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Players Who Did Get Enough Caps


CovGer

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Well it's even more of an injustice then

Think Hansen has nobody to blame but himself really.

Yes he should have been the rock in our defense right throughout the 80's, yet seemed to be one of these guys who clearly enjoyed playing for Liverpool a lot more than showing up for Scotland (he really only showed up for the qualifiers and BIG friendlies.... and probably pushed Stein one to many times when it came to picking and choosing the games he played in, when Willie Miller and Alex McLeish were doing the business for Aberdeen in Scotland and in Europe)

Guys who should have got a lot more caps should be guys like Eric Black, Peter Weir and Frank McAvennie (who only got a hand full of caps between them), plus guys like Davie Cooper and Andy Gray should have got a lot more than the 20 odd caps they got each.

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Think Hansen has nobody to blame but himself really.

Yes he should have been the rock in our defense right throughout the 80's, yet seemed to be one of these guys who clearly enjoyed playing for Liverpool a lot more than showing up for Scotland (he really only showed up for the qualifiers and BIG friendlies.... and probably pushed Stein one to many times when it came to picking and choosing the games he played in, when Willie Miller and Alex McLeish were doing the business for Aberdeen in Scotland and in Europe)

Guys who should have got a lot more caps should be guys like Eric Black, Peter Weir and Frank McAvennie (who only got a hand full of caps between them), plus guys like Davie Cooper and Andy Gray should have got a lot more than the 20 odd caps they got each.

This

Hansen had the opportunity to write himself into Scottish football folklore but chose to try and dictate to the manager when he would play, then wonder why Stein had enough and left him out.

Central defence more than anywhere else needs continuity and 100% commitment which we had in abundance with McLeish and Miller. Stein rightly recognised that Hansen (no matter how good he was) and his ego could not be allowed to upset that.

The guys you mentioned should also have been capped way more than they were. Way more. They'd walk into the team now!

And out of those never capped I still struggle to believe neither Ralph Milne nor Frank McDougall ever got a call up. Two of the best players I ever saw play. Tragic what happened to Milne and a real shame that McDougall had to hang up his boots at 29.

Edited by DaveyDenoon
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And out of those never capped I still struggle to believe neither Ralph Milne nor Frank McDougall ever got a call up. Two of the best players I ever saw play. Tragic what happened to Milne and a real shame that McDougall had to hang up his boots at 29.

Think both had their off the field problems, and probably a element of Fergie could turn a blind eye to it at club level, but not prepared to go that far at international level.

Also, like Eric Black, McDougall was apparently dogged by constant pain due to his back problems throughout his time at Aberdeen.

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Didn't get enough - Charlie Nicholas

Nicholas completely underachieved after he left Celtic for Arsenal.

Guys who should have got a lot more caps should be guys like Eric Black, Peter Weir and Frank McAvennie

Eric Black was Crocker by the time he left for Metz, Weir was a good club player but no better than that to be fair.

McAvennie was a fairly late developer then arsed it up himself.

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Tony Green of Blackpool and Newcastle Utd. Got 6 caps for Scotland between 1971 and 1972. Career ended in 1973 by injury at the age of 26/27. Have heard he was a good player.

Stevie Chalmers (5 caps, 3 goals) should have started up front with Denis Law more often often according to my Grandad who's adamant that Chalmers' intelligence and foresight on the field was amongst the best he's ever seen.

Bobby Murdoch would have got more had it not been for repeated injuries and Jock Stein (by his own admission) thinking up "inventive ways" of withdrawing him from Scotland squads.

George Connelly (2 caps) but for both confidence issues and (a then) out of control drink problem.

Pre-war -

Alex James of Preston and Arsenal was regarded as one of the most mesmerizing players to watch of his day. Yet he was only capped a handful of times (8 caps, 4 goals) owing to a rule which allowed an English team to pull a player out of another country's internationals.

Jimmy McGrory (7 caps, 6 goals) was a victim of then anti-Catholic bias at the SFA selection panel (not my words but those of Bob Crampsey) that meant only one or two Catholics were picked at any one time but also the fact that the legendary Hughie Gallacher played in his position and Gallacher played in an arguably better league.

Johnny Thomson (4 caps) we all know the tragedy that befell this legend.

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Billy Stark was another who should've got a cap, to be fair though there were a lot of good midfielders ahead of him at the time.

That used to always strike me as a odd one, yet speaking to a lot of older Aberdeen fans, a number of them say the same things..... watch highlights on Youtube and DVD's of him playing you wonder why this guy who could boss a midfield and have a eye for goal was never called up.... but the problem was he was very hot and cold.

Would turn it on in games against Rangers, Celtic and Dundee United, but had a habit of going AWOL in games against Hamilton Accies and Dumbarton.

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That used to always strike me as a odd one, yet speaking to a lot of older Aberdeen fans, a number of them say the same things..... watch highlights on Youtube and DVD's of him playing you wonder why this guy who could boss a midfield and have a eye for goal was never called up.... but the problem was he was very hot and cold.

Would turn it on in games against Rangers, Celtic and Dundee United, but had a habit of going AWOL in games against Hamilton Accies and Dumbarton.

Stark, to his credit, never grumbled about not getting a call up because he acknowledged the quality of players in front of him, i.e. Bett, Hartford, Strachan, Souness, Wark etc.

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