SkyBlueScot

The Aztec Retro stuff looks fantastic. Sadly no Scotland shirt. The Wales one almost makes me wish I was Welsh!

Think Phillips is injured. Went on a WBA fans forum the other say to see what they are saying about Burke and it was notable how highly they regard Phillips. I think it's a pity he's not appreciated enough for Scotland. My order of preference for strikers when fit: 1 Griffiths 2 Naismith 3 Phillips 4 Fletcher 5 McBurnie 6 Russell 7 Burke (this is very fluid!)

Always wonder why McGinn gets such a rough ride whilst Brown gets away with giving the ball away without much comment.

According to the SFA site that's 10 goals in 13 caps!

Fletcher's never been a goal machine but as you say maybe we don't have to have that. When you have Burke/Christie/Forrest/Fraser/Armstrong bombing on goals will come. I'd still go for Naismith first though.

They won 1-0 and he played the full 90 minutes. I'd like to see the stat of how many they've won when he was playing.

As a Hearts fan maybe i shouldn't be saying this but... Brendan Rogers has been a huge force for good for the National team and deserves massive credit for what he has done. Even though it's early days Oli Burke looks like yet another Scot benefiting from his guidance to go alongside McGregor, Christie, Johnston, Forrest etc. Most weeks there will be a minimum of 5-6 Scots starting and it could easily be as high as 8 or 9 with more on the bench. It's a shame that Gerrard's not following suit but hopefully it's just a short-term strategy that changes over the long-term. Levein's disappointed me this season after the positivity of the young lads last year but there's others that deserve credit such as Robinson. Fingers crossed the Motherwell lads progress. I'm sure Rogers will be back in the EPL someday and I think it'll be a loss to the National team (although you wouldn't be surprised to find an increase in Scots at whichever club he finds himself at).

Exactly! The perfect answer to Liverpool's goal scoring problems. 😁

Robertson has the highest number of assists for a defender in the EPL but, if it's possible to say, he should have a lot more if those strikers weren't so wasteful. Sounds ridiculous i know!

2 friendly games this week. 0-0 against Spain and a 2-1 win against Hungary. Two goals from Motherwell lads (I believe). Motherwell are churning them out at the minute!

George Johnston scored for Liverpool U23 on Monday against Man City.

I'm intrigued by the fact that Souttar's name not mentioned when it gets to transfer window time. Souttar and McKenna could both play in the EPL. Those two could make up the centre of defence for the next 5-10 years. Think they both have a very bright future.

West Ham in for Fleck according to the papers. Would be very interested to see how he'd get on at that level.

Maybe getting carried away but I think things are starting to look more promising. Only a few months ago we were wondering where all the strikers are but now there are possibilities. Burke, Hornby, Brophy, McBurnie, Harper and Hardie are all fairly young and then behind them are even younger lads who look promising. I still think it's a bit early to be getting over excited about Hornby but he certainly looks good. I'd still be picking Naismith and hoping Griffiths is back soon but i'd be getting them into the squad

Was googling some of the names in the U17s and saw that the Norwich lad was 'scouted' by Scotland which struck me as interesting. They must have to do a hell of a lot of research into those players that aren't born in Scotland! Is there a file on every youth player?

Signed a new deal at Man Utd keeping him there until 2023: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/breaking-scott-mctominay-signs-new-13887606 Positive news.

Think that's harsh. He was picked as he was the best Scottish striker during that period. His play for Hearts over the past 12 months has been excellent and he brings real experience to the team.

That's a great name!

Cairney starts on the bench and no McDonald at all (is he injured?) Reports are that Fulham are looking to loan McDonald out and I wonder if Cairney might look for a move.

Full 90 minutes for Burke. Great to hear that. How did he play? Although I can imagine that giving him confidence through playing full matches would be a sensible tactic.

The BBC have an article on Jack Harper on their website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46884187 Taken from an interview with Guillem Balague. Haven't listened to it yet but it's an interesting article.

You're right. However, the bigger the pool of youngsters at top clubs the better it is for the future. Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool are all amongst the world's biggest teams and we have a youngster at each. Then one at wolves and Everton and a scattering elsewhere. It's not a huge number but they're getting world class coaching. Even at Stoke. Hardly a great team but Souttar is coming through and was on the bench last weekend. It just adds up to more reasons to be cheerful.

I understood he was well thought of. I've been keeping an eye on their U23s as they also have Gallacher who hasn't featured for a while. But Johnston's played all the games I've checked. Captaining Liverpool's U23 doesn't guarantee you'll make it but it's positive. Just a shame he's left footed!

I'm not sure about that. Would be great but I think Bournemouth-Southampton-Everton are about the right level where he'll play every week and shine as he has done. I'd prefer him to stay at Bournemouth though. Think Howe's worked well with him.

No. Bit an odd one. He's good but not sure how much of a game he'd get there so it doesn't sound right to me.