Steve Clarke has gone for continuity after the Euros with his latest Scotland squad and I agree with him.
There aren’t many, if any, outfield players who are at an age where you’d think the summer was a natural time to call it a day.
And the big games keep coming.
As much as we all loved seeing Scotland back at a major tournament, the World Cup finals are the holy grail and we need to do well in next month’s qualifying triple-header to give ourselves a fighting chance of getting there.
The goalkeeping selections have become the biggest talking point.
First of all, I’ve got to say I’m disappointed for Marshy.
To go from starting all three matches in the Euros to not even being in the three picked for the squad will be hard to take.
But I’ve always said that I want goalies in the Scotland squad – and outfield players – who are featuring in their club side regularly.
That isn’t happening for David and he’ll want to sort that out. I’m sure he’ll be back.
Craig Gordon is going to be in goals for the first game in Denmark, there doesn’t seem much doubt about that.
And I think Zander Clark is next in line.
For me, Zander is ahead of Liam Kelly.
He’s got more experience of playing pressure games for St Johnstone – cup finals and European ties.
Zander is a big, big guy and he certainly fills the goal.
I felt sorry for Elliott Parish when we played Saints at Gayfield a couple of weeks ago and Callum made a change for the penalty shoot-out.
But it ended up being the right decision to bring Zander on because three of our boys missed and they went through to the next round.
The cup holders @StJohnstone survive as Ali McCann nets the winning penalty v @ArbroathFC pic.twitter.com/NOMZlBxf2T
— Ewan Smith (@ewansmithpr) August 15, 2021
Presence is so important for keepers and Zander has that now.
That’s down to physical size and the aura created by all the high-profile saves he has made over the last few months.
In the worst-case scenario, which I don’t think will happen, we’ll be in trouble in our group after these next three matches.
But even if that did happen, I still feel it was a good call by the SFA to tie Steve Clarke down on a new contract.
As he extends his stay with the Men's National Team, catch up with Head Coach Steve Clarke, as he chats over his time in charge and faces some quick-fire questions. pic.twitter.com/PGPm5UhBBB
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) August 24, 2021
He’s got a young squad, with depth in most positions, and his biggest problem will be unearthing somebody who can become a regular goal scorer.
Easier said than done, I know.
That’s the missing piece of the jigsaw.
We’ve had enough of being on a loop of ripping the whole thing up and starting again.
There’s a decent chance Scotland could have four clubs playing group stage European football until Christmas.
That would be brilliant.
St Johnstone got a fantastic result out in Austria against LASK but they still probably have the hardest job.
It looks like McDiarmid Park will be crammed again and I’m not worried that tiredness will be a factor.
Callum will have kept training light this week to make sure not too much was being taken out of the legs.
And if there’s one team you’d back to rise to the big occasion, it’s this Saints side.
