Everyone, that is, apart from Joe Ledley.
Mickey Thomas, a winner of 51 caps for Wales, provided the first piece of ammunition. "Make no mistake – this Scotland team is the worst Scotland team they have ever had," he said in a radio interview, although where he was during the George Burley era remained unclear. Barry Horne, who appeared a mere 59 times for the Welsh, was next to offer a contribution. "We have got better players than them, that is the top and bottom of it."
It was left to a representative of the current Wales side to paint a different picture. Considering some of the individuals in question are team-mates of his at Celtic, and have just taken the Parkhead club into the last 16 of the Champions League, Ledley was entitled to take such claims rather personally.
"I don't think that at all about Scotland," said Ledley, speaking at Wales' base in Cardiff Bay. "For me, they have a fantastic squad. A lot of their players have played in the Champions League or are playing in the English Premier League. I think any supporter of a nation who has players playing at that level would be happy with that.
"We know that and we need to be wary of them come Friday. Kris [Commons] is a fantastic player and he can score from pretty much anywhere on the field and from any distance. He will be a tricky player to play against and the same goes for Charlie [Mulgrew], who has been fantastic again this season. He is always a threat at set plays and can impose himself on a game."
Not that Ledley is not bullish about his nation's chances. The group standings, with Scotland rock bottom, do nothing to dispel the notion that Wales are superior, and who wouldn't be confident in a side containing Gareth Bale as well as a supporting cast of excellent Barclays Premier League players? Even without the injured Joe Allen and Steve Morison the Welsh are stacked with quality, and there was no shortage of one-upmanship following the Bale-inspired 2-1 victory in Cardiff in October. Since then there has been defeat in Croatia and a win against Austria.
"They [Celtic's Scotland players] just made excuses up, like 'it was never a penalty' and they should have had a goal," said Ledley. "But we got the three points and they can't argue about that. Obviously they fancy their chances now but I always fancy my chances."
The task of shackling Bale may fall in part at least to Mulgrew, a fact Ledley hasn't been slow in reminding his team-mate about. "For me, he [Bale] is one of the best players in the world and I'm looking forward to him playing against Charlie," said Ledley. "I can't remember the last time Gareth had a bad game . . . so that isn't good news for Charlie either.
"Seriously, Gareth has progressed so much. He has confidence and maturity and has kicked on to another level. There is no stopping him. But Charlie is a fantastic player and I know he'll be up for the challenge. He is a brilliant player and has probably been Celtic's best over the last couple of years."
Having said all this, Hampden hasn't been the happiest of hunting grounds for Ledley. The midfielder is coming off a hat trick of domestic defeat at the national stadium, and that when he had at least half of the crowd backing him, rather than the wall of noise which will be created by 50,000 Scotland fans on Friday.
"I've had some ups and downs there," said Ledley. "I have scored a couple but I have lost a couple of games there as well. It's a fantastic arena but the fans are pretty far away from the pitch which is not ideal with the way we [Celtic] play.
"I don't know what sort of reaction I am going to get but it won't affect me at all. There won't be any negative thoughts in my head going back there, just positive thoughts, the goals I've scored and the games we've won. They have a new manager now in Gordon Strachan and they're going to be well up for it and trying to impress him. I know the boys really respect him and look forward to working with him. So it's down to us to stop them. It was a battle in October and it will be a battle again on Friday."
