GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 30: Scotland manager Steve Clarke before the international friendly match between Scotland and Curacao at Hampden Park on May 30, 2026 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Regular readers will know that I’m not a big Steve Clarke fan, and I didn’t think he should be leading Scotland into the World Cup.
I wrote a piece about this the other day, where I said I was glad he is not going to be the manager of Celtic. I know Paulina wants to write tomorrow about the latest selection controversy, but in a slightly different way from how I’m going to write about it here.
Because Clarke has done something very unusual.
I’m not talking only about the selection itself, although it is certainly unusual. I’m talking about the effect the selection has had.
Steve Clarke has managed to unite the nation.
That is incredible to me.
He has united Celtic fans, Ibrox fans, Hearts fans, Hibs fans, Motherwell fans and supporters of just about every club in the land in incomprehension and horror at the decision he has made here.
I don’t know whether Tyler Fletcher is going to become a top player.
Maybe he is.
But the thing is, Steve Clarke doesn’t know that either. Fletcher is 19, he has played only a handful of senior minutes for Manchester United, and yet he is now going to a World Cup with Scotland.
That is remarkable.
Because his club is south of the border, and because it is Manchester United, Clarke has again selected a player based on that above almost any other consideration.
People will say: but he had options from south of the border who he hasn’t picked.
My answer is that almost everyone would have been more grateful if he had picked one of them.
Because almost everyone has their favourite, and almost everyone thinks someone else should have been selected instead. The crazy thing is that there is a better case for nearly all of them than there is for the player Clarke has actually chosen.
That really is nuts.
It would be different if you thought Fletcher was actually going to play at the World Cup, but the chances of Clarke selecting him are surely slim. So this is a squad place gone, goodwill with certain clubs and certain players burned to ash, and for what?
An extra body on the plane who will probably not get meaningful minutes.
I think often of what Clarke did to James Forrest at the Euros. Forrest deserved to be in the squad. His place was merited. Clarke took him there and benched him for the whole tournament.
I know that left a residue of anger.
This decision is worse because of who is not on the plane.
Celtic fans have their own grievance here. Some think a call should have been put in to Callum McGregor. Paulina is going to handle that subject tomorrow. Others will say that at the very least Luke McCowan should have been considered, or possibly even James Forrest himself.
The Ibrox fans are, of course, screaming for Connor Barron. I don’t think Barron is anywhere near as good as they think he is, but Barron is still a better option than an untried, untested kid, and would have been more likely to get time on the pitch.
There were good players at Hibs, Hearts and Motherwell who may have warranted that place. Motherwell fans are saying the same thing.
Lennon Miller.
You have the Caddens at Hibs. You have Josh Mulligan. You have Campbell. You have Blair Spittal at Hearts. None of them got the call.
All experienced. All playing regularly. All more battle-hardened than Fletcher at senior level.
This shows that Clarke does not have a strategic thought in his head.
Fletcher may be a fantastic player in the future. But those who have earned their place already, those who thought they deserved to be on that plane right now, are not going to be bought off by talk of the future.
This is Clarke being Clarke.
He has his four-year deal. He is thinking about the next Scotland team. But he should be thinking about this Scotland team.
He should be thinking about future games, future competitions, injury crises and mass pull-outs. He should be thinking about the players he may need to depend on in an emergency.
There are one or two players who may not pick up the phone so eagerly next time.
Being a national coach is like being a national leader. You have various constituencies to satisfy, and that is non-negotiable. You cannot ignore your least favourite club to pick all the players from your favourite club. You cannot ignore certain regions of the country because you favour others.
You have players doing well, and you have to make them your first consideration when picking a squad for a major finals.
If you want to blood young players, you have all the time in the world to do that when there is no major tournament on. For a World Cup, you need your best.
With this single decision, Clarke has alienated an entire country.
Nobody thinks this is smart.
Some in the media might defend it on the grounds that he is future-proofing the national team. But this is not the time or place for that.
He has upset players at a lot of clubs, players he may need in the here and now. He has annoyed supporters across the country. He has made the squad look less like a meritocracy and more like another Steve Clarke hunch.
That is the kind of thing that drives people mad about this guy.
Scotland are going to their first World Cup since 1998.
This should be a moment of unity, excitement and confidence.
Instead, Clarke has managed to make a selection that has almost everyone asking the same question.
What the hell is he thinking?
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I’m actually pleased they’ve ignored Celtic players…
Fuck we had enough injured players last season without them collapsing next season as well…
I hope the Scotland fans have a pure ball…
As for the team – I can’t get excited in ma old age and then there was Doncaster saying pathological lies that ‘Rangers’ (Sic) were the same club “Absolutely “
So Fuck The SFA !
Although credit where credit is due they performed well in The ‘aftermath’ of The Hearts game, The Hearts Pathological Lies and The Pathological lies of The Scummy Scottish Football Media !
When I was a lot younger and more naive about the rivalry between our club and the one from Ibrox and i didn’t comprehend the hatred in our country for the team I supported I used to cheer on Scotland. Now I know better and this means I cannot support any team that contains players from Ibrox either past or present. They hate us it’s that simple, so how can any Celtic fan cheer for the goals that Shankland scores for his country knowing that he hates us? This is a genuine question. “what the hell are you thinking”
Could actually be a smart move that ensures Fletcher remains committed to Scotland. His twin brother apparently has chosen to represent England. In 1982 Northern Ireland found a place for a 17 year old Norman Whiteside who had only played a few times for Man Utd. Maybe, Clarke is more strategic than some give him credit for.
I don’t have that much care for the Scottish National Team nor the Tartan Army. As Pilgrim73 states, why cheer for wankers who despise your cultural identity. I just can’t identify with the whole Glengarry, kilt wearing brigade. So it’s a pass for me. I’ll be hoping that Argentina win it. Call me oikphobic or a philistine, but I simply can’t identify myself with a culture that hates a large part of my identity as a Celtic fan, but each to their own for those Celtic fans who do.
RG @ 11.27pm…
I’d say that The Tartan Army detest Butchers Apron loving Sevco fans than our supporters certainly these days anyway for sure…
Around these shores anyway for sure…
Irish music is very popular at this bit…
Not so – Militiristic brass band jargon that Sevco fans love…
GLEN COE IS NOT FORGOTTON BRIT BASTARDS !
Cruel is the snow!
Clach,
the Tartan Army might do so, but they always equate us as being as bad as one another which is bollocks. I’ve a strong memory of my own experience in Central Station being called a Fenian bastard, and having other forms of abuse directed at me by the Tartan Army for wearing a Celtic top. Also, the SFA aren’t and will never be friends of our club as has been the case recenly and historically. Talking of militaristic nonsense, I’m suprised the hun fans don’t wear the Glengarry due to its ties with the Scottish regiments of the British Army. In any case, they can all fill their sporrans and Timberland boots at Infantino and Trumps World Cup. It’s just not my gig. I hope all is well for you up the road.
You don’t have to go back very far to recognise the hatred the Scotland fans have for Celtic. Scotland v Denmark and the tartan morons booed Kasper Schmeichel every time he touched the ball, then Scotland v Japan, and Daizen Maeda got the same treatment. I have no time for any of them.
Absolute bullshit Johnny.
You expect Scotland fans not to boo Schmeichel? He plays for a scottish team and Denmark was the opposition. Maybe you should be more concerned about the home fans booing Schmeichel v Stuttgart..no?
I was at the game when Gasgoine was playing v Scotland and never heard an opposition player receive so much abuse. He was fair game also.
Tierneys goal was met with rapturous applause v Denmark and he is a Scotland hero who loves playing for his country.
If he plays against Brazil in Miami it could be the biggest game he plays in in his entire career.
I guess that doesnt suit your narrative though, but maybe stick to the facts or say nothing at all.
Agree with every sentence of the above Mojo, along with your later comment.
I’ll happily cheer on any Celtic player in Internationals (except those who play for England, hehehe) – but for the 90 minutes they play against Scotland they are as much an opponent as anyone else. I may not have jeered Maeda or Schmeichel but I wasn’t wishing them well at any point… And the lowest point of our season was the way that Schmeichel was treated by our own fans vs Stuttgart.
I can’t wait for the World Cup to start and to have Scotland in it.
I think the only two players from the list you’ve mentioned James, who could replace Gilmour like for like, would be Connor Barron on Callum McGregor. The reports I’ve read on Fletcher are that he also has those attributes for taking care of the ball.
I’m not Steve Clarke’s biggest fan, but it seems he can’t win. He’s been lambasted for years for not picking enough young players, and now he’s getting it in the neck for securing Man Utd’s young player of the year as a Scotland player rather than an England one.
I meant to add, I was at the Euros in Germany with the Tartan Army, and met up with many groups of Scotland Fans and spent the day with them. I didn’t check who they supported at first, but it turned out every single one of them were Celtic Fans. In fact a Stuttgart Fan invited me to stay in his house one night, and he and his two sons all wore Celtic tops.
That’s good to hear Danny. YNWA.
I’m a TV supporter of Scotland these days, I quite like to see them winning but I’m not too bothered if they get beat.
The last game I watched Scotland from the terracing was in a 1966 World Cup qualifier against Italy at Hampden. In those days it wasn’t the tartan army that made up the Scotland support, 80% was made up of the Ibrox mob. Me and my mates got fed up with every Italian player getting called Papish Bastards and the odd Celtic players selected being called a Fenian bastard, a fight broke out and we nearly all ended up getting arrested. That was enough for me, I’ve never been back to a Scotland game.
Most of the Tartan army these days are supporters of teams other than Celtic or The Rangers[2012], yep they probably don’t like us very much, but unlike days gone by, following Scotland isn’t like being in a Rangers FC [died 2012] supporters club.
With Tims like McGinn, Robertson, Tierney, Ralston and Gannon Doak among others involved, and with my son, who lives in the US going to the games in Boston, I hope they do well, but I’m not optimistic.
That selection by Clark is quite bizzare, I can only think that he wants to make the young boy feel part of the group and stay committed to Scotland. A bit of a slap in the face to other players who have turned up for less important games recently.
Im sad to hear that micmac but I have been following Scotland since the 70s and that was never my experience.
I’ve got nothing against The Tartan Army other than them spreading coliform bacteria everywhere they go.Never sit on a seat that’s previously been occupied by a bare arsed Kiltie.
However, I take a perverse pleasure in seeing and hearing the disappointment of all the huns in the media on jollies paid for by us, when Scotland get beat. And they typically try to blame Celtic players if possible when that happens.
Already the team is being hyped up as world beaters, after disposing of a 10 man outfit from a small nation in a friendly., with particular emphasis on spam heid since his move to sevco.
If Scotland do well, I won’t be that bothered, but if not, the schadenfreude will be sweet.
Like Micmac I stopped supporting Scotland at a very early age. I was 16 when I went to Hampden to see my first Scotland game in 1968, a friendly against Russia, as there were going to be 5 or 6 Celtic players involved. My auld man, God rest him, warned me against it, but I didn’t listen. His warnings were spot on, as half the crowd there wore Rangers scarves, they sang the sash and they booed every time a Celtic player was on the ball. That was my one and only time, and I never went back.
The die was cast, times may have changed since, but I haven’t.
What used to piss me off was some of the team selections which favoured (then) rangers players over Lisbon Lions in certain positions. Henderson ahead of Johnstone, McKinnon ahead of McNeil and later, Jardine ahead of McGrain, who had to shunt over to left back to accommodate a lesser player.
I really don’t remember it that way Danny. Of course I disagreed with Scotland selections but any manager was putting out the best team possible as far as I can see. Kenny Dalglish is the most capped Scotland player ever. Danny McGrain got way more caps than Sandy Jardine also. Jock Stein was the Scotland manager ffs.
Look at John McGovern. He captained his team to 2 successive european cups and didnt get a single cap for scotland and jock stein was manager around then. You maybe read too much into it.