Caledonian Craig

And remember he has been in a largely winning Scotland side. If we had suffered losses in key matches and squad confidence was low then by all means look elsewhere but it isn't.

One thing is sure that Lawrence Shankland, on club and international form, should be way ahead of Jacob Brown in the pecking order. Clarke is leaving himself open to heavy criticism if he perseveres with Brown over Shankland.

Just to add I am not downplaying the importance of club form as an in-form player at club level usually brings lots of confidence into an international squad which is important. But does that guarantee a top performance for us? That depends on the individuals adaptability to international football in my opinion.

What should more stock be put in? International form or club form when selecting our squads/teams? I, personally, put more stock in international form as that is the level that matters most if you are a Scotland form. We have players in the squad and first team regulars for us who may not always be in club form or getting regular club football but they can still be relied upon to deliver for us at key times. I noted comments saying Che Adams should be in the side over Lyndon Dykes for his club form. The thing is that has often been the case for Adams in club football form over Dykes. However, Dykes is the more prolific striker for Scotland and look at his key contribution in Oslo last summer. Another case is Craig Gordon but admittedly age may also play a part here. Gordon is perhaps one of our top five goalkeepers of all-time but because he is being kept out of the Hearts side by Zander Clark some feel that reason enough to select Clark above Gordon.. For Scotland Clark has looked very ropey and personally I'd feel far more comfortable with Gordon between the sticks for us but for others Clark getting first team football above Gordon (combined with age) makes Clark a better option for some. Not me. Also if we look back through the years there have been Scotland internationals who were highly-rated on club form yet for Scotland they were a pale shadow of themselves. I am thinking of the likes of Charlie Adam, Ollie McBurnie, Brian McClair, Charlie Nicholas and am sure there are plenty more. Clearly, well it is to me, some players are far more comfortable at international level and can raise their game when called upon and those players are important to us. For me club form is important to force your way into the squad but its more important what you do when there after all it is only Scotland's results that matter so international form/displays are more important to me. I know that will be an opinion that differs greatly from others but feel free to counter my argument.

Reading the report I feel it may be erroneous perhaps mixing comments up from when he first got the injury as the report does say he has had a 'minor setback'. Being out until towards the end of the season would be more than a minor setback.

This update was posted hours ago and it does not sound good as Frank says he hopes to see him again this season. https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/first-team-aaron-hickey-brentford-scotland-injury-update-fpl

I agree. Most likely be in Warsaw.

Fixtures are out:- Thursday 5th September 2024: SCOTLAND V Poland 7.45 pm Sunday 8th September 2024: Portugal V SCOTLAND 7.45 pm Saturday 12th October 2024: Croatia V SCOTLAND 6.00 pm Tuesday 15th October 2024: SCOTLAND V Portugal 7.45 pm Friday 15th November 2024: SCOTLAND V Croatia 7.45 pm Monday 18th November 2024: Poland V SCOTLAND 7.45 pm

Plus the unionist media will take his accusation, however ridiculous, as gospel.

So the competition has been expanded as if Scotland finish 1st or 2nd they qualify for the quarter-finals when it used to be just semi-finals. Even finishing third in the group will mean an extra fixture as we would then face a play-off match from a runner-up in League B with the winner playing in League A in the next iteration and the loser being relegated.

Not the worst draw we could have got. Portugal maybe not as strong as they once were, Croatia will be a test and Poland are a team that we should be able to compete with.

That doesn't say a lot about your hero then that he walked out on leadership of the SNP and endorsed someone 'rotten to the core' as his successor.

It is not just the SNP voters who back independence - I think that much is clear. There are a modicum of Scottish Labour voters loyal to that party who support independence, even a few Scottish Tory and Lib Dem voters too. I say that as the polls have remained pretty constant even when SNP have dipped in opinion polls of late and not faired as well as expected in elections.

The one thing that keeps me very hopeful for Scottish independence sometime in my lifetime is the changes in support in my lifetime. Back in the 70s support was way below 20% and it was generally accepted that Scotland was devoted to the union. That changed in the 80s with Thatcher's Tory government and support for independence began to rise up into the mid 20s and near the 30%. More Tory rule and devolution saw independence support continue to rise and with it the SNP began to make a mark and support for independence continued to rise. We now see support for independence probably around 40 to 45% and there has been no fall in its support. I am certain the days of a big majority of Scots subservient to the union has gone forever and the more right-wing the Tories become and Labour follow then support for independence will only continue to grow. The dam will burst some time.

Protected? FFS give it up. You said she was a plant yet they are fitting her up. You do not do that to a plant.

As I said a week or two ago now I don't think who leads the SNP bears any bearing on the polling of independence. The most favourable leaders in the last two decades have been Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon and independence did not poll any higher than it is just now despite having much under-fire Humza Youssuf leading the SNP.

Aston Villa are right in the running for a Champions League place so that would still leave Super John McGinn brimming with confidence.

Do enjoy the hypocrisy of Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross who rubbishes everything the Scottish government does but travels weekly on the Caledonian Sleeper which is now being run by the Scottish Government.

Looking at the pots the best draw (in my opinion) for Scotland would be:- Italy Hungary Poland SCOTLAND Worst draw:- Spain Portugal France SCOTLAND

Fair enough but imagine Angus Gunn breaking a finger leading up to the Euros I would sure as hell rather have Craig Gordon with all his experience between the sticks V Germany than Zander Clark or Liam Kelly.

The second half turned so much for three reasons. Firstly, we massively took our foot of the gas. Secondly, Wales raised their game as a result. Thirdly, lack of discipline suffering sinbins and threats of sinbins from the referee raised the team's anxiety levels.

Yes lets rule Barnes out because currently he is a fully-fledged and committed England international and until otherwise stated that is what he remains. Its being disingenuous to him to presume he is not going to remain committed to a route he freely chose. And by the way, if he ever does come out and say he'll represent us and eventually plays for us he will get my 100% support like all Scotland players do from me. But until then he is English as stated on all websites and in the international record books.

Thinking of the squad we should name. Clarke should be looking at areas that he is not 100% pleased with. The midfield takes care of itself, the goalkeeping department could do with bolstering, the centre of defence sort of takes care of itself but may be worth looking for other options too and the strikers more chances have to be given to others not looked at properly. For me get Craig Gordon back in as back-up. Centre of defence maybe look at Hyam or another option but generally not much to change. Up front Shankland needs to be given real match time and Ryan Fraser should be recalled too.

They have never been capped at full-level by England.

Sorry but can you name me any SNP leader including the Messiah Salmond or Surgeon that has got polls of 60% yes for independence? There isn't one so it is unfair to attempt to beat Humza with that stick. The polls have remainedaround the same levels and support for Yes has not fallen away since Humza came in so he cannot be portrayed as the disaster that people are determind to paint him as.