BookhouseBoys

I think Gilmour’s form means that he should be taking McGregor’s place in the first XI anyway and I’d be interested to see a two of Gilmour and Christie tried in the friendlies to see if it has more bite than the previously tried Gilmour - McGregor. Ferguson is competing with McGinn and McTominay, though, IMO. Presuming everyone is fit and we play a back 5, I’d be interested to try Gilmour & Christie with the three of McGinn, McTominay and Ferguson ahead. The Levein tactic might finally be a realistic possibility……!

Totally agree and wasn’t having a dig. It’s just nice to see so many players at that level and in top form when for years it was “he isnae playin”, “ neither’s he” etc Long may it continue…

The good news is that McGinn, McTominay, Gilmour, Christie and Ferguson all seem to be hitting really top form at the moment.

Have read bits and pieces of the same regarding Leonard. Sounds like he’ll be recalled to be re-loaned to a championship team in january, although the thought crossed my mind that Brighton would maybe hold onto him for the month to take a close up look at him since DM has been a problem for them since caicedo left. Could always send him out at the end of the month if he didn’t hack it with the first team.

[wrong quote]

Agree about Gilmour’s defensive side improving. If he continues his current form for the rest of the season and it’s a choice between him and McGregor, Gilmour should be getting the spot. McGregor has been brilliant for Scotland over the past several years, but Gilmour’s now doing it consistently at a higher level than McGregor.

When we play a five at the back, it’s effectively Tierney that fulfills the roll of DM as he steps forward into that area frequently. For me, that’s one of the reasons that he’s such a big miss - no one else that we’ve tried in that position does (or can do) what he does. To his credit, Porteous has been pretty decent at replicating it on the right, albeit slightly more conservative positionally and instead focussing on forward passes. Maybe having Hickey in the LCB if Tierney is out would be a potential solution? If Tierney is available, I’m picking Hickey over Patterson at RWB every time at the moment, though. That slip aside, he was one of our best performers throughout the qualifying campaign. RE McGregor & Gilmour, I think that if he continues with the progression of recent weeks at Brighton for the rest of the season, Gilmour will be ahead of McGregor in almost every category. His improvement recently has been rapid and DeZerbi has been commenting on it. McGregor is still slightly ahead of him if it’s one or the other right now, though. By the time of the euros, we’ll see…

Could call it “it’s coming om…”

Read that Doak played for Liverpool u21s tonight in a cup defeat. Apparently he went off with a hamstring injury but it’s since been reported that it was just cramp. Hopefully he gets more game time in the coming months. AFCON could be a huge opportunity for him with Salah gone.

If I’m watching them on tv, in any sport, I always mute their anthem. Have done for years. Honestly thinking about setting up my own form of Buddhism based around this, the amount of serenity it provides….!

Yeah same here. Hungarian #8 should have had about 5 yellows, nevermind 2 and I think he got into Doak’s head a bit. Am I right that Mebude is just back from injury? Hopefully gets a good bit of game time in the coming months - looked really good when he came on. Been impressed with Barron, Slicker and Mullen in particular over these two games.

Brilliant from Mebude there.

I wonder if we’ll maybe see some additional call ups after the Georgia game? No point inviting players to travel all that distance and not play. Probably better to call them up after and they can train with the squad in Glasgow in the run up to the Norway game.

I know there’s not really much room for sentiment when it comes to these things, but if there’s one player that I’d love to see getting a cap at the euros, it’s Craig Gordon. What a servant he’s been for the country.

Surely it’s got to be: “Ryannn, the one and Oné…!”

Without repeats: Lennon Miller Liam Morrison Ryan Oné

Thought that performance smacked of a bunch of decent to very good players being badly coached. Would love to see that team playing under a decent manager as they just didn’t look like they were playing as a team. Stand out for me was Barron who I thought covered a lot of ground. If he can sharpen his final ball a little bit then he could be a potential successor to McGregor.

Agreed. France, England and possibly Portugal are a class above everyone else in Europe at the moment. If we avoid those three in the group stages then I’d fancy us to compete with almost anyone else.

Yep, between him and McTominay for our man of the match. Injustice of him being the one to slip is only matched by McTominay not getting his goal.

Yep. Hammer Georgia and the rest is noise

Is there a special kind of cap that McTominay could be presented if he achieves the dream of featuring in literally every type of outfield position for Scotland? Or a limited edition bingo card? Don’t disagree with you to be honest, and it’d allow for Ferguson to be added to that midfield slot…although it’d be very different being expected to hold up the play and have back to goal than running into the box from midfield.

Agree with this and if it was what happened then Clarke would probably be looking to bring in another right back rather than left. Anyone know how max johnston has been doing, or would it more likely be Ralston that gets called up again?

I think if he gets the game time in europa and the cups that has been suggested then he’ll get the call up. At the moment, though, he hasn’t really played too many meaningful minutes. Either way, it’s probably just a matter of time and if we qualify in the next round of games it gives Clarke a great opportunity to hone the squad and look at new options well in advance of the euros.

If I understood it correctly, the November games is where one cap will tie him to us. Maybe it’s worth just waiting until then to see what he really thinks and avoid some of the fannying about (fully acknowledging, though, that that might all be coming from the media and not the player himself). Doak could be getting that slot in October and then we can see what Anderson really thinks in November without half of the soap opera.

Was a hard shift for him, too, because for much of the game (especially second half) he was left on his own up there with a huge gap between him and the midfield. Credit to him, though that he came back and put in some defensive work, too. When he’s not just running at players, he also seems to have this knack of never losing the ball, or if he does, somehow regaining it immediately. He’ll get his fair share of cards, I’d imagine… I’ve got every faith that Klopp will improve him even further over the course of the season - hopefully in europa, the cups and some league appearances. And if he gets a few games this coming month, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the October squad.