Tartan Chris

Scotland currently are where Wales were in the late 2000s. Constant injuries and players not bothered about turning up and just semi retiring. Gary Speed coming in changed the culture and Coleman continued it. Now looking at their squad Gunter has 96 caps, Ben Davies 52, Bale 83, Ramsey before he withdrew had 60 and Ashley Williams had 86. Even a back up like Robson Kanu has 44 caps. Same with Northern Ireland. Jonny Evans (84 caps), Cathcart (50), Steven Davis with 117 and still going at 35. Joint most caps in Scotland team for outfield players are Robbo and James Forrest with 34 caps each. Forrest will be 30 next summer. Just hope Stevie Clarke will be the first manager in a long while to change the atmosphere around the squad and make the whole international break a more worthwhile experience so players break their necks to get to the camp from their clubs like Welsh and Northern Ireland players do.

Paterson played upfront loads for Cardiff when Warnock was there. Pretty sure he had a run in premier league where he scored 4 times in 6-7 games. Obviously you can't play intricate stuff with him up there but he'll give his all and is decent in the air for a wee lad. Years back Matt Elliott had spells upfront for Leicester although the striker pool was much stronger in late 90s but think he might've played the odd game upfront for Scotland.

Should've started anyway considering he's been courted for over a year and it's not exactly a position of great strength or depth. You never know, a goal or two v Israel and suddenly he's the CF for the next few years and a great pick up. Forrest scored a hat trick v Israel so can't be that difficult. McBurnie looks like he'll be one of those who pulls out when he stubs his toe or sneezes (probably wise in these times) like a few others recently.

I don't rate McGregor that highly either, certainly shouldn't be an automatic pick in midfield. Do you not rate Gilmour that highly or is he omitted due to his injury? Could easily win a few trophies at Chelsea by age of 25 if that's the criteria although he probably needs Lampard to stay for a few more years.

No they were very good, I think I said as much about two of them and McCall during the euro 96 re-watch in June. But then you'll get someone on here going on about the options in the 70s and 80s and saying they weren't that good compared to those eras. I think a little context is required. Paul Lambert was 27 when his contract expired at Motherwell. John Collins was 29 when he won French title. A decent number of current options are 25 or under so still have time to grow and who knows who'll pick them up in the future and win trophies. I doubt anyone thought when Andy Robertson was 23 he'd be a key part of a european cup winning team two seasons later. Hadn't McTominay broken through when Man. United won the europa in May 2017?

He only came to prominence when Preston got up to division one in 2000 (even then he only got his first cap two years later under Vogts). Would've thought he'd have been the type Craig Brown would've been all over, good defensively and over 30! That said Gary Naysmith was the big young hope then in the full back area and he was pretty regular for Everton in that period. Colin Calderwood didn't get his first cap until he was 30, had been at Spurs two years by that point.

Odd criteria. In the mid 90s Gary Mac was let go by Leeds and was involved in relegation battle at Coventry before Liverpool picked him up as a squad player. Paul Lambert was being released by Motherwell in 1996. No one could've predicted the improvement he'd make over next few years. John Collins got a great move to Monaco but then struggled to impose himself back in England at Everton. Was probably more effective at Fulham but he'd long retired from national team by then. Stuart McCall was moving to Bradford in division one after leaving Rangers. Last cap in 1998. Barry Ferguson just coming through at the time. Durrant injured. Decent crop of midfielders who played their parts in Scotland qualifying for three tournaments in the 90s.

Burke becoming a premier league player again isn't something I expected this summer. Feels like his last chance at top level especially under a manager who's turned a few stalled careers around in last 5 years. If it dosen't work out he'll likely fade into obscurity like Ryan Gauld did.

Yeah they've been charged with FFP aswell so guess bookies are expecting them to get -12 like Sheffield Wednesday.

I live in Midlands so sometimes put on Radio Derby and listen to their games to see how Shinnie is getting on. They had major issues with their keepers last season, started with Kellie Roos and he was rubbish and dropped halfway through and then Ben Hamer came in and made schoolboy errors in last 5 games. Think the other two you mention are just youth keepers. Marshall signs for them he's certainly number one and Derby are always in the mix for play offs so overall would be a really good move for him.

Really can't complain about that and the excellent thing is many of them are starters and 4-5 of them are key players at their clubs (Robbo, McGinn, Tierney, Fleck etc). Also have Armstrong having an excellent last few months for Southampton who I think could be top 8 next season. McTominay isn't quite as key at Man. United anymore but he'll still get loads of starts for them next season with all the games and that never did Fletcher any harm being a squad player for many years. It's not perfect before people bring up lack of CBs and a right back but there's certainly enough raw material in midfield and in other positions for Clarke to come up with a competitive team for the play offs whenever they take place.

On the naughty step with Matt Philips, Ritchie and I guess Bardsley. They're all not in Clarke's plans I suspect.

Didn't Joe Bryan play for one of the Scottish youth teams? I remember when he moved to Fulham there was some talk of that although he's yet another left back.

Once fit Tierney did really well for Arsenal. Think he'll be huge for them next season and will set up loads of goals for Aubameyang if he stays. Also playing in the back 3 a fair bit so that remains an option for the national team if Clarke wants to go back down that route.

Aaron Hickey being linked to loads of clubs....Bologna, Villa and....Bayern Munich. Edit: Already visited Bologna and going to Munich next week. Very interested to see where he's at in September.

That's the thing for me. When Aberdeen had that strong period a few years back under McInnes they still weren't getting close to making the group stages of europa. Who they lost to: 2014: Real Sociedad (fair enough and they had a fantastic win in Groningen in the previous round) 2015: Kairat Almaty (no idea on their level back then as haven't heard of them since) 2016: Maribor (tend to pop up in europa regularly) 2017: Ap Limmasol (was going to say worst elimination of the lot but they made the group stage and held Everton and Lyon at home) 2018: Burnley Not as bad as I thought but it's still frustrating when you see Dundalk making the group stages the other year. Think a team from Luxembourg also got in. Another side doing well in europe aside from the Oldf Firm would help the co-efficient a bit more.

Scottish teams need to improve aswell though. In the 90s it made more sense for scottish players to stay in SPL longer as the general standard of player was far higher, not just at the old firm but Hibs had a decent team with likes of Sauzee and Russell Latapy so I imagine they were good influences for someone like Kenny Miller coming through at that time. Teams were also far more competitive in europe, remember Rangers knocking out a Parma side that had likes of Buffon and Thuram in it. In 2000s you had Celtic and Rangers both making a europa league final and getting to last 16 of CL a few times, even Aberdeen got to knock outs of europa in 07/08. Now no-one outside the top 2 has any sort of european run and Celtic find it a major struggle just to make group stages of champions league and got knocked out of europa before Rangers did which is some going.

Yeah I don't understand it either. It's like saying when Belgium had that great crop coming through a decade ago likes of Hazard/De Bruyne/Lukaku/Mertens/ Kompany/Vertongthen etc should've all stayed at Anderlecht or Club Brugge rather than testing themselves in England or other major leagues. The more Scottish players in premier league the better. They are testing themselves v Aguero, Salah, Mane, Kane, Silva, De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes, Pulisic, Van Dijk etc. Last time I looked there are no world class players in the SPL (compared to 90s when you had Gazza, Brian Laudrup, Larsson, Albertz, Van Bronckhorst, De Boer) so it makes sense to go and play higher standard of oppostion so it's not as much of a shock when you play them at international level. Problem with Scotland is the negative mentality when (some) of them turn up for duty with the widespread belief Scotland seemingly won't ever qualify for a major tournament again. It's something Clarke really has to crack and get them all excited to meet up. It's a bit like Wales in 90s and early 00s. Had Rush, Hughes, Giggs, Speed, Saunders, Ratcliffe, Southall etc but never qualified for anything. Now all the Welsh team rush back from their clubs to meet up for internationals and you had Bale prefering to play for them than Real Madrid which is an incredible turnaround from a decade ago. Imagine Robbo and Tierney sitting out games for their clubs to make sure they're fully fit for the next big Scotland game, it's the opposite currently.

Wigan kept loads of clean sheets in the run in so he'll easily get a move to another championship team.

All in all I think this season was an excellent one for the Scottish players in action particularly in England. Cooper and Douglas finally got promotion so they'll be two more to add to the premier league pool next season. Had to be patient with Tierney but last 10 games showed he's going to be a key player for Arsenal for many years to come. Robbo was Robbo Fleck and McBurnie played their parts in a top 10 finish for Sheffield United Stuart Armstrong ended the season as a key player for Southampton. I can see them finishing top 8 next season if they keep Ings. McGinn started the season brilliantly for club and country. Then got injured and wasn't himself when he returned but another chance for premier league football next year at least. McTominay was one of Man. United's best players in the first half of the season but then slipped down the pecking order a bit. Still Darren Fletcher being a squad player there for 4-5 years didn't do his career any harm. Shame what happened to Wigan as they ended the season barely conceding a goal. Have to think another championship club will pick up David Marshall who remains the best option in goal for the national team. Only one who slipped was Ryan Fraser, downing tools when Bournemouth needed him. I see the links to some top 6/7 clubs have dried up so no idea where he'll end up next year, needs a big season wherever it is. Overall I think the situation is looking more positive than a long time. The proof in pudding will be September-November of course.

Mad with all the f*** ups v likes of Faroes and Georgia that Iceland was always a nailed on six points in the qualifiers, 4 wins out of 4 I think? They had a decent core of premier league players in those days aswell. Would probably be a different story nowadays although I imagine they're on their way down again after the last golden decade.

Talking of strikers, did Dykes commit to Scotland in the end?

It's a great story Wycombe being in championship but reality is they'll do well to finish anything other than rock bottom and their defensive record won't be pretty. Would be massively surprised if Grimmer got ahead of Liam Palmer or Paterson. Only saw highlights but looked like Oxford wide players skinned him a few times.

Leeds all but up so Liam Cooper and Barry Douglas are two more Scots in premier league (unless Douglas gets sold again like he did at Wolves). Think Douglas is a very decent left back but obviously playing in stacked position so would just come in if Tierney and Robbo are injured. I don't really rate Cooper and think he'll be massively found out in premier league given how slow he is but at least that's a CB potentially playing week in week out in premier league and that's as rare as hens teeth these days.

Good move for him, Reims are a mid table club who I think played in europe the other year. Did he score many in Belgium?