The Scotsman Bulletin Thursday October 12 2023 #Euros
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00:00 Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Bulletin for Thursday. I'm Alan Young, I'm
00:12 Deputy Head of Sports for the Scotsman. I'm joined today from our sports desk by Matt
00:16 Elder. Hi Matt.
00:17 Morning Alan.
00:18 Let's have a look at the front page first, then we'll speak to Matt. We read today on
00:26 this, an old story that has resurfaced, if you remember this, the Covid WhatsApp furore.
00:36 So the messages between Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson were released to the UK Covid
00:43 Inquiry this week and within them there's a very interesting reference to daily meetings
00:50 they were having in Downing Street and the suggestion by Dominic Cummings that they should
00:55 exclude members of the devolved administrations, of course including the Scottish Government
01:01 and at that time Nicola Sturgeon. It is causing a fair old stoogey and Conor Matchett's story
01:07 leads the paper today and is on the website at scotsman.com. We picture there Israeli
01:13 troops firing into Gaza. And at the top of the page we preview tonight's big game in
01:22 Spain as Scotland go for Euros glory. So Matt, this is a huge night for Scotland. Maybe just
01:35 go through what they need to do to qualify.
01:38 Yeah, potentially a historic night in Seville where Scotland need just a point. I say just
01:45 a point, it is a way to Spain. Easier said than done. But yeah, they need a point from
01:49 tonight's match, a draw and that will be enough to guarantee their place in Euro 2024 in Germany
01:55 next summer. A defeat might be enough as well if Norway fail to win in Cyprus tonight. So
02:03 we could be looking for a favour from the separates if we can't get it done ourselves.
02:08 If neither of those two eventualities come up tonight then we'll be moving on to Sunday
02:13 over in Oslo where we'll be hoping that Norway fail to beat Spain. And if that becomes the
02:19 case then Scotland will be at Euro 2024. So a few different scenarios this week at play.
02:24 There's some complicated arithmetic but the simple fact is if Scotland get a point tonight
02:29 we'll move on to 16 points and only one of Spain and Norway can overtake them in the
02:34 top two. So Scotland will be guaranteed their place.
02:37 A huge ask. We've got Alan Patillo out there for us. You've been speaking to him. What's
02:44 the mood like?
02:47 Surprisingly confident given the size of the task away to Spain. This is a powerhouse football
02:53 nation as we all know. They won the Nations League last summer. They recovered quite well
02:58 from their defeat to Scotland at Hampden in March. It was obviously a momentous night
03:04 there but they have recovered. They've actually won their last two games 7-1 and 6-0 against
03:11 Georgia and Cyprus. So they'll be going in with confidence. But Scotland, incredibly,
03:16 are going for a 12th straight win in qualification. A historic run that Steve Clarke's side are
03:22 on so don't rule us out. There is a blow obviously losing Kieran Tierney. He's so crucial to
03:27 what Scotland do. So Steve Clarke has a dilemma over how to cope with that absence as he changes
03:32 tactics from the back to floor. We'll find all that out later. But it promises to be
03:37 an exciting night. Hopefully Scotland can do themselves justice and at least keep us
03:42 interested right up until the end.
03:44 I really liked Kenny Dalglish's comments yesterday. He doesn't care if it's a rubbish performance.
03:50 If Scotland manage to get a result somehow, would you expect Steve Clarke to set up with
03:55 a very defensive team? Maybe not quite a Craig Levine playing with that striker but especially
04:02 with the absence of Tierney?
04:04 Steve Clarke's been quite clear that he won't be looking to do that. His thoughts are that
04:10 we need to go there and cause Spain trouble. We need to give them something to think about
04:14 in defence. If Spain are just thinking about attacking all night long, that's a long 90
04:18 minutes for Scotland to try and see out. So Scotland will be going there with a plan to
04:22 actually try and win the game, according to Steve Clarke. At least that's what he's seen
04:26 in public anyway. So he's leading us to believe that we'll be going there to win the match
04:31 and keep an amazing run going. Then who needs a draw if you win?
04:38 Just remind us of the timings and how we can watch it tonight.
04:42 The game is 7.45 kick-off UK time. That's 8.45 over in Spain. It's on the Via Play Sports
04:48 subscription channel. So that's where you'll catch that one.
04:53 But obviously all the important stuff is at scotsman.com during the game and afterwards
04:59 where we'll have full reaction and analysis and fingers crossed celebrations. Please keep
05:05 an eye on scotsman.com throughout the day for all the very latest news. There's huge
05:09 breaking news from within the SNP this morning as Dr Lisa Cameron MP defects from the SNP
05:17 to the Tories. We are getting our heads around that at the moment. So please keep checking
05:25 for the latest. And if you're out and about today as ever please do pick up a copy of
05:29 the paper from me. And from that it's bye for now.
05:33 [Music]