Skyline Drifter

You can throw Colin Montgomerie and Stephen Hendry in the mix too I suppose though some won't consider Snooker a sport as there's no physical aspect to it. He and Hoy are in niche sports though and, as fantastic as Hoy's achievements were, he benefited enormously from the money that UK Sport throws at cycling compared to other countries in terms of training facilities, coaching and most importantly technological development of the equipment. Montgomerie's legacy will always be clouded by his failure to ever win a major. Those Scots who did win one (like Lyle and Laurie) never dominated golf overall) We're on a football forum, people will tend to favour footballers but I don't think either Dalglish or Law were ever the best in the world, though they may have been for periods in the best in the UK. Murray was one of four who absolutely dominated his sport for a decade or so and whilst he was probably 4th of four (and damned unlucky to share an era with them), he was for periods the best player in the world in what is a world profile sport and not one where technology is massively different from player to player. As much as the LTA throw a lot of money at youth coaching, etc, Murray didn't come through their pathway. On balance I'd agree with @JS_FFC, and Liam McLeod if he said it, that Murray is Scotland's greatest ever sportsman. Not what I expected to be posting about on this thread though !

Yeah this. My son's went straight to his app even though I bought it. It had his name attached at purchase though.

I doubt McKenna's competing with anyone for his place. If he's fit I'm pretty sure he'll go. Souttar's in that No 5 conversation. If Hanley's fit he'll go. If not then Cooper and Souttar are in competition for his place. That no 20 shirt is the one still up for grabs and it's not entirely inconceivable that both Cooper and Souttar go either. I don't think Ralston goes if Hickey's fit. He's not taking three right backs, particularly given Hickey can play either side. If Hanley and Hickey are both fit then Cooper, Souttar, Jack and Taylor (and any other Doak like wildcard anyone cares to throw in the mix) are competing for one spot. IMO.

Hopefully. And then, assuming he does fine in them then there's no great controversy. Bad news for Liam Kelly but both Gordon and Clark go. And maybe Gordon does then come into thinking for the Number 1 spot.

I'll disagree with it. Kenny Miller disagrees with it. We all WANT it to be the case but it's rose tinted thinking in my opinion. Hypothetically, if Gunn breaks his leg next week and misses the Euros and Craig Gordon spends the rest of the season playing one more game for Hearts, I fully expect Zander Clark would be starting against Germany. Gordon will definitely go if any of the other three are injured but if he remains behind Clark at Hearts he'll almost certainly remain behind him for Scotland. Clarke on Gordon This is not a ringing endorsement. He might take Gordon even if he's not playing regularly. You don't have to read very far between the lines to appreciate what he's saying here even if he rightly refused to outright spell it out. It's very difficult for a goalkeeper to be match sharp playing training games and an occasional cup tie so it absolutely matters that he's not playing club football.

I wish that was the case. Like Hanley though he won't go if he doesn't play. One more game in a cup semi against Rangers probably doesn't cut it. I've said before, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Clarke fielded Gordon tomorrow night. If he does it's a very strong indication that he WANTS to take him and wants to help get him up to speed. Conversely if he's not involved tomorrow, especially if either Clark or Kelly is, then it's a strong indication he's outside the squad at the moment. The goalposts would move though if Hearts put him back in the team for the last month or so of the season. I agree 100% if he's playing he goes. I just don't think there's much doubt it would be Kelly who missed out.

He's not played in months. He's just turned 18. The manager has said that he's unlikely at this stage to look to the u21 squad although the door isn't closed. The post I was replying to was caveated with "if everyone's fit". Obviously if there are a few attacking injuries the goalposts move. Doak's best chance isn't an injury to a striker anyway. He can't do what they do. It's an injury to Armstrong, or possibly Christie. Fraser might be ahead of him though. Depends how much Clarke really has forgiven the no shows regardless of what he said publicly.

That's two different questions: Is Clark ahead of Gordon, and is Kelly ahead of Gordon. I was addressing the former, not the latter. I don't think there's any doubt at all that Clark is keeping Gordon out of Hearts team. The evidence is in front of us. He's not been picked over Clark for a competitive league game since he came back. He's been fit since early January and he's managed 3 cup appearances. If they're "phasing him in" they're doing it at a pace that will see him retired before he plays again. Ultimately he's a goalkeeper and he's either fit or he's not. He's not having to run up and down the park for 90 minutes. They've played him in cup ties, he's sitting on the bench for league games. He's fit and not being picked. Of course Clarke's not required to make the same choice just because Stevie Naismith has but he's already said when bringing Gordon back for this squad that it's going to be difficult to pick him if he's not playing games (or something like that, I can't recall the exact quote but I think you posted it?). It's conceivable, particularly given how poor a season Kelly's had, that Clarke's prepared to take Gordon over Kelly anyway. Personally I'd rather he did. However, I took his remarks on selecting Gordon here to suggest it's unlikely. There's been a few pros wading in to say similar also (Kenny Miller certainly did. I think McFadden too). The post you quoted though took issue at the suggestion Gordon is "likely" whilst Clark and Kelly are "on the bubble" and grouped together. I don't see any basis for that. It's pretty clear Zander Clark is ahead of Liam Kelly in the thinking. Hence he played both the late qualifiers when Gunn was out. Clark's place in the squad isn't under any threat for me. If Gordon goes it will be instead of Kelly.

Yeah, wouldn't disagree with any of that really. Other than that as said previously, we play hardly any games on grass. In the D&G youth league currently, only two clubs (Terregles and Lochar Thistle) have a grass pitch as their main venue. Our own club (Greystone Rovers) have a 3G 1st choice and a back up grass pitch which is occasionally used. Moffat Thistle also had grass but they no longer have a team at u15s level. We're now on 11 a side and don't really have a striker in the squad. We lost three of our best attacking players about 18 months back but even they were two wingers and a "no 10" rather than an out and out goalscorer. I think it's probably fair that the small sided ethos as they develop takes away from the main striker focus. Hadn't really thought about that before. Mine also plays for his school team which is probably there or thereabouts the best school in the region. They won the league last year and lost the cup final to Stranraer. They may lose the league this year to Annan, still to be confirmed. They don't really have a "striker" either. The lad who scores most of the goals is lightning quick and cuts in from the left wing usually.

This is an absolutely wild take. There's no chance, absolutely no chance, that Gordon will be in the Scotland squad before Clark as it stands with the latter keeping him out of the Hearts team. The rest of your "likely in" list should all be in your "In barring injury" list.

Meh, 10's, midfielder who get forward......... Given a choice of "Dykes, Adams, Shankland, McGinn, McTominay, Christie (Armstrong)" or "Moore, Broadhead, Johnson, Brooks, Wilson, James" I'd take the former group. I certainly don't think the Welsh are obviously better or anything we should be overly envious of.

I think a lot of that will depend on your geography. My son is playing kids football in D&G and we play on a grass pitch once or twice a season maybe. D&G is full of 3G pitches, Almost every club has access to one. There are four in Dumfries alone. Gretna, Annan, Dalbeattie, Lockerbie, Kirkcudbright and Stranraer all have one too. I'm conscious there's not many in Dunbartonshire for instance. Not really sure about other areas? That said, far from convinced the better quality pitches are why we're not producing strikers. Do they though? That's a list of mostly attacking midfielders. Moore's an out and out forward largely playing at the same level as Dykes. He's more of a goalscorer probably and a similar level of a handful. Adams has more games at a higher level than him though different kind of player. Johnson's probably an attacker but he plays a wider role and hasn't really played through the middle for either Wales, Spurs or Forest. He's certainly a real talent, although Welsh by accident more than any clever development from the Welsh FA. I'd be delighted if Brennan Johnson was Scottish though not sure where he'd fit in our current system. The rest of them are midfielders and not one of them I'd swap for McTominay, McGinn or Christie.

Fixed that for you.

Yeah, to be fair, you deserve ridicule for that. I was at the game on Friday and surprised to read all the criticism of Patterson later. I thought he did ok but accept you see it better on tv and he was never playing in front of the corner we were in except when attacking first half. He's always been suspect defensively (so is Robertson actually but he's learned to cover it better and nobody mentions it much). Hickey (and Tierney when he plays wing back) are better options defensively. He got down the line well and provided the extra man in attack regularly. He wasn't even our worst defender (quite definitely Souttar) and possibly not our worst defensive starter (Porteous?). We all hope that Hickey's available for the summer and quickly up to speed but Patterson's very comfortably the next best option for me. I'd probably take Max Johnston over Ralston to be honest but clearly Stevie Clarke wouldn't.

Some of the staff were presumably in the Netherlands from midweek to be fair. Not that it helps your point for last week but presumably they'll be at full complement from this morning.

Read it again. Wasn't as good as I remembered.

Good thread. Would read again.

05/06/12 - Dougie Samuel (Spartans) 04/12/16 - Stewart Petrie (Montrose) 02/06/17 - Peter Murphy (Annan Athletic) 26/11/20 - David Martindale (Livingston) (Caretaker initially, officially confirmed 21/12/20) 29/05/21 - Stevie Farrell (Dumbarton) 20/12/21 - Darren Young (Stirling Albion) 21/12/21 - Dougie Imrie (Morton) 04/01/22 - Derek McInnes (Kilmarnock) 22/02/22 - Stephen Robinson (St Mirren) 04/05/22 - John McGlynn (Falkirk) 24/05/22 - Ian Murray (Raith Rovers) 24/05/22 - James McPake (Dunfermline Athletic) 26/05/22 - Rhys McCabe (Airdrieonians) 23/06/22 - John Rankin (Hamilton Academical) (caretaker initially, confirmed 28/06/22) 10/11/22 - Ray McKinnon (Forfar Athletic) 03/01/23 - Gary Naysmith (Stenhousemuir) 05/01/23 - Paul Hartley (Cove Rangers) 08/01/23 - Marvin Bartley (Queen of the South) 11/02/23 - Stuart Kettlewell (Motherwell) (Caretaker initially, confirmed 22/02/23) 12/02/23 - Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle) (caretaker initially, confirmed 03/03/23) 01/03/23 - Jim Goodwin (Dundee United) 21/03/23 - Ryan Strachan & Jordon Brown (Peterhead) (Caretakers initially, confirmed 25/04/23) *09/04/23 - Steven Naismith (Heart of Midlothian) - See note 17/04/23 - Scott Agnew (Stranraer) 07/05/23 - Michael Tidser (Kelty Hearts) 29/05/23 - Tony Docherty (Dundee) 19/06/23 - Brendan Rodgers (Celtic) 11/09/23 - Nick Montgomery (Hibernian) 26/09/23 - Duncan Ferguson (Inverness Caledonian Thistle) 09/10/23 - Michael McIndoe (Edinburgh City) 15/10/23 - Philippe Clement (Rangers) 05/11/23 - Craig Levein (St Johnstone) 15/11/23 - Ian McCall (Clyde) 15/11/23 - Andy Graham (Alloa Athletic) 04/12/23 - Jim McIntyre (Arbroath) 05/12/23 - Allan Hale (Elgin City) 09/01/24 - Callum Davidson (Queen's Park) 23/01/24 - Scott Brown (Ayr United) 06/02/24 - Dick Campbell (East Fife) 25/03/24 - Calum Elliott (Bonnyrigg Rose) Vacant - Ross County - Derek Adams resigned 07/02/24, Don Cowie in Interim Charge Vacant - Aberdeen - Neil Warnock departed mutual consent on 09/03/24. Peter Leven in Interim Charge *Note Steven Naismith was appointed caretaker manager of Hearts on 9th April 2023. After a successfully spell he was given the job permanently on 7th June 2023. However, as he does not have a Pro Licence and Hearts qualified for Europe they were required to 'officially' name assistant Frankie McAvoy as manager on the same date. Naismith instead took on the title 'Technical Director'. Following Hearts elimination from European competition, Naismith was officially re-confirmed as Manager on 6th September 2023 with McAvoy reverting to assistant. As nobody surely seriously believes McAvoy was ever actually in charge, I've listed Naismith as continuous from 9th April and ignored McAvoy's official 3 month spell as manager. If the technical most recent reappointment date of 6th September is instead used for Naismith then he drops four places further down the list, in between Brendan Rodgers and Nick Montgomery. Updated for appointment of Calum Elliott at Bonnyrigg.

Yaasss

Well yes, but thats the point. The young Irish boy up front for Airdrie should have had four on his own. The one he got was his hardest chance. Standing about 3 yards out and not sticking his leg out to poke the ball in the empty net as it trundled past him being the highlight of his misses. That wont be in your shots stat. He never bothered to take one!

Game is wide open. Could be about 4-4 so far. C'mon Airdrie.

This. She actually backed AWAY from the goal. She's lost her bearings completely.

The SPFL's 4th longest serving manager Robbie Horn departs Bonnyrigg after more than 5 years. Proper update when I'm at a desktop.

I'm not discounting him being in the squad. He'll likely go if Cooper doesn't play a few games for Leeds before the end of the season and he'll definitely go if Hanley doesn't get back either. But the idea you were peddling that he was a cert for the squad and and likely starter is very far away from the truth and last night underlined it. Still ahead of Cooper? Has he ever been ahead of Cooper? He may be ahead of Cooper right now because Cooper's not playing club football. If both were I think Cooper would be his preference. He already knows full well what Cooper can do. I think he wanted a look at Souttar last night against quality forwards to see where he's at. It didn't go well. And I'm not sure what you think Craig Gordon affected last night? As much as it wasn't Gunn's finest hour, he's going to Germany, and almost certainly as 1st choice. Gordon's competing with Kelly for 3rd choice (though were he displace Clark at Hearts for the rest of the season he may become 2nd choice). Nothing changed in terms of that competition last night. The player who had the worst night was plainly Souttar who did nothing to imply he should be ahead of a fit and playing Hanley and Cooper. Ralston also confirmed he's ideally not going although that isn't any sort of change. He clearly isn't going if Hickey and Patterson are fit. If Hickey's not he'll go despite his shortcomings.

Still think this after Souttar spent 25 mins trying to play himself out of the squad altogether tonight? He's nowhere near any argument for starting. If Hanley's fit and Cooper gets some game time he's not going.