Tony Watt

[wunderwell]

Playing against world class opponents, in any sport should improve the competitors ability and be an experience for Tony.

[weeyin]

Ironic given the Tommy Coyne avatar, as I remember him getting even better a his international career progressed and after his participation in the World Cup finals.

[johnstone]

23 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

I think in Watt’s case he’s seen as a ‘journeyman’ who’s struggled for form at several clubs before joining us and perhaps that counts against him in terms of national team selection.

But as I said, I hope he doesn’t get picked any time soon. I’m not a Scotland fan I’m a Motherwell fan and I want him fit and fully focussed for us without the distraction of international football and the exposure to other clubs that playing for Scotland would bring him. If he stays with us, below the radar, focussed and playing well it will benefit us and himself in the long term.

LOL. Hi Tony, I hope your career doesn’t progress and that you miss out on international football so you can continue to  play for Motherwell under the radar!
 

 

[MJC]

2 hours ago, johnstone said:

LOL. Hi Tony, I hope your career doesn’t progress and that you miss out on international football so you can continue to  play for Motherwell under the radar!
 

 

Yes it’s a selfish viewpoint from a purely Motherwell perspective, no denying that. 
 

I’m happy for him, and any of our players for that matter, to not play international football if that prevents them getting injured, their heads turned or noticed by other clubs. I make no apology for that because Motherwell are my priority in football.

However I accept that if Tony Watt continues his form for us then he will be on the national sides radar and indeed that of other clubs so if/when that happens then good luck to him. In the meantime though I am in no rush to see that happen.

[MJC]

12 hours ago, weeyin said:

Ironic given the Tommy Coyne avatar, as I remember him getting even better a his international career progressed and after his participation in the World Cup finals.

He did yes. But on the other end of the scale there was Declan Gallagher who seemed to lose focus/interest for us once picked for Scotland. So it could go either way.

Tony Watt has been a man of many clubs for the last decade, he’s never properly settled anywhere for whatever reason but he seems to have found his feet at Fir Park and is playing very well. I would just prefer it if he wasn’t picked for Scotland just now and his sole focus was continuing to play well and deliver for us.

[MJC]

On 10/4/2021 at 9:09 AM, GazzyB said:

Fucking hate these international breaks man!

Bit of a distraction aren’t they?

15 hours ago, GazzyB said:

The “distraction” of international football? Whit?

 

[David]

On 10/9/2021 at 11:47 AM, MJC_mkII said:

But on the other end of the scale there was Declan Gallagher who seemed to lose focus/interest for us once picked for Scotland. So it could go either way.

I don't think Gallagher lost focus or interest in us due to his international call-ups. He lost interest because he was focused on moving elsewhere for more money.

[weeyin]

1 hour ago, David said:

I don't think Gallagher lost focus or interest in us due to his international call-ups. He lost interest because he was focused on moving elsewhere for more money.

I don't even think he lost focus or interest. The entire team was floundering for most of that season and his form dropped about the same as the rest - apart from maybe Polworth, who chucked it sooner.

[texanwellfan]

Did I hear them say Dykes and Christie to miss Moldova game? Who will they draft in? 

[Spiderpig]

6 hours ago, texanwellfan said:

Did I hear them say Dykes and Christie to miss Moldova game? Who will they draft in? 

Steve Clarke is hopeless he won't bring anyone in he will give Kevin Nisbet a start, all this nonsense to only get to the playoffs to get pumped by a better team, Scotland are brutal.

[joewarkfanclub]

41 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Steve Clarke is hopeless he won't bring anyone in he will give Kevin Nisbet a start, all this nonsense to only get to the playoffs to get pumped by a better team, Scotland are brutal.

You mean like we did in Serbia? 

[gaz7]

20 hours ago, Spiderpig said:

Steve Clarke is hopeless he won't bring anyone in he will give Kevin Nisbet a start, all this nonsense to only get to the playoffs to get pumped by a better team, Scotland are brutal.

Fukn hell you sound like one of the religious bigots . If your a football fan and dont enjoy watching your country succeed and win then I'd suggest your not a football fan.  Dont try and explain as it does not wash. Scotland doing well brings a sense of joy to all us motherwell football fans. 

[Spiderpig]

4 hours ago, gaz7 said:

Fukn hell you sound like one of the religious bigots . If your a football fan and dont enjoy watching your country succeed and win then I'd suggest your not a football fan.  Dont try and explain as it does not wash. Scotland doing well brings a sense of joy to all us motherwell football fans. 

No explanation required, its Motherwell and club football only for me, never have followed Scotland even when we were regular qualifiers for tournaments with a decent team, and as i have said i think the current team is brutal, many others dont as is their choice so fair play to them. 

[MJC]

5 hours ago, gaz7 said:

Fukn hell you sound like one of the religious bigots . If your a football fan and dont enjoy watching your country succeed and win then I'd suggest your not a football fan.  Dont try and explain as it does not wash. Scotland doing well brings a sense of joy to all us motherwell football fans. 

Speak for yourself. I like seeing the national team doing well but I’m not a ‘Scotland supporter’ in the same way that I am a Motherwell supporter. Scotland winning does not bring me anywhere near the sense of joy that Motherwell winning does, likewise a Scotland defeat doesn’t annoy me anywhere near as much as a Motherwell defeat does. 
 

To suggest that anyone who doesn’t support Scotland or enjoy them winning makes them “sound like one of the religious bigots” is absolutely moronic patter.

[Kmcalpin]

8 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

Speak for yourself. I like seeing the national team doing well but I’m not a ‘Scotland supporter’ in the same way that I am a Motherwell supporter. Scotland winning does not bring me anywhere near the sense of joy that Motherwell winning does, likewise a Scotland defeat doesn’t annoy me anywhere near as much as a Motherwell defeat does. 
 

To suggest that anyone who doesn’t support Scotland or enjoy them winning makes them “sound like one of the religious bigots” is absolutely moronic patter.

Pretty much my view too. I used to attend Scotland games in my youth but lost interest many years ago as I saw how the system worked ie treatment of players like our own Joe Wark, and the actions of the SFA. I'm a Well fan end of.  

Comparison of Spiderpig and others like us to the religious bigots is out of order.

[MJC]

That’s pretty much my feelings too, I just can’t get on board with supporting Scotland.

For starters the SFA are and always have been a shambling, incompetent ‘jobs for the boys’ network who are only interested in lining their own pockets.

Then there is the Tartan Army. No disrespect to guys/girls who are genuine Scotland fans who faithfully follow them all over the world but to so many of them the football itself doesn’t seem to matter, it’s all about getting together for a big piss up.

Take the Euros in the summer there. Scotland’s performance was dismal and I defy anyone to contradict that. Three games, two at home, only one goal scored and only one point. But hey who cares? It wis some laugh for the tartan army to get a weekend jolly down to London, get a good swally, run over by a motorbike and then fall into a fountain..whoop! whoop! Wha’s like us!

And folk wonder why Scotland took over 20 years to reach a major tournament?

[Great Balls of Shire]

I like to see Scotland doing well but do agree we are limited, even with best players on park

Looking at play iff qualifications it's going to be really tough, there are very few lesser teams in the play off positions but we live in hope

[weeyin]

Depends on your generation, I suppose, but as someone who grew up watching Scotland play in the 1974 finals and many more after that, I like to see Scotland do well. There used to be nothing better than a full crowd at Hampden for a qualifier, and our home record was excellent.

When the team was doing well, there was the same kind of buzz across the country that there is across Motherwell when we are on a good cup run.

The start of our downfall was the Bosman era. Combined with things like S-Form signings being abandoned, clubs just started bringing in lots of cheap alternatives from overseas and paid little attention to development of home grown players. When Scotland were doing well, we always had a sprinkling of world class players who were playing regularly in the top European competitions. Then we went through a couple of decades where we didn't produce one.

We have a stronger squad now, but when the rot sets in, it's difficult to turn around. At least when the rot sets in at a club, a new manager can bring in different players and work with them on a daily basis to change things - and even then success rates aren't high.

When the rot sets in at international level, a new manager doesn't have the luxury of a different pool of players, and a lot of the better ones don't want to play because of the damage it does to their prospects.

The Bosman impact has slowly reduced the past few years and its no surprise that we are starting to see a better level of home grown talent. We actually have international class footballers in the team again, including guys like Robertson who have won the Champions League.

Steve Clarke was never going to turn us into a free flowing clone of the Spanish national team, but he always had a good chance of changing the mentality of the players and finding a way to make us difficult to beat. Same as he did at Kilmarnock. It's taken a while, because the international team setup was rotten to the core, but he gets nothing but my admiration for taking the players that we had to the Euros.

I agree we only played one decent game out of our three, but it's a learning experience. Euros are a step up, and it's a whole new experience trying to get out a of group. This isn't like the club competitions where if you get knocked out a Champions League qualifier you get into the Europa Cup with multiple chances. Scotland have had better teams with better players and had better results and still not managed to get out of their group. (In 1974 we were the first team ever in the World Cup to go undefeated and not make it out of the group stages).

So I'm delighted we have an international team that is at least competitive again. Even more important is that players want to get selected again, and that has a knock on effect at club level. Liam Kelly said one of the reasons he came back to Fir Park was the hope of international recognition, so even if fans don't care as much about that, it was to our benefit as a club.

Of course, the domestic game is the bread and butter, and even after some classic nights at Hampden you often hear "back to to real games on Saturday" - but when you have a competitive international side, it can be an entertaining distraction.

My biggest complaint is the international breaks in the league campaign, but those would happen regardless of how well or poorly the Scotland team is performing.

 

[joewarkfanclub]

2 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

That’s pretty much my feelings too, I just can’t get on board with supporting Scotland.

For starters the SFA are and always have been a shambling, incompetent ‘jobs for the boys’ network who are only interested in lining their own pockets.

Then there is the Tartan Army. No disrespect to guys/girls who are genuine Scotland fans who faithfully follow them all over the world but to so many of them the football itself doesn’t seem to matter, it’s all about getting together for a big piss up.

Take the Euros in the summer there. Scotland’s performance was dismal and I defy anyone to contradict that. Three games, two at home, only one goal scored and only one point. But hey who cares? It wis some laugh for the tartan army to get a weekend jolly down to London, get a good swally, run over by a motorbike and then fall into a fountain..whoop! whoop! Wha’s like us!

And folk wonder why Scotland took over 20 years to reach a major tournament?

That comment shows as much misunderstanding and disrespect  to genuine Scotland fans as  the original poster showed to your good self.

[MJC]

That’s why I made a point of saying no disrespect to the genuine Scotland fans who follow Scotland in order to support the team first and foremost.

The ones I was having a dig at are those who only seem to be interested in going along for the piss up (nae Scotland, nae party etc) then tell everyone that was just great to be there. In my opinion that is a big, big part of Scotland’s problem when it comes to sport in general. There’s too much emphasis on celebrating failure and too many are more interested in booze more than anything else. Is it any wonder then that Scotland don’t qualify for tournaments/perform well at that level in that case?

[texanwellfan]

I’m always hoping they do well and certainly happier when they win.  So am I a Scotland supporter? Yes, yes I am.  Possibly tougher than being a motherwell supporter. While I felt good that we beat Israel I did have some other feelings in that i began to think of the reaction, comments and reports.  Such jubilation at beating Israel 3-2 at Hampden.  Changed days indeed and a reflection partly on how many smaller countries have improved but perhaps more so on how far we have regressed or failed to improve along with the major teams.  Yet, we still managed a decent result against euro finalists at Wembley so how far away are we from being a decent national side?  Quite the conundrum.  Die hard ‘Well fan and still patriotically supporting Scotland. 

[David]

4 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

Then there is the Tartan Army. No disrespect to guys/girls who are genuine Scotland fans who faithfully follow them all over the world but to so many of them the football itself doesn’t seem to matter, it’s all about getting together for a big piss up.

Nothing wrong with travelling abroad to follow your country for a piss-up. Let's be honest, we're never going to win anything at international level, so it's about the good memories with friends and family, enjoying yourself, and grabbing those rare wins that really matter when you can.

Absolutely no issue with anyone who doesn't follow international football, and don't agree with the poster who drew comparisons with the Old Firm fans, but everyone has different reasons for following the football, be it club or country.

[joewarkfanclub]

1 hour ago, MJC_mkII said:

That’s why I made a point of saying no disrespect to the genuine Scotland fans who follow Scotland in order to support the team first and foremost.

The ones I was having a dig at are those who only seem to be interested in going along for the piss up (nae Scotland, nae party etc) then tell everyone that was just great to be there. In my opinion that is a big, big part of Scotland’s problem when it comes to sport in general. There’s too much emphasis on celebrating failure and too many are more interested in booze more than anything else. Is it any wonder then that Scotland don’t qualify for tournaments/perform well at that level in that case?

Scotlands failure to qualify for tournaments has nothing to do with fans having a piss up. Its due to the systemic failure if the SFA to move with the times and adapt to changes in society. Thankfully there is a plan in place now that seems to be bearing fruit, but the pace of change has been so glacial its almost impercetible. They could and should be doing much more.

In respect of the fans, I dont think we do celebrate failure. Numbers always drop off significantly if the team is playing badly, which is why the Israel game was the first sell out for 4 years.

Ive been to plenty of games where the team has been booed off at half time and full time.

It may be a perception amongst some that dont actually go to Scotland games that its all about the drinking, but in all honesty thats just a front to hide behind the pain of defeat and its certainly a stereotype that is lazily played upon by a willing media.

Ive found over the years that there is always far more of that shit goes on when we are doing well or going to somewhere easy to get to or that is attractive for a jolly (see Wembley/Amsterdam etc).

In short, Scotland fans are no different from any other group of fans who love to follow their team win lose or draw....

[gaz7]

16 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

Speak for yourself. I like seeing the national team doing well but I’m not a ‘Scotland supporter’ in the same way that I am a Motherwell supporter. Scotland winning does not bring me anywhere near the sense of joy that Motherwell winning does, likewise a Scotland defeat doesn’t annoy me anywhere near as much as a Motherwell defeat does. 
 

To suggest that anyone who doesn’t support Scotland or enjoy them winning makes them “sound like one of the religious bigots” is absolutely moronic patter.

"absolute moronic patter"  very funny but my point is if your a football fan and scottish and dont enjoy scotland playing in euros or world cups then in my view you are not really interested in football its maybe just something you do. Do you enjoy watching euros or world cups without us in it?  Maybe just me but world cup is pinnacle of football.

[Spiderpig]

7 minutes ago, gaz7 said:

"absolute moronic patter"  very funny but my point is if your a football fan and scottish and dont enjoy scotland playing in euros or world cups then in my view you are not really interested in football its maybe just something you do. Do you enjoy watching euros or world cups without us in it?  Maybe just me but world cup is pinnacle of football.

So if you support Motherwell but don't follow the national team or particularly care if they win or lose your not interested in football, don't talk shite.

Unless your French, Belgian, German,Spanish, English, Italian, Brazilian or any other top side, most international football is turgid shite and not worth watching which is exactly the category the Scotland game fell into on Wednesday.

Club football is more exciting, and entertaining than the predictable dross served up every 2 years or so for Euro or World Cup qualifying. 

So if you want to wear your kilt, cat boots and a  daft Tartan hat and  follow Scotland  and  Motherwell then go for it but don't slag off or talk shite about those football fans who are not interested in all the Tartan Army stuff.