Caithness football bosses reckon Scotland can upset Auld Enemy in Euro 2020 showdown
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Leading football managers in Caithness are optimistic Scotland can upset the Auld Enemy in tonight’s European Championship showdown in London – but would like to see national team boss Steve Clarke make one or two changes to his starting line-up and perhaps give a couple of younger players a chance.
The Scots need to take something from the eagerly awaited match against England at Wembley to have any hope of making progress in the delayed Euro 2020 finals. Clarke's side lost 2-0 to the Czech Republic in their Group D opener at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Monday and will return there for their last group game against Croatia on Tuesday.
It is the first time the national men's team has qualified for the finals of a major tournament in 23 years and the country will come to a standstill from 8pm as millions watch the game on TV.
Gary Manson, manager of Highland League club Wick Academy, said: "In general I thought Scotland did okay on Monday against the Czech Republic. They created an abundance of good chances to score – they were just not clinical enough in front of goal and never got the little bits of luck you always need in games.
"The Czechs' second goal was highly avoidable as well, so on another day we could be speaking about a Scotland win. That's life at top-level football, though – games are decided by fine margins.
"Scotland have every chance of taking something from the England game as I wasn't overly impressed by them against Croatia. Hopefully Steve Clarke will tweak his starting XI slightly and everyone will play to their maximum – if that happens then they might surprise a few people.
"If Scotland do manage to take something then it would set up a huge game versus Croatia. The whole nation would be behind the team, willing them to qualify, and I believe there is a good chance."
Stevie Reid, who manages Thurso in the North Caledonian League, had viewed Monday's game as a good opportunity to get off to a winning start – "but it was not to be".
He said: “We've got nothing to lose against England. Everyone has got us as underdogs so why not have a right go at them? I dare say there will be a bit more intensity to their game but I do hope that they have a bit more creativity about them – they definitely need that.
"Some people are saying Billy Gilmour is too young, but he has never let Chelsea down. David Turnbull is another good young player. Sometimes it seems Scotland have got their favourites and are scared to change things, to an extent.
“We've got to be optimistic and you never know what can happen. England will be strong favourites but I do hope that Scotland open up and play a bit of football.
"If Kieran Tierney is fit he'll hopefully make a difference. I'd like to see Gilmour and maybe Turnbull coming on at some point, and definitely the boy [Nathan] Patterson bombing up and down. Why not have a go? There is nothing to fear.
"I'll say it will be 2-1 to Scotland, there you go. Let's go for it.”
Kevin Anderson, manager of eight-in-a-row county league champions Wick Groats, was still feeling deflated by the loss to the Czechs in Scotland's first taste of tournament football since the 1998 World Cup.
“I thought it was just typical Scotland," he said. "The whole nation gets built up, buzzing, you've not been in it in so long. They didn't play well but they didn't get the rub of the green either, to be fair.
“I thought they could have played a lot better, but they could easily go to Wembley and win. I don't want to tempt fate – we'll probably end up on the end of a hiding now – but we always seem to give them a game.
"We are more than capable of going down there and drawing, or winning, and then getting beaten by Croatia. I don't want to put too much of a damper on it but that's just Scotland, isn't it?
“Who are any of us up here to be telling Steve Clarke what to do, but there are a couple of young lads there that are playing at good levels – the boy Gilmour with Chelsea and the boy Patterson who is bursting through with Rangers. You just think they might be young lads, but get them in.
“I can't see us going through now, to be honest, but I do think we'll give England a game because it's the Auld Enemy and it should be all blood and guts – that's probably when we're at our best.”
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