Every team selection is a big one at the moment for Neil Lennon but predicting his line-up for the Scottish Cup final has really got people talking.
It still feels strange that we’re contemplating the final of the 2019/20 competition taking place in the middle of the next campaign.
The timing has opened up a debate about whether there should be loyalty towards players who were key men in the previous season, with Scott Brown at the top of the list as captain.
The fact that it’s the last leg of a potential quadruple-treble only heightens the intrigue.
But for me, and I’m sure for Neil as well, nothing else will come into his thinking apart from – what is the best team to win this game?
The three young players who have made such a big difference in the last couple of matches against Lille and Kilmarnock are David Turnbull, Conor Hazard and Ismaila Soro.
I would expect all three to start.
Sentiment doesn’t come into it. A manager has to be ruthless for the benefit of the team.
The great Sir Alex Ferguson was the master at it.
Jim Leighton getting dropped after the 1990 FA Cup final was taken to a replay is the classic example.
As a keeper, I can appreciate how crushed Jim must have been but Sir Alex had only one thought – lifting the trophy.
That will be Neil’s mindset.
I can see it being close because Robbie Neilson will have Hearts well organised, and the inspiration their players will get from Marius Zaliukas’s tragic passing could be a factor. But I do still expect Celtic to win.
Conor Hazard is the latest football story of seizing a chance with both hands.
Dundee fans might not have expected to see him get to this level, this quickly but sometimes opportunity will knock when you least expect it.
David Marshall stepped up at Celtic when I got injured and now Conor has responded to Neil’s show of faith when the two men in front of him have had their troubles.
Even before I saw him play for Dundee, a conversation I had with Stevie Woods about Conor sticks in my mind.
Stevie spoke about his presence and willingness to dominate his box.
The game may have changed but those two traits will never go out of fashion in a goalkeeper.
You don’t need me to tell you that Alfredo Morelos should have been sent off at Tannadice.
It was an incredibly naughty challenge.
The way in which he looks at Mark Connolly before leading with his arm shows his guilt.
Rangers accepting the two-game ban speaks volumes as well.
Everything has been going brilliantly for Steven Gerrard this season but I’m intrigued to see whether he thinks Morelos is a liability he can do without and decides January is the time to move him on.
Saturday was another disappointing result for Arbroath.
We’re doing a lot of things very well except the most important bit – sticking the ball in the back of the net.
I can guarantee you that nobody will work harder than us in the league and maybe being back in the position where everyone is writing us off will suit us perfectly again.
