{"id":3263,"date":"2016-09-03T10:43:11","date_gmt":"2016-09-03T09:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/?p=3263"},"modified":"2016-09-03T10:43:11","modified_gmt":"2016-09-03T09:43:11","slug":"classic-championship-manager-scotland-on-the-road-to-euro-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2016\/09\/classic-championship-manager-scotland-on-the-road-to-euro-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER: Scotland on the Road to Euro 2004"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello! It\u2019s been just 2 months since Scotland lost the World Cup final to Italy<\/a>, and so you are probably quite rightly wondering what I\u2019m doing back again. Well, I enjoyed that run with Scotland so much, that I\u2019m going to take on the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign. Every time there\u2019s a real life International break, I\u2019ll be here to give you an update on the latest happening from the world of CM01\/02.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s probably a case that we have peaked. Being runners up in the World Cup is a tough act to follow but there\u2019s a great talent pool coming through the ranks and I think we can only get better. We are up to 8th<\/sup> in the FIFA rankings, which are notoriously rubbish but it means that if we qualify, we\u2019ve got a chance of a decent seeding and therefore a decent draw. We live in hope. But, let\u2019s not get ahead of ourselves.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been drawn in group 2. The obvious danger is Spain, but Poland aren\u2019t a bad side. There\u2019s a sort of derby with Northern Ireland too, and without being disrespectful to Malta and Azerbaijan, I\u2019d expect to beat both of those. We start with Azerbaijan visiting Hampden, and the always difficult task of deciding who to cast aside from the largely successful squad to replace with new talent.<\/p>\n

\"1\"<\/p>\n

The first problem is, the squad is required to be named on August 17th<\/sup>. That means the Premier League is just a week old, and the Football League is not much better off. Kiegan Parker is in for the first time, and Paul di Giacomo is recalled after breaking into the squad during the warm up friendlies but missing the final cut.<\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/p>\n

\"3\"<\/p>\n

Matt Elliott has turned 34 and in reality will need replacing long before Euro 2004, so he is out and these two chaps earn their chance<\/p>\n

\"4\"<\/p>\n

\"4b\"<\/p>\n

Aside from that, the likes of Craig Burley, Charlie Miller, Jackie McNamara and Dominic Matteo have their places hanging on for now but as the season progresses they have their work cut out to retain their spots.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Charlie Miller, he\u2019s secured a move to Aston Villa but Stephen McPhee hasn\u2019t got his move to a bigger club yet, he\u2019s still at newly promoted Port Vale in Division 1. Mark Kerr is still at Roma too, and he\u2019s not getting a game, which should at least ensure his availability but it might stunt his progression.<\/p>\n

Burchill has twisted his ankle and withdraws, but with the squad heavy on strikers anyway, so young Stephen Hughes is in, who seems to be doing well at Rangers<\/p>\n

\"5\"<\/p>\n

Thankfully there\u2019s no other disturbances before the Azerbaijan game and we line up with some new names at the start of the new campaign.<\/p>\n

\"6\"<\/p>\n

Chris Innes (Middlesbrough) and Philip McGuire (Aberdeen) are a brand new centre half pairing with no caps between them. They are essentially auditioning to partner Lee Wilkie against Poland away in 4 days. Parker gets his debut up front alongside McPhee, who really ignited our qualifying campaign for the World Cup and with 9 goals in 12 caps, he\u2019s our best bet for a goal.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan have come to thrill the crowd, presumably managed by an angry Welshman in a baseball cap and box fresh trainers<\/p>\n

\"7\"<\/p>\n

Christ. Although McIvor should probably be a Scot.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the game started how you would expect, with us dominating the ball and the chances and it only took 12 minutes for us to take one, with Parker netting on his debut. However, in celebration Steven Nicholas headbutted Kramarenko and got sent off. So that was good of him. After that, the shackles came off and Azerbaijan came at us and got an equaliser before half time.<\/p>\n

With McPhee picking up a knock and time running out, it looked like we\u2019d have to settle for an embarrassing draw but Russell Anderson popped up with 4 minutes to go with a diving header from Mark Kerr\u2019s cross, and the captain sealed it in injury time with a counter attack goal where the keeper saved from Kerr but Ferguson tapped in the rebound.<\/p>\n

\"8a\"<\/p>\n

We still dominated the game but with 10 men it wasn\u2019t conventional and we lost a lot of momentum<\/p>\n

\"8\"<\/p>\n

Not vintage then but enough good performances to be a cause of optimism for Wednesday\u2019s tricky game.<\/p>\n

\"8b\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a huge bonus result as Northern Ireland beat Poland 3-1 at Windsor Park. Maybe I\u2019ve underrated the Northern Irish, or maybe overrated the Poles. We\u2019ll find out very soon.<\/p>\n

Gary Naysmith has stubbed a toe so he\u2019s out of the Poland trip, I\u2019ve called up a young midfielder instead because with Nicholas banned I might need to use McCann further forward<\/p>\n

\"9\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve gone for the safe option of Craig Burley for Nicholas, whilst Wilkie will partner Innes. Jim Paterson is in for the injured Naysmith.<\/p>\n

\"10\"<\/p>\n

McPhee\u2019s fitness is a concern but Winters is running out of chances to prove his worth at International level, even if he is fairly prolific at club level.<\/p>\n

Poland are rocking an old fashioned 442<\/p>\n

\"11\"<\/p>\n

Ok, so I definitely overrated Poland<\/p>\n

\"12\"<\/p>\n

That couldn\u2019t have gone any better. We were in total control from the minute Barry Ferguson headed us in front. McPhee got his 10th<\/sup> International goal and just when I thought things couldn\u2019t get any better, Rudden came on, skinned 3 men and scored with his first involvement. We even got a 4th<\/sup> late on for good luck. A total decimation, and that puts us in a great place.<\/p>\n

\"13\"<\/p>\n

The ratings are very much a good read for Scotland. I was even able to take off Kerr and McPhee to save them late in the game.<\/p>\n

\"14\"<\/p>\n

For the second consecutive round we see a bonus result as Malta beat Northern Ireland<\/p>\n

\"15\"<\/p>\n

We\u2019re laughing at this early stage, but an awful long way to go.<\/p>\n

\"16\"<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d be so kind to join me in the next update, we\u2019ve got a big clash with Northern Ireland at Hampden Park followed by a trip to Malta. I know it doesn\u2019t sound great but it might be. You never know. We don\u2019t go to Spain until March next year, so that\u2019s one for your diary. Anyway, as ever, thanks for putting up with me and I\u2019ll be back in October for more frivolity from north of the border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello! It\u2019s been just 2 months since Scotland lost the World Cup final to Italy, and so you are probably quite rightly wondering what I\u2019m doing back again. Well, I enjoyed that run with Scotland so much, that I\u2019m going to take on the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign. Every time there\u2019s a real life International […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER: Scotland on the Road to Euro 2004 - The Higher Tempo Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2016\/09\/classic-championship-manager-scotland-on-the-road-to-euro-2004\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER: Scotland on the Road to Euro 2004 - The Higher Tempo Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hello! It\u2019s been just 2 months since Scotland lost the World Cup final to Italy, and so you are probably quite rightly wondering what I\u2019m doing back again. Well, I enjoyed that run with Scotland so much, that I\u2019m going to take on the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign. 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