Scumjob

Scot Gemill (or equivelent) to Sam Gallagher: "taenights yer night or get tae f**k". No wonder he chose England.

To be fair I think if things had worked out differently Callum Paterson could have done a really effective job for us up front. And by up front I mean at blindside flanker against Tonga yesterday in the egg chasing. In all seriousness though there was a period I thought he'd be a good bench option for us, he was chaotic up front and had a knack of banging a few in and I thought that would be a good plan B when we didn't have one. Though maybe that's now Dykes and Plan A...

Aye in League One, such an odd player, from Hearts right back to makeshift striker in the Premier League and now League One.

I had to quickly harness Google to see which trees he was pulling up and where this season... Makes a lot more sense post clarification!

I'd be tempted to try this formation for this game: Gordon Tierney-Hendry-Hanley-Robertson McTominay McGregor- Gilmour-McGinn Adams-Fraser (Dykes when available) I think the development of Hendry and Hanley means they're strong enough to play in the middle of a back 4. The similarities with the current system though is that when under pressure McTominay drops back between them giving us great flexibility to either have him sit with the fullbacks bombing on and even swapping sides throughout the match or to have McTominay rampage up the middle which against the weaker teams I'd expect him to do plenty of. This is the only way for me that we have all our best players on the pitch with the main compromise to achieve this being Tierney at rightback though this is our weakest position and he's a class act who I've no doubt would as be strong there as at left centre back. I don't see Clark doing this at all, he'll stick with what has been succesful so far but I think it would be a way for us to make a small change that gives us a plan B or more flexibility with the shape staying relatively similar.

Fair, I was wondering about the post that the SFA had ruled it out. Sometimes you just need the right player for the system. Dykes appears to be that player at the moment and as time goes on seems to increasingly be scoring more for both us and QPR which is great. I always remember David Healy who despite being a pretty average Championship striker was a very, very reliable goal scorer for Northern Ireland for a decent period. Brereton seems to be fitting in for Chile in just such a way and maybe Gallagher can do the same for us when Dykes isn’t available. Or he may be just another big plodder like Chris Martin who can't step up, who knows but if we're to continue to qualify for major tournaments then we'll need Steve Clark squeezing every ounce out of every potentially eligible player if he deems them worthy of a look.

Is there a reason why Sam Gallagher can't play for us? I remember some hype in June he was going to 'commit' to Scotland. Not sure he's any better than what we have but he's got 5 in 12 this season which is nae too bad. His team mate Ben Brereton also has a poor goalscoring record but has gone very well for Chile so far. Gallagher is a big lad so might fit the system and work well as backup for Dykes.

Cairney on the Fulham bench too, fair bit of Scottish involvement in the match though I don't think Mowatt played. Be very interesting if he's had more conversations with Grant.

Makes sense for me that Hickey is with the under-21s for now. He's behind Tierney and Robertson afterall. If any of the 3 are considered for the right back berth then that's another matter but it looks like Clark has opted for Patterson there for now.

There is something in this. When Celtic (I think) battered them in a pre-season friendly a few years ago the fans actually rioted in the streets. After a friendly... The passion of fans in the Northeast of England is on another level. I still wouldn't be calling up Ross Stewart though until he's doing the business in the Championship.

Good looking squad. Really good to see that by my count we've 3 keepers, 2 defenders, 4 midfielders and 3 forwards involved with English Premier League clubs with Hickey of course trumping the lot and playing first team in Serie A. I know that a lot of these lads are out on loans and many will probably never play in the English top flight but I've absolutely no doubt that being part of these academy systems will be giving them the best possible level of training and development. And just as importantly if they're getting picked up by these clubs it's a sign that to some degree there are the raw materials there and we've talent being produced. There are no guarantees any of these lads will come through and play for the full team one day but it's got to be a good sign surely.

I started reading that thinking "who the feck is Maxwell Blackpool?" What were his parents thinking!

Stewart is an interesting one. Different style of player perhaps to either Dykes or Adams but a decent finisher. Doesn't feel good to be calling up players from the English third tier but Sunderland are a big club and undoubtedly attract players who would otherwise be playing in the Championship so perhaps he's one of them. Is he really pulling up enough trees to suggest he's a better shout than Nisbet or Shankland though? Neither of whom is likely to get a look in outside of injuries to Adams or Dykes anyway. Hopefully he keeps scoring though and does the same next season st a higher level.

Quite something to see Dykes and Dalglish mentioned together but at the moment he certainly looks capable of overhauling Miller and given nobody else looks to be coming through that will help. He's on a good run at the moment and it doesn't matter how you get them, they all count so long may it continue when he returns.

Fraser has 4 from 21 I believe. Agreed though. In a side that scratches around for goals McGinn is by far the top scorer in the squad with 10. Leaving him out would be madness.

We've some interesting selection headaches developing. Hendry and Hanley could have the makings of a good partnership if we went with a back 4 but we probably won't as Tierney has to play in a back 3 if he and Robertson both play. You've then got McTominay who is difficult to leave out but with Gilmour emerging in midfield it's tricky to work out where to slot him in unless it's at the back with one of the above left out. A better place to be than previously. Suspect McTominay may come in for Hanley in this game with Hendry in the middle.

Some of the flack O'Donnell gets is bizarre. He's not a world beater but he's a solid enough player who does the job asked of him by Clark. There are more heralded players in the squad who have had poorer games than O'Donnell's worst and there are others others who haven't had performances as good as his better games. I sincerely hope Patterson develops into a top class right back but he's 19 and barely done anything other than look promising but defensively raw so far and isn't troubling Rangers starting XI. I'm happy with both in the squad, I think it's the right balance of incumbent and potential but if either one is lucky to be there then it isn't O'Donnell.

A very, very unsurprising squad. It's interesting that despite all the debate on here about some of the promising players we do indeed have coming through that Clark is clearly a man who sees value in a settled and consistent squad. I guess this throws down the gauntlet to some of those young lads that they'll need to really put a strong run together to get in. Which is what we want but Clark will need to make sure he gets the balance right.

The lad at Philadelphia Union keeping Findlay out the side, Jack Elliott, is Scottish qualified via both parents and by all accounts is a very handy player in the MLS. I wonder if he'd need to move to Europe to get a callup though or whether the MLS is a good enough level already as must admit I've not watched any of it.

The only solution is a time machine to go back to when they were redesigning Hampden. Take some plans for a decent football ground and that's about the best we can do. Short of that we're stuck with it.

Huff and puff, look dodgy at the back on occasion. Squander one or two gilt edged chances. Labour to a soul sapping draw or worst case an embarrassing defeat when someone we've never heard of turns us inside out and the keeper flaps it in.

Keeper is a problem position. Our defence could shape up a bit better in the future, with wingbacks/fullbacks covered by Doig, Patterson, Ramsay, Hickey and of course Robertson and Tierney. In the middle we'll still have Tierney and I'd like to think Welsh, Hamilton and Morrison could continue to develop in the former case and fulfill the potential in the latter two. Is there a young player in the Hanley/Gallagher mould though who has more of that physical presence? Midfield should be OK, we generally look to be bringing through a better standard here with the likes of Turnbull and Ferguson compared to the array of shitkickers and stodge we've occasionally had to use in the past. Although it would be good to see a shithouse sitting midfielder coming through. Up front seems like another continued problem area.

I don't mind Gallagher but I'm not sure he's the goal scorer we need. A big lad in the Dykes mould who could fill in like for like perhaps though. Mawson is an interesting one. The Mawson of 2016-18 who was in England's pre world cup squad would walk in to our side however the Mawson since then is probably not even at Hanley's level and certainly no better though I believe he's had injuries? Still young enough that he if he looked like finding his best form we'd be mad to not to make an approach. Sadly not sure we'll see either happen though.

The Dykessiah cometh.

I am not sure Dykes, Adams or Nisbet are ever going to score loads but your suggestion seems to have merit. Previously we had Fraser, Christie and McGinn all looking like they were chipping in with goals so perhaps we need to focus on creating more chances for those boys. Turnbull could be an interesting addition to that mix too given he's a regular scorer at club level. I didn't really think of McFadden as an out and out striker and he was never prolific at club level after leaving Motherwell but he finished nigh on 1 in 3 for Scotland. Perhaps we just need to find the right system to squeeze the most goals out of someone.