Injury Watch

[runningtings]

The Gauld patter makes me laugh.

[Gala Tartan Army (Borders)]

This is just getting ridiculous now. 3 serious injuries in one week. Chuck in Hickey and Hanley both looking highly doubtful at best. 

[Gala Tartan Army (Borders)]

59 minutes ago, DesiScotsman said:

Agree although Doak is still injured and there’s been no word on how he’s been getting on with his recovery. I think if UEFA do increase the squad selection size to 26 then both Ralston & Fraser would have made it even if none of these injuries this week would have happened.

Might also give a chance for the two MLS based players in Gauld & Morgan to get into the squad now.

I seriously cannot remember another nation having this much bad luck injury wise going into a major tournament?

Doak is back training. Liverpool posted some photos on social media few weeks ago.

[The Black Bra]

What about McKenna?

[Caledonian Craig]

6 minutes ago, The Black Bra said:

What about McKenna?

McKenna is back fit he started for Copenhagen earlier in the week.

[The Black Bra]

OK, so as it stands and assuming Hickey makes it:

Gunn, 2 from Gordon, Clark & Kelly

Robertson, Tierney, Porteous, Hendry, Souttar, McKenna, Hickey, Ralston

Christie, McGregor, Gilmour, McTominay, McGinn, McLean

Adams, Shankland, Dykes

That makes 20. Has it been  confirmed yet that squads are 26?

If so, that’s 6 places up for grabs. I’d take Fraser, other possibilities are McBurnie, Doak, Turnbull, Conway, Johnston & Cairney. Wouldn’t be surprised if Clarke takes Greg Taylor. Anyone I’ve forgotten? (Gauld has no chance).

[todd]

1 hour ago, The Black Bra said:

OK, so as it stands and assuming Hickey makes it:

Gunn, 2 from Gordon, Clark & Kelly

Robertson, Tierney, Porteous, Hendry, Souttar, McKenna, Hickey, Ralston

Christie, McGregor, Gilmour, McTominay, McGinn, McLean

Adams, Shankland, Dykes

That makes 20. Has it been  confirmed yet that squads are 26?

If so, that’s 6 places up for grabs. I’d take Fraser, other possibilities are McBurnie, Doak, Turnbull, Conway, Johnston & Cairney. Wouldn’t be surprised if Clarke takes Greg Taylor. Anyone I’ve forgotten? (Gauld has no chance).

Jesus, you're right but put like that it is rather depressing viewing 😕 

[Caledonian Craig]

7 hours ago, The Black Bra said:

OK, so as it stands and assuming Hickey makes it:

Gunn, 2 from Gordon, Clark & Kelly

Robertson, Tierney, Porteous, Hendry, Souttar, McKenna, Hickey, Ralston

Christie, McGregor, Gilmour, McTominay, McGinn, McLean

Adams, Shankland, Dykes

That makes 20. Has it been  confirmed yet that squads are 26?

If so, that’s 6 places up for grabs. I’d take Fraser, other possibilities are McBurnie, Doak, Turnbull, Conway, Johnston & Cairney. Wouldn’t be surprised if Clarke takes Greg Taylor. Anyone I’ve forgotten? (Gauld has no chance).

If Hanley is back to fitness he will be as well as Fraser. Pretty good chance McCrorie will make it as back up to Hickey in case he breaks down. This would take it up to 23. If it is to be 26 then I'd name another striker so maybe McBurnie or Conway. If Doak is fit have him along as a wildcard and I have a feeling Greg Taylor would then make it to make up the 26.

[BryanBlessed]

What are our expectations now? I"ve gone from thinking we could actually do something in this tournament to thinking we'll do really well to get third place and scrape out of the group.  That's assuming Hickey doesn't make it or makes it and isn't really fit. 

An injury to another key player and I can't see us doing anything.  Maybe just being pessimistic but there is only so much a coach can do with championship-level players.

[Caledonian Craig]

10 minutes ago, BryanBlessed said:

What are our expectations now? I"ve gone from thinking we could actually do something in this tournament to thinking we'll do really well to get third place and scrape out of the group.  That's assuming Hickey doesn't make it or makes it and isn't really fit. 

An injury to another key player and I can't see us doing anything.  Maybe just being pessimistic but there is only so much a coach can do with championship-level players.

I am much like you.

We had the potential to get out of the group as, when all things fall right for us, we are a really decent side. That needs us to be at full strength with all our key players in form and putting in good performances for us and being in good form for their clubs. All of that has not really happened over the last six months. With a bit of luck and things going our way we may get lucky and still progress. Here's hoping.

[BryanBlessed]

9 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I am much like you.

We had the potential to get out of the group as, when all things fall right for us, we are a really decent side. That needs us to be at full strength with all our key players in form and putting in good performances for us and being in good form for their clubs. All of that has not really happened over the last six months. With a bit of luck and things going our way we may get lucky and still progress. Here's hoping.

I think things really went for us in qualifying in a way that they haven't always done and that may have raised expectations a little higher than usual. Like you say, we have a good team when everyone's available and on form but when we lose a few key players we're pretty average. I'd probably expect Hungary and Switzerland to lose a few players to injury, too, though.

9 hours ago, The Black Bra said:

OK, so as it stands and assuming Hickey makes it:

Gunn, 2 from Gordon, Clark & Kelly

Robertson, Tierney, Porteous, Hendry, Souttar, McKenna, Hickey, Ralston

Christie, McGregor, Gilmour, McTominay, McGinn, McLean

Adams, Shankland, Dykes

That makes 20. Has it been  confirmed yet that squads are 26?

If so, that’s 6 places up for grabs. I’d take Fraser, other possibilities are McBurnie, Doak, Turnbull, Conway, Johnston & Cairney. Wouldn’t be surprised if Clarke takes Greg Taylor. Anyone I’ve forgotten? (Gauld has no chance).

 

He'll take Jack if he's fit (though he probably won't be) I think Fraser now makes it even if it's at 23. I suspect Hanley may be finished but if he's back and fit, he'll almost certainly start. If it goes to 26, I honestly think Clarke will be racking his brains about who to take. In that case, the inclusion of Conway and Doak wouldn't surprise me.

[The Black Bra]

37 minutes ago, BryanBlessed said:

What are our expectations now? I"ve gone from thinking we could actually do something in this tournament to thinking we'll do really well to get third place and scrape out of the group.  That's assuming Hickey doesn't make it or makes it and isn't really fit. 

An injury to another key player and I can't see us doing anything.  Maybe just being pessimistic but there is only so much a coach can do with championship-level players.

I was a lot more optimistic 6 months ago. I was happy with Germany as pot 1 team as they were in the worst state they’d been in in my lifetime and I’d rather have them than England, France or Portugal. Not so sure about that now….
Looking for positives, I think our recent record in competitive games is ‘won 15 of last 21’, if you take into account the last 2 were dead rubbers, you could say ‘15 wins in last 19 meaningful games’ which is incredible for us. We’ve always been pish in friendlies and they were mostly against top teams so maybe they’re meaningless? The way we played against Netherlands for an hour was great apart from the finishing.

As usual with us I’m hopeful, but if I was going to put my house on it I think there’s a very good chance we’ll lose to Germany and Hungary. A win against Switzerland might be enough for 3rd, don’t know much about them.

[BryanBlessed]

7 minutes ago, The Black Bra said:

I was a lot more optimistic 6 months ago. I was happy with Germany as pot 1 team as they were in the worst state they’d been in in my lifetime and I’d rather have them than England, France or Portugal. Not so sure about that now….
Looking for positives, I think our recent record in competitive games is ‘won 15 of last 21’, if you take into account the last 2 were dead rubbers, you could say ‘15 wins in last 19 meaningful games’ which is incredible for us. We’ve always been pish in friendlies and they were mostly against top teams so maybe they’re meaningless? The way we played against Netherlands for an hour was great apart from the finishing.

As usual with us I’m hopeful, but if I was going to put my house on it I think there’s a very good chance we’ll lose to Germany and Hungary. A win against Switzerland might be enough for 3rd, don’t know much about them.

 

Yeah maybe I'm being too pessimistic, at least I hope so.. Even with Hickey out, we still have (touch wood) Gilmour, McGinn, Robbo, Tierney, McTominay, McGregor (I do worry he's still injured) who are all top players. All our CB's are championship level, though (bar Tierney), and have a mistake in them.

Hungary appear to be more than the sum of their parts and they definitely had an easier qualifying group than us. On our day, with a good first XI, we can beat both Switzerland and Hungary. The problem is that I can't actually remember the last time we had two back-to-back really good performances. Good results, yes, but not performances.

[The Black Bra]

I haven’t seen anything of Hungary recently, basing my opinion on them based on the last Euros and the nations league where they beat England home and away.

[BryanBlessed]

7 minutes ago, The Black Bra said:

I haven’t seen anything of Hungary recently, basing my opinion on them based on the last Euros and the nations league where they beat England home and away.

They did beat England but England definitely don't take the NL seriously. I think the standard of international teams can vary a lot in as little as two or three years. When I look at the Swiss and Hungary squads, the Swiss look better. We probably could beat one of them but not both of them.

[The Black Bra]

Think they’re unbeaten in 14 games. Won their qualifying group but wasn’t the toughest group. They also beat Germany in the last NL but as you say, the big teams don’t take it that seriously. They might learn the hard way if it affects their seeding for qualifying groups, are England not going to be in pot 2 for next WC qualifiers?

[Gala Tartan Army (Borders)]

1 hour ago, BryanBlessed said:

I think things really went for us in qualifying in a way that they haven't always done and that may have raised expectations a little higher than usual. Like you say, we have a good team when everyone's available and on form but when we lose a few key players we're pretty average. I'd probably expect Hungary and Switzerland to lose a few players to injury, too, though.

 

He'll take Jack if he's fit (though he probably won't be) I think Fraser now makes it even if it's at 23. I suspect Hanley may be finished but if he's back and fit, he'll almost certainly start. If it goes to 26, I honestly think Clarke will be racking his brains about who to take. In that case, the inclusion of Conway and Doak wouldn't surprise me.

Agree with all this. I know Clarke has said he wont be approaching any of the potential players with Scottish grannys etc but i wonder now if the goalposts have changed so much with injuries that he may pick up phone and see if any want to commit. The chance to play in the opening game of a major tournament may be a good selling point.

[Third Lanark]

On 4/19/2024 at 8:15 PM, todd said:

We just love a bit of infamy don't we? 😝

Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!

[Diamond Scot]

If we need a few players to pad out the squad id much rather take our best youngsters rather than guys who we know arent at the required level. 

For example as a back up id rather take Doig over Taylor. 

Doak over Turnbull

Barron over Cairney

The only exception to me is id be tempted to take Gauld purely because he hasnt ever really been given a chance and sometimes a wildcard with abit to prove just shines at the right time.

[Tartan blood]

54 minutes ago, BryanBlessed said:

 

Yeah maybe I'm being too pessimistic, at least I hope so.. Even with Hickey out, we still have (touch wood) Gilmour, McGinn, Robbo, Tierney, McTominay, McGregor (I do worry he's still injured) who are all top players. All our CB's are championship level, though (bar Tierney), and have a mistake in them.

 

I was going to say exactly this. In my opinion, we currently have 6 undroppable players that will start regardless of game time at their clubs - McTominay, McGinn, Tierney, Robertson, Gilmour and Hickey. Gilmour and Hickey are new to this list, but I genuinely think they are that good. These are the 6 that will make me sick if we lose more than one of them.

McGregor, although a great player, is slightly behind. I'd actually put him in the same bracket as Christie. A probable starter, but we'd manage without. 

[Diamond Scot]

46 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

I was going to say exactly this. In my opinion, we currently have 6 undroppable players that will start regardless of game time at their clubs - McTominay, McGinn, Tierney, Robertson, Gilmour and Hickey. Gilmour and Hickey are new to this list, but I genuinely think they are that good. These are the 6 that will make me sick if we lose more than one of them.

McGregor, although a great player, is slightly behind. I'd actually put him in the same bracket as Christie. A probable starter, but we'd manage without. 

The problem we now have is that it would have been unlikely for all the 6 players you mention to play the full 90 for all 3 games. Subbing off McTominay or McGinn for Armstrong or Ferguson is alot stronger than doing it for the likes of Turnbull.

Even though the guys we have lost werent starters, they were solid experienced subs, more than capable of maintaining the standard of the starting players. We are now looking at the real possibility of a huge drop off in quality if we need to make subs or injury replacements during the tournament. For example if Hickey doesnt make it then its probable Ralston will start. That in itself is a massive drop off but if Ralston gets injured / tired / picks up a booking during one of the games then we are probably then looking at giving Max Johnstone his international debut or playing somebody out of position.

[Hertsscot]

Plenty of time to pick up a few more injuries before the end of the season and then in the two friendlies beforehand. I'd be surprised if we don't have at least one other drop out. Really difficult for Steve Clarke.

[Tartan blood]

45 minutes ago, Diamond Scot said:

The problem we now have is that it would have been unlikely for all the 6 players you mention to play the full 90 for all 3 games. Subbing off McTominay or McGinn for Armstrong or Ferguson is alot stronger than doing it for the likes of Turnbull.

Even though the guys we have lost werent starters, they were solid experienced subs, more than capable of maintaining the standard of the starting players. We are now looking at the real possibility of a huge drop off in quality if we need to make subs or injury replacements during the tournament. For example if Hickey doesnt make it then its probable Ralston will start. That in itself is a massive drop off but if Ralston gets injured / tired / picks up a booking during one of the games then we are probably then looking at giving Max Johnstone his international debut or playing somebody out of position.

Spot on. Armstrong might be the most sickening one (so far). He pretty much always makes a positive impact off the bench. It's comforting knowing you have players of that quality to call upon.

You mentioned "injured/tired/bookings" but there is also the very real possibility that our superstars just have a bad game as well, and need to be hooked. As much as I love John McGinn, he has had the odd off-day. As you say, that is worsened if Ralston is the one having a bad game since there is no realistic replacement.

I wouldn't be surprised if we end up seeing Jack Hendry getting shoe-horned into RWB at some stage.

[BryanBlessed]

1 hour ago, Tartan blood said:

I was going to say exactly this. In my opinion, we currently have 6 undroppable players that will start regardless of game time at their clubs - McTominay, McGinn, Tierney, Robertson, Gilmour and Hickey. Gilmour and Hickey are new to this list, but I genuinely think they are that good. These are the 6 that will make me sick if we lose more than one of them.

McGregor, although a great player, is slightly behind. I'd actually put him in the same bracket as Christie. A probable starter, but we'd manage without. 

I think he's either in décline or is playing through an injury so Celtic win the title. He's been outstanding for us for the last few years.

 

38 minutes ago, Hertsscot said:

Plenty of time to pick up a few more injuries before the end of the season and then in the two friendlies beforehand. I'd be surprised if we don't have at least one other drop out. Really difficult for Steve Clarke.

And I thought I was pessimistic. There are only five or six (depending on the team) games left in the EPL and only Man Utd and Aston Vila are still in any other competitions.  The most games any player will play is eight for McGinn and that's if Villa reach the conference league final. You'd hope another ajor injury is unlikely. Fingers crossed

[Orraloon]

One positive for Clarke is that he now won't have to worry about having to drop players who were expecting to go. 🤣Especially if it is a 26 man squad. 

Not long ago, some folk on here were debating endlessly about who he will drop if it's a 23 man squad. When it was obvious that he just had to wait to see who was eventually available.  Now it looks like we will struggle to get a good 20 man squad out of what is left. And still time for more injuries yet.