Steve Clarke - loyalty, squad mentality...and of course Oli McBurnie

[syecosse]

Porteus saying he has also been on the phone to Clarke and saying similar to McBurnie about loyalty to players. 

[romanticscot]

1 hour ago, syecosse said:

Porteus saying he has also been on the phone to Clarke and saying similar to McBurnie about loyalty to players. 

This quote paints Clarke in a better light, essentially saying make my decision hard. Doesn't close the door or push a player away. 

 

He has not given up hope of mak­ing the Scot­land squad for this sum­mer’s World Cup, des­pite earn­ing his last cap more than a year ago.

He star­ted Scot­land’s open­ing game at Euro 2024 but was sent off shortly before half time for con­ced­ing a pen­alty after foul­ing Ilkay Gun­dogan, a moment that has cast a long shadow over his inter­na­tional career.

We don’t dis­cuss it but he remains eager to return to the Scot­land fold. He has played just one minute of inter­na­tional foot­ball since, as a sub­sti­tute in the UEFA Nations League play-off vic­tory over Greece in March 2025.

He remains fiercely sup­port­ive of Steve Clarke and reveals that the national team head coach was in touch with him recently.

“Every­one knows how Steve oper­ates; fans can get frus­trated if they want, but his job is to qual­ify for tour­na­ments, and he’s done that con­sist­ently,” Porteous says. “He’s always going to be loyal to the lads who got him there, and he’s been like that with me in the past, and he’s right to be.

“I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago about where he sees me com­pared to the last time he watched me, and where I might rank in his squad. I don’t think I’m too far away.

“I’ve made it clear, and he knows, that Scot­land has always been my pri­or­ity. That first-cap feel­ing is hard to com­pare to any­thing in club foot­ball, and I want that back.

“He told me to keep doing what I’m doing and give him a sore head for the sum­mer. I know myself when I’m play­ing well and in a good place, and this is the best I’ve felt in a while.”

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[thesaint]

On 4/17/2026 at 10:35 PM, Diamond Scot said:

Does McBurnie not have 14, Hirst 10, Conway 9 and Dyles 3?

McBurnie is probably competing with Hirst and Conway for the 4th striker position. I dont think those numbers are significantly better. If he had 10 goals in a top division it would be different.

Personally I like McBurnie better than Hirst but equally I can see what Clarke has done over the years.

It wasnt long ago we were calling up anybody who had a good game and we were also getting 2 or 3 call offs from every single squad.

McBurnie was out injured for two months to be fair.Strike rate is far better.

[Yosemite Sam]

19 hours ago, thesaint said:

McBurnie was out injured for two months to be fair.Strike rate is far better.

It really is and more assists too

Edited April 19 by Yosemite Sam

[Diamond Scot]

22 hours ago, thesaint said:

McBurnie was out injured for two months to be fair.Strike rate is far better.

Has Stewart not been out for ages aswell?

[vanderark14]

11 hours ago, Diamond Scot said:

Has Stewart not been out for ages aswell?

He sure has but that doesn't count for a small few on here. Some seems to be absolutely desperate to blast Clarke and make McBurnie out to be the knight in shining armour

 

[vanderark14]

On 4/18/2026 at 4:49 PM, GHfaeGTA said:

Burke a good shout. Just scored again in Bundesliga 

was this not his first goal in months?

 

[ceudmilefailte]

13 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

was this not his first goal in months?

 

Yep. But it was in Germany so it counts as five. 

[Caledonian Craig]

32 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

was this not his first goal in months?

 

In no way, shape or form is Burke a prolific goalscorer (none of ours are) but he offers something none of our other strikers have which is pace. If he is on as sub it will be enough to make teams against us be more cautious.

[mccaughey85]

8 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

In no way, shape or form is Burke a prolific goalscorer (none of ours are) but he offers something none of our other strikers have which is pace. If he is on as sub it will be enough to make teams against us be more cautious.

I would include him as a winger in our squad.

[kumnio]

Oliver Burke almost certainly isnt a starter for us, he would be a replacement for Doak, a player who would give us something different than the other strikers likely to get called up

This season...

• Burke, played 24 scored 4
• Doak, played 6 scored 0
• Dyke, played 38 scored 5
• Adams, played 28 scored 5
• Shankland, played 23, scored 13
• George Hirst, played 36, scored 10

Shankland the only one with a good record

[vanderark14]

46 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

In no way, shape or form is Burke a prolific goalscorer (none of ours are) but he offers something none of our other strikers have which is pace. If he is on as sub it will be enough to make teams against us be more cautious.

He has one assist to his name and 5 goals. He's fast, is that the only reason to bring him into the fold?

[Caledonian Craig]

48 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

He has one assist to his name and 5 goals. He's fast, is that the only reason to bring him into the fold?

Yes I would say it is. Pace is gold dust. What does Hirst for example bring to the team?

[broraboy]

2 hours ago, kumnio said:

Oliver Burke almost certainly isnt a starter for us, he would be a replacement for Doak, a player who would give us something different than the other strikers likely to get called up

This season...

• Burke, played 24 scored 4
• Doak, played 6 scored 0
• Dyke, played 38 scored 5
• Adams, played 28 scored 5
• Shankland, played 23, scored 13
• George Hirst, played 36, scored 10

Shankland the only one with a good record

And Shankland is slower than Youself and I 

Can score from inside the box though

[Caledonian Craig]

2 hours ago, kumnio said:

Oliver Burke almost certainly isnt a starter for us, he would be a replacement for Doak, a player who would give us something different than the other strikers likely to get called up

This season...

• Burke, played 24 scored 4
• Doak, played 6 scored 0
• Dyke, played 38 scored 5
• Adams, played 28 scored 5
• Shankland, played 23, scored 13
• George Hirst, played 36, scored 10

Shankland the only one with a good record

And neither is Hirst a starter for us. Point is what problem would he pose for the opposition coming on for the last 15 minutes? No pace for sure unlike Burke.

[Super_Scotlandfan]

2 hours ago, kumnio said:

Oliver Burke almost certainly isnt a starter for us, he would be a replacement for Doak, a player who would give us something different than the other strikers likely to get called up

This season...

• Burke, played 24 scored 4
• Doak, played 6 scored 0
• Dyke, played 38 scored 5
• Adams, played 28 scored 5
• Shankland, played 23, scored 13
• George Hirst, played 36, scored 10

Shankland the only one with a good record

Can add a little bit of nuance to compare a bit better. And it’s obviously easier for a penalty box type striker who take pens and plays for the team top of the league in Scotland. In that context Shankland’s record isn’t brilliant. 
 

Burke, 5 goals in Bundesliga (not 4 as you state), 0 pens, goal every 267 mins. 

Dykes, 5 goals in English Champ, 0 pens, goal every 370 mins.

Adams, 5 goals in Serie A, 0 pens, goal every 353 mins. (He also scored 2 goals against Roma in the Italian cup that would change his goals per mins ratio to 282 but have only compared league goals. None of the others compared have actually scored a cup goal.) 
 

Shankland, 13 goals in Scottish Prem, 3 pens, goal every 157 mins, non penalty goal every 205 mins. 
 

Hirst, 10 goals in English Champ, 1 pen, goal every 200mins, non penalty goal every 222 mins. 
 

Conway, 10 goals in English Champ, 3 pens, goal every 340 mins, non penalty goal every 406 mins. But played mainly left wing. 

[bdgsct]

4 minutes ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

Can add a little bit of nuance to compare a bit better. And it’s obviously easier for a penalty box type striker who take pens and plays for the team top of the league in Scotland. In that context Shankland’s record isn’t brilliant. 
 

Burke, 5 goals in Bundesliga (not 4 as you state), 0 pens, goal every 267 mins. 

Dykes, 5 goals in English Champ, 0 pens, goal every 370 mins.

Adams, 5 goals in Serie A, 0 pens, goal every 353 mins. (He also scored 2 goals against Roma in the Italian cup that would change his goals per mins ratio to 282 but have only compared league goals. None of the others compared have actually scored a cup goal.) 
 

Shankland, 13 goals in Scottish Prem, 3 pens, goal every 157 mins, non penalty goal every 205 mins. 
 

Hirst, 10 goals in English Champ, 1 pen, goal every 200mins, non penalty goal every 222 mins. 
 

Conway, 10 goals in English Champ, 3 pens, goal every 340 mins, non penalty goal every 406 mins. But played mainly left wing. 

I think for fairness given that some have played wide on occasion, average minutes per goal involvements (goal or assist) would be fairest comparison. I'd be surprised if Mcburnie wasn't top of that list given he was injured for 2 months.

[bdgsct]

1 minute ago, bdgsct said:

I think for fairness given that some have played wide on occasion, average minutes per goal involvements (goal or assist) would be fairest comparison. I'd be surprised if Mcburnie wasn't top of that list given he was injured for 2 months.

Average minutes per goal involvement (goal or assist). Includes cups.

Mcburnie 1 every 123 minutes

Dykes 1 every 209 minutes

Adams 1 every 197 minutes

Bowie 1 every 205 minutes

Burke 1 every 240 minutes

Hirst 1 every 175 minutes

R. Stewart 1 every 96 minutes

Shankland 1 every 113 minutes

 

 

 

[mccaughey85]

24 minutes ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

Can add a little bit of nuance to compare a bit better. And it’s obviously easier for a penalty box type striker who take pens and plays for the team top of the league in Scotland. In that context Shankland’s record isn’t brilliant. 
 

Burke, 5 goals in Bundesliga (not 4 as you state), 0 pens, goal every 267 mins. 

Dykes, 5 goals in English Champ, 0 pens, goal every 370 mins.

Adams, 5 goals in Serie A, 0 pens, goal every 353 mins. (He also scored 2 goals against Roma in the Italian cup that would change his goals per mins ratio to 282 but have only compared league goals. None of the others compared have actually scored a cup goal.) 
 

Shankland, 13 goals in Scottish Prem, 3 pens, goal every 157 mins, non penalty goal every 205 mins. 
 

Hirst, 10 goals in English Champ, 1 pen, goal every 200mins, non penalty goal every 222 mins. 
 

Conway, 10 goals in English Champ, 3 pens, goal every 340 mins, non penalty goal every 406 mins. But played mainly left wing. 

Tbf Roma are a decent side so scoring a couple v them is impressive.

 I would quite like to see shankland start v Haiti because he's a natural finisher and we will probably get chances in that match. 

I think Clarke will go with Adams though.

Also does burke always start up front for his club?

[Super_Scotlandfan]

Worth adding Ross Stewart, McBurnie and Bowie too. 
 

Stewart, 6 goals in English Champ, 0 pens, goal every 149 mins. He also scored 2 goals in the FA Cup, 1 pen against Fulham and the impressive one against Arsenal. His non penalty frequency would be a goal every 143 if this counted. 
 

McBurnie, 14 goals in English Champ, 2 pens, goal every 189 mins, non penalty goal every 220mins.  
 

Bowie, 8 goals in Scottish Prem plus 2 in Serie A, 0 pens, goal every 236 mins. 

Based on these stats, their playing styles and trying to keep a bit of cohesion I’d take:

Adams, Dykes, Shankland and Stewart. And try to take Burke and Conway as wingers. 
 

Hirst is unlucky but hasn’t done quite enough to usurp Dykes, given what he’s done before and popularity in the squad. 
 

Same with McBurnie, non penalty rate of 222 isn’t incredible and he’d need to be to drop someone like Shankland who has benefitted the squad recently and scored a decent amount at his club. But not convinced by his numbers so he’s lucky. 
 

Ross Stewart’s record shows he would have scored much more this season if he hadn’t been injured. We’d potentially be leaving our best striker at home by not picking him. Would be mental IMO. 
 

Bowie hasn’t done quite enough but could force his way in. 
 

There should be space for Conway as a left winger and a sub right winger in Burke. 

 

[vanderark14]

9 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Yes I would say it is. Pace is gold dust. What does Hirst for example bring to the team?

So forget everything else that goes against burke, he's fast so let's get him in. Got ye

[csinclair]

13 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

Tbf Roma are a decent side so scoring a couple v them is impressive.

 I would quite like to see shankland start v Haiti because he's a natural finisher and we will probably get chances in that match. 

I think Clarke will go with Adams though.

Also does burke always start up front for his club?

Burke tends to be on the right of a front 3 when he plays

[DoonTheSlope]

Confirmation in the form of two recent accounts that it’s a case of caps for boys under Jurassic Clarke

 

[ceudmilefailte]

56 minutes ago, DoonTheSlope said:

Confirmation in the form of two recent accounts that it’s a case of caps for boys under Jurassic Clarke

 

Don’t worry his incredible run of good luck will continue. We will beat Haiti in the same sort of way we got past Belarus and thanks to a clutch of unlikely results qualify for the last 32. This should ensure Clarke his knighthood and place in history as the greatest manager in the world ever. 

[scotlad]

10 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

So forget everything else that goes against burke, he's fast so let's get him in. Got ye

Burke is no great player but he's being spoken about in the same breath as Scottish Prem and English Championship players, yet he has played in the EPL, La Liga and is now a regular in the Bundesliga. He must be doing something right.