World Cup squad

[Tartan blood]

Clarke saying he's pretty much chosen his squad barring 1 or 2 people. I wonder if that means he'll only pick a slightly bigger squad for Curacao, like he did before the last Euros.

You'd hope he is referring to one of the forward positions. Which is quite frankly a bit of a nightmare, as virtually all of our forwards are making a strong case to be included. (Excluding Adams and Dykes who are already on the plane)

Assuming Shankland, Dykes and Adams are dead certs, my preference would be to include Bowie as the 4th striker, as he has the most potential for future tournaments. And Oli Burke as a wing option to back up BGD.

[bdgsct]

31 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

Clarke saying he's pretty much chosen his squad barring 1 or 2 people. I wonder if that means he'll only pick a slightly bigger squad for Curacao, like he did before the last Euros.

You'd hope he is referring to one of the forward positions. Which is quite frankly a bit of a nightmare, as virtually all of our forwards are making a strong case to be included. (Excluding Adams and Dykes who are already on the plane)

Assuming Shankland, Dykes and Adams are dead certs, my preference would be to include Bowie as the 4th striker, as he has the most potential for future tournaments. And Oli Burke as a wing option to back up BGD.

If Clarke wants to take Dykes, it should be instead of a midfielder or a defender and not in place of a forward who offers more, be that Bowie, Mcburnie, Stewart or Conway.

[Tartan blood]

2 hours ago, bdgsct said:

If Clarke wants to take Dykes, it should be instead of a midfielder or a defender and not in place of a forward who offers more, be that Bowie, Mcburnie, Stewart or Conway.

I agree. I actually think both Adams and Dykes would have been better suited as midfielders. Certainly not the spearhead of any team.

McBurnie and Stewart are ahead of Dykes and Adams in terms of form, but they are all of a similar age, and both lack experience. I think that will go against them. 

Bowie and Conway have the strong case that they could play in the next 5 or 6 tournaments. Whereas the rest only have maybe 1 more in them, at most.

[romanticscot]

The 26 man squad is to be submitted before we play Curacao. Changes can be made if there are injuries however.

The 55 man pool is to be submitted by next Monday. 

 

 

 

[duncan II]

Napoli have failed to retain Serie A title. Think I'd drop McTominay and maybe Gilmour, though Gilmour not so much to blame as he didn't play much.

[Yosemite Sam]

30 minutes ago, duncan II said:

Napoli have failed to retain Serie A title. Think I'd drop McTominay and maybe Gilmour, though Gilmour not so much to blame as he didn't play much.

Why?

[Tartan blood]

1 hour ago, romanticscot said:

The 26 man squad is to be submitted before we play Curacao. Changes can be made if there are injuries however.

The 55 man pool is to be submitted by next Monday. 

 

 

 

How far in advance of kickoff are you talking? From memory, he can call up an increased squad to the training camp before submitting the final 26. Fairly certain that's what happened with Gordon and Souttar last time out. Could be different for the world cup though.

[Caledonian Craig]

52 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

How far in advance of kickoff are you talking? From memory, he can call up an increased squad to the training camp before submitting the final 26. Fairly certain that's what happened with Gordon and Souttar last time out. Could be different for the world cup though.

Correct. We had May friendlies before the Euros and believe we named a 29-man squad. Dykes got injured and missed out and Gordon and Souttar missed the cut. I see no reason why this time won't be any different.

[thesaint]

2 hours ago, romanticscot said:

The 26 man squad is to be submitted before we play Curacao. Changes can be made if there are injuries however.

The 55 man pool is to be submitted by next Monday. 

 

 

 

I'm still hopefull i will make the 55 man pool.Fingers crossed.😁👍

[romanticscot]

1 hour ago, Tartan blood said:

How far in advance of kickoff are you talking? From memory, he can call up an increased squad to the training camp before submitting the final 26. Fairly certain that's what happened with Gordon and Souttar last time out. Could be different for the world cup though.

He can call up I suppose larger for Curacao, but the World Cup squad is submitted prior the friendly. It could be beneficial if there are folks who are touch and go and we suspect are named in the 26 but expected not to make it. That's the only reason I could see him bringing more than 26 for Curacao.  Perhaps an extra keeper for training would be another.  The final squad for the World Cup must be submitted Tuesday May 26th.  Any supplements come from the 55. 

[vanderark14]

Conway, Stewart and to a lesser extent mcburnie have a great opportunity to give Clarke a selection headache in the championship playoffs

Can't see mcburnie getting in the squad unless he does something ridiculous like score 3 in the final. 

If Stewart or Conway stand out in these games and the final, it would be hard to ignore them

[Caledonian Craig]

34 minutes ago, romanticscot said:

He can call up I suppose larger for Curacao, but the World Cup squad is submitted prior the friendly. It could be beneficial if there are folks who are touch and go and we suspect are named in the 26 but expected not to make it. That's the only reason I could see him bringing more than 26 for Curacao.  Perhaps an extra keeper for training would be another.  The final squad for the World Cup must be submitted Tuesday May 26th.  Any supplements come from the 55. 

Right well that sounds official.

I would say it's possible (although the World Cup squad will be set in stone) a squad of say 30 is named containing the 26 and four of those that would be on standby should there be injuries - perhaps a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and striker. It keeps them ticking over in case they are needed and in case of a late injury like happened to Dykes for the last Euros.

[romanticscot]

Just now, Caledonian Craig said:

Right well that sounds official.

I would say it's possible (although the World Cup squad will be set in stone) a squad of say 30 is named containing the 26 and four of those that would be on standby should there be injuries - perhaps a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and striker. It keeps them ticking over in case they are needed and in case of a late injury like happened to Dykes for the last Euros.

That makes sense.  Saves folk scrambling to make travel arrangements and missing important coaching.  

[duncan II]

3 hours ago, Yosemite Sam said:

Why?

FFS

[Kev10038]

Fishing with a hand-grenade 

[Yosemite Sam]

1 hour ago, duncan II said:

FFS

FFS yourself mate! Didn't realise you were being sarcastic, didn't bother reading the previous posts for context, and thought you were meaning, dropped from the Napoli team. Silly me😳

Edited May 4 by Yosemite Sam

[Johnnyshaker]

9 hours ago, Tartan blood said:

Clarke saying he's pretty much chosen his squad barring 1 or 2 people. I wonder if that means he'll only pick a slightly bigger squad for Curacao, like he did before the last Euros.

You'd hope he is referring to one of the forward positions. Which is quite frankly a bit of a nightmare, as virtually all of our forwards are making a strong case to be included. (Excluding Adams and Dykes who are already on the plane)

Assuming Shankland, Dykes and Adams are dead certs, my preference would be to include Bowie as the 4th striker, as he has the most potential for future tournaments. And Oli Burke as a wing option to back up BGD.

GK: Gunn, Gordon, Bain

RB: Hickey, Patterson

LB: Robertson, Tierney

CB: McKenna, Souttar, Hanley, Hendry, Hyam

MID: McTominay, McGinn, Christie, Ferguson, McLean, Gilmour, Miller, Gannon-Doak

FOR: Adams, Dykes, Shankland, Hirst, Conway

There's 25 there. I can't see him not picking any of those barring injury so who do we think for the last place?

Assuming he's not going to take someone uncapped then it's probably one of;

Curtis, Barron, Bowie, Gauld, McCrorie, Ralston, Irving

[Caledonian Craig]

2 minutes ago, Johnnyshaker said:

GK: Gunn, Gordon, Bain

RB: Hickey, Patterson

LB: Robertson, Tierney

CB: McKenna, Souttar, Hanley, Hendry, Hyam

MID: McTominay, McGinn, Christie, Ferguson, McLean, Gilmour, Miller, Gannon-Doak

FOR: Adams, Dykes, Shankland, Hirst, Conway

There's 25 there. I can't see him not picking any of those barring injury so who do we think for the last place?

Assuming he's not going to take someone uncapped then it's probably one of;

Curtis, Barron, Bowie, Gauld, McCrorie, Ralston, Irving

Agreed. It won't be Gauld who is still not back from injury. Irving hasn't done enough. Barron likewise just not getting enough game time. For me it is between Bowie, Curtis, Ralston and McCrorie.

[bdgsct]

1 hour ago, Johnnyshaker said:

GK: Gunn, Gordon, Bain

RB: Hickey, Patterson

LB: Robertson, Tierney

CB: McKenna, Souttar, Hanley, Hendry, Hyam

MID: McTominay, McGinn, Christie, Ferguson, McLean, Gilmour, Miller, Gannon-Doak

FOR: Adams, Dykes, Shankland, Hirst, Conway

There's 25 there. I can't see him not picking any of those barring injury so who do we think for the last place?

Assuming he's not going to take someone uncapped then it's probably one of;

Curtis, Barron, Bowie, Gauld, McCrorie, Ralston, Irving

Fair assessment. Ralston instead of Patterson wouldn't surprise me, although it would disappoint me. If we go with another fullback with a view to 5atb then we don't need 5 centre backs. Even with 451 you could argue 5 centre backs is overkill. McLean can cover if we are really struggling for the final!

Irving seems crazy with so many similar centre mid options already in the squad. Barron has qualities that others don't but he as above he won't be ahead of McLean Miller and Gilmour who are already unlikely to start.

Gauld would have to show incredible form and fitness, I can't see it. Macrorie only has a chance if we take a 5th fullback, even then, probably too far down the pecking order.

Curtis, we need wide options but you could argue that Conway, mcginn, Christie/ferguson (not their best role by a distance), BGD would be more likely to feature wide. Bowie can also play wide and I'd take him as number 26. I'd take McBurnie instead of Hyam or Hanley. 

Taking so many forwards seems a bit daft but it keeps our options open and rewards the loyalty to the guys who are off form. 

I think we will need a strong target man for large parts of the second and third group games and potential knockout rounds. It's bold to start Dykes given his form and Hirst is more of a runner than an aerial target man - hence Mcburnie.

[broraboy]

On 5/4/2026 at 1:55 PM, romanticscot said:

The 26 man squad is to be submitted before we play Curacao. Changes can be made if there are injuries however.

The 55 man pool is to be submitted by next Monday. 

 

 

 

My understanding the was the 26 man squad to be with FIFA for 1st June ?? 

[romanticscot]

I am mistaken, its May 30th, same day we play.  I am not sure where I got May 26th from. A quick search and I found that is when the USA name their squad, it's quite likely I was not paying close attention. 

[GHfaeGTA]

I see Dykes has been released by Charlton and now a free agent 

[romanticscot]

1 hour ago, GHfaeGTA said:

I see Dykes has been released by Charlton and now a free agent 

Its a brave call not to take him. I think these 8 are the only ones up for discussion and there is not a place for all of them.

Adams is certain

Shankland got to be certain

Dykes is debatable

Hirst is debatable

Ross Stewart is debatable

McBurnie is debatable

Ure is doubtful

Bowie is debatable

My 4 - Shankland, Adams, Stewart and McBurnie.

Clarke - Shankland, Adams, Dykes, Hirst

[broraboy]

2 hours ago, GHfaeGTA said:

I see Dykes has been released by Charlton and now a free agent 

Oh by Jesus, not good 😳

He’ll be back at Queen of the South the trajectory he’s on  

[broraboy]

3 hours ago, romanticscot said:

I am mistaken, its May 30th, same day we play.  I am not sure where I got May 26th from. A quick search and I found that is when the USA name their squad, it's quite likely I was not paying close attention. 

So the question is, does he select the 26 man squad for this or does he bring in a few others if he’s still undecided ??