Who’s on the plane?

[Savage Henry]

Going by the last two games, it’s going to be tough for Cooper to get in, which seems harsh, and Brown is clearly ahead of Shankland in Clarke’s thinking.  Ryan Jack needs a good run of form, and I’m not sure he makes it in the end.  
 

I don’t think Hanley goes unless he plays pretty much all season for Norwich.  The third pick keeper doesn’t matter too much but Clark did his chances no good whatsoever. Taylor also played himself out of a place.   

 

Barnes and Anderson could both go, but they really need to declare pronto.  
 

But of course there’s going to be injuries.  

[KingRocketman II]

35 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I'm not convinced Brown's more "mobile" than either Dykes or Adams. He's quicker if that's what you meant? Dykes will run channels all day though and Adams gets about the park too. They're all more mobile than Shankland certainly.

Speed and distance covered. I would be surprised if Brown hadn't covered the most distance of any players on the park last night. 

[KingRocketman II]

29 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

 

 

Barnes and Anderson could both go, but they really need to declare pronto.  
 

But of course there’s going to be injuries.  

even if both declared tonight that they wished to be eligible for selection, a) I would be flabbergasted if Clarke ended up including them in the Euro squad after a few games next year and b) in my view, if they are truly committed then that commitment starts with the WC qualifiers post Euros....

[Skyline Drifter]

6 minutes ago, KingRocketman II said:

Speed and distance covered. I would be surprised if Brown hadn't covered the most distance of any players on the park last night. 

Yeah, I accept he's the quickest of the four. I don't think he covers any more distance than Dykes or Adams. Dykes regularly pops up in his own box for instance and blocked one on the line on Thursday. Our system certainly has the solo striker do a lot of running so he'll be up there (so will Nathan Patterson who was up and down the right side all night). That's not proving anything in comparison to the other strikers who weren't playing though.

35 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

Going by the last two games, it’s going to be tough for Cooper to get in, which seems harsh, and Brown is clearly ahead of Shankland in Clarke’s thinking.  Ryan Jack needs a good run of form, and I’m not sure he makes it in the end.  
 

I don’t think Hanley goes unless he plays pretty much all season for Norwich.  The third pick keeper doesn’t matter too much but Clark did his chances no good whatsoever. Taylor also played himself out of a place.   

 

Barnes and Anderson could both go, but they really need to declare pronto.  
 

But of course there’s going to be injuries.  

Cooper's behind McKenna currently. McKenna sitting in Forest's reserves for the next 6 months may be enough to get Cooper in though. Cooper not making the 23 would be harsh on him given his "turn up every time" attitude but he's our 6th choice centre back. We knew Brown was ahead of Shankland when the squad was picked. The games actually moved that decision closer if anything. 70 minutes last night didn't really advance Brown's case much. Shankland grabbed a goal. The fact he's the most regular goalscorer of the four might yet sneak him in. Depends how regularly he scores 2nd half of the season and if Brown's getting starts for Luton maybe.

If Hanley's fit and playing even semi-regularly for Norwich, he'll go. I'm not sure why anyone would think otherwise. He's been Clarke's first choice to anchor the middle of defence since he got the job and he's left him out of a starting eleven by choice once, when he rested him for Armenia in a Nations League game.

Anderson's not going. There's been enough come out from his early departure last time to make it clear he's not in the picture any longer. I'm not sure Clarke will be quick to allow him latitude to mess us around again. He declared for us, turned up for a couple of days, didn't like it and went home to think again. He'll not get the opportunity again this side of the Euros. Barnes might yet in the way Adams declared late before the last Euros and got in. He'll need to declare early though and unequivocally. It seems unlikely, particularly given he's not currently fit so probably not thinking about it.

[Gordon EF]

I'd take Shankland over Brown. Everyone being fit, Brown isn't getting ahead of Dykes or Adam for the "run around like a dafty up front for 70 odd minutes" role. I'd rather we take a potential "supersub" type player for the 3rd choice striker role, and Shankland is closer to that than Brown is.

[Self-raising Lazarus]

Agree with the above, you need a different type of striker in the 23, a proven goalscorer is more beneficial than am3 very similar strikers. 

[Skyline Drifter]

4 hours ago, Gordon EF said:

I'd take Shankland over Brown. Everyone being fit, Brown isn't getting ahead of Dykes or Adam for the "run around like a dafty up front for 70 odd minutes" role. I'd rather we take a potential "supersub" type player for the 3rd choice striker role, and Shankland is closer to that than Brown is.

I'd agree with this. Brown is behind Adams and Dykes for the bringing others into play role. Shankland might just nick you a goal if given 10 mins though.

It is possible that a fit Ross Stewart in the 2nd half of the season gets that role though. He's also a goalscorer.

[No_Problemo]

3 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I'd agree with this. Brown is behind Adams and Dykes for the bringing others into play role. Shankland might just nick you a goal if given 10 mins though.

It is possible that a fit Ross Stewart in the 2nd half of the season gets that role though. He's also a goalscorer.

The only issue with this is that Brown got his chance last night and didn’t remotely show an ability to bring others into play, so I’m not entirely sure what kind of striker he is. I was hoping for more from him after his cameo against France - obviously he might just have had an off game last night! 

I’m definitely interested to get a look at Ross Stewart playing for Southampton, as apparently he offers all the things that Dykes does but obviously has a decent scoring rate too. 

[Skyline Drifter]

5 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

The only issue with this is that Brown got his chance last night and didn’t remotely show an ability to bring others into play, so I’m not entirely sure what kind of striker he is. I was hoping for more from him after his cameo against France - obviously he might just have had an off game last night! 

I’m definitely interested to get a look at Ross Stewart playing for Southampton, as apparently he offers all the things that Dykes does but obviously has a decent scoring rate too. 

I'm biased but I don't think he offers "all the things that Dykes does". Dykes is better at holding the ball up and bringing others into play. He's also better defensively and probably in work rate. Stewart scores more though.

[No_Problemo]

12 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I'm biased but I don't think he offers "all the things that Dykes does". Dykes is better at holding the ball up and bringing others into play. He's also better defensively and probably in work rate. Stewart scores more though.

I don’t know at all, as I haven’t seen enough of Stewart! I mean I saw him at Alloa a few times and he was a handful, but that’s all I could tell you. Hopefully he stays fit, and I can catch a few Southampton live games. 

I’m just going off reviews that suggest he can link and has decent pace to offer runs in behind too. 

[Nightmare]

55 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

The only issue with this is that Brown got his chance last night and didn’t remotely show an ability to bring others into play, so I’m not entirely sure what kind of striker he is. I was hoping for more from him after his cameo against France - obviously he might just have had an off game last night! 

I’m definitely interested to get a look at Ross Stewart playing for Southampton, as apparently he offers all the things that Dykes does but obviously has a decent scoring rate too. 

If last night was an audition for Brown's inclusion in the Euros squad, then he failed it.

Clarke seems quite a loyal manager, and he'll probably still stick with Brown, but I didn't see anything from him last night which suggests that he merits inclusion in the final tournament squad. I'd agree with the comments above that Shankland should be ahead of him on the list, and if we do need to drop anyone to make way for the likes of Barnes, Stewart, Doak or whoever, then Brown has to be one of the main candidates to drop out of the squad.

[No_Problemo]

2 minutes ago, Nightmare said:

If last night was an audition for Brown's inclusion in the Euros squad, then he failed it.

Clarke seems quite a loyal manager, and he'll probably still stick with Brown, but I didn't see anything from him last night which suggests that he merits inclusion in the final tournament squad. I'd agree with the comments above that Shankland should be ahead of him on the list, and if we do need to drop anyone to make way for the likes of Barnes, Stewart, Doak or whoever, then Brown has to be one of the main candidates to drop out of the squad.

It obviously isn’t a fair comparison in terms of the standard of opposition but compare Brown playing as a lone striker to Doak for the 21’s - and generally Doak was far more isolated too against Spain and Belgium. A huge difference in performances. 

I still think we need a pace option for the wider options in certain games - whether that’s Barnes, Doak or even Fraser!

[GAD]

To be fair to Brown, if we wrote off everyone who's put in a bad 70 mins for Scotland we'd have a pretty small squad. I mean, you wouldn't exactly be enthusiastic about Dykes if all you'd seen of him was his thoroughly ineffective subs performance. In saying that it is getting to the crunch now, and if you don't have the credit in the bank you have to take the chance when you get it. Funnily enough the lack of game time has almost worked in Shankland's favour. As folk have said above, if nothing else he's shown he's a better bet as a last throw of the dice when you need a goal.

[Gordon EF]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I'd agree with this. Brown is behind Adams and Dykes for the bringing others into play role. Shankland might just nick you a goal if given 10 mins though.

It is possible that a fit Ross Stewart in the 2nd half of the season gets that role though. He's also a goalscorer.

Yeah. Good shout, I was forgetting about Stewart but hopefully he's back into contention before long.

[accies1874]

13 minutes ago, GAD said:

To be fair to Brown, if we wrote off everyone who's put in a bad 70 mins for Scotland we'd have a pretty small squad. I mean, you wouldn't exactly be enthusiastic about Dykes if all you'd seen of him was his thoroughly ineffective subs performance. 

Yeah Brown was crap last night but I don't think Clarke will bomb out a squad regular after just one start. Dykes was probably just as terrible when he came on. 

[Ewanandmoreagain]

39 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

It obviously isn’t a fair comparison in terms of the standard of opposition but compare Brown playing as a lone striker to Doak for the 21’s - and generally Doak was far more isolated too against Spain and Belgium. A huge difference in performances. 

I still think we need a pace option for the wider options in certain games - whether that’s Barnes, Doak or even Fraser!

especially if we play a back four

[No_Problemo]

1 hour ago, accies1874 said:

Yeah Brown was crap last night but I don't think Clarke will bomb out a squad regular after just one start. Dykes was probably just as terrible when he came on. 

Most of our strikers are worryingly off form, with other options returning from decent injuries (Stewart, Conway. We all know Dykes and Adams offer far more than goals, however I’m not sure how well they are even doing that right now for their clubs. 

As much as we talk about Adams being off form, and he clearly is but: 

Dykes: 940 minutes (ish) One goal, zero assists. 

Adams 640 minutes (ish) Three goals, two assists. 

Obviously Adams goals all came at the start of the season, and he is clearly off it at the moment but you then look at Dykes and that is utterly stinking. He needs to pick up soon, or he could be headed to league one. 

[MarkoP]

11 hours ago, KingRocketman II said:

Speed and distance covered. I would be surprised if Brown hadn't covered the most distance of any players on the park last night. 

Doing hee haw in the process

[craigkillie]

5 hours ago, accies1874 said:

Yeah Brown was crap last night but I don't think Clarke will bomb out a squad regular after just one start. Dykes was probably just as terrible when he came on. 

I'm not sure I'd have him down as a total regular, he was out of the squad for at least a couple of camps before working his way back in for that September one.

[DC92]

9 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I'd agree with this. Brown is behind Adams and Dykes for the bringing others into play role. Shankland might just nick you a goal if given 10 mins though.

On last night's evidence, Brown is also behind Shankland in the "bringing others into play" role. He might have a bit of pace, but he was totally hopeless with his back to goal.