Martyn Simpson, Barry Anderson and John Greechan react to Steve Clarke's provisional Scotland squad announcement for this summer's EURO 2024 finals in Germany. Where key decisions have been made, who could still be cut and what the starting XI could look like for the tournament opener against hosts Germany in Berlin.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 So, first of all, guys, let's just acknowledge, I think, first of all, that every player we
00:06 picked who is fit is going.
00:09 I don't think any of us are surprised by that.
00:11 We know that Steve Clarke likes consistency in his squad selections.
00:15 But I want to ask, who do we think are the players in that 28-man squad who have, or
00:20 will, I should say, benefit the most from the fact that we're now allowed to take 26
00:27 men to the finals rather than 23?
00:29 What's your thoughts, Barry?
00:31 Yeah, I think some of the, you could say, obviously Ben Dozer's kind of wildcard entry,
00:38 teenager uncapped.
00:39 So, he's clearly benefited.
00:40 I don't think, if it was 23-man, he'd be on the fence whether he would take him in as
00:46 part of a 23-man squad or not.
00:50 He'd probably put Ryan Jack in that category as well, although maybe Jack is in there because
00:55 Ferguson's unfit and unavailable for that reason.
00:59 Four goalkeepers, again, if you're taking 23, you're not going to take four keepers.
01:03 So, one of those has benefited theirs.
01:06 You can argue exactly who it is.
01:07 I would probably say Liam Kelly more than the other three.
01:11 So, they're the names that kind of stand out to me.
01:13 You could maybe say John Souter, in a sense, has benefited from it as well.
01:21 I think Ross McCrory, although he's uncapped and normally wouldn't be near the Scotland
01:28 squad, I think he would probably be in anyway just because the right-back issue is, you
01:32 know, you've lost both your first choice right-back, right-wing back.
01:35 So, I think 23-man squad, you'd probably have him in there and have him vying with Anthony
01:41 Ralston for that position.
01:43 But, plenty of options in there and that's what Steve Clarke needs.
01:46 That's what any manager needs to go into a major tournament.
01:48 You need people who can cover different positions.
01:51 You need a lot of experience and there's more than 800 caps in that Scotland squad, which
01:55 is terrific.
01:57 So much experience at that level.
01:59 The players know each other inside out.
02:01 Such a steady, stable group and all these things are important going into a major competition.