Scotland takes depleted roster to Georgia

By: Ian Rose | October 16th, 2007

It really is amazing what the Scottish national team has accomplished. 2 wins over France. A record of 8-2 in our first 10 matches of the Euro 2008 qualifiers. And all this without a superstar. There is no single shining beacon of talent on the Scotland side. Every man on the pitch believes that he is as much the star as any other one, and that’s been part of their success, as well as part of the difficulty of playing against them. Who do you mark? McFadden? Boyd? Hell, even Kenny Miller can hurt you occasionally. Just kidding, Kenny. As long as you’re in a Scotland shirt, I’m behind you.

But as impressive as our season has been, the difference between a noble failure and a glorious success comes down to two games. Unless France completely implode against Lithuania (ohpleaseohpleaseohplease), we need 4 points from our next two matches to qualify. The second one is against an Italian side with their backs to the wall, so today’s match with Georgia really does look like a must-win. Let’s see who Alex McLeish has picked. Scratch that. Let’s see who still has two good legs to run on. The Scotland side has been absolutely decimated by injury.

Lee McColluch, Scott Brown and Alan Hutton were all important parts of the 3-1 win over Ukraine. They are all now out. Add them to the disabled list of Allan McGregor, Paul Hartley, Gary Naysmith and Gary Caldwell, and you have half a squad of Scotland’s best watching in the stands. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Then there’s disciplinary losses. Garry O’Connor is out after being booked against Ukraine. Barry Ferguson and Kenny Miller are both one booking away from missing the Italy match. And the replacements, though good household names to Scotland fans, are a little longer in the tooth than I would hope. Naysmith (age 28) is replaced by Graeme Murty (32). Hutton (22) is replaced by Graham Alexander (36!). Yikes.

Luckily for Scotland, there two numbers on the Georgian side that make them also a bit nervous about the match. Those numbers are 17 and 0, and represent the age and international experience of their brand spanking new keeper, Georgi Makaridze. I feel for this kid. First cap in a qualifying match against a favored team that comes in riding a wave of optimism that it hasn’t felt in some time. At least they’re already out of contention. If this one really mattered, then I would REALLY feel for the kid.

All right. Last week, I was able to correctly predict the outcome of the Ukraine match, so I’ll take a shot at this one too. I think Scotland’s defense and defensive midfield are really hurting right now, and the loss of Scott Brown hurts the other end of the ball as well. For that reason, I think Georgia are going to have chances, and Craig Gordon will need to step up and earn the win. I see Craigie hanging strong, though, through some good early attacks until the stitched-together Scottish defenders get their bearings. A slim win to Scotland, 1-0.

Considering all the injuries and what it means for us, I would give a pinky finger for 1-0 right now. Good luck to Scotland. I’ll be watching, and I’ll be right here to report either my elation or my grief with the result. Alba Gu Brath.