mccaughey85

We dont really have better alternatives. Guys who perform well in the championship are easily good enough for our squad. Thats the reality. If we had a bunch of 21/22 year old centre backs playing regulary at epl clubs then fair enough but we dont. Guys like david weir and colin hendry didnt really start their international career until their late 20s. Liam cooper was the same.

Sounds like he could be worth a call up. He might end up getting promotion with blackburn.

Sam gallagher isnt worth the bother imo. Hes not any better than what we have already. Karlan grant is a natural goalscorer and might be worth a shout but hes also not significantly better than anything we have especially considering stewart has emerged from pretty much nowhere.

If we lose all three matches then clarke should probably get fired or he would certainly be under huge pressure. We shouldnt really be losing to such a poor ireland team at home and we should be able to get a draw out of either of the ukraine games. Who would you pick that should be in clarkes squad? I am disappointed at morgan and burke not getting in but overall the squad is what i mostly expected.

Imagine capping him at 16/17. His career has been shockingly bad considering his potential. Obviously just a lazy brute.

Is he monarchist? I always felt that most of the snp leadership have been smart enough to know that trying to get scotland to go straight to a republic is too big a jump and have been more pragmatic regarding the monarchy. I reckon he would back a republic but knows the indy movement cant afford the split between the monarchists and republicans.

Yeh i can understand someone like lowry or anderson but guys who are nowhere near first team football shouldnt be called up.

U19s football. Jesus. Try watching these u18/19s youth games. They are terrible. Its great doak is doing well at that level but fuck me its a long way off championship or even league1 football. Loads of young players look great at that level but never step up. We have had dozens of young players over the last 15 years who never made it to a decent level from epl youth setups. Lets wait until doak or craig goes on loan and see how they get on. They need to actually prove they can play at a decent level before we start calljng them up otherwise we might as well call up scottish championship players or league2 in england.

Lol those guys were getting gametime at their clubs. They are in no way comparable to doak and craig.

Thats madness. Even wales wouldnt do that. Nearly all of those guys you listed earlier were either on the fringes of epl first teams or had played championship or league1 football by the time they got called up to welsh squads. Also you could argue that mclean and jack have starred for us. Ryan jack was excellent in the serbia game. I can see the point in maybe getting rid of mclean and jack but not for some epl youth players who have never played any proper football. I could understand if you suggested fiorini and i can maybe undetstand lowry although i think hes injured right now anyways but suggesting guys like doak and craig is just daft.

Thats not really much of a 'fair crack'. It all depends on how well he does for his club as well. Nobodies suggesting he will be a superstar but the idea of replacing him with an epl youth player is daft. Why not call up some scottish championship players or even scottish league1. Until a player shows good form at a decent level of football then he shouldnt get called up. U18s epl football is terrible. Even from the clips from youtube you can see its a long way off spl or english chsmpionship.

So what epl youth players would you have in this squad? You honestly suggesting doak or craig?

Pretty sure most if those guys were on the fringes of their clubs first team much like anderson is with newcastle. Wales dont just cap random epl youth players.

Porteous and brown are not dead wood. They are relatively young guys who could end up being first team regulars in few years time. You do realise brown is only 24 and has been scoring regulary in the english championship. If he goes on a good run this season he could end up in the epl next year. Thats our level when it comes to strikers, guys who play english championship. It might not be a great level but its lightyears above u18s epl football. You do realise david weir and colin hendry didnt become regulars with us til their late 20s. Porteous is only 23 and personally i doubt he ever becomes a regular with us but hes still way more deserving of a place in the squad over an epl youth player who hasnt played pro football at any kind of decent level.

So your saying we just fill our squads with guys from epl youth setups. Thats utter daftness. Fair enough guys like anderson maybe deserve a shot but shoving u18s epl players in our squad is not a good idea. Some of these lads wont even make it above league2 or scottish championship level. You ever heard of ruben sammut or robbie foy.

Yeh totally agree. Doak and craig could be playing part time football in few years. Look at gary mackay steven. His career was pretty much over and he was working in a hotel in thurso before he somehow managed to revive it with dundee united and fair play to the lad hes done pretty well since but he was a star youth player at liverpool with a big future. I find it weird ppl get ultra excited by epl youth players. Until they start playing a reasonable level of football they are very unlikely to get to anywhere near the top level football. I actually get more excited by guys like jacob brown, turnbull, porteous or ferguson because they have already made it at a decent level and all it would take is for them to go on a run of good form for 6/12 months and they could easily jump up a level to the epl or a top european league.

And how do you know craig or doak will? We have had only a couple of guys come through epl youth setups in the last 15 years. Loads of our centre backs didnt become regulars until 26/27. Just look at hendry and cooper. Pretty sure colin hendry didnt become a regular until he was late 20s, same with david weir. Our standards are pretty low when it comes to centre backs so all porteous needs is to improve slightly in the next few years and he will be in squads. Jacob brown is doing well at english chsmpionship level and that is way above u18s epl football in terms of standard. You do realise most of our strikers are english championship level. Guys like craig and doak are so far from international football its ridiculous to suggest they get called up. Have ypu actually seen u18s or u23s epl football. Its shockingly poor in comparison to even the spl or english championship. I am all for being optimistic about youth players but a realism is needed regarding the level the currently play at. Guys like brown and even porteous have already made it at a level way above guys like craig and doak.

What??? Doak plays u18s football. He could be at arbroath or northampton town in 4/5years. Loads of youth players look great at 16 and then end up barely making it at professional level. Just look at karamoko dembele or islam feruz or the countless other scottish wonderkids that never made it at a decent level. Same applies with craig. We cant just shove epl youth players into our main squad. That would be madness. Guys like burke and morgan are actually performing at decent level of football. Have you seen epl u18s highlights, the standard is so far off the likes of epl or even english championship. I doubt its even near english league 1 level in terms of standard. I like doak but hes a long way from getting in scotland squads. Same with craig.

Porteous is only 23, thats pretty young for a centre back. He could easily become a regular for us in few years time. Brown is only 23/24 and doing well in the english championship. Hes another who could do well for us in the future. Fair enough mclean and jack probably should be moved on in favour of younger guys.

Yeh its all very good introducing guys who are on the fringes of an epl first team like anderson but guys like doak and craig shouldnt be in squads just because they play well at u18s level. If guys like burke and morgan cant get in then doak really shouldnt be ahead of them. Burkes scoringand winning pens in the bundesliga and morgan has 14 goals as a winger in the mls. Doak looks great but hes a long way off our squads.

Nah not bad thing. Just surprising thats all. Thought hearts fans were mostly unionist and didnt think this kind of thing would ever happen there at a minutes silence for the queen.

Eh? Theres two 20 year olds, a 21 year old and a 22 year old in that squad. Cant just call up epl youth players for the sake of having young players in the squad. We also have loads of guys who are 27 and under in the squad. This squad is nothing like the old stagnant squads of the late 90s.

Disappointed morgan didnt get called up, we need attacking players with flair in our squad and hes very much in form and looking great. Burke probably should be included as well but i can understand why hes not been picked. He needs to put a few months of good performances together before clarke will consider him again.

Mcburnie was terrible for scotland and doesnt deserve to be called up off the back of three goals in the championship. Fair enough if he scores 8 or 9 in the next few months then he will deserve another chance in the squad but until then its a firm no on him coming back.

We wouldnt have a squad if we didnt pick guys out of form for their clubs. Unless you want to go down the route of picking guys in the scottish championship or english league 1 or 2. When picking a squad clarke probably does it one 2 main factors. Are they playing well for club at decent level like epl or championship and have they played well for scotland under his management. Dykes very much gets into this squad based on the second criteria. Hes been fairly solid with important goals and assists for scotland. His club form is poor right now so personally i wouldnt start him but hes well worth his place in the squad and deserves some lengthy sub appearances. I am guessing clarke will probably start him in one of the games given we have three. Also we would never have any continuity with our squads if we always ditched players when they are off form for their club. It would be a crazy merrygo round of players being picked and dropped every international break which isnt good for the squad imo.