Scottish players in action 21/22

[Squirrelhumper]

1 hour ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

He scored 8 in 38 games as an 18 year old in Scotland. He scored 12 last season and 8 the season before so your mortgage wouldn’t be very safe.
 

Regardless, he’s an attacking midfielder who shouldn’t be judged by the number of goals that he scores. 

 

 

Ok then, he wouldn't have the number of assists over here that he gets in America. 

He's 29 this year. No Scotland manager has ever capped him. It's not solely Steve Clarke that hasn't called him up . He might get in the squad now due to injuries/bigger squad but i'd rather go with Forrest personally as he's got experience at this level, both for club and country and is hitting form. Gauld has neither experience at ether club or country at this level.

Good luck to him if he gets called up, as with any player. 

IF we are going to take a punt on a completely leftfield player, i'd rather take a chance on a younger player like Connor Barron. Doak wouldn't have been nailed on in a 26 man squad.
 

[Caledonian Craig]

52 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Ok then, he wouldn't have the number of assists over here that he gets in America. 

He's 29 this year. No Scotland manager has ever capped him. It's not solely Steve Clarke that hasn't called him up . He might get in the squad now due to injuries/bigger squad but i'd rather go with Forrest personally as he's got experience at this level, both for club and country and is hitting form. Gauld has neither experience at ether club or country at this level.

Good luck to him if he gets called up, as with any player. 

IF we are going to take a punt on a completely leftfield player, i'd rather take a chance on a younger player like Connor Barron. Doak wouldn't have been nailed on in a 26 man squad.
 

Fully agree.

I am more concerned about our players for the future. Any wildcard selections should be with thoughts on the future. Last Euros we had Gilmour and Patterson as teenage selections earmarked as future stars. We should be looking to do the same this time with perhaps Johnston, McCrorie and Doak (if he were fit).

[Super_Scotlandfan]

4 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Ok then, he wouldn't have the number of assists over here that he gets in America. 

He's 29 this year. No Scotland manager has ever capped him. It's not solely Steve Clarke that hasn't called him up . He might get in the squad now due to injuries/bigger squad but i'd rather go with Forrest personally as he's got experience at this level, both for club and country and is hitting form. Gauld has neither experience at ether club or country at this level.

Good luck to him if he gets called up, as with any player. 

IF we are going to take a punt on a completely leftfield player, i'd rather take a chance on a younger player like Connor Barron. Doak wouldn't have been nailed on in a 26 man squad.
 

He didn’t deserve to be capped before Steve Clarke was manager. He’s been worth a few caps from 2020 onwards. Even then, Strachan did call him up (assume for experience) in 2014, but didn’t cap him. 

Im also only suggesting him as part of a 26 man squad with injuries or for friendlies/low risk games with the potential to integrate him in. 28 is definitely still young enough to bring someone in (someone like Hartley is a good example of an older call up). 
 

I’d also agree that Barron is a good shout and potentially Doak if he was fit. 
 

Wouldn’t like to see someone like Ryan Jack called up as a squad player instead of Barron for example. 

 

[ceudmilefailte]

3 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Fully agree.

I am more concerned about our players for the future. Any wildcard selections should be with thoughts on the future. Last Euros we had Gilmour and Patterson as teenage selections earmarked as future stars. We should be looking to do the same this time with perhaps Johnston, McCrorie and Doak (if he were fit).

Should have been looking towards the future in the last seven friendlies and dead rubbers not at the finals of a major tournament. 

[Super_Scotlandfan]

18 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Should have been looking towards the future in the last seven friendlies and dead rubbers not at the finals of a major tournament. 

Yeah this seems like a pretty obvious mistake from Clarke. Maybe he would have called up more if he knew it would have been a 26 man squad though? 

[mccaughey85]

23 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Should have been looking towards the future in the last seven friendlies and dead rubbers not at the finals of a major tournament. 

It's all very well saying that now but the rounds of friendlies were a chance for our team to get more experience playing together and to let guys like Ferguson and shankland get a proper chance. 

Now that we have injuries it's looking like we would have been better trying some new players but that's the benefit of hindsight.

We don't really need to be looking to the future, our team isnt that old. Clarkes promoted every young player that was worthy. 

[mccaughey85]

4 minutes ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

Yeah this seems like a pretty obvious mistake from Clarke. Maybe he would have called up more if he knew it would have been a 26 man squad though? 

Clarke can't predict the future. You reckon he should have called heaps of players that had never been capped for the last 4 or 5 games?

It's important to build a team that has a bit of continuity international football and chopping and changing it with loads of new players isn't a good idea imo.

We all wanted him to give Ferguson and shankland a chance which is what he did. 

It's all very well looking back with hindsight now that we have loads of injuries.

[Super_Scotlandfan]

11 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Clarke can't predict the future. You reckon he should have called heaps of players that had never been capped for the last 4 or 5 games?

It's important to build a team that has a bit of continuity international football and chopping and changing it with loads of new players isn't a good idea imo.

We all wanted him to give Ferguson and shankland a chance which is what he did. 

It's all very well looking back with hindsight now that we have loads of injuries.

He could predict that there would potentially be injuries at the end of a season. 
 

He always picks small squads and doesn’t always replace players that pull out. I get that he wants a tight knit squad but one or two additions would have helped. 
 

He also doesn’t tend to give newer players a chance, eg not starting Ferguson against Northern Ireland. Playing McGinn against them had little benefit, imagine it was him that was injured instead of Ferguson. 

[Caledonian Craig]

29 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

It's all very well saying that now but the rounds of friendlies were a chance for our team to get more experience playing together and to let guys like Ferguson and shankland get a proper chance. 

Now that we have injuries it's looking like we would have been better trying some new players but that's the benefit of hindsight.

We don't really need to be looking to the future, our team isnt that old. Clarkes promoted every young player that was worthy. 

I agree with all but the last part. We do need to be looking to the future. Armdtrong is 32 and this will most likely be his final major tournament. Hanley is also nearing the end of his international career and thete are a string of our key players now in their late 20s or edging into their 30s. We run the risk of going down the avenue taken by Craig Brown towards the end of his tenure which left Vogts a big rebuilding task.

[Caledonian Craig]

5 minutes ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

He could predict that there would potentially be injuries at the end of a season. 
 

He always picks small squads and doesn’t always replace players that pull out. I get that he wants a tight knit squad but one or two additions would have helped. 
 

He also doesn’t tend to give newer players a chance, eg not starting Ferguson against Northern Ireland. Playing McGinn against them had little benefit, imagine it was him that was injured instead of Ferguson. 

I disagree to a large degree. The last double header really was about regaining some momentum with wins and you do that fielding your best team which ours would always include the likes of McGinn. If we had gone into that double header in fine form then yes by all means experiment but we were a long way off that.

[mccaughey85]

3 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I agree with all but the last part. We do need to be looking to the future. Armdtrong is 32 and this will most likely be his final major tournament. Hanley is also nearing the end of his international career and thete are a string of our key players now in their late 20s or edging into their 30s. We run the risk of going down the avenue taken by Craig Brown towards the end of his tenure which left Vogts a big rebuilding task.

Yeh there's always a need to bring in some fresh players but that could probably have happened after the euros. Just because a few guys are getting to 30+ doesn't mean an overhaul of the squad is needed. 

Ferguson is probably the long term replacement for Armstrong. Hanley will probably be replaced by someone like bowat, king or some other young centre back. 

We are a long way from going down the Craig brown route just yet.

Injuries will probably force Clarke to give out some squad places to guys that haven't really been in many before. That will bring some new blood in although if it's gauld, Morgan and Forrest then that's not exactly young players anyway and they would need replaced in 4 to 5 years or less in forrests case.

[Caledonian Craig]

27 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Yeh there's always a need to bring in some fresh players but that could probably have happened after the euros. Just because a few guys are getting to 30+ doesn't mean an overhaul of the squad is needed. 

Ferguson is probably the long term replacement for Armstrong. Hanley will probably be replaced by someone like bowat, king or some other young centre back. 

We are a long way from going down the Craig brown route just yet.

Injuries will probably force Clarke to give out some squad places to guys that haven't really been in many before. That will bring some new blood in although if it's gauld, Morgan and Forrest then that's not exactly young players anyway and they would need replaced in 4 to 5 years or less in forrests case.

I am not talking about a overhaul. I am talking about looking to integrate some of our most promising youngsters into the squad especially now when we havea number of injuries to the squad. It makes far more sense to bed in the next generation than stop gap players who only have a couple of years or so at the top of their game in the squad.

[Super_Scotlandfan]

28 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I disagree to a large degree. The last double header really was about regaining some momentum with wins and you do that fielding your best team which ours would always include the likes of McGinn. If we had gone into that double header in fine form then yes by all means experiment but we were a long way off that.

Fair enough, respect your opinion. Although, we should have won that game with or without McGinn, and helping someone like Ferguson integrate with the team benefits the whole squad. McGinn is going to end up being one of the most played players in Europe by the end of the season. 

[Caledonian Craig]

6 minutes ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

Fair enough, respect your opinion. Although, we should have won that game with or without McGinn, and helping someone like Ferguson integrate with the team benefits the whole squad. McGinn is going to end up being one of the most played players in Europe by the end of the season. 

Ferguson got lots of gametime anyway and once again he did not show he is worthy a starting slot just now.

[theabsentee]

28 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Yeh there's always a need to bring in some fresh players but that could probably have happened after the euros. Just because a few guys are getting to 30+ doesn't mean an overhaul of the squad is needed. 

Ferguson is probably the long term replacement for Armstrong. Hanley will probably be replaced by someone like bowat, king or some other young centre back. 

We are a long way from going down the Craig brown route just yet.

Injuries will probably force Clarke to give out some squad places to guys that haven't really been in many before. That will bring some new blood in although if it's gauld, Morgan and Forrest then that's not exactly young players anyway and they would need replaced in 4 to 5 years or less in forrests case.

It seems to be the general consensus that the 26 player squad only benefits the bigger nations but I disagree it will make Clarke's job a bit easier I reckon. If it was 23 it's looking rather likely that we would be taking a third of the outfield squad either lacking in match fitness or borderline fit at all .

 Hickey, Hanley, Cooper, Tierney , Ralston, Armstrong, McTominay . That's 7 of the top of my drunken head & there's still a few weeks of the season to go.

  Of the 7 above there's arguably 3 to 4 first picks of which only McTominay you'd be confident of being capable enough to last 90 minutes nevermind 3 full games.

    Like it's been said Clarke could have foreseen this scenario & integrated at least a couple of players during all these friendlies but in his defence there's arguably no one really obvious deserving of a call up .

 

[ceudmilefailte]

22 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Ferguson got lots of gametime anyway and once again he did not show he is worthy a starting slot just now.

Yea right, what is lots of game time?

[mccaughey85]

30 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I am not talking about a overhaul. I am talking about looking to integrate some of our most promising youngsters into the squad especially now when we havea number of injuries to the squad. It makes far more sense to bed in the next generation than stop gap players who only have a couple of years or so at the top of their game in the squad.

I just don't understand the criticism aimed at Clarke over this. He couldn't predict that we would lose Armstrong,Ferguson and mctominay. He's integrated everyone that has warranted it and we will need to roll with the punches and try and integrate a few more at the last minute before the euros. 

It's unlucky but hardly his fault.

[Caledonian Craig]

7 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

I just don't understand the criticism aimed at Clarke over this. He couldn't predict that we would lose Armstrong,Ferguson and mctominay. He's integrated everyone that has warranted it and we will need to roll with the punches and try and integrate a few more at the last minute before the euros. 

It's unlucky but hardly his fault.

I agree the injury crisis is not Clarke's fault. It is the worst set of injuries to key players you could imagine. It is all about how he deals with it now that is key. Stop gap players being brought in is not going to benefit us in the long run so look to the future generation. It would be a mistake not to and would tell me that the up and coming next generation are not up to much which would be a big worry.

[ProudScot]

14 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

I just don't understand the criticism aimed at Clarke over this. He couldn't predict that we would lose Armstrong,Ferguson and mctominay. He's integrated everyone that has warranted it and we will need to roll with the punches and try and integrate a few more at the last minute before the euros. 

It's unlucky but hardly his fault.

Hes stuck to what he knows rather than try things out in friendlies though in all honesty.

Picking horrendously out of form favourites.

Theres a balance to it & he even says things like his squad is basically picked about 3-4 months before the tournament which tbh is nonsense

[Caledonian Craig]

37 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

Hes stuck to what he knows rather than try things out in friendlies though in all honesty.

Picking horrendously out of form favourites.

Theres a balance to it & he even says things like his squad is basically picked about 3-4 months before the tournament which tbh is nonsense

We are not blessed with an array of international class players so yes many have booked their places already. They are the players that got us there and there are very few obvious candidates screaming select me in their place. All that being the case a large number of the current squad would have to get done for chicken-molesting to be dropped.

[ProudScot]

23 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

We are not blessed with an array of international class players so yes many have booked their places already. They are the players that got us there and there are very few obvious candidates screaming select me in their place. All that being the case a large number of the current squad would have to get done for chicken-molesting to be dropped.

We have a lot more international class players than we’ve had for a long time 

[Caledonian Craig]

5 hours ago, ProudScot said:

We have a lot more international class players than we’ve had for a long time 

Not to the degree that you would confidently drop a squad stalwart for a tailor-made international class (proven) replacement.

[Diamond Scot]

Clarke has been pretty consistent in only dropoing a squad regular when somebody obviously better comes along.

Managers in the past have been guilty of bringing in the flash in the pan form player and the squad then changes loads from one game to the next.

Clarke has shown that he isnt afraid to make the changes when the time is right and it has defo made us stronger as a unit and also you just dont see the calls off that we were plauged with for years. Part of that has to be the squad atmosphere but also the fear of not getting back in.

As others have said, its not so much that Clarke has his favourites who he will pick even when out of form, its more that nobody else has staked enough of a claim to replace them. Take Dykes for example. If any Scottish striker was pulling up trees then im sure Clarke would have been happy to bring them in but nobody has been.

[mccaughey85]

7 hours ago, ProudScot said:

Hes stuck to what he knows rather than try things out in friendlies though in all honesty.

Picking horrendously out of form favourites.

Theres a balance to it & he even says things like his squad is basically picked about 3-4 months before the tournament which tbh is nonsense

How is that nonsense? He probably did have most of his squad picked already. I think we all could easily have picked the squad we think should go based on who got us there. Thats hardly a shock to me. Clarke will reward the guys who have done a job for him and will pick two or three new guys based on injuries and the changes to a larger squad. 

Also it's important to keep continuity in a team and perhaps Clarke felt that playing his regulars who will going to the euros instead of chopping and changing things would be more beneficial. International football games don't happen every week and trying to gel a team out of the limited time they have together isn't easy. 

There's a trade off between trying new things and players and trying to build on what you have already established works. 

I think overall Clarke has got this right and the competitive results show this.

[ceudmilefailte]

33 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Also it's important to keep continuity in a team  

Let’s continue our seven games without a win run. 
We might scrape out of the group stage and Clarke will become a national treasure but we could also go another seven games without a win. 
Feel sorry for Clarke the way things are looking, but anyone who thinks he played Ferguson and Shankland enough or tried out all his positional options in our last seven games has their head in the sand.