Steve Clarke not concerned over which pot Scotland are in for Euro 2024 draw
Steve Clarke insists he is giving no consideration to which pot Scotland end up in at Euro 2024 as he focuses on trying to end their successful qualification campaign on a high against Norway at Hampden on Sunday. The Scots sealed their spot in Germany last month, with two games to spare, and will learn who they will face in the group stage when the draw is made in Hamburg on Saturday, December 2. A victory by two goals or more against Norway this weekend would likely lift the Scots into pot two, while any other result is set to place them in pot three. Given the way things are shaping up – with the likes of Albania, Hungary and Turkey among the teams on course to be in pot two – there is a school of thought among Scotland supporters that they may have a chance of an easier draw by remaining in pot three. “Honestly, zero, I haven’t looked at it,” said Clarke when asked if he had given much consideration to the permutations. “It doesn’t concern me. “The main objective was to be there. Pot two, pot three… it’s all speculation because you don’t know how the other games are going to pan out so we’ll go out and do our best to win the game and then we’ll decide after that whether we want to be in pot two or pot three.” Asked how significant it would be to go to the tournament as a pot two team, Clarke said: “Not significant at all in my mind. I don’t think too much about it. “I just want to win game to game and make sure we’re always competitive whoever we play. We were seeded in pot two in the draw for this campaign and we want to be a pot two team going into the World Cup campaign. “If we can get to pot one, it would be great but that’s a long way away at the moment.” Clarke’s main objective at present to is to stop a four-game run without a victory and ensure Scotland end a memorable campaign on a high at a sold-out Hampden. “It’s always important to win,” he said. “We haven’t won for a while. We want to finish the campaign well in front of our own supporters at Hampden, so hopefully we can do that.” That task will be made slightly easier – in theory – by the fact Norway and Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland misses the match due to an ankle injury sustained in Thursday’s friendly against Faroe Islands. “It’s probably a little bit of mixed feelings,” Clarke said when asked about the striker’s absence. “I think for the crowd it would have been great to see a player of Erling Haaland’s standard at Hampden. “It would have been good for the defenders to test themselves against a top striker but unfortunately he’s not fit. “If you asked me that question me before a game that really meant something I’d probably be sitting here saying ‘yes, I’m delighted he’s not playing’ but for the game tomorrow, I think it would have been better if he played.” Haaland gave Norway the lead with a penalty in the last meeting between the teams in Oslo in June before Scotland roared back with two goals in the closing minutes to claim arguably the most pivotal result in their qualifying campaign. “It was a pretty dull game on a very hot, sunny afternoon,” recalled Clarke. “For us, it was about staying in the game as long as possible. Towards the end of the game I took a central defender off, went to a back four and stuck another attacking player on and thankfully it worked for us. “We got the equaliser at a good time and almost immediately before Norway had a chance to realise what had happened we were 2-1 in front and for the section, for the qualification of Scotland, it was obviously a big moment in the tournament.” Second-placed Scotland go into their final qualifier six points clear of third-placed Norway, who remain without a major tournament appearance since Euro 2000. Clarke believes the fact his team were able to win their first five games, while Norway failed to win any of their first three was the main difference between the sides. “The way the fixtures fell for us was good,” said the Scots boss. “We had three home fixtures to start and we managed to get maximum points from those fixtures. “Going to Norway when we did and getting the 2-1 win put the qualification into our hands and fortunately we didn’t let it slip. Group football is a sprint, it’s only eight matches. “You can’t really drop points early in the group because you put yourself under pressure later in the group. It’s normally Scotland that does that, to be fair!” Read More Liam Broady replaces injured Andy Murray in Great Britain’s Davis Cup team Matt Wallace produces stunning back nine display to shoot 60 and lead in Dubai Rohit Sharma highlights the importance of India’s work ethic ahead of final Khiara Keating surprised by her rise into Man City’s starting line-up this term Injury rules Andy Murray out of Great Britain team for Davis Cup finals Pat Cummins urges Australia to ’embrace’ World Cup final pressure against India
2023-11-18 23:55
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Everton memes go viral as football fans express sympathy after points deduction
Everton have been docked 10 points by an independent commission after being found to have breached Premier League financial rules. The league referred Everton to the commission in March for an alleged breach of its profitability and sustainability rules in the period ending in the 2021-22 season. The rules allow clubs to lose a maximum £105million over a three-year period or face sanctions. In response to the decision the Merseyside club said in a statement: "The Club believes that the Commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction. The Club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League. The appeal process will now commence and the Club’s case will be heard by an Appeal Board appointed pursuant to the Premier League’s rules in due course. "Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process. The Club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings. Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the Commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted. "The Club will also monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules. "Everton cannot comment on this matter any further until the appeal process has concluded." In the wake of the judgement, many football fans have taken to social media to express their sympathy for Everton, especially with bigger clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City for their own potential breaches of fair play rules. Memes have since been popping up to mock Man City and Chelsea and show a small amount of support for the Toffees, who had but together a good spell of results under Sean Dyche and are now unbeaten in four games in all competitions. Additional reporting from PA. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-11-18 22:29
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