However the emotionally battered Irish supporter in me who thinks the optimistic me is an idiot wants a Poland win to guarantee 3rd for us

One thing that may be a factor is that Poland will have massive travelling support. They could easily have 20,000 fans in the stadium (loads of Poles living in Scotland and free to buy tickets).

 

yeah that's a good point. Loads of Irish there too though which didn't help us much over there. Maybe Lewandowski's bangin form could turn out to be a blessing

 

This, I'd take my chances in a play off.

I think there will be far more Poles than there were Irish in November. There are tens of thousands of them living in Glasgow and Edinburgh and they can all legally buy tickets for the game (and that's on top of their official allocation).

Yes, both 7.45pm kick offs.

I wouldn't rule that out but the Scots are under ferocious pressure to get the win. It remains to be seen if they can handle that pressure.

But...if I was Nawałka I would go on Scots from the beginning, let`s say first 10-15 minutes pressure and attacking football because that will be the phase of the game when they will try to settle nerves and deal with pressure and of course not to concede. Goal at this stage and we have this game in the bag, if not move the game to the middle of the park and counter when ready.

Yes, the fact that Scotland need to win means they cannot play defensively. They will have to have a go at Poland but this means the Poles can counter attack at will. It should be an open game with a lot of chances.

That would be a serious drop off in form for us though. One defeat in eight and we've conceded only five goals. I would be extremely disappointed if we lost the two October games.

Any Scots I've talked to are convinced they'll fold under the pressure. It'll be a nervy crowd with an expectancy of failure, as far as I can see.

 

Who realistically wouldn't take a play off????

 

I think it's fairly obviously we would all settle for 3rd place at this stage.

To be honest, I'm not sure we'd cope that well with the pressure either ie. having to beat Poland and them coming here knowing a win would send them straight through to the finals. I do think Scotland are up against it here. If the Poles score first, it's surely game over.

Lewandowski is on super form at the moment so a few goals against Scotland might get the Poland win and guarantee us at least a playoff spot. 

If we beat both Germany and Poland we finish 2nd, even if Poland beat Scotland. Unlikely but possible.

Hopefully at the very least when the final whistle goes in Warsaw we have secured a playoff spot. 

Any Scots I've talked to are convinced they'll fold under the pressure. It'll be a nervy crowd with an expectancy of failure, as far as I can see.

Can't see us getting anything in our remaining 2 games sadly

Germans only need a point.

 

Agreed that we need Poland to do us a favour because if they lose in Glasgow then we havent a hope in hell's chance in Warsaw.

 

 

You speak for everyone do you? Was only putting my opinion out there that i would take a play off now, poland beating scotland and us losing to germany. I would take that- it means the poland games a dead rubber but id take it.

I'm surprised at all the pessimism surrounding our last two games. We haven't been winning big matches but we certainly have been losing them either and we concede very few goals. Why would we lose two games in a row when we have been very solid and consistent throughout the qualifiers?

 

No I don't but its pretty obvious everyone would take third place if it was handed to us.

 

 

 

There are some on this thread looking for 2 wins to go to france automatically. They might disagree with you there and just take a chance. Me i would accept the play off now as ive already said.

 

Given our situation before Scotland lost to Georgia, then yes 3rd place at the moment looks like an undeserved miracle. And yes you are more than likely correct that 3rd is the very very best we can hope for. But do we have to be so real all the time?? Can we not just dream? I personally am hopeful of getting second place in the group. it would require Scotland beating Poland and us drawing with Germany and also beating Poland. Yes it is unlikely, but isn't that what support is?? Believing anyway?? Given we have been singing a song for 25 years containing the line "And we really shake them up, when we win the world cup"...should we stop singing that because realistically it is never going to happen?

 

A win for Poland in Glasgow and group is sorted before final game unless we win our 2 remaining games - unlikely but if it happened we'd finish second to Germany. 

 

A win for Scotland in Glasgow and a win for us in Warsaw would see us finish 2nd irrespective of the result of our game against Germany and the Poles would end up 4th.

 

So, all to play for - the slight advantage we have over Scotland is that as it stands we are no longer relying on other results to help us, up to ourselves now.

 

All considered I'm hoping for a draw in Glasgow between S and P and take our chances in Poland. Ideally a draw in the home game against Germany gives us a free shot in Poland with the safety net of the playoff to fall into.

 

The Russian roulette nature of this appeals to the sicker side of me! Would make for one very tense and interesting night in Warsaw...

 

Realistically though would probably be happier with a Poland win and the guarantee of a play-off.

 

That's it!! Positive thinking. It is probably unlikely that we will get 2nd but who cares. Believe anyway

 

We can certainly dream my friend, football is football after all and anything is possible. I really hope we can beat germany and poland, I really hope we can get to france automatically, of course I do. But the pragmatist in me says I would take the play off right now and be very happy.  It looked a lost cause before scotland vs georgia or at least it looked extremely difficult. The question of the thread was what result do people want in the scotland vs poland game- i said a poland win because i want to go into the last game with no chance of elimination even if that means losing to germany and poland winning. Im just a pragmatist i suppose rather than a dreamer. Live to fight another day.

 

there are just so many people on here full of fkn doom and gloom that it really takes the excitement away from it. Some people are more worried about being correct in their predictions than actually supporting...just so they can jump on the "told ya so" wagon. Especially the few people I have come across predicting we finish 4th. Sure it is possible, but fk that! Realistically I think the most likely results are draws all round which would still get us 3rd but to hell with it. As soon as we started playing against Germany we were on top. this is our best chance to beat Germany so why not? We played Poland off the park for long spells in Lansdowne so why not?

If I was the Irish manager or one of the players, I would be going into the last two games with the aim of automatically qualifying for France, not settling for a play off spot. There is way too much pessimism and negativity surrounding the team. We'll never achieve anything unless we play with verve and ambition.

 

Totally Agree. As soon as we started playing against germany it took us 20 minutes to score. Same in the 6-1 defeat...the first time our keeper didn't kick the ball long and instead rolled it out to a defender to start an attack, we got a corner and scored from it. I see very little in this German team to strike fear. they have some very decent players but we possibly should have beaten them, Scotland gave them a good game twice, Poland DID beat them, so feck it. go at them from the start, pressure them high up the pitch, don't back off them and give it everything.

 

Are you having a laugh?

Particularly that last match in Warsaw. I've seen plenty of people say here 'I can't see us get anything over there'. That's a really defeatist attitude, we should go there hoping and aiming to win the game.

 

completely ignores the fixtures that remain.

 

Scotland have a definite 3 pts against Gibraltar and we have the world champions to play. it will come down to how we both do against a good polish side with possibly the worlds most in-form striker in their team. Scotland have the advantage then as they have the poles at home

 

I didn't ignore anything. I know what fixtures are left. it was a comment made with tongue firmly in cheek. I was merely pointing out how usually when a team is 4 points ahead with 2 games to go they are clear favourites to remain ahead. Mustn't take everything so seriously Byrnesy!

 

Deffo!! maybe Trap has beaten the belief out of a lot of the supporters too

Which means a massive turnout of Polish fans in the stadium (much bigger than the number of Irish fans last November).

I think part of the problem is that Scotland are playing for a play off spot at most. I'm guessing there is a mood of pessimism in the country after two consecutive defeats and they think even that is beyond them.

It sounded on paper from the scoreline that they must have put up a tremendous fight but in fact Germany totally dominated them. Scotland had only two chances in the game and took them, so they were actually very flattered by the scoreline, it could easily have been a 3-1 or 4-1 defeat.

I certainly would never write any Scottish team off though. It wouldn't be a huge shock if they beat Poles even  though I don't expect it to happen.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we won one of our next two games. Football is very unpredictable : too many people are going for the doom and gloom scenario, but in eight days time we could be celebrating automatic qualification for France, who knows? Those who are predicting us to lose our next two games, I've no idea what they're basing that on apart from their own inner negativity and pessimism.

One defeat in seven games and only five goals conceded (best defence in the group). What in those stats would tell us that we are going to lose our next two games?. Anyone would think with the doom and gloom predictions we were heading into these matches on a disastrous run of form and on the back of a couple of defeats.

We've still been well organised and very solid in every single qualifier no matter what team we've put out. People have made a big deal about us not beating any of the big teams in the group but we haven't been losing any either (I'm putting the Scotland loss down as an aberration......the Scots didn't even play well there and it's type of game we would normally draw).

For sure Germany on Thursday is a huge test, as they will create many chances, ditto with Poland in Warsaw but I still wouldn't be surprised to see us pick up points in both games.

If you go onto any football betting forum, nearly every punter will use the stats to back up their reasons for making a prediction. They don't go by gut instinct or hunches but by an analysis of the form and stats of the teams. One defeat in eight and only five goals conceded tells us we're well placed to compete strongly in both games and won't go down without a fight. Zero points from the next two games would represent a drop off in form from where we've been and would be very disappointing (and I don't think it will happen....I expect us to pick up a point or points).

Different team and all that.

I suppose the hope is Scotland go all out and make it a game where Ledandowski gets space to exploit.

Yeah it was a strange game. We've played like we did in Glasgow many times in away qualifiers in recent years and come away with a draw.....nine times out of ten we could play that Scottish team away and probably come away with a grim 0-0 or 1-1.

Scotland were lucky to get away with the foul on Long but they deserved the win nonetheless and deserved the draw in Dublin thanks to us not being good enough to put them to the sword in Dublin when they were sh*te.

Spot on and to be fair to Trap for that match I think we started out with a 5 man midfield with Walters up front on his own. The manner of our beating against Germany was depressing a la Scotland 2nd half in June. The heads completely dropped and  we got smashed. 

Bottom line is Germany can batter anyone no matter what their form is like. I think it's more of an achievement for us to draw with Germany at home than beat Poland away given the German team we're going to face compared to last year. 

I hope we sit back and counter attack down the wings if possible to stretch them.