One of the games of the season, even with the somewhat failing Italian League, blue and black versus red and black. The Milan derby is usually an interesting match in one way or another. After The Special One lead Inter to the treble they are struggling to spark their season into life under Rafa, however for this fixture the line-up looks more likely to be closer to Rafa's first 11. AC Milan go into the match top of the table despite having a mixed start to their campaign, the so-called fab-4 have left Allegri scratching his head with regards to team selection, some would say pressure from higher places has lead him to playing overly-attacking sides. Today's selection see's only two of the fab-4 starting, Robinho on the bench and Pato out of the squad, with both teams playing 4-3-1-2 the game was set up for an interesting encounter.
Milan had a chance very early on with Abate making a very good run and an equally good cross to a semi-marked Seedorf, who headed over the bar. In the fourth minute Milan broke with Zlatan Ibrahimovic sprinting from inside his own half, taking on two defenders as he got inside the Inter box, a cute little backwards flick caught Materazzi out who took out Ibra with a hanging leg. The swede got up, brushed himself down to take the penalty, which was calmly slotted in the left corner after sending the keeper the wrong way. There was little celebration from the striker scoring against his former club in his first derby in red within five minutes. As well as the first goal, Milan got the first booking of the match after Abate made two fouls on Samuel Eto'o. A second goal was on the cards when Ibra was allowed through on the right-hand side, hint of offside, he had Flamini open in the centre of goal, who surely would have slotted home was it not for an excellent last-ditch intervention from Cordoba.
After the inevitable Gattuso booking, just inside the twenty minute mark, Ibrahimovic nearly doubled his tally with a Di-Canio style cross-goal volley, after yet another Milan attack. A few players in red are treading dangerously with regards to getting a second booking, namely Gattuso and would imagine with an early booking Abate will be getting pin-pointed for the rest of the match. Inter haven't been in the game, nothing has really came off, they have been giving up a lot of space in midfield and not really challenging physically. Joel Obi was forced to leave the field 10 minutes before half-time, Cambiasso was stripped and ready to go, however Rafa changed his mind and put Coutinho the 18 year old attacking midfielder/winger on. The Brazilian started Inter's best attack of the match, not that there was much to beat, he also finished it with a scuffed shot very wide of the Milan post. A few minutes later, Gattuso should have picked up his second yellow when he took down Sneijder just outside the box. The wide free kick struck by the Dutchman made the net bulge, but only because it hit the outside of the side-netting on the way past. The half-time whistle blew after Inter had a few more attacks, nothing too noteworthy, but signs of encouragement for the second half.
Milito's game was over at half-time and Goran Pandev replaces him, not such an attacking move as we would expect. Milan joined in for the half-time substitution fun, replacing red-card threatened Gattuso with Pirlo.
Inter started the half well with a few attacks, ending not so well however. The crowd were showing their unease when Eto'o decided to try and gee them up. Although Milan have had lots of chances, the first notable save of the match was made by Abbiati, after Ambrosini mis-timed a tackle on Eto'o in a wide area. The free kick was well placed for a cross, all the big men were up for Inter and Sneijder thundered a shot towards goal for Abbiati to parry the ball to Ibrahimovic, who cleared. Shortly before the hour mark, Abate went off on a stretcher, only to come back on a minute or so later, the cynic in me would say he was breaking play when Inter were building a little pressure. He instantly got involved with Pandev who pushed over the right-back, resulting in a yellow for both players meaning Abate was off with 30 minutes left. Robinho made way for Antonini to replace the Abate(swapping flanks with Zambrotta), leaving Milan with Ibra alone up-front.
Shortly after the sending off Rafa changed system to a 4-3-2-1, shuffling the pack after Materazzi took a knock from Ibrahimovic forcing him off and Biabiany came on to play an right sided attacking midfield role. Milan make the last substitution of the match, taking off Seedorf after an excellent 70 minutes and bringing on Kevin-Prince Boateng, which should give a little more steel to 10-man Milan. With a little more than 10 minutes left, Inter set in wait around the Milan box and eventually make a chance with Sneijder placing a bullet cross along the 6-yard line, but nobody was there to take what would have been the simplest of goals. Ambrosini broke an Inter counter and took a booking for the team, from the resulting free-kick at the half way line, Pandev combines with Eto'o to put the striker through on goal before Tiago Silva covers and makes a great tackle to put the ball away for a corner.
The full-time whistle was edging ever closer and Milan seemed to be sinking towards their own goal, Inter had a lot of pressure but hadn't been able to carve that great chance as yet. Pirlo and Ibrahimovic wasted some time in the corner, with some good holding off, I,nter then broke and won a free-kick just outside shooting range, a teasing ball was played in by Sneijder but a push on Silva halted play. Flamini started the four additional minutes running towards the corner flag and eventually gave an Inter throw-in. Milan were able to see out the remaining minutes with little problem, Milan jumped back to the top of the table, one point ahead of Lazio, and 6 above Inter, although there are a couple other teams in between. According to our mate Silvio the league is over, not sure I'd believe that, but it was a good win for AC. The words to describe this match definitely go along the lines of ugly and turgid at times, although there were a few really good performances. The front three for Milan had great movement which had the Inter defensive unit baffled at times, Ibrahimovic gave one of those performances that Barca fans would never believe, full of work and held the ball up and linked play excellently. Robinho provided a constant threat with his pace, receiving great passes from in the main Seedorf and Ibra. Despite a lot of good positions, you could count the number of saves in the game on one hand, double finishing training for both sets of players is required it seems. A few weeks ago I thought Allegri was under a lot of pressure for his job, but if he can keep players happy while not playing(Ronaldinho and Pato) while not in the team he may have the correct system to win the league now. A lot of people are now saying Rafa is heading for the door, I am in two minds, he was never going to produce the same as Jose, the players don't have it in them but he still has a lot of quality in the squad and has to deliver. Whether he gets the January window to strengthen, as he would like, I am not so sure, he may be a gonner by then.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Football Derbies
Well last night at the City of Manchester Stadium we were served up a bore 0-0, I'm not sure if the players forgot it was a derby and played it out. The papers are filled with Manchester United quotes saying that Mancini played so defensively that it spoiled the game, or words to that effect. The City side definitely set out a strong defensive stall, which is fine, I feel they should have attacked more in the last 20 minutes or so, players like Johnson can do wonderful things in attack but were instructed to play from deep. In saying that City were defensive, they still had the two best chances in the match, one being a free kick saved by Van Der Sar, United offered little going forward, again in the wide areas were poor, possibly not helped by both United Full Back's were substituted through injury. The television man of the match was Nemanja Vidic, which is hard to argue with, he has come a long way since his error-prone start at Old Trafford. However, I would have personally given the award to Michael Carrick, he has been known as Side-ways Carrick, like Back-pass Barry(Ferguson) but tonight looked forward a lot more often, and only failed to complete 2 of 61 passes. Although, in my opinion, he will never be as good as Paul Scholes (Who will?) if he could churn out performances like tonight time and again, he will ease a few of United's worries for the future of what already seems a weakening and ageing squad.
Although not seen as one of the fiercest derbies, Chelsea Vs Fulham definitely produced a fierce derby style tackle, from a seemingly unlikely source. Michael Essien, not known as a particularly dirty player, jumped in with two feet, extremely dangerously on Clint Dempsey, instant red card, and probably worth an extra ban. The Stamford Bridge team started the season in free-scoring mood, and have stuttered somewhat, although 3 points is 3 points. Although Schwarzer definitely did well to keep the blues to one, his opposite number Cech did have a couple hairy moments, and Fulham could have grabbed something. At the end of the day, the bore draw in Manchester combined with Chelsea's home victory has given them a 4 point lead at the top of the English premiership. Although not invincible, I can't see the Blues being caught at the top, they may even lose as many if not more games than last season, so it's more of a case that other teams are far to inconsistent to take the title from the Bridge.
In Spain at the weekend Real unsurprisingly demolished an Athletico side, and the Edinburgh derby was another poor affair, not exactly a shock with the two sides form. There was a strange night in Scotland last night, with Hearts winning at home to a poor Celtic and Rangers apparently not being able to complete a pass in losing 3-0 at home to Hibs. Although it grab the headlines, my result of the night was St.Mirren winning 2-1 at Tannadice, despite Dundee Utd missing a few players they should have enough to see off the team which was bottom of the SPL.
This weekend serves up another derby, hopefully it will be create a big bang in Milan. (Sorry) AC Milan are have just taken top spot from Lazio in Seria A, and are looking a lot better, it seems Massimiliano Allegri is not as clueless as once thought. The Milan side are shaping up slightly differently, I will still give the gaffer credit, despite changes being enforced by pirlo's injury, it will be interesting to see if he slots straight in when fit. A different story for inter, dropping two points to Lecce in a 1-1 draw, a very silly goal from a set-piece cost them. However, Inter have many injuries and Milito was left on the bench and Eto'o was all alone up front, and created very little, Milito came off the bench to give his side the lead. I think AC Milan will come out on top to put more pressure on rambling Benitez.
Although not seen as one of the fiercest derbies, Chelsea Vs Fulham definitely produced a fierce derby style tackle, from a seemingly unlikely source. Michael Essien, not known as a particularly dirty player, jumped in with two feet, extremely dangerously on Clint Dempsey, instant red card, and probably worth an extra ban. The Stamford Bridge team started the season in free-scoring mood, and have stuttered somewhat, although 3 points is 3 points. Although Schwarzer definitely did well to keep the blues to one, his opposite number Cech did have a couple hairy moments, and Fulham could have grabbed something. At the end of the day, the bore draw in Manchester combined with Chelsea's home victory has given them a 4 point lead at the top of the English premiership. Although not invincible, I can't see the Blues being caught at the top, they may even lose as many if not more games than last season, so it's more of a case that other teams are far to inconsistent to take the title from the Bridge.
In Spain at the weekend Real unsurprisingly demolished an Athletico side, and the Edinburgh derby was another poor affair, not exactly a shock with the two sides form. There was a strange night in Scotland last night, with Hearts winning at home to a poor Celtic and Rangers apparently not being able to complete a pass in losing 3-0 at home to Hibs. Although it grab the headlines, my result of the night was St.Mirren winning 2-1 at Tannadice, despite Dundee Utd missing a few players they should have enough to see off the team which was bottom of the SPL.
This weekend serves up another derby, hopefully it will be create a big bang in Milan. (Sorry) AC Milan are have just taken top spot from Lazio in Seria A, and are looking a lot better, it seems Massimiliano Allegri is not as clueless as once thought. The Milan side are shaping up slightly differently, I will still give the gaffer credit, despite changes being enforced by pirlo's injury, it will be interesting to see if he slots straight in when fit. A different story for inter, dropping two points to Lecce in a 1-1 draw, a very silly goal from a set-piece cost them. However, Inter have many injuries and Milito was left on the bench and Eto'o was all alone up front, and created very little, Milito came off the bench to give his side the lead. I think AC Milan will come out on top to put more pressure on rambling Benitez.
Saturday, 4 September 2010
A New Era....
Hmmm, my first blog here at Surreal Football...... What do I write, where do I start? Passionate about football, passionate about my football team.... I'll give you the lowdown, yeah thats right!
Were you ever dragged to your first ever football match? I was! My family was a strange one, my Grandad was a Crewe Alex supporter, whereas my dad was a Chester City supporter! For some reason even though I had never been to a football match in my life, I sided with Crewe Alex. Still to this day I still dont know why, much to my old mans annoyance. At the time Chester were in Division 2 (what we know now as nPower League One) and Crewe were a division below! My dad said to me "Son, next weekend I'm taking you to watch Chester....", "But Dad.........", I replied.... "No buts, you are coming, you mum is out with your little sister next weekend, you are coming!" Reluctantly I agreed to go, the following Saturday, the big day arrived, my first football match! October 1992, a game against Stoke City! Can't remember much from then, apart from Darren Ryan scored for Chester and the game finished 1-1..... But, even from that young age, I was hooked! Hundreds and Hundreds of games followed!
There have been highs and a lot of lows supporting Chester. 1990, the old Sealand Road stadium was sold behind the fans backs. Chester were forced to play there home games in Macclesfield, a town 45 miles from Chester. After playing there for 2 years, Chester returned to the City, with the 6,000 capacity Deva Stadium completed in time for the 1992/93 season.
The place is cursed I tell ya. Sure, we have been promoted twice since moving there (in 1993/94 and in 2003/2004 when we won the Conference Championship), but there have been many a bad time. The worst coming in March 2010 when Chester City FC died.
For years and years, us Chester fans have suffered through terrible owners. Mark Guterman, Terry Smith and Stephen Vaughan using our club as a toy.
The story of Vaughan is a strange one. The mad yank Terry Smith had taken us from Mid Table in Division 3, to bottom of the Conference in just 2 years. Fans boycotted until a Liverpool based boxing Promoter, Stephen Vaughan bought the Club off Smith. Rejoice, we had been saved!
It all started so well, 2001/02 saw Vaughan appoint Mark Wright as manager and this was the start of exciting times for the Club. Wright guided us to safety in the Conference in 2001/02. A huge rebuiliding took place of the squad and in 2002/03 we made the play-offs! We lost the semi-finals though to Doncaster Rovers in a penalty Shoot-out (and look where they are now....)
The following season though, we were Champions! Daryl Clare and Darryn Stamp were our heroes as they chipped in with over 50 goals between themselves as we won the title! Memories of that 1-0 win against Scarborough which saw us win the League still make me smile....
But what changed? We were back in the Football League, the good days were back at CCFC, or so we thought.
The eve of our return to the Football League, Mark Wright resigned as manager. The reason? He was sleeping with one of the wifes of a player, Wayne Hatswell. Shook the club this did... This started in a real managerial merry go round, and we struggled and struggled....... Wright left, in came Ray Matthias, then Ian Rush, he was sacked, in came Keith Curle, then Wright came back oddly, then he left again, in came Bobby Williamson, he left, and then Wright was back in charge again. Mark Wright, the same bloke who got us promoted back into the League, then guided us to relegation back to where we were..... Oh, it got a lot worse!
Remember Luton being deducted 30 points??? We were deducted 25 when we were relegated due to financial irregularities. Then came the news that the players were not getting paid. We hadnt reached 0 points by February, the fans boycotted and then the players, in a show of protest failed to travel for a League game against Forest Green. This resulted in Chester being suspended from the League for breaking several rules. A EGM was called at Nene Park in February to try and sort the crisis out, but our Caring Chairman didnt even bother to turn up. The Conference officials had no other option but to expel us from the League. So, with no income and a Chairman that didn't seem to care less, with mounting debts, we were wound up in March 2010. It took just 30 seconds for the judge is kill the 125 year old club. A very, very sad day.
But in all bad times, there is always a positive and the next 4 months saw an amazing change.
The fans set up there own group, The CFU (City Fans United) and set about creating a phoenix Club. The first hurdle would be to secure the Deva Stadium, to enable us to play our home games, if the council said no, the project is a non-starter. A Danish consortium also wanted to form a club, much to the fans dismay. The CFU got the keys to the Deva in May, and now the hard work could really begin! A new name for the club was announced. Simply known as Chester FC! Then came the new Club Crest, a smart update of the old Fox design. Then came the appointment of the management team and then the assembling of a sqaud!
Chester FC were accepted into the Northern League Division One (North Section) and the City was buzzing again, Chester were back!
A long pre-season followed with some memorable results, including a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic and a 3-3 draw against FC United (another Fans Owned Club, set up by Supporters of Manchester United who were angry by the Glazers take over of the club)
Then the first League game arrived! A 1-1 draw against Warrington Town! An amazing night that was had by all Chester fans, who outnumbered the home fans by 12 to 1!
It's been all change, an amazing rollercoaster ride, just think, if I hadn't been dragged to that first game in 1992, I wouldn't have given two hoots! Cheers Dad!
Were you ever dragged to your first ever football match? I was! My family was a strange one, my Grandad was a Crewe Alex supporter, whereas my dad was a Chester City supporter! For some reason even though I had never been to a football match in my life, I sided with Crewe Alex. Still to this day I still dont know why, much to my old mans annoyance. At the time Chester were in Division 2 (what we know now as nPower League One) and Crewe were a division below! My dad said to me "Son, next weekend I'm taking you to watch Chester....", "But Dad.........", I replied.... "No buts, you are coming, you mum is out with your little sister next weekend, you are coming!" Reluctantly I agreed to go, the following Saturday, the big day arrived, my first football match! October 1992, a game against Stoke City! Can't remember much from then, apart from Darren Ryan scored for Chester and the game finished 1-1..... But, even from that young age, I was hooked! Hundreds and Hundreds of games followed!
There have been highs and a lot of lows supporting Chester. 1990, the old Sealand Road stadium was sold behind the fans backs. Chester were forced to play there home games in Macclesfield, a town 45 miles from Chester. After playing there for 2 years, Chester returned to the City, with the 6,000 capacity Deva Stadium completed in time for the 1992/93 season.
The place is cursed I tell ya. Sure, we have been promoted twice since moving there (in 1993/94 and in 2003/2004 when we won the Conference Championship), but there have been many a bad time. The worst coming in March 2010 when Chester City FC died.
For years and years, us Chester fans have suffered through terrible owners. Mark Guterman, Terry Smith and Stephen Vaughan using our club as a toy.
The story of Vaughan is a strange one. The mad yank Terry Smith had taken us from Mid Table in Division 3, to bottom of the Conference in just 2 years. Fans boycotted until a Liverpool based boxing Promoter, Stephen Vaughan bought the Club off Smith. Rejoice, we had been saved!
It all started so well, 2001/02 saw Vaughan appoint Mark Wright as manager and this was the start of exciting times for the Club. Wright guided us to safety in the Conference in 2001/02. A huge rebuiliding took place of the squad and in 2002/03 we made the play-offs! We lost the semi-finals though to Doncaster Rovers in a penalty Shoot-out (and look where they are now....)
The following season though, we were Champions! Daryl Clare and Darryn Stamp were our heroes as they chipped in with over 50 goals between themselves as we won the title! Memories of that 1-0 win against Scarborough which saw us win the League still make me smile....
But what changed? We were back in the Football League, the good days were back at CCFC, or so we thought.
The eve of our return to the Football League, Mark Wright resigned as manager. The reason? He was sleeping with one of the wifes of a player, Wayne Hatswell. Shook the club this did... This started in a real managerial merry go round, and we struggled and struggled....... Wright left, in came Ray Matthias, then Ian Rush, he was sacked, in came Keith Curle, then Wright came back oddly, then he left again, in came Bobby Williamson, he left, and then Wright was back in charge again. Mark Wright, the same bloke who got us promoted back into the League, then guided us to relegation back to where we were..... Oh, it got a lot worse!
Remember Luton being deducted 30 points??? We were deducted 25 when we were relegated due to financial irregularities. Then came the news that the players were not getting paid. We hadnt reached 0 points by February, the fans boycotted and then the players, in a show of protest failed to travel for a League game against Forest Green. This resulted in Chester being suspended from the League for breaking several rules. A EGM was called at Nene Park in February to try and sort the crisis out, but our Caring Chairman didnt even bother to turn up. The Conference officials had no other option but to expel us from the League. So, with no income and a Chairman that didn't seem to care less, with mounting debts, we were wound up in March 2010. It took just 30 seconds for the judge is kill the 125 year old club. A very, very sad day.
But in all bad times, there is always a positive and the next 4 months saw an amazing change.
The fans set up there own group, The CFU (City Fans United) and set about creating a phoenix Club. The first hurdle would be to secure the Deva Stadium, to enable us to play our home games, if the council said no, the project is a non-starter. A Danish consortium also wanted to form a club, much to the fans dismay. The CFU got the keys to the Deva in May, and now the hard work could really begin! A new name for the club was announced. Simply known as Chester FC! Then came the new Club Crest, a smart update of the old Fox design. Then came the appointment of the management team and then the assembling of a sqaud!
Chester FC were accepted into the Northern League Division One (North Section) and the City was buzzing again, Chester were back!
A long pre-season followed with some memorable results, including a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic and a 3-3 draw against FC United (another Fans Owned Club, set up by Supporters of Manchester United who were angry by the Glazers take over of the club)
Then the first League game arrived! A 1-1 draw against Warrington Town! An amazing night that was had by all Chester fans, who outnumbered the home fans by 12 to 1!
It's been all change, an amazing rollercoaster ride, just think, if I hadn't been dragged to that first game in 1992, I wouldn't have given two hoots! Cheers Dad!
Friday, 3 September 2010
Lithuania 0-0 Scotland
Well the scoreline certainly tells a story, Scotland failing to score in 8 consecutive games away from home. And if I'm honest, a goal was the only thing missing from the performance in Kaunas. The two central defenders I pointed out as weaknesses prior to the game played well and were solid for the 93 minutes, even McCulloch who sat in front of them broke up play well. The Lithuanians never really created much, with two decent chances the whole match, one of which was only created from Weir being thrown to the ground off the ball. You will get the usual calls of poor tactical choice by Levein, however without the 5-man midfield we wouldn't have been as likely to have controlled the match as well as we did. The change with 20 minutes to go, shortly after McFadden was brought on was the correct move again when McCulloch moved into centre midfield, Morrison came on to the right and McFadden went up in behind Miller. The only thing missing here for my money was bringing Boyd on instead of Miller, we need a goal and since I named him Kenny Misser, I didn't feel confident. Again, I can't fault Levein here as Whittaker had taken a knock and he obviously knew he was struggling and had to keep the last substitution for him. However, I do feel we would have coped with a half-fit Whittaker as the Lithuanian ventures forward weren't to often.
We don't like to see unnecessary bookings, but the Lithuanians tactics were plain to see from the get-go and the foul count was there to match it, I think a yellow card or two early on may have stamped it out and made for a better game. There were long periods of the game where it would be stop-start, which really affected Scotland's rhythm. This is the one complaint I would have of the Turkish referee. The known Cesnauskas wasn't on the pitch, however his brother was and he showed similar diving attributes, it really was laughable. The guy came shoulder to shoulder with the Scottish defender about a meter and a half away from the box, rode the challenge, then made the dash into the box and he jumped into the air and fell, nobody within half a meter of him. Well done to the ref for not falling for it, but where was the simulation booking, it really was a ridiculous dive. Anyway next up is Liechtenstein at Hampden, where we would expect at least two up front, and one of them being Boyd. A few goals and another clean sheet would be a great way of washing away the disappointment of tonight's goalless draw.
We don't like to see unnecessary bookings, but the Lithuanians tactics were plain to see from the get-go and the foul count was there to match it, I think a yellow card or two early on may have stamped it out and made for a better game. There were long periods of the game where it would be stop-start, which really affected Scotland's rhythm. This is the one complaint I would have of the Turkish referee. The known Cesnauskas wasn't on the pitch, however his brother was and he showed similar diving attributes, it really was laughable. The guy came shoulder to shoulder with the Scottish defender about a meter and a half away from the box, rode the challenge, then made the dash into the box and he jumped into the air and fell, nobody within half a meter of him. Well done to the ref for not falling for it, but where was the simulation booking, it really was a ridiculous dive. Anyway next up is Liechtenstein at Hampden, where we would expect at least two up front, and one of them being Boyd. A few goals and another clean sheet would be a great way of washing away the disappointment of tonight's goalless draw.
Lithuania Vs Scotland Preview
Craig Levein enters his first competitive match as Scotland Manager in Kaunas, Lithuania. The nation has strong links with Scotland with a Lithuanian owner at Heart of Midlothian, plus a few players and staff passing through the club. Scotland's record in Lithuania only holds 3 matches containing one win, however four of tonight's starting line-up played a part in Rangers embarrassing defeat to FBK Kaunas in 2008. Scotland line up as a 4-1-4-1 or simplified 4-5-1 as follows:
McGregor
Hutton Weir McManus Whittaker
McCulloch
Naismith Brown Fletcher Robson
Miller
The problem area for Scotland without looking at the home team's line-up is defence, mainly the central, with 40-year old Weir and McManus who certainly does not fill the Tartan Army faithful with confidence. This line-up primarily sets up to be safe and not necessarily for a win tonight with Miller leading the line by himself, I would like to see Naismith get up and support as often as possible, as a Kilmarnock fan I know his threat all too well. The one bonus is having Alan Hutton back at right-back, he may be only 80% fit, but he would jump in front of Broadfoot in my team as well, however I think he has improved vastly over the past 3 years, but he should stay away from those eggs.
Now a quick look at the Lithuanian squad, as I don't know their line-up as yet, or much about their squad but here goes. In defence the name that sticks out is Zaliukas, the Hearts defender is solid if not immense, the other is centre-back Skerla formerly of Dunfermline, who wasn't the best at that time if I remember correctly. In midfield we know a couple of the players from Hearts and diving exploits in the SPL and against Scotland, here's hoping for a strong referee. The annoying thing, from my point of view anyway is that they can play some great football but decide to cheat instead. These players being Mikoliunas and Cesnauskis, if they play, they will have to be watched carefully, and I imagine it will be Whittaker's job on at least one of them. I believe that Velicka will start up front, having just signed for Aberdeen on loan from Rangers he would like to get some game time, I estimate him being 7th choice at Ibrox, not being helped by injuries recently however he can prove to be a dangerous striker. The only other forward I know anything of is another ex-Hearts player Beniusis, who is a tall bloke remembered affectionately by Gorgie faithful as Beniuseless.
Not that I place much stock into world rankings, but Scotland are 11 places higher than Lithuania, and that is after Burley's recent dismal reign at Scotland. I would probably take a draw tonight and expect a win at Hampden against this lot however I will predict a 2-1 away win for Scotland.
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