1 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,560 Welcome to the Noise. Listen to the passion in Hamden. 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:14,480 Park, It's John again. It's John again. 3 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,400 The great done by Dalvish Chancellor one for Scotland. 4 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,880 Hello, and welcome to the Scottish with Mic podcast. 5 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,800 I'm your host this week, James. Scott, it's absolutely. 6 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,200 Lovely to have you along listening with us for what is a 7 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,800 possible a new series we're sort of going to be doing alongside 8 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,560 the podcast. Today's episode is an opposition 9 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:49,000 analysis on Scotland's opponents and their first game of the 10 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,280 World Cup qualifying campaign. Denmark on Friday, joining me 11 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,200 from the Scots for my team and also there from the Scotland 12 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,680 team is Aaron McIntosh Aaron. How are we doing I'm. 13 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,200 Very well, how are you? Good, good, very excited. 14 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:06,000 Obviously, like I said, massive week this week, the road to US, 15 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,040 Mexico and Canada is beginning for Scotland and it's starting 16 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:13,040 in Copenhagen. Big game Denmark obviously pot 17 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:17,320 one side can ask for a harder start to the to the the 18 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:22,080 qualifying group, but that's Rivera and yeah, I mean. 19 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:23,560 Possibly could have had a harder. 20 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,120 Side and put one, we're not going to shy away from the fact 21 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,440 that your Frances and Germanies are definitely far more 22 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,520 formidable opponents and also more recognizable. 23 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,560 I think these teams and nations tend to have more of the 24 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,600 household names. I think it'd be fairly easy to 25 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,120 name a France or Germany or even a Spain line up, but Denmark a 26 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,800 squad a lot with quality, but also despite being through a lot 27 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,760 of the players throughout the top five leagues and such, some 28 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,000 of the players will maybe not as familiar with. 29 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,880 Obviously they've had a change in manner as well, manager as 30 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:58,240 well. So there's definitely a lot to 31 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,920 be discussed around the team, things probably the Tartan Army 32 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:02,800 and even ourselves aren't aware of. 33 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,160 And that's what. We're going to do and delve into 34 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,400 in this episode, we will be speaking to a Danish native, 35 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:13,040 Tolkit Thailand, Thailu. I think I'm pronouncing that 36 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:14,840 right. I've absolutely butchered it 37 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:16,360 even though I was practicing it all day. 38 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,920 Bromby, fan writer, yeah, he's going to be able to share a lot 39 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:25,480 of knowledge with us, hopefully enlighten us going into the game 40 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,120 on Friday so we know a little bit more about what Denmark's 41 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,000 been up then what we're going to be up against. 42 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,880 And I'll come back to you just before we go into the chat with 43 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,000 Toca. What are you hoping we can get 44 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,640 from this discussion? A lot of insight, depth and 45 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,120 analysis hopefully. I think we know know a lot of 46 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,160 their players, we know them individually, we know them from 47 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,480 their club sides, but we don't know them from their 48 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,720 international team. We know our group, we know how 49 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:52,520 good we are. You know, we know how you know, 50 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,400 there's certain things we know. We know about our group and we 51 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:56,960 certain things we don't like about our group. 52 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:01,240 We don't know much about the Denmark squad as a group in 53 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:03,000 total. So I think get some insight, 54 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,080 analysis, get some strengths and weaknesses. 55 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,840 They've also got a new manager, you know, they've been a new 56 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,600 manager within the last year or so. 57 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:15,560 So to get some some analysis on how he's doing, but I think just 58 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:17,320 to see how the vibes are going into Friday. 59 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,520 'S just the the Danish perspective on how they look. 60 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,720 I mean it's I'll be interested to hear as well what he thinks 61 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:25,240 about us. It's always, you know, we've got 62 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,720 a lot of opinions in Scotland and be sure and we see them all 63 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,520 over Twitter turn around are quite vocal and letting their. 64 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:34,040 Displeasure be known. Or if they're they're happy with 65 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:36,320 how things have been going. So it'd be good to hear what he 66 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,120 thinks in terms of whether or not we are maybe a fermentable 67 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,880 opponent of what he made, what he made of been drawn against 68 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:44,480 us. I know if you look at the the 69 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,520 pot three sides, we were the highest ranked pot three sides. 70 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:48,880 So I can't imagine they're too pleased. 71 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:50,560 They were the name that came out of the hat. 72 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,640 And definitely I was more pleased to see Denmark than 73 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,520 Portugal to obviously Portugal being the other side, we have 74 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,360 been drawn against this depending on who won or lost 75 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,760 their playoff in March. And obviously Portugal 76 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,560 progressed from that one into the Nations League knockout 77 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,400 rounds. But yeah, hopefully it's going 78 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,120 to be a really high value conversation and the listeners 79 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,640 will be much more well acquainted of the Denmark side 80 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,839 we're going to be up against this Friday. 81 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:19,760 So with it further I do, we'll jump straight into that 82 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,600 conversation and we really hope you enjoy it. 83 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:28,080 So hello, Toki, thanks for joining us on the podcast for 84 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,680 what will hopefully be our enlightening session for the 85 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,120 Tartan Army and our listeners. I'll let you first of all just 86 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,480 introduce yourself and you can sort of tell the listener who 87 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:39,800 you are, what you do sort of thing. 88 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:42,600 Yeah, thank you very much for having me on. 89 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,120 It's it'll be good to to get to speak a little bit Danish 90 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,360 football and maybe learn a little bit about Scottish 91 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,080 football as well. But yeah, my name is Chuka. 92 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:55,160 I'm a Danish football writer, journalist, covering mostly the 93 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,840 Danish super leaguer and of course the national team. 94 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,800 I'm the editor in chief at the wilful Park dot DK website 95 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:06,600 covering Danish side Bundu and yeah, following everything 96 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:11,520 Danish football, have been working with the ESPN, BBC, The 97 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:15,720 New Yorker, a lot of different media on things related to 98 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,840 Danish football. So yeah, I've, I've been around 99 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:26,680 for I think 1015 years almost doing this and yeah, I'm pretty 100 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:28,680 excited. Now we have a new national team 101 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,000 code for the Danish team is beginning of a new era. 102 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,080 Finally we're starting this World Cup qualification group. 103 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,920 It was a bit ridiculous how we had to wait for so long compared 104 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,320 to the other groups. So pretty excited finally to get 105 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,000 started here. Yeah, because obviously everyone 106 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,360 else, they kicked off the campaigns. 107 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,520 And is it March or July? July. 108 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:52,680 July, oh, I think some of them, yeah. 109 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:57,880 So or June, So June, yeah, I think obviously us been in that 110 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,160 smaller group, we've had to wait that a little bit longer and 111 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:05,280 it's turned it into quite a so you know, no one's in in the 112 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:07,120 European qualifiers. I don't think we're quite used 113 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,240 to having such a short and condensed qualifying campaign. 114 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,320 So but it could provide for a very exciting one, very 115 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,680 fast-paced, but but yeah, so I think. 116 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,200 Do you go to a lot of Denmark games yourself or are you a 117 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:24,840 watcher from afar? I go to as many as I can, not as 118 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:28,400 many as as I want to. I'm I'm, I'm going to all the, 119 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,120 all the bumpy matches. So I kind of enjoy when, when 120 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,320 there's a national team break to, to watch some games in in TV 121 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,400 as well and, and have a little bit of an an off weekend. 122 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,000 But yeah, of course I watch as much as as I can and I watched 123 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,280 it watch all the the national team games. 124 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:46,560 It's it's been some, some pretty exciting years for Denmark. 125 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,920 So now we'll we will see what can, what Rima here can can do. 126 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,280 It should be fun. How is Bromby getting on this 127 00:06:56,280 --> 00:06:58,040 season? Just to go to the club football? 128 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,240 I know that you've signed a player from Coventry called 129 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,160 Lewis Banks and I know that he's actually Scottish eligible and 130 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,800 I've I've been looking at some of the your games this season. 131 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:09,480 How has it been so far this season? 132 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:11,760 Yeah, Lewis Binks has been really, really good. 133 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,320 Actually. He looks like a fantastic 134 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,320 signing. Apart from that, not the best 135 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,720 start to the season. We were eliminated in the 136 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,640 Conference League last last Thursday hereby by Strasbourg 137 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,840 and just lost in the league against Migilant yesterday. 138 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,520 So they're setting forth it's it's not a disaster, but but 139 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,280 also not not great. And of course losing in Europe 140 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,440 is is that's tough. I mean, you always have that 141 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,840 dream of going to to the league phase and everything, but it, 142 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:41,920 it, it wasn't this year, you know, unfortunately well. 143 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,480 I mean, Scotland, let's say Scotland, Scottish clubs have 144 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,120 had their fair share of defeats in recent weeks in Europe. 145 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,320 So I think a lot of fans from from Scotland, they'll be able 146 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,600 to sympathize me on that front. Yeah, you've not. 147 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:57,440 You've not lost badly, have you, compared to the Scottish clubs? 148 00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,880 I mean, look at Rangers, you've not actually lost that badly 149 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:01,200 compared to losing to Stroudsburg. 150 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:03,000 That is true. That is very true. 151 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:05,680 I was, I was watching the Hibernian match against the 152 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,480 middle and actually that was, that was crazy. 153 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,960 I mean that that finish with the sizzle kick and everything, that 154 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,360 was definitely unexpected. We were talking to Hibs 155 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,080 supporter the other week in our podcast and he was at the game 156 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,040 and he said, you know, it's like the worst way to lose because 157 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,200 it's like the best goals you could actually concede but in 158 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,760 the worst possible time. You know, it's it was such a 159 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:29,800 topsy turvy game. But if you've been looking at 160 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,600 Hibs very much the whole year being run, they've had so many 161 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:34,640 crazy games. All three games have went all 162 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:36,240 three times have went to extra time. 163 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:39,280 So they've had their fair share of the roller coaster. 164 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,640 So I think you've featured very well. 165 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,560 So yeah, I'll just, first of all, we'll just ask you what's 166 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:50,360 your sort of take on the group talk, because as a Scotland fan, 167 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,520 it feels like a very tight group being a, we were obviously a pot 168 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,760 three side and we were the highest ranked pot three side we 169 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,280 could have been. I think we could have been pot 170 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,000 one had the had the results gone the right way for us. 171 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,880 But unfortunately it wasn't. But from a Danish perspective, 172 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,800 how are you looking at the sort of the next six games and what 173 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,040 you're up against? It's it's a funny time to be a 174 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,120 Danish football fan because I can. 175 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:17,440 I mean, these past five years, there has never been higher 176 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,240 expectations in my entire life. I mean, obviously my first, the 177 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,000 first major tournament I really remember was the 1998 one. 178 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,440 But since then, the expectations have never really been high 179 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,280 until we had the human went to that, the semi final at the Euro 180 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,120 four years ago and and failed miserably, unfortunately in 181 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,480 Qatar. But still, Despite that, there's 182 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:43,720 a lot of, a lot of expectations, but there's also a lot of 183 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:47,040 confidence. So generally I would say that 184 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,880 people are pretty happy with the group we avoided. 185 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:55,760 I, I think both Greece and and Scotland are, are good teams, 186 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,360 but also I think on paper they might still have the best team 187 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,200 and, and it will be considered a, a failure if we don't 188 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:05,120 qualify. I mean, there's a lot of 189 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,600 respect, of course, for especially the Scottish team and 190 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:11,760 there's a lot of respect for Scottish fans, especially 191 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,960 because of, of, of how great numbers they travel to the away 192 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,040 matches, how how much fun it is to play against Scottish teams 193 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,480 because of the fans and the football culture and everything. 194 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,800 But but, but yeah, the expectation is definitely that 195 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:28,440 Denmark wins the group and and qualify for for for the World 196 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,320 Cup here because it is a very strong team. 197 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,200 We are fielding. It's not as good as it was at 198 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:40,080 the Euro during the Covic Euro, but still we have a very good 199 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:41,960 team. There's a lot of confidence in 200 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:46,320 this team and also have been integrating some new, young, 201 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,680 exciting players. So we are looking stronger than 202 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:53,960 we did in Qatar at the last World Cup, I would say for sure. 203 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,520 So, yeah, Denmark, Denmark are definitely expected to to win 204 00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,800 the group. It's not expected that we that 205 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,640 we will go out and dominate the group because, yeah, especially 206 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,520 the away matches against Scotland and Greece will be, 207 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,880 will be difficult. But once all six matches are 208 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:13,480 played, Denmark I expected to be leading the group. 209 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:18,240 I was just going to say because a lot of people in this country 210 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,560 are saying that maybe Greece are the favourites for the group 211 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:22,840 just because of the way that we played, because we played 212 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,840 against them in the the Nations League playoffs and back in 213 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:28,720 March. And they totally, you know, 214 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,880 first game, you know, they dominated us, but we got the win 215 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,640 at hand and it was a three nil. Would you say that's fair? 216 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,080 Do you think you're just going or you're going to be loyal to 217 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:38,360 your team and say that Denmark is still the favorite? 218 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,360 Especially, I still think Denmark are the favourites and 219 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:42,800 the strongest team, but do you think that could be a fair 220 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,440 assessment from people in this country in Greece might be the 221 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,360 favourites for the group? No, I I would still say that 222 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,560 Marcus is the is the favorite. I mean, when, when we're looking 223 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,280 at our squad, we we have a player from Barcelona too, from 224 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:58,280 Man United. I know Man United, it doesn't 225 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,240 have the same weight these days, but I mean, practically all our 226 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:04,760 players are in the in the top five leagues. 227 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:10,000 The odd is the odd player in in Portugal and Belgium, but but 228 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,480 most of them are playing in the top leagues, whereas I think 229 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:15,480 Greek. I was looking at the at the 230 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:17,040 squad the Greek squad earlier today. 231 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,440 Most of them are in the domestic Greek league. 232 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,600 So actually I would be I'm more afraid of of Scotland than I am 233 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:28,440 of the of the Greece. Yeah, that's interesting to hear 234 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:32,160 actually. Glad we're carrying that sort of 235 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:32,480 way. Glad. 236 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:34,280 Somebody's are scared of. US, yeah. 237 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,000 I'm glad because everybody that we, because I've been putting 238 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,560 post stuff about the group and everybody's saying how scared we 239 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:43,200 are for Friday and how scared we are for the group in general 240 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:44,800 because it's such a tight little group as well. 241 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,600 Four games, you know, four teams and you know as you were saying, 242 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,480 Ella James, it's you know, we we're normally A5 team or a six 243 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,800 team being in the four teams like being in the Nations League 244 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:53,840 group. Yeah. 245 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,200 And I mean, just usually in your, your qualifying campaigns 246 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:01,880 as well with the, the EUR, the World Cup, because the way you 247 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:03,960 know, these groups work, if there's six or five teams in the 248 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:08,240 past, you've only got 10 games, maybe only eight games. 249 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:10,680 There's not a lot of margin for either. 250 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,640 You know, it's you feel like you've got to land all your 251 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:18,640 punches and in a group like this, I think, you know, you 252 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,560 have just eliminated maybe one of the lower seeded teams from 253 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:23,000 the group. But at the same time, it still 254 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,520 feels that there's more pressure to get things right in this one 255 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:28,960 because you've not got a lot of time to rectify them with how 256 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:30,880 quickly the games are coming round. 257 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,520 But yeah, no, so I mean, looking at the DNS team coming into this 258 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:41,000 in terms of your form since of EUR 2024, I don't know if you 259 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:42,600 class it as a bit of a disappointment. 260 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,680 Obviously you got you've got the same wins as Scotland, but you 261 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:50,720 did a lot better getting 3 draws in a group against England, 262 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,120 Slovenia and Serbia. That was enough for you to 263 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,600 progress and then you lost two nil to Germany, which was quite 264 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,600 a massive improvement on what we managed in our opening game 265 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:02,560 against them. Don't bring back nightmares 266 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:03,680 first, James. Don't. 267 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:05,160 Bring back nightmares. That's less about that the 268 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,800 better. But yeah, since the start of 269 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:14,120 2024, competitively, you've only lost four games and they've been 270 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,920 to Spain home and the way Portugal away and Germany and 271 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,960 the EUR, only one of them, only one of those games is at home, 272 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:24,600 the Spanish one and the Nations League. 273 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,240 Do you view Parkin as about a fortress view? 274 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,240 Is that somewhere you feel like you've got really good form? 275 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,280 Obviously, I mean, obviously you do, but just how do you feel the 276 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,240 Danish team is going into this? Yeah. 277 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,920 That's definitely very true. And, and I mean, I said in the 278 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,360 beginning how there was a lot of expectations and a lot of 279 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:43,920 excitement around this Danish team. 280 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,840 And I think that's part of it. I mean, now the, the, the Danish 281 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,360 matches, it hasn't always been like this, but there's generally 282 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,200 sold out for, for these qualification matches that that 283 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,760 has not always been the case, but there's a lot of support for 284 00:14:57,760 --> 00:14:59,560 this team. It really started during the the 285 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,560 COVID years where everybody came together to support the national 286 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,000 team. Of course there was the disaster 287 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,200 with Christian Erikson collapsing on the pitch and 288 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,240 there was the whole team and the country came together. 289 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,120 We went to the semi final, of course, also a little bit of 290 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,920 some lucky draws. But since then they've been 291 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,960 riding on a wave basically with with really, really impressive 292 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,360 support from from fans, both in the stadium, but also just 293 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:28,320 people behind the at home in the couch in front of the TV. 294 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,880 There's so much more attention and excitement around the team 295 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:33,520 here. And I think you can really see 296 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:35,560 that on the pitch as well, especially when they're playing, 297 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,360 when they're playing at home. When that is said, I think the 298 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,480 results we have delivered over the past years also a little bit 299 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,240 deceptive because yes, on paper they look really, really good. 300 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:53,240 But for example, that Euro we played last summer, results were 301 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:54,960 decent. I mean, advancing from the 302 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,720 group, you can never really be unhappy with that than losing 303 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,120 never lead to Germany. But at the same time, I think 304 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:03,920 anybody who watched our games were very, very disappointed 305 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:05,960 with how they were playing offensively. 306 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:12,440 It was super predictable, boring, uncreative and very slow 307 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,240 paced. And which was also part of the 308 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:19,240 reason why you men and and the association went their separate 309 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,440 ways, because that whole relationship, despite all the 310 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:27,080 love that that it, it, it gave birth to with the fans, it had 311 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,320 also run it's time. And it was time to to try 312 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,400 something to, to try something new. 313 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,920 And, and I think also, yeah, so so and that was the case as well 314 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:43,600 in the Indonesians league, which we saw last year that yes, the 315 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,800 results were good, but it was not, it was not Danish dynamite. 316 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,240 I mean, it was not the explosive, entertaining 317 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,040 football. It was a little bit more 318 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:58,240 defensive minded, cynical. And and that's not really what 319 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,960 Danish football fans want. I mean, it's we want to win, but 320 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:03,880 it's also very important to win in the right way. 321 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,839 And, and I think anybody who who are on the older side and 322 00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:10,880 remember like the 80s and so on, they also understand that for 323 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,599 many Danish fans, like they're fine with being the best losers. 324 00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:17,359 They're fine with with with losing as long as you do it in a 325 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:19,480 way where it's like you're playing entertaining of 326 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:22,920 offensive football and doing things what kind of like the 327 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:27,920 right way instead of playing this defensive cynical football 328 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,280 that we often mark, for example, Sweden and no Norway for doing 329 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:35,080 so. Yeah, we, we want to see our 330 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,040 team be entertaining and we want to get to the World Cup. 331 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,520 But we also have to, we have to do it in a way where we 332 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,000 hopefully score a lot of goals and we're playing with a way 333 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,160 that excites people and makes us proud for the national team. 334 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,240 Because just going to the World Cup and, and I mean, that's not 335 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:54,200 enough, it it also has to be. Yeah, it's not about. 336 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:55,400 Just yeah. Exactly. 337 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,280 Exactly. I was going to say back in 338 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,720 March, we had a topsy turvy game in the nation in the nation's 339 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,840 league playoff against Portugal. What was that like? 340 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,080 Because every time I was looking at the game, it was just raining 341 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,480 goals at one point. You know, one thing wasn't gone. 342 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,200 You know, this was the second leg or anything. 343 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,720 It was just to go away the Portugal and play for a 344 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:18,440 performance like what you did. And I've seen some of the 345 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:20,520 second-half as well. I was trying to watch as much as 346 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,520 I could because we were we had them the grease second leg and I 347 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,160 was trying to watch in your your game against Portugal. 348 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,640 What was that game like? Because it was just, it seemed 349 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:31,480 like tactics at one point just went out the window. 350 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:35,720 Yeah, that was that was a lot of fun because of course, I think 351 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:37,400 it's probably the same in in Scotland. 352 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:39,960 But the Nations League is obviously big for us and it's 353 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,160 it's it's big when we get to play against these huge nations. 354 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,960 I mean, it's not, I think we care more about Nations League 355 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,800 than Portugal or Spain or these other countries do, because it's 356 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:51,680 not often that they might get to win anything. 357 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:56,000 So the fact that we can play a semi final and, and I mean, 358 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,360 obviously there was also some, some potential advantages of, of 359 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:02,240 World Cup seeding and all of this stuff. 360 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,000 So yeah, that was a lot of fun. And, and especially after we won 361 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,000 the first match at home, that was OK. 362 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,040 Maybe maybe we have something here. 363 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,080 I mean, ultimately we lost to, to Portugal after extra time, 364 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:16,040 but the fact that we could go down to to Lisbon and be 365 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:18,120 competitive, that that really said a lot. 366 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:22,000 Then that gave birth to to a lot of optimism And, and yeah, that 367 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,200 match was just crazy. It's that moment to see. 368 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,000 I think it was a fight to exactly. 369 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:34,000 Mean for I mean, I'd agree with you about the nations leagues. 370 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,680 I feel like that's something that's been very kind to 371 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,280 Scotland. We started way down in Group C 372 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,360 initially and I did think Scotland kind of got stuck in a 373 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,520 cycle at points where we we did get out of tough draws and we 374 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,560 were finishing in positions in groups that maybe I don't know 375 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,840 if I'm just been a rose tinted glasses fan here looking, you 376 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,880 know, kind little modern team, but I felt we were we were we 377 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,600 sometimes got a raw deal and the Nations League allowed us to 378 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:00,040 progress up through the ranks and. 379 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,640 I feel like we're in a. Position, it's much more. 380 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:07,160 Reflective of where the national team actually is on the patch 381 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:08,600 and you know, the players we've got. 382 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:13,840 I think we had we had actually quite similar Nations League 383 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:18,240 campaign to you again, maybe been kind to Scotland, but it 384 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:23,040 was slim margins for getting Stan had been in the playoffs to 385 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,720 move up the way or getting relegated and or the playoff 386 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:28,800 down the way. And inside that was the playoff 387 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,720 down that we got us cop with Greece in March. 388 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,640 But yeah, it's it's definitely been a good thing for testing 389 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,640 yourselves at the right level. And I can understand why sort of 390 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,880 Denmark as well. Appreciate having the platform 391 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:47,160 to do that. We'll move on and sort of look 392 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,920 at the Danish squad because obviously I think over the years 393 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,360 there's been a lot of names people could recite straight off 394 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:56,160 the top of their head. You know, Danish players, 395 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,080 football legends. Krishna Ericsson is a massive 396 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:04,520 name, obviously past his prime, but you know, everyone's more 397 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,960 than familiar over his time at Spars what he's capable of. 398 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:10,440 Obviously he's not got a club right now and he's not been 399 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,360 included in the squad. I've heard different opinions 400 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:17,720 from Danes on this really have been in the squad if you were 401 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,440 the one picking it. It's a good question. 402 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,560 I've been going back and forward on that for a long time. 403 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,640 I think ultimately, yes, I would have picked him because we don't 404 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,200 have any players who can do what he can and I think the the 405 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:38,400 playing style he has is is less dependent on on the physical 406 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,320 part of his game. He's very professional, 407 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:44,800 obviously at his age, so I'm sure he has stayed fit over the 408 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,440 summer even though he hasn't had a club to train with. 409 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,960 I mean, you can also draw some comparisons to Lasmos Hoyland, 410 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,400 for example, who's been out of the squad for the first Premier 411 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,480 League matches with United and he is in the squad. 412 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:02,040 So of course he had a preseason and played friendly matches and 413 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:04,800 so on. But Ericsson is not the only 414 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:09,400 player who who is lacking is lacking competitive games. 415 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,120 Also Philippe Anderson, the second goalkeeper hasn't played 416 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:15,520 really for Chelsea either. So there are other players were 417 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:17,720 in the same boat. And I think Ericsson is such a 418 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,280 special player that that I would have, I would have called him up 419 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,720 unless of course he requested that I, I need time to find 420 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,240 myself a club. So but I don't think so. 421 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,240 I mean, he he loves the national team and I can't imagine that he 422 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:31,960 would tell the coach that he's unavailable. 423 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:33,680 Yeah, yeah. I suppose you never really know 424 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,920 what's going on in conversations, buying closed 425 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,560 doors, but that's certainly, Yeah. 426 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:40,840 I mean, he's an absolute Talisman for your country and 427 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,440 some, you know, we've all seen the goals he scored, the moments 428 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,880 of magic can produce in just a second. 429 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:52,200 So as a Scotland fan, I will say I'm quite pleased he's not not 430 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,960 in there and we'll be dealing with someone else instead. 431 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,560 I was going to mention a player that isn't the squad and Matt 432 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:01,320 O'Reilly. A lot of Scotland supporters 433 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,640 will know him from his time at Celtic and he's going to 434 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:06,480 Brighton we think. I don't know if it's went 435 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,080 through. We're recording this on Monday 436 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,920 so I don't know if it's went through or not, if he's going to 437 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,360 Marcia or not. What would you think a deal like 438 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:17,080 that, if it has went through going to Marcia would be like 439 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,200 for Matt O'Reilly? Would that be a good move for 440 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:20,960 him personally or do you think he should have stayed at 441 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,120 Brighton? I was a bit surprised when I 442 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:26,640 saw, I mean, I saw the videos of him standing with the Mercedes 443 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:28,400 Gov and meeting the fans and everything. 444 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,760 I was a bit surprised because I thought he did well in the first 445 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,400 two matches here in the in the Premier League. 446 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,400 But I think also it's it's super important for him to get regular 447 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:39,240 game time at A at a very high level. 448 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,760 And probably Brighton indicated that he it wasn't going to 449 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,360 happen at the level he wanted to. 450 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,800 So Mercedes is a good club. So him going down to play with 451 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,520 Pyramid Hobia, our captain, I'm fine with that. 452 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,560 The most important thing for me is that he gets game time on on 453 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,200 a high level. Obviously last season he missed 454 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,160 most of the time with with an injury. 455 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,280 So he's still very new on the national team, hasn't really 456 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:08,280 been integrated. He has four games so far and he 457 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,560 hasn't really done anything as a as a national team player. 458 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:16,720 So, yeah, I think it, it sounds like a good move and, and it'll 459 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,360 be fun to follow him because he he has some, the way he plays 460 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:26,520 his, his, his, how dangerous he is in front of goal and his 461 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,040 offensive qualities is something we we don't have a lot of 462 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,200 players like that. I mean, we have a lot of winners 463 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:33,400 and, and of course we have Erickson who can be the creative 464 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,800 midfielder. But but other than that, yeah, 465 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,880 he's a good backup and, and hopefully can, can take some 466 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,080 pressure off Erickson coming off the bench or maybe even yeah, 467 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,600 he's only 24. So, so he should have a a long 468 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:50,040 future on the national team to establish himself at some point. 469 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,520 Do you think he would take over Ericsson's position in the 470 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:55,840 national team going forward? Do you think there's somebody 471 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,000 else that's in the winds going to take over from Christian 472 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:03,400 Eriksen in that position? I think right now it's it's it's 473 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:07,280 him and Michael Damsko that are the leading people for for that 474 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,560 position. But as I said, we we still 475 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,000 haven't seen so much for Matt O'Reilly on the national team. 476 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,560 He was very, very hyped when he played for Celtic. 477 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:19,400 He had that amazing season scoring 18 goals, I think it 478 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,320 was. And people were outraged when he 479 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,680 wasn't called up for the for the Euro last summer because of that 480 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:27,920 season. I mean, everybody was asking how 481 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,280 can we have a player that scores so many goals for Celtic and 482 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:34,000 it's not called up. Which again, also says a little 483 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,160 bit about the respect that Danish fans have for for both 484 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,160 the the big Scottish clubs and, and Scottish football in in 485 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,840 general. But yeah, I think it's very, 486 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:48,160 very open and and I hope that Erickson gets to play at least a 487 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,280 couple of more years. I think the way he's playing 488 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,880 means that it's not urgent for him to step down. 489 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,320 So it all depends on his on his hunger. 490 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,440 But I wouldn't say that Matt O'Reilly is like a clear cut #2 491 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,720 right now he's still new on the national team. 492 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,600 We have a lot of a lot of players, also some creative 493 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:06,800 players who are not called up like yes, Palindstream, who 494 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,000 played on The Who played forever time in the Premier League last 495 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,000 season and who's back in in the Bundes League and right now. 496 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,760 So it's very open behind him, behind Ericsson. 497 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,680 I mean, and yeah, O'Reilly is is a candidate for sure, but but 498 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:25,040 it's not like a clear cut thing and and he is still on the 499 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,400 fringe of the national team in general really. 500 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:32,000 So he needs to prove himself for for my say, otherwise it's not a 501 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,920 given that he would be in the squad the next time. 502 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,400 Yeah, because I think I'm writing saying he's only got 4 503 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,640 caps for Denmark as it stands. But I mean at 24 he's still got 504 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,280 the best part is clear ahead. I'm sure you know, if he keeps 505 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,640 improving, doing ways, you know, this trajectory from Celtic has 506 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:51,320 been very promising. And yeah, I think personally 507 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,200 he's a player I would love to have in the Scotland team. 508 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,200 Looking across the board the the, the Danish squad, obviously 509 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:00,400 there's a good few names that people will be familiar with. 510 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,000 Kasper Schmeichel is currently Celtic. 511 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,960 Matt Riley we've already mentioned Mikael Damsgard is a 512 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,920 player way back, EUR 20. I think Scotland fans will have 513 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,560 fond memories of watching him score that free kick against 514 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,560 England, Andreas Christensen for Barcelona. 515 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,440 But there's a lot of other names that maybe aren't as striking 516 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:26,760 out, one that I picked out more and humans highly rated player 517 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,000 for sporting. Is there any others you'd sort 518 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:35,480 of the the like for you or names that you appreciate and around 519 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,040 Denmark that aren't maybe ones that are going to instantly jump 520 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,960 out as to to fans like myself who are looking out, who's the 521 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,240 one to watch? Yeah, I think, I think two 522 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,960 players that are really worth highlighting. 523 00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:50,520 And I can mention another one who's like an honorable mention, 524 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,520 but but two players that are really worth highlighting is our 525 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,600 striker Mika Beers. He plays for AS Monaco. 526 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:01,120 I think if Scotland is anything like Denmark, you probably don't 527 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:04,440 watch a lot of matches from from the from the French league. 528 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,600 But he came from. Yeah, I will say one thing. 529 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,640 Mika Burev is he he has a name that will be familiar with 530 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,960 handfuls 'cause it's because of his time at Motherwell. 531 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,440 Oh, yeah. It was only, I think it was 532 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,040 maybe only it was only sex moms. He was there. 533 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:19,320 He was only there. He's unknown to Marshall. 534 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,080 Yeah, he. Was only there to like Christmas 535 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:27,040 on new year I think. So, yeah, but he was a name I 536 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:28,720 was going to bring up. So it's interesting to hear your 537 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,800 thoughts on him because he's not a name you're much talked about. 538 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:34,200 Like you say, the French league's maybe not one of the 539 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,560 ones that is in the limelight too much, unless you're maybe 540 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:40,600 playing for PSG or that, but yeah. 541 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,440 Yeah, he he went absolutely nuclear last season. 542 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,240 He came in January from Stone class in in Austria, scored 13 543 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,160 gold in 16 matches. I think he had two hat tricks 544 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:54,840 and I mean, he he is dangerous. It is, it is really impressive. 545 00:28:54,840 --> 00:29:00,080 And we saw in the friendlies before the before the summer 546 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,360 vacation that he has actually taken over the the starting 547 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:05,880 strikers. But from Asmus Hoyland, which I 548 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:09,680 think everybody expected Hoyland to, to just sit on that position 549 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:13,000 for the next 10 years. But right now the earth it is 550 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,840 our strongest option as the number 9. 551 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,320 And yeah, he he looked decent in those matches. 552 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,320 But I think now when he he's a little bit older, he has been on 553 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,000 the national team before, a little bit more experienced at 554 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:27,040 the highest level. I think him I'm really, really 555 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:31,560 excited to watch he he can be. Yeah, he he looks incredible. 556 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,800 His scoring rate at Monaco. I mean, he's not a guy who he 557 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,720 doesn't do a lot of things, but the things he do in front of 558 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,240 goal are just they are, they are incredible. 559 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,840 And then he can become a really, really good striker. 560 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,760 I'm very happy that he chose to stay at Monaco instead of 561 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,960 already moved to a bigger club because I think another year in 562 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,160 the French league and then to the World Cup next summer. 563 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:54,880 That sounds like a really good recipe for him. 564 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,640 Also on the midfield, I think Scottish fans should keep an eye 565 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:04,720 on which of 400 he just left FC Copenhagen to join FC Porto in 566 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:09,800 in Portugal and has started like like a Thunder down there. 567 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,480 I mean, he's already established himself as one of the better 568 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,880 midfielders, of course early, but one of the better 569 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,520 midfielders in Portugal and he's a huge talent. 570 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:23,800 He he is like 19 1/2 and yeah, got his debut on the national 571 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:26,480 team when he was 19 playing still in the Danish league, 572 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:30,400 which is not very common at all. And yeah, then became one of 573 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,960 Copenhagen's biggest ever sales and he looks really, really 574 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:35,720 good. I think when we're talking about 575 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,600 the future on on the midfield, he is one of the guys that we 576 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,560 will end up building the team around. 577 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,920 Of course he's he's not a offensive minded midfielder. 578 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,240 He's more controlling midfielder, central midfielder, 579 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,240 but he looks like really looks like the real deal. 580 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,040 And then I think defensively, yeah, of course you already 581 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,400 mentioned, you know, all the guys who are playing in the 582 00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,160 Premier League and and and as Christmas in Barcelona. 583 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,880 But we spoke a little bit about Strasbourg earlier and and Lucas 584 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,400 Krugsba, who joined them this summer from FC N Shoreland, 19 585 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,520 year old central defender just turned 19 in in June. 586 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,800 He has a really, really bright future as well. 587 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,360 One of those ball playing midfield central defenders that 588 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,000 can push forward, that can be creative. 589 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,920 And it's also just a really physically strong guy for his 590 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,040 age and and really good defender that is tough to get by. 591 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:30,680 So I think the, the future is, is, is really bright and, and we 592 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,640 have finally done that generation shift. 593 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,520 Of course there's a couple of the old guys still with Vista Go 594 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,520 and, and Ericsson will return eventually, Smigel, York, 595 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:43,960 Anderson and so on. But there's a lot of of 596 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,520 interesting new players and, and they seem to have good 597 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,480 mentality. They're playing for the clubs 598 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:52,880 and yeah, they, they are really pushing for, for this team to, 599 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:58,560 to, to be rejuvenated a bit and get more youthly optimism and, 600 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,320 and dedication into the team passion. 601 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,040 You can see it means a lot for them to, to play on the national 602 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:05,720 team. And, and, and I think also the 603 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:09,040 fans are excited about this and can see that, hey, it's not, 604 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:11,160 it's not the same old Danish team anymore. 605 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,200 I mean, also Dog, who of course from Man United, only 20 years 606 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:17,680 old. So yeah, you have that spirit 607 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,160 you can only get when you have a lot of these young guys who are 608 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,640 just eager to prove themselves and show what they can do and 609 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,000 everything. I was going to mention Rasmus, 610 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,000 Rasmus Hoyland, I can't denounce his name properly, so I do 611 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,880 apologise. He's he's moved to Napoli 612 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,760 tonight as far as I can see. Yeah, he's moved tonight. 613 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:38,840 And I've got a confirmation for you there as somebody who's been 614 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:40,840 watching a lot of Napoli games, because obviously we've got 615 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:42,560 Scott Mctominy and Billy Gilmore there. 616 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,640 Do you think that's a good link up something that could work for 617 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:50,680 Napoli going forward? Hoyland and like Tommy together, 618 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:52,840 they did obviously have a little bit of time in Man United, but 619 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,640 and Antonio country team. Would that be something that 620 00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:59,480 could be beneficial for Napoli going forward? 621 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:02,680 I think it's I think it's a great move, but to be fair, I 622 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:05,440 also think that any club that is not Man United would have been a 623 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,160 good move for him. But the But I think Napoli is a 624 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,160 really good move. Obviously it's a city that just 625 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,360 lives for the football. And also in Denmark, we have 626 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,400 seen how MC Terminate has just taken a one. 627 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,120 And I mean, I think he was nominated for belong there or 628 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,000 even. So hopefully, hopefully Holland 629 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,360 can do some of the same. I think it has really been 630 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,000 difficult for him to play at United. 631 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,960 And they haven't developed him as they should and they haven't 632 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,520 treated him as they should. They haven't. 633 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,880 They haven't played him in a way that enhances his talent and 634 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:43,080 skills. So I think this new wave of 635 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:47,640 fresh air and especially Napoli that yeah, I think you can see 636 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:49,600 on Max Harmony how much he enjoys living there. 637 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:51,760 I think it is really good for him. 638 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:54,240 And obviously Hoyland has already played and lived in 639 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:58,600 Italy, so that whole integration to a new team should be easier 640 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:01,600 for him. And yeah, I'm, I'm excited also 641 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:04,440 with, of course, with Lukaku being injured, that means that 642 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,040 the road to to playing time is not as as long as as it could 643 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:10,960 have been elsewhere. And yeah, he's still very, very 644 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:12,960 young guy. He just needs some playing time 645 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,960 and he needs a coach who trusts him and an environment that 646 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,280 isn't dragging him down, pulling him down and tearing him apart 647 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,080 after every single match. I mean, he's young, he's wrong. 648 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,920 He needs to be able to make a few mistakes here and there, but 649 00:34:25,159 --> 00:34:28,360 he's also very, very talented and and yeah, I think this will 650 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,000 be a good move for him. Why do you think? 651 00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:34,040 Manchester Sorry, James, I'll just come in there. 652 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,400 Why do you think it's not one time in Manchester United for 653 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:40,120 him? I think, I think if, if we are, 654 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,920 if I'm honest, a part of it was that it was too big a step for 655 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:47,159 him because I mean, he really only had six months of playing 656 00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:49,719 regularly for Azalanza before he moved. 657 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:54,080 We, we have to remember how much of A comedic rice he was on. 658 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,880 I mean, he played the I think a year he played in Austria after 659 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,400 Copenhagen, thought he wasn't good enough so they sold him to 660 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,880 Austria. So then he played a year in 661 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,840 Atlanta and suddenly he was at Man United for what was it 662 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:08,160 60,000,000 lbs or something they bought him for? 663 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,760 So I think everything just went too fast for him and, and, and 664 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,240 the challenge was too big. But I also think he did pretty 665 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:17,760 well in his first season. I think he had ten goals in the 666 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:19,720 league. And I mean he scored in the 667 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:25,120 Champions League the year after. But yeah, it seemed like it was 668 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:30,240 too chaotic a situation and too fast, but also coming into a 669 00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:34,160 team that was just, it was not working and they were throwing 670 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,360 players in and out and, yeah, firing head coaches and 671 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,400 everything. It was, yeah, it was not. 672 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,600 I, I get you don't say no to Man United and that big paycheck. 673 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:48,240 But I think if he was, if he was looking back, he would probably 674 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:50,640 have picked any other club that them because that was too 675 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:54,720 dysfunctional for for a young guy who who was still very raw 676 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:58,760 at the time and and needed trust and patience and yeah, a little 677 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,600 bit of calmness, I think. And obviously none of none of 678 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:03,720 those things is what you get at Man United at the time. 679 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:08,840 No, I mean, as a as a Scotland fan, I think I could say I'm 680 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:11,240 pleased. I mean, it's good for the move 681 00:36:11,240 --> 00:36:14,520 to Denapolis come about. But knowing that we had Denmark 682 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,800 and our group and your main striker was sort of misfiring 683 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,000 the Man United, that was something that maybe was a bit 684 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,520 more of a positive for us. So if Napoli is going to do a 685 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:25,560 job on him as to what they've done to make comedy in terms of 686 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:28,560 turning his form around, obviously my Tommy has been 687 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,440 someone that the Scotland fans have long appreciated. 688 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,560 But like you said at Man United, it can be a bit of a hard job 689 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,040 there when things aren't going your way, which have not been 690 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:40,640 there for a while. But yeah, I mean, in terms of 691 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:43,360 the Denmark score as a whole, obviously touched on one of the 692 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,760 youngsters you've got. It was a Victor Throat at Porto. 693 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,920 Now looking at the balance of the squads, I just jot it down 694 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,720 some stats. It was going 25 players in the 695 00:36:53,720 --> 00:36:56,080 squad, 17 of them have over 10 caps. 696 00:36:56,080 --> 00:37:01,160 Meanwhile in the Danish squad, only 12 of their 23 have over 10 697 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:03,560 caps. And then the average age in 698 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,880 Scotland's closest to 27, meanwhile in the Danish squad is 699 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:08,560 25. And I know these are just 700 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:13,880 numbers, but and like you said, there's some benefits you get to 701 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:15,240 having younger guys in your squad. 702 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,400 Guys would be less experienced, come with that sort of flair and 703 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,240 sort of lack of fear for making mistakes. 704 00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:24,520 I think Ben Doakes on all Scotland fans would point to 705 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:27,080 straight away with that. He's only got 6 caps but he's 706 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,760 he's really one of our best players and one of the first 707 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:31,840 names they want to see on the team sheet. 708 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:36,800 Now do you feel like this not sitting there in transition, but 709 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,560 like do you feel it is slightly less experienced than before? 710 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:42,720 And you know, is that a good thing for you right now? 711 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,440 Yeah, I think you are. You are pretty spot on. 712 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,400 It is a very, very inexperienced team we have here. 713 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:51,640 As I said, that there's a lot of young guys. 714 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:55,160 I also think once the qualification is over and we 715 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:59,040 look back at all this, all the six matches we played and 716 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:03,000 hopefully with with the mark at the World Cup, I think we would 717 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:07,160 also see that there are a lot more familiar names because I 718 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:10,160 mean, normally, for example, Katianargo from Arsenal would be 719 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:12,440 in the squad, Matthew Jensen from Brentford would be in the 720 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,200 squad. We have Jonas win and just 721 00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:19,200 Paulson up front who would also most likely be in the squad. 722 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:21,720 So. Just rattled off with three of 723 00:38:21,720 --> 00:38:25,480 the names there that I've got an injury list of guys, especially 724 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:28,560 Nora Garden Paulson. Names are recognized. 725 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:30,480 I've known, you know, they've been about for a good few years, 726 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:32,840 have done well and they're not involved. 727 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:34,720 So yeah. Exactly. 728 00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:38,520 But but I think they will be eventually once the once we get 729 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,200 going here. I mean, we had a lot of players 730 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:42,320 who who have struggled a little bit with injuries. 731 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,720 Some of them have been switching teams and the yeah, but but I 732 00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:49,240 think once the obviously Christian Erickson as well, once 733 00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:52,240 the qualification is over, there will be more of these usual 734 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:55,640 suspects who's been involved with the team and have gotten a 735 00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:58,320 few more games. I mean, also Alexander Barr on 736 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:01,880 the on the right back has been playing quite well for Benfica, 737 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:03,760 but is is out injured at the moment. 738 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,720 So he's another guy who will who will be involved in in one way 739 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:13,160 or another at least. Just looking ahead to Friday's 740 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:17,080 game, what would you see as your main, main strengths and 741 00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:19,480 weaknesses as a as a team, as a standard of living? 742 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:21,320 So if you were to pay out the standard of living that you 743 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,480 think you're going to pay, do you, what would be your main 744 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:25,840 strength, Denmark's main strength? 745 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:27,600 Would it be something like say, PCs? 746 00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:31,080 Would it be counter attacks? And, and again, what would you 747 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:34,760 think the main weaknesses be for a Denmark team going to play a 748 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:38,560 team like Scotland? I think that the the weakness, I 749 00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:40,960 think we all already just said it basically, but that is 750 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:44,040 definitely the lack of experience and the the amount of 751 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:47,120 players who are not fully integrated into the team. 752 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:50,640 We we are probably missing a few of those relations. 753 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,080 You can only get between the players by having them play 754 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:57,160 together for a very long time. So, so there's definitely 755 00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:58,600 there's definitely some risk there. 756 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,760 And that's also why a lot of fans are calling for Smigel to 757 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:07,000 be to be replaced in in goal with Miss Hamilton from West 758 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:08,480 Ham. But I think. 759 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:11,520 Especially now when we have so many new players, it is an 760 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,200 advantage that we have him and he's been part of the national 761 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:19,080 team for forever and he knows he sets the standards, he's loud, 762 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:24,480 he is commanding, he he, he, he can be a leader on the team. 763 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,800 But the yeah, definitely inexperience is, is a big risk. 764 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:32,080 When we look at the at the strength I was, I think 765 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,080 generally the technical level on the team is really, really high. 766 00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:40,200 Of course, Denmark are sort of after playing three with the 767 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:43,920 three centre backs for a long time we we are have been playing 768 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:50,240 a lot in a 433 or 4231, whatever we call it since switching head 769 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:52,760 coach. And I think this this gives us 770 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:55,840 more control over the matches now when we have these extra 771 00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:59,280 midfielders and can play a little bit more offensive mind. 772 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:03,080 And of course, we still have very, very attacking full backs, 773 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,360 but we also have more control on the middle of the pitch. 774 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:10,360 And, and I think the the technical level generally on the 775 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:15,280 team from from Andreas Castenson in the central defense up to our 776 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:18,720 strikers means that we can get the opponents to run a lot, to 777 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:22,320 chase the ball a lot and hopefully also get to take a a 778 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:27,440 few breaks here and there with the ball and then pick our time 779 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:31,040 to to play fast and direct to create the chances. 780 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:36,160 So, but overall, yeah, it's it is a really good team and of 781 00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:39,360 course the core remains intact. We still have Smike and we still 782 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:42,840 have Andres questions in your commanders and we still have 783 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:44,760 hobby and dumps go on the midfield. 784 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:49,000 So it's not like we are building a completely new team either. 785 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,400 I mean, there's, you have the backbone and, and the, the guys 786 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,200 who've been on the team for a very long time and who knows the 787 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:59,040 standards and who knows what it takes to to qualify and and 788 00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:00,600 compete at the very highest level. 789 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,640 So I'm no earlier in the conversation you you know, it's 790 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:08,720 about the departure of your last manager sort of been a case of 791 00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:12,760 run his time. Brian Reamer been the new 792 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:15,800 manager that came in as Brian. I'm not pronouncing that right 793 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,960 and Scott when we say Brian, but I'm aware. 794 00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,400 Yeah, yeah. He obviously came in last 795 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,360 October. Realistically it's almost a year 796 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:29,000 ago, but he's only had the November, the March and the June 797 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:32,120 camps with the team. So this is 4th me up with the 798 00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:36,160 team. Are you starting to, do you feel 799 00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:37,400 like you've seen an improvement under him? 800 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,360 Has it been a big change or is it still a work in progress in 801 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:43,080 your opinion? I think it was a big 802 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:46,560 improvement. I was, I'm not only me, but I 803 00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:49,560 think everybody was getting a bit tired of of human. 804 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,560 In the end there was a lot of talk and not really any backing 805 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:55,800 it up on the pitch. So it was definitely needed that 806 00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:59,640 we got a new coach in. And yeah, there were not a lot 807 00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:02,120 of candidates. They were pretty insisted on 808 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:04,800 they they wanted a Danish coach. There were not a lot of options 809 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,560 out there. But they're luckily Witmer was 810 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:11,240 fired back in in Anderlecht in Belgium and became the coach 811 00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:15,480 very soon after. And yeah, he's done good so far. 812 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:18,960 But, but I think also, yeah, I know I spoke about Nations 813 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:21,840 League being meaningful here, but at the same time, it's not 814 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:24,960 the qualification and it's not, it's not the World Cup either. 815 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:28,760 So he has been playing a little bit for house money now. 816 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:33,560 It's it's like it's serious now. There's this is like the first 817 00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:36,760 exam and and yeah, as we said, there's not many matches. 818 00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:40,920 So we need to get off to a good start and it'll be interesting. 819 00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:43,520 I think he's done well in the in the first matches here. 820 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:47,000 He he has gotten some excitement back in the country. 821 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,360 He has gotten the support be Portugal. 822 00:43:51,240 --> 00:43:55,400 He has found his starting line up and the formation, the way he 823 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:57,480 wants to play. You can see that we have a good 824 00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:00,520 foundation. But but yeah, he he's still a 825 00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,880 relatively unknown guy. I mean, he had he had a year and 826 00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:05,880 a half as head coach for under Lake, but that's it. 827 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,160 Other than that, he's been an assistant at Brentford and 828 00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:10,480 Copenhagen. He's been a youth coach. 829 00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:14,000 So he is a pretty unknown guy in Denmark actually. 830 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:17,640 I mean, did this this match disappointment as as head coach 831 00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:22,000 here in Denmark was the first time we really got to know him 832 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:25,080 because he went from Copenhagen's under 19 to 833 00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:27,960 assistant for Thomas Frank and Brentford and then down to 834 00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:29,520 Underlake to become head coach there. 835 00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:32,280 So yeah, we don't really have that much of a relationship 836 00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:35,240 unless you are Copenhagen very hardcore fan that has watched 837 00:44:35,240 --> 00:44:38,200 him youth football. We don't really know who he is. 838 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:41,600 We haven't gotten to know him. We haven't gotten to see his 839 00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:45,240 teams, to see his identity, anything like that because of 840 00:44:45,240 --> 00:44:47,600 course nobody watches Belgium football here. 841 00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:52,920 So yeah, we are really also as a country just getting to know 842 00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:55,120 him. So far I've been very good and 843 00:44:55,400 --> 00:44:58,520 he's come off nicely. He's come off as likable and 844 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:00,400 said and done all the right things. 845 00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:06,200 But yeah, he is still, he is still a, a new guy and, and new 846 00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:09,440 in this position even though it's been a year, which is it's 847 00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:12,280 a bit crazy to say, but but that is how it how it feels. 848 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:15,640 Do you think he's doing a good job altogether then? 849 00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:19,240 Because if he's been for a year and he's done relatively OK in 850 00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:22,720 the nation League and he's done no, you can done a good job in 851 00:45:22,720 --> 00:45:25,360 the in the in the March game as well will be a defeat. 852 00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:27,480 Do you think he's done a relatively good job in a short 853 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:29,600 space of time? Yes, I, I don't think he could 854 00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:31,800 have done anything else than than what he has done. 855 00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:34,600 I, I mean, I don't think we could have asked more from him. 856 00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:37,960 He has done he, he has rejuvenated the team. 857 00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:40,760 He has integrated only young players people want to see. 858 00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:42,800 He's been playing more entertaining football. 859 00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:46,000 He's beat Portugal. So yeah, he, he, he has 860 00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:48,320 definitely done a good job. He's off to a good start. 861 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:51,920 And yeah, he just needs to to build on this foundation that he 862 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:56,160 spent a year laying now. And if he if he if he qualifies 863 00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:58,080 for the World Cup, then yeah, he will. 864 00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:01,440 He will definitely have had made a good name for himself. 865 00:46:04,240 --> 00:46:09,200 So I mean, obviously looking looking forward to Friday now. 866 00:46:10,040 --> 00:46:12,240 Big game. I think for it's actually funny 867 00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:16,040 given the last World Cup campaign also started with you 868 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:19,880 guys hosting us in Copenhagen. I think that was obviously that 869 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:22,480 was September as well. So pretty much what was that, 870 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:24,600 2021? So four years on from that game, 871 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:29,000 a lot's changed since then. For me, I feel like Scotland has 872 00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:32,520 become a better team. A lot of the guys I've heard 873 00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:35,760 people mention that sort of maybe a few of the guys are 874 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:38,480 going over the hill now. But for me there's the guys like 875 00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:42,520 John McGann, Ryan Christy, a few others that and Scott and Tom 876 00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:45,440 and obviously as well, really hitting their peaks right now, 877 00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:47,920 you know, playing some really good football domestically, 878 00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:49,960 Scott and Tom and everyone knows what he's doing at that play. 879 00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:51,920 You maybe know less about Ryan Christy. 880 00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:54,880 I'm not sure how much you look into Bournemouth, but guys like 881 00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:57,120 him and Megan, I've been playing really well for their clubs. 882 00:46:57,680 --> 00:46:59,720 How do you view this Scotland team? 883 00:46:59,720 --> 00:47:03,160 And I mean, obviously for us it's a tough fixture coming into 884 00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:05,760 the first game, going away to the top seeds of the group, 885 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:08,680 playing away from home couldn't really ask for much tougher. 886 00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:12,560 What's your perception on this? You know that the team is going 887 00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:13,720 to visit and you on Friday night. 888 00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:18,800 As I said, I think for me this team is is a lot more scary than 889 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:21,880 the Greek team. Of course, there's a lot of 890 00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:25,040 players that we are not super familiar with, but there's also 891 00:47:25,040 --> 00:47:27,960 a lot of players here that that have big names. 892 00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,800 I mean, you mentioned Mcchamlin and Begin Billy Gilmore on the 893 00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:33,520 midfield. Also, I think Ben Doug looked 894 00:47:33,720 --> 00:47:36,160 quite interesting the few matches I've seen him. 895 00:47:36,720 --> 00:47:39,280 If you remember, remember Scott McKenna from when he was at 896 00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:43,760 Copenhagen. Karen Tierney have been good. 897 00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:48,600 Of course, Robertson and and and Hickey, anything Brentford 898 00:47:48,600 --> 00:47:50,480 related. People in Denmark love not so 899 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:52,160 much anymore. And now Frank has left. 900 00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:54,760 But before that. So yeah, there's a lot of 901 00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:57,080 familiar guys. And also just looking down the 902 00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:00,080 team, it's it's a lot of big clubs and, and a lot of 903 00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:02,920 recognizable clubs and, and, and players. 904 00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:06,200 So I think this looks like a team that that one of the teams 905 00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:10,000 that I didn't want to, to draw from that, from that pot. 906 00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:12,800 So that's a bit annoying. But at the same time, I, as I 907 00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:14,680 said, I always love these matches against Scottish 908 00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:17,240 opponents because it's so much fun with with the travelling 909 00:48:17,240 --> 00:48:18,760 fans and the atmosphere and everything. 910 00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:22,280 It it, it, it really just feels like, like football. 911 00:48:22,720 --> 00:48:26,000 And so I think this one will be this will be a good match as 912 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:28,560 well. And and yeah, should be a lot of 913 00:48:28,560 --> 00:48:31,240 fun for everybody. I was going to say what would 914 00:48:31,240 --> 00:48:34,320 the obviously Scotland fans got along, I think with anybody. 915 00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:37,240 I think we're quite, you know, where we're set to received 916 00:48:37,240 --> 00:48:39,400 everywhere, you know, look at the scenes in Germany or last 917 00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:41,120 year alone. How much he's looking forward to 918 00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:44,240 hosting Battalion Army. I think we've got about 1500 I 919 00:48:44,240 --> 00:48:46,880 think in the away end, but I'm guessing there'll be more. 920 00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:48,440 There's always more of a Battalion Army. 921 00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:53,000 Yeah, I mean it. My work is actually quite close 922 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:58,200 to to Paran Stadium, so whenever I leave on a match day and and I 923 00:48:58,200 --> 00:49:00,840 will see a lot of away fans. So I remember, I think it was 924 00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:04,920 last year when was Hibernians who played against Copenhagen in 925 00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:06,160 the. Yeah, Hearts. 926 00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:08,560 Were playing it was hard. Yeah, exactly. 927 00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:12,720 And I was I was seeing all of these fans and speaking with 928 00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:15,200 some of them wishing them good luck for the match and 929 00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:17,520 everything. So yeah, that was that was so 930 00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:20,320 much fun. And and now for for this match 931 00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:23,720 as well would be as I imagine it's almost sold out. 932 00:49:24,720 --> 00:49:27,600 So Scottish fans generally have really, really good reputation 933 00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:31,000 among everybody because they also know that there's not 934 00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:33,400 really any problems with them. There's just a lot of happy fans 935 00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:38,040 coming, spreading, really good atmosphere, being super funny, 936 00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:41,160 entertaining. And yeah, it's a lot of fun to 937 00:49:41,440 --> 00:49:43,800 to host that. And, and I'm sure I will, I will 938 00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:46,440 meet a lot of Scottish fans as well when I'm, when I'm going 939 00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:50,160 from, from work on Friday to before the match. 940 00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:54,240 Yeah, I mean, I think the numbers will be there for sure. 941 00:49:54,240 --> 00:49:58,200 It's I think 1700 tickets we were given in the allocation, 942 00:49:58,200 --> 00:50:00,880 like Aaron says. But I think I know plenty of 943 00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:04,360 other fans who didn't manage to get a ticket in that allocation 944 00:50:04,680 --> 00:50:07,600 and have still managed to secure a ticket for elsewhere in the 945 00:50:07,600 --> 00:50:09,640 stadium. So I think if you're looking 946 00:50:09,640 --> 00:50:11,600 around the ground on Friday night, they'll definitely be 947 00:50:11,600 --> 00:50:16,240 soil, tyres dotted everywhere. But yeah, massive game. 948 00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:17,440 I think it's a very exciting time. 949 00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:19,960 Obviously starting a campaign. I'm, I'm actually travelling to 950 00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:22,040 Copenhagen myself, so I'm really looking forward to it. 951 00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:25,440 It's a beautiful city. One thing I'll mention is the 952 00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:28,600 price of pints is outrageous. So that's, that's the only 953 00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:31,960 negative I could really highlight about a trip to a trip 954 00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:34,760 to Denmark. But I think this has been a 955 00:50:34,760 --> 00:50:38,200 really worthwhile session. I'm glad we got you on Tokyo. 956 00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:41,280 It's been a very enlightening conversation. 957 00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:43,920 I hope everyone that listens thinking the same. 958 00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:48,400 I don't know where it's quite put us on in terms of thinking. 959 00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:50,760 I was, I got a wee bit of a conference back. 960 00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,320 Obviously Scotland's form hasn't been the best over 2025 losing 961 00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:56,800 to Iceland and that friendly, although it's just a friendly, 962 00:50:57,040 --> 00:50:59,720 was very disappointing. And then the nature of the way 963 00:50:59,720 --> 00:51:02,680 the playoff went against Greece was also very disappointing. 964 00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:07,280 But yeah, I got, I got, I felt when the confidence come back 965 00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:10,680 when I saw the score get released for our for our camp 966 00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:13,320 last week. And a few of the big names were 967 00:51:13,320 --> 00:51:16,760 returning from injury and guys like Ben Doak who make us really 968 00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:20,000 exciting to watch. But I can't really tell if this 969 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:24,200 conversation is added to my anxiety or is sorry. 970 00:51:24,360 --> 00:51:27,240 You know, Denmark, they are one of the best sites in Europe. 971 00:51:27,240 --> 00:51:29,840 And I think we go over there knowing that no matter what. 972 00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:35,840 Yeah, I think I think it's for me it's a game that we cannot 973 00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:39,160 put that there's different ways of looking at it because you 974 00:51:39,160 --> 00:51:41,800 think it's, you know, the Pop one team and there's no pressure 975 00:51:41,800 --> 00:51:44,440 on us. So nobody's expecting us, I 976 00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:46,720 think to win. But I'm confident that we can go 977 00:51:46,720 --> 00:51:50,760 there and try, you know, make it hard for them and you know, we 978 00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:52,680 will we will try and make it a hard timing. 979 00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:56,000 We are people forget how good our competitive record actually 980 00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:57,560 isn't during the qualifying campaign. 981 00:51:57,560 --> 00:52:00,760 If people, you know, we only lost once in the last qualifying 982 00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:03,760 campaign against Spain away, which, you know, if anybody was 983 00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:07,200 looking at that thinking, you know, we are no way we could 984 00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:09,800 have dropped points. I think we know we've got the, 985 00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:12,160 we dropped the points at the only place that I think was 986 00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:15,480 possible for us to, you know, to and expect us to drop points. 987 00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:18,920 We almost, we almost got, I mean, Tommy Gabin, that goal 988 00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:22,840 that got chopped off. I know I'm going crazy and 989 00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:26,160 Seville that night, but yes, yeah. 990 00:52:27,200 --> 00:52:30,320 I think, I think in general, our qualifying campaigns have been 991 00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:32,240 quite good. I mean, looked at the last World 992 00:52:32,240 --> 00:52:34,960 Cup kind of clown family lost in Copenhagen. 993 00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:39,280 So that's a good sign that we only need to, if we only lose 1 994 00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:42,520 game, you can then get into the the 2nd place. 995 00:52:42,520 --> 00:52:45,400 So listen, I think people need to be a bit more positive in 996 00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:47,400 this, in this country. I've said this about loads of 997 00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:50,800 things before in private and I've said it on here before. 998 00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:53,720 I think we need to be a little bit more positive as a nation 999 00:52:53,960 --> 00:52:56,280 because I think we've got a great squad of players, maybe 1000 00:52:56,280 --> 00:52:59,640 not exceptional squad of players, but that midfield 1001 00:52:59,640 --> 00:53:02,320 alone, if we said it last week, how good at midfield that was. 1002 00:53:03,240 --> 00:53:05,840 So listen, confident we can get something. 1003 00:53:06,440 --> 00:53:09,680 Let's try and get a better hope back in the country again and 1004 00:53:09,680 --> 00:53:14,040 hopefully we can at least get a point and move on and go to a 1005 00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:16,400 difficult game after that against Belarus away where you 1006 00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:18,640 know, we know anything can happen really in a closed door 1007 00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:19,920 game. Yeah. 1008 00:53:20,600 --> 00:53:24,280 I'd also say that, I mean, if if you're thinking about the Danish 1009 00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:28,400 team that the Danish team we have right now is, is definitely 1010 00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:31,040 not at the same level that of the team that went to the Euro 1011 00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:33,480 semi final. I mean, it's it is not as good 1012 00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:36,040 A-Team anymore. So I would say it's it's not the 1013 00:53:36,040 --> 00:53:39,840 worst time to to face Denmark and it's probably a pretty good 1014 00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:42,520 thing to to start with playing against us away. 1015 00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:47,560 You've given us all hope. That's an absolute excellent 1016 00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:49,840 point to end the conversation on. 1017 00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:54,560 So yeah, giving us that little bit of hope before we go into 1018 00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:57,680 massive game on Friday. So yeah, if anyone was tuned in 1019 00:53:57,680 --> 00:54:01,200 to watch that, it'll be on the BBC eight quarter I'm sure. 1020 00:54:01,200 --> 00:54:05,120 It's good to have the back on, not behind a paywall anymore. 1021 00:54:05,120 --> 00:54:07,960 It's always nice going into work and here and everyone has been 1022 00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:09,680 able to tune in, watch the national team. 1023 00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:12,960 Hopefully it's a good game. I'll just say one last time, 1024 00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:14,400 thank you so much for coming on talk. 1025 00:54:14,400 --> 00:54:16,960 It's been a really good, we've almost been talking for an hour 1026 00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:18,480 there. It's been a great conversation 1027 00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:21,240 and you've there's been a lot of value in that for us. 1028 00:54:21,240 --> 00:54:24,160 So thanks very much. Thank you so much for having me, 1029 00:54:24,160 --> 00:54:27,680 it was a great pleasure and I hope anybody from Scotland who 1030 00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:30,360 travels to the game and, and you, James especially of course, 1031 00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:33,400 has a a great time in Denmark, even though our pints are 1032 00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:36,680 expensive. I hope you will enjoy it and 1033 00:54:36,680 --> 00:54:39,360 Copenhagen shows itself for from its best side. 1034 00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:42,920 The weather should be amazing. And yeah, I hope you have a lot 1035 00:54:42,920 --> 00:55:02,800 of fun. Scotland.