Scottish players in action 21/22

[Scot1]

QPR were playing a 4/2/3/1 to accommodate their young striker Armstrong who is very strong and has pace, Dykes was playing in the middle of the 3 just behind Armstrong and was trying to get up beside him whenever he had the opportunity. Had a decent game. 
So it was 4/2/3/1 without possession and 4/4/2 with the ball. 

Edited January 21 by Scot1

[Big Ramy 1314]

McBurnie scores from the spot.... Does he count? Clarke dinnae fancy him... He is Scottish though ..😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[broraboy]

10 minutes ago, Big Ramy 1314 said:

McBurnie scores from the spot.... Does he count? Clarke dinnae fancy him... He is Scottish though ..😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

That ship has sailed Big Ramy, S.Clarke gave him more than enough chances……. 
He doesn’t count 😉

[BryanBlessed]

2 hours ago, Big Ramy 1314 said:

McBurnie scores from the spot.... Does he count? Clarke dinnae fancy him... He is Scottish though ..😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

McBurnie is way off the radar now. I don't think he fancies McBurnie or Shankland but the latter has manager to force his way in.  People say if it's not broken don't fix it but it's not like we win every match.

[broraboy]

Watched some of the Bournemouth v Liverpool match, not the whole game.

R.Christie playing deeper again but I’m led to believe this is to allow Kluivert play the more advanced role. From what I saw he didn’t have a great game but the same could be said for all of the Bournemouth players…… 

[thesaint]

2 hours ago, broraboy said:

That ship has sailed Big Ramy, S.Clarke gave him more than enough chances……. 
He doesn’t count 😉

... but.somehow apparantely Jacob Brown does. 😳😳

[bdgsct]

12 minutes ago, broraboy said:

Watched some of the Bournemouth v Liverpool match, not the whole game.

R.Christie playing deeper again but I’m led to believe this is to allow Kluivert play the more advanced role. From what I saw he didn’t have a great game but the same could be said for all of the Bournemouth players…… 

Only saw the second half but I thought he did well. Liverpool were clinical, the general play was more even. I think Christie gives more aggression and legs in that area than Gilmour or Macgregor who are quite similar in style. I get the impression Clarke isn't overly keen on playing them together either.

[mccaughey85]

Hardies second goal is excellent.

This guy might get a move to the epl if he keeps scoring. Certainly should be a contender for clarkes euro squad.

[ProudScot]

59 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Hardies second goal is excellent.

This guy might get a move to the epl if he keeps scoring. Certainly should be a contender for clarkes euro squad.

Two goals and an assist and he’s into double figures for the season now, out scoring Dykes, Conway & Adams (only by 1 admittedly) in that league. 

Probably got a chance of a call up for the opening friendlies, certainly deserves one ahead of someone like Nisbet anyway. 

[Caledonian Craig]

13 hours ago, thesaint said:

... but.somehow apparantely Jacob Brown does. 😳😳

Point taken but McBurnie never looked half decent for us in 16 caps. Brown has had half as many chances and at least looked half decent in the friendly against France.

[thesaint]

3 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Point taken but McBurnie never looked half decent for us in 16 caps. Brown has had half as many chances and at least looked half decent in the friendly against France.

Well aware that most on this board have a real hatred of McBurnie but Jacob Brown.... really? Still say i don't actually remember McBurnie missing any clear cut chances. At the time he played most of his games we were struggling to create many real chances. Brown runs about a lot but not sure when the chances come he could be relied upon to score. Norway game is a perfect example. Anyway Shankland is the guy who must be given a start in the friendlies that are coming up. Not sure Clarke fancies Shankland though. Just think that going to the euros with Dykes, Adams and Brown wouldn't be a good idea. 

[Caledonian Craig]

35 minutes ago, thesaint said:

Just think that going to the euros with Dykes, Adams and Brown wouldn't be a good idea. 

Our great run of results in the last couple of years or so has come about with out a heavy reliance of goals from the strikers. We have gotten wins against the likes of Spain, Norway, Ukrsine and Denmark with the lion's share of goals coming from the midfield and I believe that is where our goal threat lies. McGinn for example has a strike rate for us not far off that of Ally McCoist. McTominay scored for fun in the qualifiers too. 

For what its worth our strikers for the Euros primarily should be Dykes, Adams and Shankland. The truth of the matter is they are the best we have available to us at present so I do not get this clambering to recall a striker whose international record is far worse than those three.

[thesaint]

19 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Our great run of results in the last couple of years or so has come about with out a heavy reliance of goals from the strikers. We have gotten wins against the likes of Spain, Norway, Ukrsine and Denmark with the lion's share of goals coming from the midfield and I believe that is where our goal threat lies. McGinn for example has a strike rate for us not far off that of Ally McCoist. McTominay scored for fun in the qualifiers too. 

For what its worth our strikers for the Euros primarily should be Dykes, Adams and Shankland. The truth of the matter is they are the best we have available to us at present so I do not get this clambering to recall a striker whose international record is far worse than those three.

I realise that a lot of our goals come from midfield but surely to have strikers who are scoring goals adds to our threat. Shankland if he keeps in his current form is a must. As for people clambering for i take it you are meaning McBurnie to get a recall!... What forum are you looking at? It certainly isn't this one. That's for sure. 🤔🤔

[GroundsKeeper]

McBurnie scored his pen in Serbia.

But won't be seen in dark blue again I reckon.

Not international class, Jury still out on Che Adams as well.

Not for me, more than happy yo be p[roved wrong though.

 

 

[Caledonian Craig]

10 minutes ago, thesaint said:

I realise that a lot of our goals come from midfield but surely to have strikers who are scoring goals adds to our threat. Shankland if he keeps in his current form is a must. As for people clambering for i take it you are meaning McBurnie to get a recall!... What forum are you looking at? It certainly isn't this one. That's for sure. 🤔🤔

Clambering the wrong word but certainly are people who put forward his name even after scoring his first goal in a good few matches even if its a penalty.

And sorry but those strikers we have at present are  the best available to us. In terms of goals in the squad then the current squad has more goals within it that many of our previous major international squads.

[Orraloon]

19 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Clambering the wrong word but certainly are people who put forward his name even after scoring his first goal in a good few matches even if its a penalty.

 

You might be getting mixed up by the same folk saying the same thing over, and over, again about getting him back in the squad and thinking that a lot of folk want hime back in? There are a few persistent admirers of him, on this board, but I think most folk don't want him anywhere near the squad. 

[stocky]

Conway and Hardie deserve a call up for March friendlies

See what they can do.

A Shankland/ Conway or Hardie partnership could be tried out 

Edited January 22 by stocky

[Diamond Scot]

Im more excited by the likes of Conway and to a lesser extent Hardie than McBurnie and Brown but a big part of that is that as supporters we are always hoping the solution is just around the corner. That perhaps Conway will score for fun once he gets the call, something we know McBurnie and Brown wont do.

We need to temper that with not just calling people up for the sake of it. One of Clarkes strengths has been the club feel, making call ups be earned etc. He doesnt tend to call players up who are just on a hot streak as that might only cover 1 set of fixtures in International terms.

My position with McBurnie is that he was commited 1st time around when alot of other players werent. His performances werent good but also they werent stinking. He hit the woodwork 2 or 3 times and to that extent was abit unlucky he hasnt broken his duck. He also took and scored a vital penalty. He rightfully hasnt been called up in a while however is still one of the top 6 or 7 strikers we have and should his form improve and or we get either injuries or other players form drops off then he should still be considered for a call up. 

As supporters we are always wanting young players called up. We cant then dismiss a player for their entire career because they didnt seize the chance when they were called up when they were younger.

[BryanBlessed]

2 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Our great run of results in the last couple of years or so has come about with out a heavy reliance of goals from the strikers. We have gotten wins against the likes of Spain, Norway, Ukrsine and Denmark with the lion's share of goals coming from the midfield and I believe that is where our goal threat lies. McGinn for example has a strike rate for us not far off that of Ally McCoist. McTominay scored for fun in the qualifiers too. 

 

If relying on the midfield was the optimal solution then every team would do it and our strikers do usually get chances but the conversion rate (by Adams especially) is poor.

We're  hardly world beaters with the current system. We could probably give most European teams a game on our day but I'd say the odds are currently even on our getting out of the group.  We're way behind the real elite teams of Europe (France, England and probably Portugal)

[ProudScot]

23 minutes ago, Diamond Scot said:

Im more excited by the likes of Conway and to a lesser extent Hardie than McBurnie and Brown but a big part of that is that as supporters we are always hoping the solution is just around the corner. That perhaps Conway will score for fun once he gets the call, something we know McBurnie and Brown wont do.

We need to temper that with not just calling people up for the sake of it. One of Clarkes strengths has been the club feel, making call ups be earned etc. He doesnt tend to call players up who are just on a hot streak as that might only cover 1 set of fixtures in International terms.

My position with McBurnie is that he was commited 1st time around when alot of other players werent. His performances werent good but also they werent stinking. He hit the woodwork 2 or 3 times and to that extent was abit unlucky he hasnt broken his duck. He also took and scored a vital penalty. He rightfully hasnt been called up in a while however is still one of the top 6 or 7 strikers we have and should his form improve and or we get either injuries or other players form drops off then he should still be considered for a call up. 

As supporters we are always wanting young players called up. We cant then dismiss a player for their entire career because they didnt seize the chance when they were called up when they were younger.

His performances were extremely stinking to the extent he couldn’t even trap or pass a ball properly

[scotlad]

40 minutes ago, Diamond Scot said:

Im more excited by the likes of Conway and to a lesser extent Hardie than McBurnie and Brown but a big part of that is that as supporters we are always hoping the solution is just around the corner. That perhaps Conway will score for fun once he gets the call, something we know McBurnie and Brown wont do.

We need to temper that with not just calling people up for the sake of it. One of Clarkes strengths has been the club feel, making call ups be earned etc. He doesnt tend to call players up who are just on a hot streak as that might only cover 1 set of fixtures in International terms.

My position with McBurnie is that he was commited 1st time around when alot of other players werent. His performances werent good but also they werent stinking. He hit the woodwork 2 or 3 times and to that extent was abit unlucky he hasnt broken his duck. He also took and scored a vital penalty. He rightfully hasnt been called up in a while however is still one of the top 6 or 7 strikers we have and should his form improve and or we get either injuries or other players form drops off then he should still be considered for a call up. 

As supporters we are always wanting young players called up. We cant then dismiss a player for their entire career because they didnt seize the chance when they were called up when they were younger.

Writing McBurnie off because he turned in some poor performances years ago is ridiculous. Using that logic Ryan Hardie shouldn't even be considered for a call-up, since he was released by Rangers at an early age and even failed to make the grade at Blackpool.

The fact is, McBurnie plays regularly at a much better standard than most of our other options in his position; it isn't as if he has modern-day Denis Laws and Kenny Dalglishes keeping him out of the side. It isn't inconceivable that we'll see him in the side at some point.

[thesaint]

2 hours ago, Orraloon said:

You might be getting mixed up by the same folk saying the same thing over, and over, again about getting him back in the squad and thinking that a lot of folk want hime back in? There are a few persistent admirers of him, on this board, but I think most folk don't want him anywhere near the squad. 

Good one. No matter what way you look at it you could never think that many on this forum want him back. You would have to be let's say confused to come to that conclusion. 

[broraboy]

For me, I think Che Adams gets a lot of unfair criticism on here and from Scotland fans in general. He’s not prolific but Lyndon Dykes isn’t either, both different types of front men but imo both merit inclusion for a Scotland squad as we don’t have a plethora of players to choose from ( certainly up front ) 

As mentioned earlier, Tommy Conway does interest me and would like to see him getting a call up - he must have caught S.Clarkes eye to merit inclusion for last summers Squad get together in June prior to Norway/Georgia fixtures, and it’s not just a clammer for calling up a young player, it’s more we don’t have any others (other than Dykes+Adams) 

In the last 2 years - 2022/2023 they have collectively scored 4 goals for Scotland 3 for Dykes and 1 from Adams, everyone can rattle on that our Midfield are coming up with goals from McGinn McTominay McGregor etc etc but to add another dimension and to take Scotland up another level we need Strikers that are going to get us goals! Currently C.Adams is doing well for Southampton and L.Dykes is going through a barren spell with a honking QPR who are almost certain to go down if they get a points deduction. 

McBurnie had more than his fair chance and being honest it was etched on S.Clarkes face watching him under perform for us, Brown as someone mentioned earlier does a lot of running etc but he probably needs another chance / crack of the whip as we haven’t really given him proper minutes. Shankland has done nothing wrong either imo, needs more minutes to show his worth. 

There’s approx 7/8 weeks before Clarke names his next Squad, so enough time for Players to make an impression / return to fitness……. 

 

 

[Caledonian Craig]

56 minutes ago, BryanBlessed said:

 

If relying on the midfield was the optimal solution then every team would do it and our strikers do usually get chances but the conversion rate (by Adams especially) is poor.

We're  hardly world beaters with the current system. We could probably give most European teams a game on our day but I'd say the odds are currently even on our getting out of the group.  We're way behind the real elite teams of Europe (France, England and probably Portugal)

We play to our strengths and currently our strengths are definitely our midfield. Clarke can only play with the hand he has been dealt and at this moment in time we do not have a Denis Law, Kenny Dalglish or Ally McCoist to choose from unfortunately. It is not as if Clarke is overlooking anyone either. He is selecting what he sees as our best striking options and only area I'd criticize him is on given Shankland more gametime and look to integrate Conway into the squad to have a look at him. 

For all the deficiencies in attack it is not to a degree that it is stopping us getting big wins against high quality teams though such as Spain, Ukraine, Denmark and Norway. In our midfield we have in McGinn our greatest midfield goalscorer in our history plus others who can and have chipped in with goals for us such as McTominay. Also people forget that Dykes with 9 goals is not a shabby return for a Scotland striker by our standards either.

The fact we may 'only be' even money to get out of group stages having been drawn in a group containing Germany, Switzerland and Hungary speaks volumes for how far we have come under Clarke.

[thesaint]

1 hour ago, Diamond Scot said:

Im more excited by the likes of Conway and to a lesser extent Hardie than McBurnie and Brown but a big part of that is that as supporters we are always hoping the solution is just around the corner. That perhaps Conway will score for fun once he gets the call, something we know McBurnie and Brown wont do.

We need to temper that with not just calling people up for the sake of it. One of Clarkes strengths has been the club feel, making call ups be earned etc. He doesnt tend to call players up who are just on a hot streak as that might only cover 1 set of fixtures in International terms.

My position with McBurnie is that he was commited 1st time around when alot of other players werent. His performances werent good but also they werent stinking. He hit the woodwork 2 or 3 times and to that extent was abit unlucky he hasnt broken his duck. He also took and scored a vital penalty. He rightfully hasnt been called up in a while however is still one of the top 6 or 7 strikers we have and should his form improve and or we get either injuries or other players form drops off then he should still be considered for a call up. 

As supporters we are always wanting young players called up. We cant then dismiss a player for their entire career because they didnt seize the chance when they were called up when they were younger.

Well said that man. Very commited to Scotland when certain others weren't. He was unlucky with the couple that hit the woodwork. To write him off is daft in the extreme. Let's be honest that no matter what they say the truth is a lot don't like McBurnie because of his look or demeanor never mind his ability or lack of.