PSJ.84 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 The Sun () reporting that Hanley has pulled out of the squad for this break. Same article has Stephen Pressley saying It’s touch-and-go as to whether Hickey makes the Euros. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 Confirmation. Unfortunate for us fans because it means we'll still be guessing up to Euro-2024 which centre-backs will be selected. It would have been interesting to see how it would have played out with them all in there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Distant Doonhamer Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) 15 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said: A little surprising Hanley doesnt appear to have been officially pulled out yet. They pulled Sargent out on sunday. Are Scotland maybe wanting to check him themselves? Or have they just not confirmef Hanley yet. Confirmed on BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68606301 Edited March 19 by Distant Doonhamer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 1 hour ago, 2426255 said: Confirmation. Unfortunate for us fans because it means we'll still be guessing up to Euro-2024 which centre-backs will be selected. It would have been interesting to see how it would have played out with them all in there. Yeah, it will leave much more of a debate. Still think if Norwich decide he's back to where he needs to be and play him regularly across April / May he'll go. But if he barely plays another game this season he won't. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 17 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said: A little surprising Hanley doesnt appear to have been officially pulled out yet. They pulled Sargent out on sunday. Are Scotland maybe wanting to check him themselves? Or have they just not confirmef Hanley yet. I think the players were probably given a day off yesterday or something like that because there wasn't any activity on the twitter account, no training pictures and I heard that Dykes was in Dumfries so I'd guess today is probably day one. That'd be my guess anyway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) 2 hours ago, 2426255 said: I think the players were probably given a day off yesterday or something like that because there wasn't any activity on the twitter account, no training pictures and I heard that Dykes was in Dumfries so I'd guess today is probably day one. That'd be my guess anyway. Lyndon was in Dumfries on Saturday night / Sunday. Not sure if he was still here yesterday or not. He was at Palmerston Saturday night albeit didn't get here till the game was finished. I spoke with him. His son was a mascot (and is on Tuesday v Northern Ireland too). In any event, if they already knew Hanley wasn't coming (which presumably they did given that Wagner had publicised it before that), then there's no reason they should wait till the group meets to announce it. Edited March 19 by Skyline Drifter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Henry Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Let’s say neither Hanley nor Hickey makes it. Cooper and Ralston instead? Being even more negative, Jack if McGregor can’t go? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 (edited) 46 minutes ago, Savage Henry said: Let’s say neither Hanley nor Hickey makes it. Cooper and Ralston instead? Being even more negative, Jack if McGregor can’t go? I'd say so. I wouldn't be surprised to see Hanley, Cooper, McGregor and Jack all go. Ralston has experience covering on the left side for Scotland (v Denmark) and recently for Celtic so that could be to his advantage. He was also pretty good against Armenia and to an extent even against Ireland in the 1st-half where he benefitted from Jack Hendry pushing into the right back area. I'm not against Johnston or McCrorie though. Edited March 19 by 2426255 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) 1 hour ago, Savage Henry said: Let’s say neither Hanley nor Hickey makes it. Cooper and Ralston instead? Being even more negative, Jack if McGregor can’t go? I've already said my feeling is that if everyone's fit Cooper, Souttar and Jack (and possibly Taylor) are competing for one spot and the rest of it pretty much picks itself. If Hickey doesn't make it then Ralston definitely does I think. Clark's made it clear he'll take two right backs and Ralston by his inclusion here is clearly ahead of Johnston and McCrorie. If Hanley doesn't make it but Hickey does then I think Taylor's out and it's still a pick between Cooper, Souttar and Jack for the spot but probably one of the centre backs. If Hanley doesn't make it and Hickey doesn't either it brings back the possibility of Taylor being included instead as we lose the ability of Hickey to cover both full backs. He can do that comfortably. I know as @2426255 says Ralston has filled in there towards the end of games occasionally but that's not to the same degree of competence at all and he's not going to take Ralston as left back cover. Clarke's choice will be whether to make do with the other centre backs and take a 2nd specialist left (wing) back or potentially move Tierney back out there if he has to and bring McKenna in. I still think the fact Tierney can play Robertson's role but Robertson can't play Tierney's means he's more likely to take one of the centre backs though. Not seeing any reason to doubt McGregor currently. More doubt about Jack than McGregor to be honest. Edited March 19 by Skyline Drifter 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pie Of The Month Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 13 hours ago, PSJ.84 said: The Sun () reporting that Hanley has pulled out of the squad for this break. Same article has Stephen Pressley saying It’s touch-and-go as to whether Hickey makes the Euros. Carver at today's Scotland press conference said they are waiting to find out about Hickey but the hope is he's back training with Brentford in the next two to three weeks. I appreciate Pressley is involved at Brenford but I'm choosing to believe Carver since it's better news. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 3 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said: I've already said my feeling is that if everyone's fit Cooper, Souttar and Jack (and possibly Taylor) are competing for one spot and the rest of it pretty much picks itself. If Hickey doesn't make it then Ralston definitely does I think. Clark's made it clear he'll take two right backs and Ralston by his inclusion here is clearly ahead of Johnston and McCrorie. If Hanley doesn't make it but Hickey does then I think Taylor's out and it's still a pick between Cooper, Souttar and Jack for the spot but probably one of the centre backs. If Hanley doesn't make it and Hickey doesn't either it brings back the possibility of Taylor being included instead as we lose the ability of Hickey to cover both full backs. He can do that comfortably. I know as @2426255 says Ralston has filled in there towards the end of games occasionally but that's not to the same degree of competence at all and he's not going to take Ralston as left back cover. Clarke's choice will be whether to make do with the other centre backs and take a 2nd specialist left (wing) back or potentially move Tierney back out there if he has to and bring McKenna in. I still think the fact Tierney can play Robertson's role but Robertson can't play Tierney's means he's more likely to take one of the centre backs though. Not seeing any reason to doubt McGregor currently. More doubt about Jack than McGregor to be honest. That's a well thought through post. It's not straightforward if everyone is fit so factoring in if certain players (Hickey, Tierney) pick up injuries makes it that bit trickier, but when you boil it down I think it'll end up something like what you've written here. I had a look at it independently and came to a similar conclusion. Spoiler I think players that only cover one position might be disadvantaged. I'm thinking Taylor, Jack and Souttar. It's quite hard to reduce to 23 players, but if everyone is fit I don't think this would be far away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 23 minutes ago, 2426255 said: That's a well thought through post. It's not straightforward if everyone is fit so factoring in if certain players (Hickey, Tierney) pick up injuries makes it that bit trickier, but when you boil it down I think it'll end up something like what you've written here. I had a look at it independently and came to a similar conclusion. Hide contents I think players that only cover one position might be disadvantaged. I'm thinking Taylor, Jack and Souttar. It's quite hard to reduce to 23 players, but if everyone is fit I don't think this would be far away. I agree with your 23 all things being ideal. I do think that if Gordon and Cooper don't get a fair bit of football in April / May they'll likely be replaced by Kelly and Souttar though. If Hickey doesn't make it Ralston comes in. If Hanley doesn't make it whichever one of Cooper / Souttar isn't already in gets in although Taylor and Jack are alternate possibilities, with Taylor's case strengthened if Hickey also doesn't make it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said: I agree with your 23 all things being ideal. I do think that if Gordon and Cooper don't get a fair bit of football in April / May they'll likely be replaced by Kelly and Souttar though. If Hickey doesn't make it Ralston comes in. If Hanley doesn't make it whichever one of Cooper / Souttar isn't already in gets in although Taylor and Jack are alternate possibilities, with Taylor's case strengthened if Hickey also doesn't make it. I heard that Liam Cooper is part of the leadership group at Scotland. I haven't been able to confirm that Scotland have a leadership group or that he's part of it, but if he is it's the kind of thing that might be important. With Souttar he hasn't ever played the Hanley role and the fact that Cooper has just tip the scales more towards him. I don't quite see where Souttar fits into the squad if everyone's fit. Edited March 19 by 2426255 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Taranbino Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 53 minutes ago, 2426255 said: I heard that Liam Cooper is part of the leadership group at Scotland. I haven't been able to confirm that Scotland have a leadership group or that he's part of it, but if he is it's the kind of thing that might be important. With Souttar he hasn't ever played the Hanley role and the fact that Cooper has just tip the scales more towards him. I don't quite see where Souttar fits into the squad if everyone's fit. Yeah, everything I have heard or read regarding Cooper seems to point towards him being quite influential within the squad, with the younger players and role modelling etc. I may have this wrong, but I have a feeling Clarke tends to only use him against higher quality opposition? I'm sure I read somewhere that he hasn't played against a jobber nation since 2021 or something like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSJ.84 Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 3 hours ago, Quentin Taranbino said: I may have this wrong, but I have a feeling Clarke tends to only use him against higher quality opposition? I'm sure I read somewhere that he hasn't played against a jobber nation since 2021 or something like that. Moldova away was his last cap against one of the lesser sides. Only made five appearances since then mind you: Denmark(H), Ukraine(PO), Spain(H), Norway(A) and France(A). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahemps Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 9 hours ago, Quentin Taranbino said: Yeah, everything I have heard or read regarding Cooper seems to point towards him being quite influential within the squad, with the younger players and role modelling etc. I may have this wrong, but I have a feeling Clarke tends to only use him against higher quality opposition? I'm sure I read somewhere that he hasn't played against a jobber nation since 2021 or something like that. I have heard about this leader group thing as well. I think Gordon is in it too. I would expect though we can't be taking players who are part of this group over a player who is more likely to actually play. Leaders emerge and if Cooper is left out then someone else within the squad will step up. We have plenty character in the squad, we have plenty guys playing at the top level who will have high standards and we now have plenty experience across numerous players. A leadership group was maybe a good idea when Clarke 1st came in but I don't know if it is quite as important now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 1 hour ago, ahemps said: I have heard about this leader group thing as well. I think Gordon is in it too. I would expect though we can't be taking players who are part of this group over a player who is more likely to actually play. Leaders emerge and if Cooper is left out then someone else within the squad will step up. We have plenty character in the squad, we have plenty guys playing at the top level who will have high standards and we now have plenty experience across numerous players. A leadership group was maybe a good idea when Clarke 1st came in but I don't know if it is quite as important now. Yeah this. If you feel you need a 'Leadership Group' then you pick it from the players selected. You don't select players based on whether they're already in a Leadership Group (though I guess it's inevitably a factor in a coin flip decision like Cooper v Souttar). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArabFC Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 3 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said: Yeah this. If you feel you need a 'Leadership Group' then you pick it from the players selected. You don't select players based on whether they're already in a Leadership Group (though I guess it's inevitably a factor in a coin flip decision like Cooper v Souttar). Of course its a factor. I'd wager that the final backup centre back selected by most countries in most big tournaments have barely played a minute between them. So its more than just about ability. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurkst Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Get well soon Aaron 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accies1874 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Doesn't sound like it's a bad one for Robbo: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/liverpool-team-news-injury-robertson-konate-b2520689.html 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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