bazmidd

Exactly. Some right big pot stirrers on here.

Tartan Tinted specs on I think. Saw him playing recently for Stoke v Preston and he was pretty poor, part of a woeful Stoke defence right now and they all look as culpable as each other

Did you not just say yourself Scotland are there to play the best players available?... Surely this regards talent as the most important factor rather than the league a player plays in. That is my point in this hence why I have used Robertson and McGinn as examples. McGinn even more so since he was actually called up for Scotland whilst playing in the Scottish Championship. Now I'm not advocating Shankland being in the squad, but that is not because of the league he plays in, it is because he is not one of the best forwards we have available.

Goram Hutton Hendry Calderwood Robertson Ferguson Lambert Collins Gallacher McCoist. McFadden

Is the most important factor not just being good.. If everyone had the same attitude as yourself then a player like Andy Robertson would never have made it to where he is now. Imagine Dundee Utd scouting him at Queens Park and saying "Good player that Robertson but look at what division he's playing in, think we'll pass on that one"

McGinn was called up whilst playing in the Scottish Championship... Sometimes the standard of the player is what matters as apose to the league

He should be in the squad definitely. Would bring something completely different to the squad, can eliminate players one on one, in a squad lacking genuine creativity this would be a god send having someone like Johnston in there

Bit dissapointed Mikey Johnston not making the full squad think the boy brings something a bit different to the table

What a twat comment

It doesn't necessarily just have to be against weaker sides. A 4-4-2 can still work well against any side, with two rigid banks of four. The two up front just have to work very hard off the ball and help drop into spaces defensively. I personally would like to see us go with Griff and McBurnie against Russia.

Please let's not bum this kid up too much just yet. I've been very quietly optimistic about his potential for quite a while having watched him a few times for Scotland's youth sides. Thus far he has managed to develop nicely without being tagged as the next big thing. Obviously performances and goals are starting to get him noticed rather than the usual youth football whispers which is a good thing, I just hope he is allowed to develop before Scotland fans start pinning our hopes on him. He is though very talented I just hope he is given time to fulfill his potential. Johnston along with Gilmour are our bright hopes at the moment.

McGregor can play anywhere in the 3 behind the striker and James Forrest is a right winger. There is 3 central midfield slots at Celtic. Christie, McGregor, Turnbull and Brown will be fighting it out with Bitton who doesn't often play and Ntcham who looks like he's heading out the door. Plenty of space for plenty of games for the lad. Good move I reckon, only 19, only had one full season, break into Celtic team play well then get a good move down south.

It is a good base to work from which I think is Clarkes intention. Mctominay and McLean have shown so far they are our best and most trusted combination in the two central holding midfield positions. They hold their positions very well, give good protection to the back four and are a good platform for the players ahead of them to attack when they have the opportunity

Liam Lindsay linked with a £1 Million move to Brescia in Seria A

I think you are bang on there, a big season ahead full of promise. We are edging towards the '2020 vision' and we should hopefully start to see the first of the performance schools players make their breakthroughs. They are of course still very very young but for the likes of Gilmour etc this will hopefully just be the start for them in senior football. As you say we have some proper talent coming through at the minute, with a bit of luck a large percentage of them will go on to do big things. I have high hopes for Gilmour and Hornby down south. Domestically Turnbull and Johnston are the standout talents. I hope to see them all improve and all progressing to the full Scotland Squad by the end of the season.

I wouldn't say we are well covered for wide men to be honest, after Fraser and Forrest we have Olly Burke, Johnny Russell and Lewis Morgan as back up and Phillips is a better option than all 3 of them

Strange how some people fancy Calum Paterson at right back but are very quick to dismiss Ryan Jack at right back

Yeah that is my big worry about Burke is that touch. I do think over the couple of months he spent with Brendan Rodgers he noticeably got better with a run of games. Neil Lennon I'm afraid though just doesn't rate him and Burkes confidence seems to be knocked again. The thing with Burke is he has two quality's which are great, pace and power, then his touch, awareness etc is slightly below average whereas all our other strikers are just very average at basically everything. Question is are Burkes great qualities capable of producing something in the two games to hurt teams.

I have thought quite a bit about maybe one of our wingers playing up top as well but McGregor is wasted on the left, and Ryan Fraser is our biggest threat from there, his best position. McGregor is far better in the middle although I'm not sure he is so good that he is a guarantee to start ahead of Armstrong, Cairney or McTominay. Midfield is really tough to pick and up front is a conundrum. I can see the benefit of using Burke up top v Belgium as his pace at least gives Belgium something to think about on the break. Against Cyprus we really need someone good at getting involved with play and linking up, shame we don't have Fletcher and I've not seen much of Brophy so can't comment on him too much, McNulty wasn't great v San Marino. So although his link up play isn't great it is getting better, he is strong and gives us that threat with his pace so I would probably go with Burke to give him some confidence and give him both games, could be a big opportunity for him and a big opportunity to show clubs how good he can be. I'd go with this vs Cyprus Marshall Mulgrew. McKenna O'Donnell. Robertson McTominay McGinn. Cairney Forrest. Fraser Burke

I think most people are looking back at Ryan Jack's performance against the Netherlands where he performed very well at right back, up against Memphis Depay and co. That one performance was probably better than any of O'Donnells for Scotland and the less we talk about Palmers debut the better, albeit Ryan Jacks game was a friendly. I think all 3 there are roughly the same standard tbh. Tierney is our best Right Back

Ah cool I see Snodgrass and Fleck are the other two getting married, a Steven Fletcher isn't fit enough apparently and needs a rest, the only definite no appears to be from McArthur.

What are the details of the call to Cooper, is it in the press?

Not bad squad in fairness, very similar to McLeishs but not many other options out there. Good to see Marshall and Cairney back in both have played at a high level and have good experience. Cairney is a talented player and hopefully Clarke can get a bit more out of him, likewise with the rest of the squad, than McLeish did. I thought Cooper would be in it but he may be one of the 3 who had prior plans and didn't expect to be in the squad. Still struggling up front, time to forget Fletcher I think. Burke has went right off the boil after a good start at Celtic not sure he deserves a place, also Morgan is a strange one. I follow Sunderland and his performances haven't merited a call up in my opinion. Mikey Johnston actually looks a better prospect and has done more than Morgan recently in the last couple of games. All in all though not bad and just hope Clarke can work some magic!

Right back is a problem position but not sure if Ryan Jack is the long term solution although in fairness he did play well against the Netherlands in a friendly there. He has actually played better in that one appearance at right back for Scotland than Palmer and O'Donnell ever have. As a right back I would consider him but only on the basis the options we have there are very limited. As a midfielder though it is still a no as we have far better options.

No. Not ahead of our other midfield options, who are better and have performed better over the course of the season, no. Which is what I said. Glad Clarke agrees