Martyn is joined by John Greechan and Ben Banks to take a look at what Steve Clarke might change ahead of Euro 2024.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:07 Hello and welcome to National World
00:09 Fitbit Talk, your nan's favourite
00:11 football podcast, Ken.
00:12 It's a show where we break down the
00:14 latest news and results from around
00:16 the SPFL. This week we're speaking
00:18 about the national team, Scotland
00:20 suffering back-to-back friendly
00:21 defeats against the Netherlands and
00:23 most recently against Northern Ireland
00:26 at Hampden and I think the first
00:28 thing we need to ask guys is how
00:31 worried should we be? What do you think,
00:35 John?
00:37 Yeah, I think there's a cause for
00:38 concern,
00:40 not necessarily about
00:44 the performances. I mean, like a one-off
00:46 performance against Northern Ireland, a
00:47 late collapse against Netherlands, 70
00:49 minutes, very, very good.
00:50 I think you just need to be concerned
00:53 when you're not winning and you're
00:54 losing and it becomes like
00:57 these guys need to rediscover what it's
00:59 like to win again.
01:00 They need to get back some of that
01:02 confidence and the fact that we're
01:04 running out of games to do that before
01:06 the Euros,
01:07 I think just puts a little bit of extra
01:11 pressure
01:13 around the squad like, boys, we need to
01:15 sort something here.
01:16 We just need to find something, we need
01:17 to click back, we need to do it. So I
01:19 think it's a little concern.
01:21 Nobody's getting, you know, terror
01:23 stricken by it and saying,
01:25 "Oh, we're all done." I think what we've
01:27 shown is we know where the weaknesses
01:28 are.
01:29 We know where the weaknesses are anyway,
01:31 it's just confirmed it a little bit.
01:33 We know where our strengths are. We'd
01:34 like to have shown a few more of them
01:35 last night, which is
01:37 truly poor performance.
01:40 But yeah, I think there's certainly
01:41 grounds for concern.
01:43 And Steve Clarke once again, Ben, sort of
01:46 refusing to experiment with his lineup.
01:48 What did you make of that?
01:50 Not surprised. Mainly, I was at the
01:52 presser on Monday and
01:53 he said that he wasn't going to rotate,
01:56 but it sort of harps back to John's
01:58 point a wee bit because he was really
01:59 laboring the point on Monday that
02:01 it would have made more changes had
02:02 maybe, say, if it finished 2-0
02:05 in Amsterdam, it probably makes four or
02:07 five changes.
02:09 Whereas, because of the manner of that
02:12 defeat
02:13 and the need for a win, he wanted to play
02:15 pretty much a strongest 11 or there or
02:18 thereabouts just to
02:19 make sure you got that win. Obviously,
02:22 it didn't happen and all it's ended up
02:23 being is a dispiriting defeat that sort
02:25 of
02:26 casts up some concerns
02:29 about the team. I think it was a really
02:31 awkward friendly for Scotland.
02:32 You're playing a team for starters
02:36 that is going to be nothing like
02:37 anything you play
02:38 at the Euros. Yes, obviously, Germany and
02:41 the teams are going on to play are better,
02:43 but you're not going to have 60%
02:45 of possession in any of the Euros games.
02:47 You're not going to be playing against a
02:48 low block.
02:49 So I don't really see what
02:51 you learn
02:52 from last night that you can take into
02:54 the Euros in terms of
02:55 what you can do positively in a Scotland
02:57 sense. I think all it confirms really
03:00 is probably
03:01 obviously up front there's a real
03:03 lack of
03:04 seemingly clinical touch at the minute
03:07 and
03:08 defensively as well. I think it would
03:09 need to be said that maybe not just on
03:12 the basis of
03:13 last night in Amsterdam, probably the
03:14 last five or six friendlies, there's just
03:16 been
03:17 that wee bit lacking perhaps in
03:20 the performances. But Steve Clarke did
03:22 also mention, I think it's two wins out
03:23 of the last 19 friendlies for Scotland.
03:26 So maybe we're just not very
03:28 good at friendlies and we need to play
03:29 competitive games all the time.
03:31 Well, Steve Clarke's always had this
03:33 approach, John, hasn't he?
03:35 He treats the international side like a
03:36 club side and
03:37 in terms of showing loyalty to players
03:39 and not rotating to start 11 and
03:43 it may be like, you know, your club form
03:45 not necessarily mattering so much when
03:47 you've always previously been good
03:48 internationally.
03:50 But last night's kind of basis,
03:53 Lewis Ferguson and Lawrence Shankland
03:57 improved Scotland when they came on. Not
03:59 enough,
04:00 but I do think they improved. So now
04:03 it's surely these two are going, look,
04:06 obviously they could have came on, they
04:07 could have
04:08 scored, contributed a bit more. Ferguson
04:11 was making some good runs, Shankland
04:12 had a decent chance he maybe could have
04:14 done better with. But
04:16 if their club form isn't enough to be
04:18 getting them, well in Ferguson's case,
04:20 that's in the start and 11 and Shankland
04:22 obviously did get the nod against
04:23 Neverland's, but
04:24 if their club form isn't pushing them
04:26 into the Scotland team,
04:28 then if their sort of performances
04:31 off the bench
04:32 also aren't enough to do that, when other
04:34 guys in their positions are under
04:36 performing,
04:37 what is going to be enough to get them
04:39 in the team?
04:40 Yeah, I think like any international
04:43 manager, he's battling a lot of
04:44 competing interests and pressures and
04:47 he said it again last night, our job's
04:49 not to peak now, our job's to peak in June.
04:51 So everything he's doing at the moment
04:53 is literally building himself
04:55 that starting 11 with first choice subs
04:58 for the first game in June against
05:01 Germany, which is
05:02 going to be nice and easy for us
05:03 obviously because they'll play
05:05 differently.
05:06 One thing I think, teams at tournaments
05:08 do tend to play
05:09 at a medium to deep block, so there will
05:11 be
05:12 that the recent tournaments have
05:13 changed that a little bit, there's less
05:15 of the high press going on.
05:17 But you're right, I mean I think it was
05:18 82% position
05:19 we had last night, Ben, it's like that's
05:21 never going to happen again.
05:23 But there might be phases in games where
05:25 you have 10 minutes
05:26 of in control where you're needing to
05:27 break teams down and that was part of an
05:29 issue last night,
05:30 that just everyone seemed to want to set
05:32 themselves when they got the pass, take
05:33 another touch and
05:34 turn their body slowly. We needed the
05:37 little extra sharp pass that went
05:38 in and out quickly to do it. In terms of
05:41 the guys coming off the bench,
05:43 again Ben, you explained it really well
05:44 there that
05:46 he was focused on getting a result last
05:47 night. Now when that doesn't work,
05:49 it looks like, oh why haven't you
05:51 changed everything? If it worked last
05:52 night you go, well he did the right thing,
05:54 he got the boys back in a good mood.
05:55 I think you're being, Ferguson will go,
05:59 Ferguson may play
06:02 depending on who's fit and who's
06:03 available.
06:05 I don't think Ryan Christie has been
06:08 brilliant in that more advanced position
06:09 but then he's played a more
06:10 kind of deeper position for Bournemouth
06:12 these days.
06:14 In terms of Shankland, I made the
06:17 comment in the
06:18 stuff I wrote for this morning saying,
06:19 you know, it's like that old joke
06:22 about the guys hearing that a cheetah's
06:24 coming to chase them
06:25 and one of them puts down, starts
06:28 putting his trainers on
06:29 and the other two start laughing at him.
06:31 You're not going to outrun a cheetah, he's
06:32 like, I just need to outrun you two.
06:34 And that's what, he doesn't have to be,
06:36 you know, he doesn't have to be
06:39 Batty Stuta, you know, he doesn't have to
06:41 be a
06:42 finished international goal scorer, he
06:44 just needs to be better
06:46 than Dykes and Adams and I think at the
06:49 moment he is a better option than them.
06:51 He's still not what everyone's looking
06:54 for,
06:54 he's still not, he's not going to go in
06:56 there and be the guy who creates
06:58 something out of nothing and takes every
06:59 chance, he's just not, he's just not there
07:01 yet
07:01 if he's ever going to be there but he's
07:03 probably the best
07:04 of the three that we got. So I think he,
07:07 you were talking about it again last
07:08 night Ben when Naismith said it, I think
07:10 he's the best natural finisher, he
07:11 starts,
07:12 I think he starts, he just offers you the
07:14 most.
07:15 No one's, the sort of tactic Steve
07:18 Clark stuck with has worked well for
07:20 Scotland so maybe not
07:21 going into a major tournament two games
07:23 before that isn't maybe the net best
07:24 thing to shake up. Do you think there's
07:26 any argument to say that given
07:28 the depth of quality Scotland have
07:32 in midfield Ben, it's with guys like
07:34 Ferguson and Armstrong on the bench
07:36 and like Scotland fans have a
07:40 tumultuous relationship with the
07:41 suggestion that you don't play an
07:43 out striker in a match,
07:45 going back to Craig Levine in the Czech
07:46 Republic. Do you think there's
07:48 any case that you could maybe look
07:50 at doing things a bit differently
07:52 up front because it's just not working
07:54 and
07:55 I know we haven't necessarily got
07:57 anyone who could play
07:58 a sort of more traditional false nine
08:00 role but maybe just
08:02 something different? The thing, I just,
08:06 I don't see who would go into that role.
08:08 I mean,
08:09 could you imagine the uproar if from
08:11 sections of
08:12 the support, if when it comes to that
08:14 game against Germany and Ryan Christie's
08:15 playing as a central forward and you've
08:17 got three strikers on the bench.
08:18 I just, I can't see it. I think you
08:20 need to, you need to persist with them. I
08:23 think you need to,
08:23 Shanklin's obviously is, you don't need
08:25 to obviously hope for him to hit a goal
08:27 trail. He has hit the goal trail. He's
08:28 going to pass 30 goals this season.
08:30 Beanie, I hope Dykes at least maybe adds
08:32 another few, he's tallied between now and
08:34 me.
08:35 Che Adams between now and me. I think, I
08:37 think you are, I think as John said, I
08:39 think you've got what you've got at
08:40 this minute in time and you're,
08:41 you need to work with that and improve
08:43 with them. I think the one for me that I
08:44 thought there'd be more rotation in is
08:46 the goalkeeper
08:47 and bringing four goalkeepers into
08:49 camp and then
08:50 Angus Gunn plays every minute. He
08:52 wanted to see Craig Gordon
08:54 up close and sort of personal and
08:56 training and things like that. And from the
08:58 way he was speaking on Monday, I kind of
08:59 thought it would be Angus Gunn first
09:01 half, Craig Gordon second half.
09:02 Don't know if maybe just the
09:03 circumstances of the game dictated that
09:05 Angus Gunn played the full 90 just with
09:07 the way it was going, but
09:09 I would maybe have expected more, even
09:11 though I think it's pretty clear Angus
09:13 Gunn is going to be the
09:14 the number one at the Euros. I'd have
09:16 been quite interested to see if
09:17 Craig Gordon came in or even Xander
09:19 Clarke. Xander Clarke is obviously keeping
09:20 him out of the
09:21 the Hearts team at the minute. Craig
09:23 Gordon, Liam Kelly's there as well. So
09:25 only three of them will go, but only
09:27 one played in this
09:29 in this window. So that was the one for
09:30 me that was, that was a bit like,
09:32 I would maybe have expected some
09:34 some more minutes for other players in
09:36 that position.
09:37 Can I just pick up there, Martin, on what
09:39 you were asking about the tactics and
09:41 the shape and playing without a striker.
09:42 So
09:43 he likes this 3-4-2-1 and he has done
09:46 for a long time and loads of coaches
09:47 love it and it's
09:48 it does play to Scotland's strengths
09:52 if you've got Kieran Tierney
09:54 at left centre back and probably Ryan
09:57 Porteous
09:57 at right centre back because you need
09:59 guys who are brave on the ball.
10:01 They cannot play sitting back alongside
10:04 their central
10:05 partner there. They have to be taking
10:07 the ball and going up and going beyond
10:08 and getting involved in breaking lines
10:10 and getting beyond play.
10:11 The reason he likes it is it gives you
10:12 that 2-2 in midfield, it gives you a
10:14 box midfield which
10:17 all the tacticians were going crazy
10:18 about for about the past year, "Oh that's
10:20 brilliant" and creates so much overloads
10:21 and
10:22 you know, gives you advantages here and
10:23 there.
10:25 When you're playing that system,
10:28 it doesn't, you don't always need an
10:30 out-and-out goal scorer as your number
10:32 nine
10:33 because it creates opportunities for
10:35 the guys playing in behind,
10:36 it creates opportunities for cutbacks
10:38 for the other two midfielders arriving
10:39 on the edge of the box,
10:41 it creates opportunities for different
10:42 sorts of entry points and angles to come.
10:45 So I think it's going to be very
10:47 interesting.
10:48 I think he will play something not a
10:50 million miles away from that.
10:52 You've no idea what's going to happen
10:53 between that and as you said, Ben, you
10:54 would love someone to put their hand up
10:56 and just start going on some sort of mad
10:58 streak.
10:59 I told you about, is it Tommy Conway in
11:01 the 21s?
11:02 Who's at Bristol. He's actually scored
11:04 more than Dykes in the championship
11:05 this year.
11:06 Strong, confident, good in the ball but
11:09 the chat from boys that watch the
11:11 21s regularly is just not ready for the
11:13 full step yet. So it's a big step up
11:16 from the under 21s to the senior
11:17 squad, more than I think a lot of people
11:20 give it credit for.
11:22 People will say why not just maybe if
11:24 you're short in a position pick up the
11:26 best player from under 21s when
11:28 actually in fact that's maybe not
11:31 always best. You look back
11:33 a while ago in Scotland at a defensive
11:35 crisis and you're bringing in guys
11:37 like Andy Considine for example for his
11:39 first cap who did really well in that
11:41 game.
11:41 There's more of a case to bring
11:43 in a seasoned pro than there is to just
11:46 chuck a young guy in at the deep end.
11:49 We're going to take a short break now
11:51 but we'll be right back.
11:54 Welcome back. So just before the break we
12:08 touched on sort of depth in certain
12:10 positions and I want to speak about
12:12 right back because
12:14 without you trying to kick a guy when
12:16 he's down and Nathan Patterson
12:19 was hugely disappointed in this window
12:21 and I think it goes to show just when
12:22 you're getting so little game time
12:24 because he did look rusty.
12:27 He wanted on the ball and he
12:30 was trying to get us involved in the
12:32 game and he
12:33 positionally and his awareness
12:35 was all right but just his crosses and
12:38 his passes and his
12:39 final balls were just really poor and
12:43 I think it was a real weakness but the
12:45 problem is
12:47 who does Scotland actually have
12:50 after? Hickey will be first choice
12:52 right back when he's fit then Nathan
12:54 Patterson and then
12:55 really after that I mean
12:58 what do I have? I imagine
13:00 if Greg Taylor goes as part
13:02 of the 23 because he can cover left
13:05 back
13:05 and right back not that he's
13:08 used to playing right back
13:10 of course he has a left back but he
13:11 can play there as far as I'm aware
13:13 Tierney as well could play it right
13:16 back but then
13:16 he's such a important part as you said
13:19 earlier John of
13:20 Steve Clark's system playing it left
13:22 center back.
13:23 So yeah Ralston came on
13:26 in the Netherlands
13:28 and was there again on the bench last
13:30 night.
13:31 I actually get the logic behind
13:34 keeping Patterson on and let him play
13:36 and play and play as you say he's been
13:37 so short of game time
13:39 he needs to get games he needs to get
13:41 minutes in his legs
13:42 at competitive level so I get the logic
13:44 of what Steve Clark was doing which is
13:45 I'm just going to stick with him
13:47 I'm going to stick with him.
13:50 Horrible I mean going forward last night
13:51 it was almost
13:53 worse than like the one howler for the
13:55 goal going forward his crosses were all
13:57 over the place.
13:58 He didn't get great balls in fairness
14:00 from Jack Henry a lot of the time.
14:02 A lot of the balls from Jack Henry were
14:03 played
14:04 almost between his feet or to his back
14:07 foot
14:08 and you're like well what's he supposed
14:09 to do with that he's never going to get
14:11 get down the line with that
14:12 but he lacked confidence. I think it had
14:15 I think he just has to persist with
14:16 Patterson hope he gets
14:18 enough game time hope he can play him
14:19 in these friendlies again if he needs
14:20 him
14:21 just to get up to speed and then pray to
14:24 god that Aaron Hickey is completely fit.
14:27 Just on the right just on the right back
14:29 Martin I know we're talking about
14:30 Nathan Patterson like coming in with no
14:31 minutes but how many minutes is Hickey
14:33 realistically going to be coming in with
14:35 off an injury and off a
14:38 injury hit season I know that I'm like
14:39 he's the best option there but you're
14:41 potentially running into the same issues
14:42 there
14:43 I mean you are you aren't a million
14:45 miles off from a couple you're probably
14:48 an injury or so away from Stephen
14:50 O'Donnell being back into the running
14:51 and that's not like
14:53 because he's a reliable figure who knows
14:55 Steve Clark's system you generally aren't
14:57 too many miles away because I think even
14:59 though you've got a talent factory
15:01 of left backs to make up a start in the
15:03 living I mean
15:04 Josh Deug that isn't even getting
15:05 anywhere near this squad at the minute
15:07 in time but right back as you say
15:10 you're Aaron Hickey Nathan Patterson and
15:13 the drop off in quality from them I mean
15:14 Anthony Ralston is a decent enough player
15:17 I'm not necessarily sure he's of the
15:19 level even at even though he is at Celtic
15:22 I'm not necessarily sure he's even at
15:23 the level of Patterson at the minute
15:25 you've got Stephen O'Donnell obviously
15:26 and behind that as well and then after
15:29 that I mean you're
15:30 you're you're I don't think O'Donnell's
15:32 maybe quite
15:33 directly in behind that at the moment
15:35 then
15:36 but by that I mean if you're a couple
15:38 more bodies down
15:39 oh yeah no I mean right
15:41 beyond beyond Ralston going down the
15:43 ladder I mean
15:44 like Cadden for example's had a horrible
15:46 season with injuries
15:47 he obviously was involved in the
15:50 Scotland squad for a wee bit you'd
15:51 imagine
15:53 somewhere down the line in terms of out
15:55 and out right backs
15:57 I still think you'd be more likely to
15:58 see Greg Taylor playing it right back
16:00 before we saw
16:01 Chris Cadden back in the squad but
16:02 you'd imagine he'd be next
16:04 then you're probably looking at guys
16:06 like O'Donnell maybe Nicky Devlin who
16:08 is not having a terrific season at
16:10 Aberdeen but is
16:12 no I know you're shaking your head John
16:13 I am this is me highlighting our
16:16 our lack of
16:17 You've given me the fear
16:19 That is you are
16:20 Ben makes a good point
16:21 about about
16:22 After Ralston and Cadden you are
16:24 speaking about
16:25 O'Donnell and Devlin or I mean you've
16:28 got Max Johnson in the under 21s but
16:30 that's again chucking a young lad in at
16:32 the deep end which isn't
16:34 is it it's proper fight or flight it's
16:37 sink or swim you know he's either gonna
16:39 take to international football or
16:41 probably you have to say more likely
16:43 it's just
16:44 gonna be worse for all parties involved
16:48 but yeah it is concerning isn't it
16:50 because
16:51 I think Ben's right I don't know enough
16:53 about Brentford to know that when Hickey
16:55 is
16:56 fully recovered he's gonna go straight
16:57 back into that squad and
16:59 play every game between now and the end
17:02 of the season you would hope he does get
17:04 some decent minutes in his legs when he
17:06 gets back
17:07 uh yeah I would hope we'll see him
17:11 in the next international friendlies
17:14 and we'll maybe see how he's how he's
17:16 taken to it but yeah
17:17 it's I still just feel very
17:20 very is it was a problem area for us at
17:22 the last Euros
17:24 with all due respect to Stephen O'Donnell
17:26 but it's
17:27 continuing to be a problem area even
17:29 though we have
17:30 Patterson who is undoubtedly a quality
17:33 right back
17:34 Hickey who although he is a left back is
17:36 also a very good right back
17:38 and then a couple of others yeah I don't
17:41 know
17:41 I I worry about it and I worry
17:45 and seeing Andy Robertson go off last
17:47 night
17:48 uh we're waiting to assess that
17:50 because you kind of feel like well from
17:52 an attacking sense you maybe just focus
17:53 play down the left a wee bit more but
17:56 the best teams are going to suss that
17:57 out unfortunately
17:59 uh yeah what are we thinking against
18:01 these next games it's
18:02 Gibraltar and Finland
18:05 were again just based off of everything
18:08 Steve Clarke said we're not
18:10 expecting that he's going to look at
18:13 those games and go oh let's
18:15 completely change the start in 11 but is
18:18 that
18:19 the right call because really this is
18:22 your if
18:23 if he hasn't fully decided on his 23
18:26 already
18:27 these are the games where he needs to
18:28 make that decision because
18:30 you would expect what do you think guys
18:33 has he decided on his 23 how many places
18:35 realistically
18:37 is is he not going to be certain on at
18:39 this moment in time
18:41 he's kind of said in the press as he's
18:44 done to this point that
18:45 there he's probably got most of it but
18:48 there's probably like
18:49 maybe three or four that are he's sort
18:51 of wavering on a wee bit just weighing up
18:53 things
18:54 um so i think it's pretty much 80 to 90
18:57 percent there
18:59 the system has worked till this point so
19:01 i think after a couple of friendly
19:02 defeats to
19:03 hit the panic button and then chuck
19:05 everyone out the window so close to a
19:07 major tournament i think that's
19:08 i think that's worse because i think if
19:10 that was to happen you would then have
19:11 questions of steve clark because
19:13 i mean he's built that system for so
19:14 long and then first sign of danger and
19:16 he hits the panic button that would be
19:18 more of a red flag to me
19:20 yeah he's got he's got most of his
19:21 position so you're talking about the
19:22 minor placings almost in the squad aren't
19:24 you
19:25 third choice goalkeeper which let's
19:27 face it should never play
19:28 all all being well you know you're just
19:31 another another midfielder who's
19:33 who's probably not going to get a lot of
19:35 game time
19:36 even though there's four places in
19:38 midfield the way he plays
19:40 um yeah the right back the left back is
19:43 fine
19:44 and your strikers it's uh
19:47 he's not exactly falling over himself
19:49 with options
19:50 that center forward is that i mean is
19:52 there another one outside the three
19:54 strikers
19:55 if you go with adams dykes and
19:57 shanklin is there anyone else
19:59 ollie mcburnie is probably one that
20:02 would come in here
20:03 but again yeah it doesn't know he's
20:06 gonna he's gonna fight
20:08 if you say i'm leaving ollie mcburnie
20:10 out nobody's gonna go that's a disgrace
20:12 you know it's just i exactly there's
20:15 nobody and it
20:16 run out of time for anyone to actually
20:19 i think it would i think it would be
20:21 harsh now to be honest if like anybody
20:23 came into it
20:24 i think that with the goalkeepers as
20:25 well like if for example even though
20:27 he's third choice goalkeeper
20:28 if liam kelly was to get cut he's been
20:30 with this squad for two and a bit years
20:32 and then somebody comes back from 18
20:33 months out and it's like right you're
20:34 cut
20:36 it's a bit harsh i mean i think that i
20:37 think the
20:38 this squad as much as it is talented i
20:40 think especially midfield we have got a
20:42 midfield to rival a lot of teams
20:45 at the euros perhaps it's other areas of
20:47 the park that are that are lacking but a
20:49 big massive strength of steve clark's
20:51 team is the core unit
20:52 and i think you need to keep that core
20:54 unit together as much as possible
20:56 whether people agree with that or don't
20:58 i think that is the best way
20:59 to get the best out of steve clark's
21:01 system i would imagine when you look at
21:03 it if you're
21:04 probably you would imagine you take a
21:06 pragmatic sort of approach
21:08 and you look at a 20 free man squads
21:11 you've got two starting 11s
21:15 and then your your third choice goal
21:17 keeper so that's your 23 men
21:20 so it's just do you look at it like that
21:22 or do you maybe think
21:24 we need a bit more extra depth in
21:26 certain positions i would imagine
21:29 that the two players that are are sort
21:31 of
21:32 the ones at the risk of missing out at
21:34 the moment
21:35 you would expect would be liam cooper
21:37 and kenny mclean would be the two
21:39 sort of fighting for that last 23rd
21:42 spot
21:43 out of them you would think mclean
21:46 given that defensively
21:50 sort of scott mctominay could cover its
21:52 center back if we get to
21:53 emergency situations
21:58 so it's hard to say i wanted to ask you
22:00 both about mctominay actually just
22:03 a kind of point that came up last night
22:05 when i was chatting
22:06 with my son about it and we're that
22:08 four-man midfield so the two sitting the
22:10 two
22:10 further forward i get mctominay playing
22:13 in the in
22:14 alongside gilmore because his energy and
22:16 his runs are difficult to track
22:20 what do you think of the idea of
22:21 pushing him forward one and playing
22:23 where christie played last night
22:24 so him again no i think that happens
22:28 when kyle mcgregor comes back
22:29 yeah and kyle mcgregor goes in next to
22:31 billy gilmore and scott mctominay goes
22:33 up on this
22:34 that's what i think happens there i
22:35 think kyle mcgregor is
22:37 kyle mcgregor it's a similar thing with
22:39 celtic you don't notice kyle mcgregor
22:41 in the team perhaps but when he's out
22:43 the team
22:44 you're like we're totally missing you
22:46 totally miss his
22:47 just bit of put his foot in the ball for
22:49 five seconds
22:50 breathe move it on you totally missed
22:52 that
22:52 so so smart he's the smartest footballer
22:56 you know
22:57 highest footballing iq of anyone playing
22:58 in scotland by far
23:00 you just watch him in games his ability
23:03 to fit no matter what
23:04 opponents try and do to close him down
23:06 he finds space
23:08 i genuinely think he's one that could
23:10 have at any stage he could have just
23:11 gone and played anywhere
23:13 just about i think i think that he stayed
23:16 because he's been brilliant for them i
23:18 think mctominay's sort of physicality and
23:20 attacking sense is such a useful weapon
23:22 for scotland
23:24 so i i agree with ben i think kyle
23:25 mcgregor comes back
23:27 sort of christie drops to the bench and
23:30 and that's your midfield and then
23:32 if scotland find themselves chasing the
23:34 game they've got
23:35 christie armstrong and ferguson on the
23:37 bench three
23:38 very technically gifted skillful
23:41 attacking midfielders that have goals in
23:44 them
23:44 but that's all we've got time for on
23:46 this week's show thanks very much john
23:48 thanks ben we'll be back next week back
23:50 on domestic matters
23:52 thanks for watching