Tartan blood

Craig Gordon starting in goals ahead of Zander Clark today.... Maybe a late push from him to be 2nd in the pecking order at the Euros?

Well said. The previous statement about getting regular game time would apply to guys playing for SPFL, championship and lower EPL, maybe. However, this is a special case. He was in pretty much every match day squad for Liverpool, getting minutes here and there and even had a few starts in cup games. Liverpool's squad is riddled with players that cost up to (or are valued at) £100m. So the fact he was entrusted among all that talent is incredible. We'd all be saying the same thing about Barry Hepburn and Liam Morrison if they'd managed to get minutes for Bayern Munich at 17. We did say the same thing about Gilmour at Chelsea. Darren Fletcher also got full caps for us before he was a regular at Man Utd as well.

If you posted this on here 3 years ago and replaced Liverpool with Chelsea, and be talking about Gilmour, it would be identical circumstances. I wouldn't necessarily write him off completely. However, we do have a significantly bigger and stronger pool of players to choose from now. So pretty unlikely he'd get in the squad unless he did something really dramatic.

Ben Doak has posted a photo of himself out on the training pitch. No idea if that means his return is imminent or still a while away. Seems almost impossible that he'll be up for consideration for the Euros. However we were all saying the exact same thing about Gilmour at this stage of the season in 2021... The possible increased squad size could mean Clarke could put a wildcard up his sleeve.

This is the best part about having a 26 man squad. Having just 1 replacement for every position means you kind of have to be a bit more pragmatic and maybe prioritise utility players over luxury ones. Fraser is very much a luxury player, and I mean that as a compliment. It's unlikely he'll start any games but he is the perfect type of player to bring on when Plan A and B aren't working and we just need a moment of magic. I'd put Turnbull in that category as well. His form doesn't justify a place, yet, but if he starts banging in goals for Cardiff before the end of the season, I'd consider taking him as one of the bonus 3.

I'm not against McBurnie being chosen, and, although he hasn't scored for us, he did have a handful of decent performances. However, as you say, his form isn't quite strong enough to justify inclusion. If I'm not mistaken, 2 of his 6 goals have been penalties. 4 open play goals is not a compelling argument. If the squads do increase, I'd rather have the likes of Fraser, Souttar and Ralston being included rather than another non-scoring striker. I also wouldn't be against doing what Clarke did last time and take along future stars for the experience. E.g Max Johnstone, Doig, Doak (if fit again).

The Scotland stats are exactly why Dykes will remain in front of him in the pecking order. Clarke rewards consistent form at club level, but he doesn't make big changes based on purple patches. See Turnbull, Ralston, Souttar. They all got call ups eventually, but they had to bide their time and show it wasn't temporary. McBurnie is probably 4th in the queue right now, I'd imagine, so it'll take an injury for him to get into the final 23.

I actually wrote Old Firm first then changed it thinking it might offend some people 😂

3 Scots starting in the Glasgow derby today: Taylor, Wright and Souttar. There is a pretty good chance none of them will make the final Euros squad. I almost created a new topic about this. I really can't see why the SFA would not think a homegrown player rule would be a good idea. If the 2 richest teams in Scotland had an incentive to spend their money on Scots, then a lot of the money they generate would stay in Scotland, rather than going to other countries. Imagine a rule existed right now. Celtic and Rangers would end up in a bidding war for Lennon Miller at the end of the season. Rangers might have made more of an effort to sign Shankland in January. Both Hearts and Motherwell would benefit financially. They would then reinvest in developing more Scots to replace the ones they lost.

Plus, it's not like Ralston is playing every week either. Patterson and Hickey will be our choices. Ideally a fit Hickey as our first choice.

Ross Stewart back in training apparently. Even if he gets some games before the end of the season, I think it'll be too late for him, or any striker out there, to be selected aheas of Dykes, Adams and Shankland. CalMac return also "imminent". Just waiting for good news about Hickey.

Very good point. We started 3 players who will be extremely low on confidence. Cooper, Dykes and Patterson. We also lost our captain in the first 3rd of the match. I'm a big fan of Dykes in general, but you can count on 1 hand how many goals he's scored all season. Shankland should have started. When plan A and B aren't working, sometimes you just need someone that can take a pop shot from distance. Turnbull would have been ideal, but his form this season doesn't merit a squad place. Armstrong is capable of that, as is Shankland. But they didn't really get an opportunity to have a shot, and didn't start anyway.

Not sure Cooper or Dykes deserve a start. Bit harsh on Shankland

I'm curious to hear from people that have actually watched full games of Ferguson in Italy. I don't doubt the hype, but I've yet to see anything in a Scotland shirt that would convince me he should start ahead of McTominay, McGinn, Christie or Gilmour. I'm happy for Armstrong to be our supersub as he pretty much always leaves an impression. I can't think of much of anything Ferguson has done. Obviously there is only so much he can demonstrate from the bench.