Injury Watch

[theabsentee]

8 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Well I presume that would mean he would be fit for the two friendlies which he could use to get match sharp. The alternatives are a confidence shot to pieces Patterson or Tony Ralston.

Yeh I'd take that now as at least he is with us but we will most probably end up playing the June friendlies with both Hickey &  Patterson desperate for minutes. In that scenario rest Robbo & start both of them I reckon. Give Patterson a chance to discover some confidence if it doesn't work tough decision when cutting the squad to 23.

[Caledonian Craig]

9 minutes ago, theabsentee said:

Yeh I'd take that now as at least he is with us but we will most probably end up playing the June friendlies with both Hickey &  Patterson desperate for minutes. In that scenario rest Robbo & start both of them I reckon. Give Patterson a chance to discover some confidence if it doesn't work tough decision when cutting the squad to 23.

Yes that makes sense.

[vanderark14]

On 3/31/2024 at 2:17 PM, BryanBlessed said:

Ross Stewart isn't going to happen just like Oli McBurnie. I don't even think he fancied Shankland but he became impossible to ignore. I must admit that I find it hard to understand his selections sometimes.

 

On 3/31/2024 at 2:53 PM, bdgsct said:

Agree. I think there are players in the starting line up and the squad looking a bit too comfortable, relying on Clarke's loyalty. Need fresh blood to keep people on their toes if nothing else.

What made you come to the conclusion that Clarke doesn't or didn't fancy shankland?

 

[BryanBlessed]

12 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

 

What made you come to the conclusion that Clarke doesn't or didn't fancy shankland?

 

For me, it was when he brought on Dykes for Brown against Norway despite Shankland scoring against Georgia. He was also talking like Adams or Dykes was still his first choice in interviews leading up to the Netherlands game. I was quite surprised to see Shankland startint that one.

[vanderark14]

22 minutes ago, BryanBlessed said:

For me, it was when he brought on Dykes for Brown against Norway despite Shankland scoring against Georgia. He was also talking like Adams or Dykes was still his first choice in interviews leading up to the Netherlands game. I was quite surprised to see Shankland startint that one.

I disagree. I think he see shankland as an equal to Adams and dykes now. 

Shankland is the new guy, until last season he only had one purple patch and that was at scottish championship level. Now he is scoring regularly for one of scotlands top sides 

[BryanBlessed]

12 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

I disagree. I think he see shankland as an equal to Adams and dykes now. 

 

Now he does but he didn't use to which is what I was saying. He was our in-form striker yet hardly got any time against Georgia and Norway. On the evidence he was third (or maybe even fourth) choice.

[ceudmilefailte]

18 minutes ago, BryanBlessed said:

Now he does but he didn't use to which is what I was saying. He was our in-form striker yet hardly got any time against Georgia and Norway. On the evidence he was third (or maybe even fourth) choice.

Agree with Vanderark,I wouldn’t even say he had been in good enough form long enough before the games you mention. 

[Third Lanark]

Better news on Gilmour; 3-4 weeks apparently. Just Hickey to worry about now.

[vanderark14]

2 hours ago, BryanBlessed said:

Now he does but he didn't use to which is what I was saying. He was our in-form striker yet hardly got any time against Georgia and Norway. On the evidence he was third (or maybe even fourth) choice.

I don't think this is the case. Shankland was the man who started against the NEtherlands in our first warm up game and he was the called upon to grab a goal against Northern Ireland and he almost did. 

Being on form shouldn't automatically mean game time, the balance of the squad both on and off the pitch is equally as important. I think Clarke has managed this well

 

 

1 hour ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Agree with Vanderark,I wouldn’t even say he had been in good enough form long enough before the games you mention. 

 

[Scotty2Hotty]

1 hour ago, vanderark14 said:

I don't think this is the case. Shankland was the man who started against the NEtherlands in our first warm up game and he was the called upon to grab a goal against Northern Ireland and he almost did. 

Being on form shouldn't automatically mean game time, the balance of the squad both on and off the pitch is equally as important. I think Clarke has managed this well

 

 

 

The balance is pish, there are barely any wingers in the team and no young lads being introduced to blood in the future players...

Edited April 2 by Scotty2Hotty

[Diamond Scot]

3 hours ago, Scotty2Hotty said:

The balance is pish, there are barely any wingers in the team and no young lads being introduced to blood in the future players...

Hickey is 21, Gilmour is 22, Patterson is 22 and Ferguson is 24. All are regulars in the team / squad.

Which young player do you think should be in the squad but arent. Doig is captain of U21s so worthwhile him getting gametime there rather than being on bench for A squad.

Doak is injured but before that hasnt set the world alight for Liverpool this season so promoting him to A squad wouldnt have been justified and may have been too much too soon imo.

Clarkes record on bringing young players into the squad and then the team is better than any manager in my lifetime. 

Players need to be good enough to earn an international call up. Previous managers have been too quick to call up flavours of the month or flash in the pans. The result is an unsettled squad and caps not being earned. Nowadays to get a call up and then a cap is an achievement. As it should be!!! 

[BryanBlessed]

4 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

I don't think this is the case. Shankland was the man who started against the NEtherlands in our first warm up game and he was the called upon to grab a goal against Northern Ireland and he almost did. 

Being on form shouldn't automatically mean game time, the balance of the squad both on and off the pitch is equally as important. I think Clarke has managed this well

 

 

 

Dykes was off form and hadn't had a good game for us in a while. He had a brilliant two minutes against Norway but he hadn't had a good game until that moment. So Dykes had been off it for club and country for a while. Shankland was doing very well at Hearts and had scored an equaliser against Georgia away yet Clarke still brought on Dykes ahead if him against Norway. At that moment, I wasn't the only one saying it didn't seem like Clarke fancied Shankland. Thankfully, that's changed.

[vanderark14]

4 minutes ago, BryanBlessed said:

Dykes was off form and hadn't had a good game for us in a while. He had a brilliant two minutes against Norway but he hadn't had a good game until that moment. So Dykes had been off it for club and country for a while. Shankland was doing very well at Hearts and had scored an equaliser against Georgia away yet Clarke still brought on Dykes ahead if him against Norway. At that moment, I wasn't the only one saying it didn't seem like Clarke fancied Shankland. Thankfully, that's changed.

I'll leave it there. Bringing on Dykes instead of Shankland in one game isn't worth getting worked up about

 

[Scotty2Hotty]

9 minutes ago, Diamond Scot said:

Hickey is 21, Gilmour is 22, Patterson is 22 and Ferguson is 24. All are regulars in the team / squad.

Which young player do you think should be in the squad but arent. Doig is captain of U21s so worthwhile him getting gametime there rather than being on bench for A squad.

Doak is injured but before that hasnt set the world alight for Liverpool this season so promoting him to A squad wouldnt have been justified and may have been too much too soon imo.

Clarkes record on bringing young players into the squad and then the team is better than any manager in my lifetime. 

Players need to be good enough to earn an international call up. Previous managers have been too quick to call up flavours of the month or flash in the pans. The result is an unsettled squad and caps not being earned. Nowadays to get a call up and then a cap is an achievement. As it should be!!! 

The players you mention barring Ferguson already have a lot of caps now so wasn't talking about them plus they're not overly young in football terms. Ferguson has been given next to no time to settle into the team and show what he can do during the recent games.

Doak should of been called up previously before he was injured. Everyone can see just how much of a talent he is. You only have to look at other national teams to see what they do with their quality teenage players. Doesn't mean you need to play them but if he is getting games for one of the best teams in the world  Liverpool then wtf are we waiting on and letting him development under one of the worst u/21 coaches we ever had?

Clarke's record of bringing in youth talent may seem better but that's cause as a nation, we never seem to play young players. Plus the players he has brought in are better than the ones they are replacing since the bar is so low.

 

[Diamond Scot]

24 minutes ago, Scotty2Hotty said:

The players you mention barring Ferguson already have a lot of caps now so wasn't talking about them plus they're not overly young in football terms. Ferguson has been given next to no time to settle into the team and show what he can do during the recent games.

Doak should of been called up previously before he was injured. Everyone can see just how much of a talent he is. You only have to look at other national teams to see what they do with their quality teenage players. Doesn't mean you need to play them but if he is getting games for one of the best teams in the world  Liverpool then wtf are we waiting on and letting him development under one of the worst u/21 coaches we ever had?

Clarke's record of bringing in youth talent may seem better but that's cause as a nation, we never seem to play young players. Plus the players he has brought in are better than the ones they are replacing since the bar is so low.

 

So Clarke brings in a good few young players early but they dont count because they now have lots of caps? Surely thats to Clarkes credit? 

Personally I think Ferguson should have had a cpl more sub appearences and should have started last weeks friendlies but he still got good minutes. I like him but he isnt currently better than our starting players. He has also done zero zero in a Scotland shirt to push for a start. He has 12 caps and zero goals. I could be wrong but I cant remember an assist either. Even above that, remind me of 1 good thing he has done, a pass, a tackle etc that would make it hard for Clarke to leave out?

Doak has been underwheming for Liverpool this year. He gets a pass as theres huge potential but again has done nothing to merit a call up. And I say that as somebody who is really excited by him. 

[todd]

1 hour ago, Diamond Scot said:

So Clarke brings in a good few young players early but they dont count because they now have lots of caps? Surely thats to Clarkes credit? 

Personally I think Ferguson should have had a cpl more sub appearences and should have started last weeks friendlies but he still got good minutes. I like him but he isnt currently better than our starting players. He has also done zero zero in a Scotland shirt to push for a start. He has 12 caps and zero goals. I could be wrong but I cant remember an assist either. Even above that, remind me of 1 good thing he has done, a pass, a tackle etc that would make it hard for Clarke to leave out?

Doak has been underwheming for Liverpool this year. He gets a pass as theres huge potential but again has done nothing to merit a call up. And I say that as somebody who is really excited by him. 

Has Doak not been out injured for nearly 5 months?  Hard to be anything other than underwhelming when you're not playing 🤔

[ger intae them]

13 minutes ago, todd said:

Has Doak not been out injured for nearly 5 months?  Hard to be anything other than underwhelming when you're not playing 🤔

He was underwhelming prior to injury. Maybe just beginning to angle into cup games but long way to national team.  Hope he becomes a great but long road ahead and fast track to be the ‘wide saviour’ of the national team might not be a great shout.

[todd]

7 minutes ago, ger intae them said:

He was underwhelming prior to injury. Maybe just beginning to angle into cup games but long way to national team.  Hope he becomes a great but long road ahead and fast track to be the ‘wide saviour’ of the national team might not be a great shout.

In my defence, he did say this year.

How many games did he play this season before his injury? I haven't really been keeping track to be honest

Edited April 2 by todd

[Scotty2Hotty]

1 hour ago, Diamond Scot said:

So Clarke brings in a good few young players early but they dont count because they now have lots of caps? Surely thats to Clarkes credit? 

Personally I think Ferguson should have had a cpl more sub appearences and should have started last weeks friendlies but he still got good minutes. I like him but he isnt currently better than our starting players. He has also done zero zero in a Scotland shirt to push for a start. He has 12 caps and zero goals. I could be wrong but I cant remember an assist either. Even above that, remind me of 1 good thing he has done, a pass, a tackle etc that would make it hard for Clarke to leave out?

Doak has been underwheming for Liverpool this year. He gets a pass as theres huge potential but again has done nothing to merit a call up. And I say that as somebody who is really excited by him. 

I was talking about more recently and i think any manager of Scotland would of picked Gilmour/Hickey/Patterson. Credit to Clarke for starting Gilmour in the Wembley game though, not many managers would of done that IMO.

Forgot to mention Doig should of had game time over Taylor anyway by now and could of been subbed on for Robo in the friendly, the under 21's mean fuck all, there's no development there with the coaches we have anyway.

Regarding Ferguson, how are you meant to do anything when you don't get a run of games and you're coming off the bench for a short period of time. You mention he isn't currently better than our current options but he hasn't been given a chance to prove he is plus we re very strong in the midfield area so you would like need to adapt the formation a bit to fit him in currently, like going 4ATB or putting one of our midfielders as a false 9. He made a great run into the box against NI and got a shot on target, that's one example for you and he looked very tidy when he came on IMO. Just watch Bologna live and you'll understand why I rate him so highly and watch youtube anaylsis on him so you can see the type of player he is, he would fit us perfectly. 

For Doak's age (18), he's been very good when he's played barring the odd game, don't think you can say he has been underwhelming but he is still very raw. That's very similar to a lot of young teenagers around the world though...

[Scotty2Hotty]

35 minutes ago, todd said:

Has Doak not been out injured for nearly 5 months?  Hard to be anything other than underwhelming when you're not playing 🤔

Before his injury I said, when he was playing a few games for liverpool mainly in the cup

[todd]

1 hour ago, Scotty2Hotty said:

Before his injury I said, when he was playing a few games for liverpool mainly in the cup

What?  Did I even comment on something you said? I'm confused 😕 

[Scotty2Hotty]

1 minute ago, todd said:

What?  Did I even comment on something you said? I'm confused 😕 

Yep you did, just scroll up you lazy fucker

[todd]

2 minutes ago, Scotty2Hotty said:

Yep you did, just scroll up you lazy fucker

Looks to me like I responded to Diamond Scot then Ger intae them.  Are you one of them too? As well as this Chripper fella everyone's been accusing you of being? 😁

[Scotty2Hotty]

11 minutes ago, todd said:

Looks to me like I responded to Diamond Scot then Ger intae them.  Are you one of them too? As well as this Chripper fella everyone's been accusing you of being? 😁

looool whoops my bad, ignore me

[todd]

Just now, Scotty2Hotty said:

looool whoops my bad, ignore me

No probs mate, I was beginning to doubt myself though 😄