Pat Nevin: How Fergie told me I was being left out of Scotland's World Cup squad
Loyalty to players shouldn’t surprise us - but I do feel for two youngsters
The Scotland squad chosen by Steve Clarke has all the usual suspects, of course, so the biggest short-term interest will be with the surprises and the tough calls. The curve ball was the inclusion of 19-year-old Findlay Curtis, who has been on loan at Kilmarnock from Rangers and recently knocked a few curved balls into the Rugby Park net himself.
Unsurprisingly, I support the inclusion of an extra wide, creative player to give another option in attack. Ben Gannon-Doak has had injury problems and limited starts for Bournemouth but that creative skill set remains crucial to Scotland’s possible success. At World Cups you need disrupters on the field at crucial moments.
Timing is important and Curtis has been in sparkling form lately, even if some will question the wisdom of relying on such youth. Have a look around and you will see that many young players have been included in World Cup squads – in the simplest terms if you are good enough and you show the right strength of character, you are old enough. It does help that it is a 26-man squad this time, which allows for a wild card or two.
I had originally guessed 20 certainties and they all made it. The six chosen outside that list turned out to be Curtis, Ross Stewart, George Hirst, Nathan Patterson, Anthony Ralston and Dominic Hyam. Each is perfectly capable but it could just as likely have been the likes of Kieron Bowie, Oli McBurnie, Lennon Miller or Josh Doig.
The balance is something that Clarke – I always want to call him Clarkey, but I will be formal for the purposes of these pages – will have had on his mind during the selection process. Many such as Kieran Tierney, John McGinn, Scott McTominay and Ryan Christie can fill multiple roles, but so can Lawrence Shankland and Aaron Hickey.
The possible problem area was at right full-back, which is why I suspect both Ralston and Patterson made the cut. Hickey has had his injuries so a belt-and-braces approach was needed in that berth.
There will be the odd comment about the same old faces, but they are the players that got us there. Clarke’s loyalty is a major reason why the crucial team spirit is so strong and it is constantly mirrored back to him. Few will feel badly treated and that filters through the group. Keeping the core, trusted group together is vital, especially if they are living in each other’s pockets for weeks on end.
Lennon Miller can feel particularly disappointed, but his youth will stand in him good stead for the future, though that will not help right now. The midfield area is, however, the most settled and indeed the most impressive in the group and someone talented was always going to miss out there.
Clarke’s contentious decision
Possibly the most contentious decision was to leave out both McBurnie and Bowie, with Ross Stewart preferred instead. This must have been a close call and maybe led to the odd disturbed night’s sleep for the manager. The Southampton striker has only two caps to his name but he is that rarest of things in current Scottish football – a natural goalscorer.
Stewart’s numbers at Sunderland and then Southampton are very good and would have been better without the untimely injuries. He missed almost the entirety of 2023 with a serious Achilles problem, but Southampton still bought him while he was recuperating and that is how highly he is rated down south. Without those lengthy setbacks his cap numbers would have been much healthier by now.
The other big question for some is the inclusion of 43-year-old Craig Gordon. It seems unimaginable that he could still be at the top level at his age, but he has rarely if ever let the country or any of his clubs down. Oddly enough, just like Curtis, if you are good enough and free of injury then age doesn’t matter that much.
For those on the fringes, left out at the last minute, it will feel devastating right now. They will get hugs from loved ones and the odd sympathetic text from a friend, but the world will quickly move on to the global party without consideration of them, even if they are on the reserve list.
I’ve known players hold grudges for decades after being spurned for a World Cup squad, but they shouldn’t. If you are obviously and clearly good enough to be in the team then you would be chosen in the 26, unless you had a fallout with the manager or were an objectionable character who is bad for team morale.
I was dropped for the 1986 and 1990 World Cups having been in the squads in the build-up, then back in the team again afterwards. Out of common courtesy, the manager almost always informs those not picked before the press conference these days, as Clarke did this time.
Alex Ferguson phoned me back in 1986 to say he was sorry. “I am taking Gordon Strachan instead of you Pat, but if any forward doesn’t make it onto the plane for Mexico, you will be first reserve,” he informed me.
I found out the next day training at Chelsea that he had given the same line to my team-mate David Speedie. Much later I discovered Ally McCoist got the fed the same fairytale and others probably did too.
Surprisingly, I found I wasn’t distraught. I calculated that had I made it then I would be at the back of the queue on the bench, unlikely to play anything other than a bit part, if that. Six of the 26 taken to the German Euros by Steve Clarke in 2024 didn’t even make the field and another, Lewis Morgan, only got two minutes.
So, a nice holiday with my girlfriend watching the tournament in sunny climes was actually preferable in some senses. But there was a call off. Kenny Dalglish wouldn’t go, so who did the boss call? Stevie Archibald of Barcelona.
For those now in the squad, the countdown has started and excitement is now officially permitted. Even Andy Robertson didn’t take his place for granted when leaving a video message for Steve Clarke at the SPFA awards night.
For the lucky ones, they will make memories to last a lifetime. Let’s hope they are good ones this time.
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