Third Lanark

Barnes is the one 'eligible' I would include as he offers something we don't really have and can chip in with goals. Failing that, I's rather have Fraser than Brown notwithstanding his iffy behaviour.

I don't want him playing every week; the chances of injury for him are too high.

Talking of which, forgotten man Liam Henderson gave an interview in Italian which was impressive; much better than mine and I'm learning it.

This is why Clarke's squad is shaping up to be the most successful we've ever had - because he has introduced consistency of selection (Craig Broon tried it but was undermined by injuries). I go back a long way and I remember Willie Ormond saying that building for the future was a myth and he picked those in form on a game by game basis. Result? Our performances were erratic. Imagine if you did that at club level? You need a main core of players whom you can rely on. If someone is out of form, remember that form is temporary; class is permanent.

We need to find a way to get him into the team at the start as he is a potential scorer. With Christie possibly playing deeper (maybe in lieu of McGregor) then perhaps he could play in a 3 behind the number 9 - McTom, Ferguson and McGinn. Might go some way to alleviating our fears about the CF not scoring too much. Problem is - we'd need to play a back four for it to work.

Add to that the fact that Hendry is probably playing against better players now than he was in Belgium, we have Hanley to come back who has decent EPL experience as well as McKenna and Cooper who captained Leeds in the PL.

Think Livramento, now regular left back for Newcastle, will be very close to England squad - that position is not been claimed by anyone yet.

I prefer having a right footer next to a lefty. Calmac and Christie both lefties.

Yes. He seems to have lost his scoring touch - always thought his shooting was erratic but he could be the ideal partner for Gilmour or even Jack.

Barnes is by far the most likely to switch, given his age as the competition for Eng. in his position is huge. Livramento and Gordon won't make the Euro squad now but they are next generation for England in their positions so no chance for them joining us I think.

Hackney played recently for England U21; Anderson not getting into the Newcastle team even. IMO we don't need him as much as we need Barnes.

I would say Barnes has much less chance of getting into Engand's squad than Livramento and Gordon. They are not sure of their left back and Livramento can play there. Barnes has to compete with Grealish, Foden, Cole Palmer, Madison, Sterling and his own team mate Gordon. He is left-sided, and can score. We are sadly lacking n both attributes. Oh, we will get the usual Fxx he's English but he is a proper upgrade on our our 2020 squad. Unless Fraser can find his way into Clarke's good books.

We shouldn't rule any striker out except for Oliver Burke - he's proved under a plethora of mangers that he lacks any tactical nous whatsoever. Pace is an asset but Doak can provide that.

Ryan Jack was injured playing for Scotland.

Jacob Brown MoM as well as a goal. Maybe we should not rush to judgement just yet. If we can get Harvey Barnes I would still have him in his place as he is a scorer and left-sided where we are lacking.

Our RB options: Patterson, Hickey, Ramsay, Ralston, Johnston - all young . Livramento would have to be better than all of them except Hickey to get starts I feel.

You sadist. Hope you gave him a haund up? 🤣

🤣

Nice one. Thanks for that, cheered me up.

How come NI can beat Denmark in a dead rubber yet we usually mess these games up? We nearly lost the other night.

Yes, and Ross McAusland has only played a few minutes for Rangers and he gets capped by NI!

He's not eligible, is he? And anyway, he's 33!

Quite, but who? McCrorie has potential but he needs to be playing at least as much as McLaughlin did. Slicker from U21 maybe but he's not playing at a high enough level. I don't think Kelly would have done better than Clark.

Yeah, but Clark is 29 I think and Marshall was at his peak then I think.

Armstrong is a more intelligent player than Christie, who runs about with little effect and usually balloons the ball over the bar; he hasn't scored for his club, while Armstrong comes up with good goals regularly.