Jaggy McJagface

McTominay looks like he may now be out.

Anyone know what’s wrong with Milne?

John Hughes.

McGinn, McTominay, McGregor, Gilmour, Christie, McLean. These are the 6 who will be there if they stay fit. I would expect Jack to join them if he’s fit by June, leaving one more spot (probably an attacker) for the midfield. If Fraser hasn’t repaired his relationship with Clarke then it actually become a bit hard to ignore Gauld, especially if the squad is 26 rather than 23. If it’s still a 23 man squad then I think Clarke might just take the 7 midfielders and bring an extra defender.

I’m not sure we’re guaranteed to turn up for the opener. In the Hampden games at the last Euros, the Ukraine playoff and the England friendly (although I appreciate this wasn’t a competitive match) it felt like we were playing the occasion as much as the game and it got the better of us. Hopefully that’s the type of performance that’s behind us but I’d be wary of another big game disappointment.

Yes, it’s utterly bizarre. The only somewhat close analogy I can think of would be Barca or Bilbao fans supporting whoever is playing against Spain, but even that isn’t entirely down to the club and more to do with national/regional identity in Spain.

Most of the “Northern Ireland” fans last night were probably homegrown **** from Scotland

I think it’s likely there was almost nobody else available and not already scheduled in for a game around these dates. I’m sure most of us thought it would be a routine win to build the confidence anyway.

We were excellent and highly unlucky against Spain away. In the last two games of qualifying and the run of friendlies we have seemed to lack a real competitive edge/desire, as these games have all been approached differently due to a lack of jeopardy. I think this might be working against us as the momentum and positivity around our chances in Germany seems to have completely stalled. Undortunately it means we’re going into June not having had a “proper” competitive match since Spain in September, which is a bit ironic considering the amount of chatter I’ve seen about us catching Germany cold going into the opening game.

In a weird way, perhaps qualifying so early was a bit bad for our momentum. every game since Spain away has felt like we were lacking the intensity we had previously. Hopefully it’s just getting the bad results out the way in time for June…

If everyone is fit, we will be able to field a team with 7 top quality players that can mix it with the best of them. Unfortunately we have some pretty glaring deficiencies up top and at the back and we need those weaker players to play above themselves to be truly competitive. There is a lot to be positive about (even though we got beat 4-0) but you get the feeling the absence of Hickey, Robbo or Tierney would completely scupper us.

I take it back about Souttar. Good footballer but had a mare tonight whereas Porteous and Hendry were both pretty solid, they deserve their place in Germany as it stands.

Get it right round the West West Bank

If he’s playing well for a team that’s winning trophies while Hendry is playing in a retirement league and Cooper/Hanley are struggling for minutes then obviously this will have a bearing on Clarke’s thoughts.

Souttar is a better footballer than Hendry.