man, with the man in the defensive central midfield position hopefully holding when we don't have the ball.



And here's the instruction salad that is my approach. I've never been good with tactics, so you can probably all point out the gaping holes. Hopefully I learn as I go.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

March 2015

SCOTLAND vs Germany - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Peru - Friendly, Hampden Park



So it's game-day, and you can cut the tension with a knife. I'll be hoping that Georgia can do something in their match against Poland, but there's no point in hoping for Gibraltar to do the same really. I expect both our rivals will get full points.



We set up in the formation I posted earlier, facing a 4-4-1-1 packed with quality. As expected - and what will probably become a pattern - two of my three "key" players don't feature, with Gordon and Fletcher both dropped to the bench. Rhodes starts up front on his own, hopefully supported by Naismith ghosting in.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

March 2015

SCOTLAND vs Germany - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Peru - Friendly, Hampden Park









How close this one was would depend who you asked. If you watched the game, you wouldn't be surprised to see Germany win out. It was a pretty dour first half without much incident, and the second half descended into Germany launching wave after wave of attacks at us. One incident saw Marshall make a quadruple save, although the last two were probably more hitting him rather than any kind of save. It looked like we might hang on, but Reus seized on a poor clearance, turned, and curled a wonderful shot into the top corner to put us behind.

At that point the jig was up, and I threw on Paterson for his debut. There was no way we were getting back into it anyway. What was unforgivable though was Christophe "I'm not French, honest" Berra getting himself sent off with almost the last action of the game. Really poor showing from him.



Worse news was to come, as just 2 minutes after Germany went ahead, Poland equalised in Tbilisi. Then with almost the last kick of the game, they went on and won it, putting them just a point behind us. Ireland leapfrogged us with an expectedly comfortable win over Gibraltar.



We're now at the halfway point of the group and things are looking a little clearer. If we repeat results, we'll be in the play-offs, but as I said in my long rambling update earlier, I'll be targetting full points from Ireland and Poland to propel us into 2nd. At the very least, we need to keep the edge on head-to-head. I really don't want to be going into the Germany game needing a result, but then that would be oh so Scotland.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

March 2015

SCOTLAND vs Germany - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Peru - Friendly, Hampden Park



Steven Fletcher will miss the Peru game, so a good opportunity to call up a player who wouldn't usually get a look-in. Enter Jason Cummings of Championship Hibernian.



Russell Martin joins Fletcher on the sidelines, out for 7 weeks with no time to call up a replacement.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

March 2015

SCOTLAND vs Germany - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Peru - Friendly, Hampden Park



A chance for Reynolds, Paterson and Cummings to show me what they're made of in what is ultimately a nothing friendly.

But never mind that - what's happened to Craig Gordon's shorts?!



Not sure if this is a "feature" or what drives it, but for some reason he's wearing some lovely blue long Johns. Fetching.









We started off very well, Forsyth seizing on the opportunity to smash home a winner. Not much really happened from then, but it's a win, and a welcome one against a side we won't be playing often. Jason Cummings got an assist, although it was more of a shot saved rather than a pass. Apart from that, Craig Gordon's magic long Johns seemed to do the trick as he put in a man of the match performance.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

March 2015

SCOTLAND vs Germany - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Peru - Friendly, Hampden Park







We dropped a place thanks to our two results, which was probably expected. The win against Peru was good news, but it wouldn't have got us anywhere near the points that we would have managed had we got something against Germany. In the end though, our ranking matters very little until at least the World Cup playoff draw (if we're involved).



The top 10 is largely expected. Holland are nowhere near the basket case they are in real life, and will probably challenge for the top spot before long.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

June 2015

Georgia vs Scotland - European Qualifier, Tbilisi

Latvia vs SCOTLAND - Friendly, Skonto

A huge game for us in Tbilisi, and probably the fixture I'm most afraid of. Historically, we've had a dreadful time of it over there, and playing them in the hottest part of the year, in a very hot part of the World is not good for our pasty white complexions.

We also play Latvia in a friendly following the Georgia game. Should we get a good result in the first, the second will be a good chance for us to prepare a few fringe players. Should we not...well, it'll be more like a wake.

The Squad









Scott Brown misses out through a hip injury, which is a bit of a blow, but it seems in FM16 he's an even bigger yellow card magnet than in real life, so perhaps we won't miss him as much. We have players who can step in to replace him, so not too bad. Ikechi Anya returns, and Stuart Armstrong may just finally make his debut after missing out a couple of times through injury.

Apart from that, not too many surprises.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

June 2015

Georgia vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Tbilisi

Latvia vs SCOTLAND - Friendly, Skonto

Georgia vs SCOTLAND

European Qualifier

Tbilisi



We're favourites...I don't believe it though. This one will be tough.



Poland should be in for an easy three points, but Ireland are expected to lose ground against Germany.



I'm pretty happy with the balance of the team I'm putting out. Anya and Phillips provide natural width and pace, and we're playing two good full backs who can get forward instead of Russell Martin being wedged in at right back. The only worry is whether our central midfield will be able to dig in enough. Stuart Armstrong will make his debut, but he's more of an attacking player. I think we may need our best attacking prospects in this kind of game though

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

June 2015

Georgia vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Tbilisi

Latvia vs SCOTLAND - Friendly, Skonto

Georgia vs SCOTLAND

European Qualifier

Tbilisi









It happened...

We started very well, and looked like we would push forward to take a very important three points. But then we let Georgia back into it, and in the end we were quite lucky to escape with a point. As you can see with the match stats, it was quite a close battle. Very happy with our defenders, but is that really what I wanted to be saying following this game? Our forward-thinking players let us down.



Luckily for us, Ireland didn't manage to get anything from Germany. Poland did beat Gibraltar, but that was oh so predictable.



Poland now move into the automatic qualification spot, with us just behind, leading Ireland on head-to-head. We still need to play both of them, so wins in those should pull us ahead. Dropping points in Tbilisi has made that a necessity.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

June 2015

Georgia vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Tbilisi

Latvia vs SCOTLAND - Friendly, Skonto

Latvia vs SCOTLAND

Friendly

Skonto



An odd formation for Latvia, but we'll stick to our own game and hopefully take the win. It's not absolutely essential, but not winning here would make it a pretty dreadful international period for us.







We dominated, but that was only half the story. When we went behind, it started to look like we'd have another frustrating evening, but luckily we managed to equalise before half-time. It then took us to the 93rd minute to get a winner though, Leigh Griffiths with a proper shinner of a goal from two yards. They all count though, and that makes it a win.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

June 2015

Georgia vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Tbilisi

Latvia vs SCOTLAND - Friendly, Skonto







Another meh month for World Rankings. A draw with Georgia isn't going to give us too much to shout about, nor is a win against Latvia.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career



Confirmation of what I already knew, that we have a date with the Auld Enemy in the World Cup Qualifiers next year. A very interesting group to be honest - England will obviously be the overwhelming favourites, but ourselves, Slovakia and Slovenia will probably all stake a claim for 2nd place.

However...maybe, just maybe...we might get something from England, at least at Hampden. Could we get 1st? Possibly...

We also may get a preview of the two Slovs' in the play-offs, as all three of us are on course for them.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

SCOTLAND vs Gibraltar - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Poland - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

So here we are, very quickly entering the business end of this group. Only four games left to go, two of which will be out of the way in a week, with our final matches (hopefully) coming in the middle of October.





The media try to stir up a storm as I drop Graham Dorrans and Alan McGregor, refusing to acknowledge that neither had really featured. Scott Brown comes in to replace Dorrans, and youngster Scott Bain comes in to replace mad Shagger McGregor. Happy enough with that.

Rhodes and Griffiths are our two strikers with Naismith available to deputise.





Leigh Griffiths

Jordan Rhodes is probably our lone striker when available, but Leigh has the benefit of being able to play out wide too, so should get a few chances. I'm also confident in turning to him as a lone striker if needed.

Ryan Gauld

Along with Andy Robertson, this boy is going to be the future of the side. Not sure whether he's totally ready to feature, but having him in the squad and giving him minutes when I get a chance is a good thing for now.

James McArthur

An unsung hero of the squad. Scott Brown is our captain and will probably feature when available, but I'd sit him next to McArthur more often than not. A very big player for us.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

SCOTLAND vs Gibraltar - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Poland - European Qualifier, Hampden Park



Very bad news for us as Jordan Rhodes gets injured, putting him out of our two massive games. You'll notice that I called up Hibs' Jason Cummings, who was quite far down the pecking order. How come I didn't call up someone with more experience? Let me explain...



I did call up Steven Fletcher, but he threw a strop, and even after talking to him, he refused to change his mind even as I went down the aggressive "letting down your country" route. Really annoyed with him to be honest - although it's pretty realistic given he's got previous for this - and he won't feature again for us under my management if I can help it.



And the injuries keep coming. Captain Brown down and out, so Graham Dorrans shows exactly what you should do when called by your country and accepts.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

SCOTLAND vs Gibraltar - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Poland - European Qualifier, Hampden Park



Where I was filled with trepidation against Georgia, this one should be a lot different. Georgia are one of those tough, well-organised sides, whereas Gibraltar - with the best will in the World - are diddies. We're at home, and we should win comfortably.



A bit of additional on the Fletcher "feud". Not too much of a feud really - he won't be picked again under my management unless we have a huge striking crisis. I've already seen by calling up Jason Cummings that we have young, hungry forwards who can come in and do a job. Nice little touch in the media though, not sure we got asked about that in detail in FM15.



On the eve of the game, another player out. Naismith this time, replaced by young Ryan Christie from the U21s. It also means we're down a backup striker, leaving us with just Cummings and Griffiths.



In terms of fixtures, it's our turn to have the favourable game. Germany should pretty much seal qualification with a win at home to Georgia, but all eyes will be on Warsaw, in a game which could go some way to determining the team that misses out.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

SCOTLAND vs Gibraltar - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Poland - European Qualifier, Hampden Park







A massive game for Leigh "The Thumb" Griffiths as he netted a hat-trick, with Ryan Gauld getting his first for his country and Matt Ritchie adding another. An own goal rounded out the six and gave us a very impressive win. A lovely warm-up for Poland, but we're pretty thin on the ground squad-wise as the injuries mount up.





As expected, ourselves and Germany got wins. Poland also joined the club with a massively important 1-0 win at home to Ireland. We now move three points ahead of our near rivals, with Poland now four ahead. Big result, but bear in mind that Ireland still have Gibraltar to play. Germany are home and hosed - can we get a favour from them in the final game?

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

SCOTLAND vs Gibraltar - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Poland - European Qualifier, Hampden Park



I mentioned injuries mounting up, and here's another. James Morrison is out, Shaun Maloney getting a rare call-up in his place. He's probably one that has been moved on due to his age, but he remains a decent option if we're really in a jam.



And up next is the absolutely enormous game. Ireland should get full points against Georgia, which will push them a lot closer to whoever loses our match at Hampden. We must not lose - if we do, I can see us finishing in 4th, especially with a match against Ireland coming up.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

SCOTLAND vs Gibraltar - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Poland - European Qualifier, Hampden Park



The bookies appear to have us as favourites, but I'd like to pour cold water on that now. I'd say it's about level, perhaps edging towards the draw. I suppose the odds pretty much reflect that, but I don't like the favourites label.



A slightly more defensive formation for Poland than we'll play, but, as always, I don't pay too much attention to what they're playing. If we put our gameplan in place, we should have enough. Lewandowski is obviously the one we need to watch.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

SCOTLAND vs Gibraltar - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Poland - European Qualifier, Hampden Park









Absolutely dominated them. A very early penalty for Leigh Griffiths gave us something to defend, but Poland offered very little, and an absolutely indecent 50 yard cross-field ball from Matt Phillips fell straight onto Leigh's left foot eight yards out, and it was 2-0. They had chances after that, but we rarely looked properly threatened, and won fairly comfortably.

Big, big result.



And they just got bigger. Ireland stumble in Tbilisi, and pretty much eliminate themselves from contention.



We move into pole position for qualification, two points ahead of Poland. Ireland are now six behind, so any slip-ups in their final two will seal their fate. And wouldn't you know it, they play us in Dublin in the next match. One thing to note though, given we play Germany in the final game, Ireland could still catch us if they beat us either 1-0 or by two clear goals on head-to-head. It's very much in our own hands though. Poland play Germany next, so a win for us and a defeat for them means we qualify before a ball is kicked in Germany. Even a draw could be enough. On the brink.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

SCOTLAND vs Gibraltar - European Qualifier, Hampden Park

SCOTLAND vs Poland - European Qualifier, Hampden Park







Five places higher after those 2 matches. Good news.



Not too many surprises in the top 10 still. Apart from Greece - could they have been any more different to how they're doing in real life?

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

Ireland vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, The Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Germany vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg

This is it. The big two. Much like our real life campaign, the biggest game in our history just keeps getting eclipsed by the next one. The game in Dublin will be the biggest game in decades, and will remain there as long as we get a good result. Any slip-up, we go to Hamburg for the new biggest game. Ooft.





Probably the best squad we could have picked, and a pretty settled one too. If we don't manage it from here, it's on us.

And then you all know what time it is....injuries time.



David Marshall is probably our number 2 now, but to lose his quality and experience is a bad one. Alan McGregor is a capable deputy if we need to call on him. He's very much number 3 though.



Now that is very bad news. Phillips has been fantastic when he's featured, so to lose him for this window, and the next one if we make the playoffs is a big blow. Graham Dorrans replaces him, but only because we don't really have any more good right wingers. We'll need to draw from the squad as it is.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

Ireland vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, The Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Germany vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg



We remain favourites. You all know my thoughts on that.



I've covered where the important games are - Georgia could leapfrog Ireland if we get a good result, but that's largely irrelevant at this stage. Eyes will be on Dublin and Warsaw.



And here's the side I'm playing.

A few points I was swithering about. We're missing Alan Hutton through injury, so Russell Martin starts on the right. He's more of a center back, but should bring some defensive solidity to that flank. We also have Ikechi Anya ahead of him. I'd see him as more of a left-sided player, but he has the pace and defensive skills to support Martin if needed. Ritchie starts on the left, and I may end up swapping the two wingers if they're not effective as they are. Finally, Gauld in the center is a risk, and it's going to place a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of James McArthur.

So shall we?

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

Ireland vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, The Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Germany vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg







It's not worst-case scenario, but it isn't very far from it. Ireland are now three points behind, with a game against Gibraltar to come. We, meanwhile, board a plane to Hamburg with our qualification hopes hanging by a thread.



Weirdly, we're still sitting in the automatic spot thanks to Poland only managing a point against Germany. But we've most definitely lost the advantage we had. A win in Dublin would have put us through as it stands, so we go from going to Hamburg for a ****-up (and I can confirm, it's an utterly stupendous city for that) to going there knowing that it'll probably be the site of our execution.

We'll be praying that Georgia can do us a favour against Poland. Should they get a point, we will finish at least third thanks to our better head-to-head record. If Poland win though, we must get something against Germany, otherwise Ireland will edge ahead on head-to-head, leaving us 4th. That's unthinkable given the position we were in before a ball was kicked in Dublin.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

Ireland vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, The Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Germany vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg



As big games go...well, this is the biggest. The World Champions, on their home soil, after they've put in a pretty much perfect campaign. We're rank outsiders for a reason, but that doesn't bother me. I know what we need to do, it's just how we go about that that is in question.



Confirmation of the other fixtures, but you should all know the permutations by now. Hope that Gibraltar can somehow deny Ireland (very unlikely) and pray that Georgia can do similar (slightly more likely). But really, hoping for favours elsewhere is likely to leave us disappointed - we need to get something in our own match. It's still in our own hands - should we win, we're in the automatic spot.



And here are your teams. James McArthur getting sent off late on in Dublin could really prove costly, but we have the very experienced Darren Fletcher in their instead. Not a bad option to have. Youthful vigour of Ryan Gauld has been replaced by the only slightly more experienced Stuart Armstrong. Rhodes gets the nod up front, but Griffiths features on the left hoping to cut inside and support, along with Naismith. Anya will hopefully give their left back some problems too.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

September 2015

Ireland vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, The Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Germany vs SCOTLAND - European Qualifier, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg



We've only gone and done it.

But, believe it or not, it should have been better. Twice we took the lead against Germany, and twice we were pegged back. When Ritchie slotted home in the 83rd minute, I really did think we were going to do it and qualify automatically, but just two minutes later Reus turned home a clever corner to equalise again. We had to really ride our luck and hold on, but unlike the game at Hampden, this time we did, and as the final whistle blew we knew we'd get our dreams alive at least for another month.





I won't dwell too much on these, but as expected, Germany dominated. Special mention for a few players though. Ryan Gauld came on much earlier than I'd hoped when Naismith picked up an injury. He didn't sparkle, but at his age, to go up against the World Champions in a must-win game and lead us to this result...fantastic from him. Quite the managerial masterstroke bringing on Ritchie for the ineffective Rhodes too, even though I do say so myself. But special mention goes to Ikechi Anya with his two inch perfect crosses for our goals. Just like in real life, the wee man - who has had quite the career story, seriously, look it up - has proved to be indispensable.





As you'll probably have guessed, Poland and Ireland did their jobs emphatically. Poland overtake us to jump into 2nd, thanks to our slip-ups in Dublin and Tbilisi. Ireland will be absolutely furious with themselves though, probably pointing to their own result in Tbilisi as the moment their campaign imploded.

In a little bit of poetic justice for what happened in real life, in the end they would have got into the play-offs had we not got an unexpected result against Germany. Funnily enough, Scotland would have made it into the playoffs in real life, was it not for an unexpected result against Germany for Ireland. Small mercies.

We have a dream, of not coming home too soon

A Scotland Career

So how do the play-offs work? Well, there's this thing called the 3rd placed table...



Czech Republic are now the proud owners of the only remaining automatic place thanks to their great record, but only Slovakia had a worse record than us. Remember, results against the bottom team in the group don't count, so we were hamstrung a bit by our results against Ireland and Georgia. Had we won those, we'd be 5 points better off, and would have had a good enough record to rivgal the Czechs. However, we probably would've finished 2nd in that situation. Swings and roundabouts.

All this means that we'll be playing one of the other 8 sides. I said earlier that we may end up with a sneak preview of either Slovakia or Slovenia, and so it has proved. Both sides are in the draw. I'd actually quite like to draw one of them.





It will indeed be Slovenia, with the second leg coming at Hampden. Bring it on.