Scotland Men's Football Team

Scottish FA performance director Graeme Jones is reportedly in the frame for a role at Hearts. (Daily Record)

Read all of Tuesday's Scottish Gossip

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Uncapped Dundee goalkeeper Jon McCracken has been called up to the Scotland squad for the Nations League matches with Poland and Portugal.

The 24-year-old has previously been capped by his country at under-17 level and replaces Kilmarnock's Robby McCrorie, who has a hip injury. Zander Clark and Angus Gunn are the other keepers available to Steve Clarke.

McCracken has played seven times for his club this season, helping the Dark Blues remain unbeaten for the campaign so far.

Scotland host Poland on Thursday and visit Portugal on Sunday.

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Scotland assistant coach John Carver believes missing out on progressing from the group stage at Euro 2024, which would have been a first for the nation, has to motivate the team in their Nations League campaign.

The Scots face Poland (home) and Portugal (away) over the next week and will also take on Croatia in League A Group 1.

"It's a new start today because there's a new competition starting," said Carver.

"Yeah, you want to win or come second. But our aim is to survive in the group, that's what we have to do."

Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld was included in Steve Clarke's squad for the opening double-header, along with Sturm Graz defender Max Johnston and Liverpool forward Ben Doak.

Carver said "every part of the world" was looked at to see "which players could come in and take us forward".

"We've got the preparation for the World Cup qualifiers, that for me starts now, which is why there'll be a few fresh faces in there," the assistant coach explained.

"Scotland were in the doldrums 23 years ago and now we're we've qualified for two back-to-back Euros, we've got into the Nations League Group A.

"There's still a huge gap to close. We'll try as long as we can to keep improving that and make progress."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Scotland assistant coach John Carver has been speaking to the media as the national team prepare to face Poland in the Nations League on Thursday.

Here are the key points:

• Carver says people forget Scottish football was in the doldrums for decades so a bit of realism is required following the nation's dismal Euros campaign.

• He insists this is a new start in a new campaign and it's important the side learn lessons from the summer.

• He doesn't think Scotland need to win back the Tartan Army support despite the disappointment in Germany.

• In terms of the squad, Carver points out they have only had eight players training, the others are due to arrive on Monday and Tuesday.

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Kilmarnock's Robby McCrorie is set to withdraw from Steve Clarke's Scotland squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Poland and Portugal with a hip injury.

McCrorie, 26, was an unused substitute for Derek McInnes' side's 1-1 draw against Hibs on Sunday, with the Kilmarnock boss reluctant to risk his goalkeeper.

"He's not been able to kick as yet but we needed him on the bench," McInnes said.

"He's not fully fit, so I would imagine that's going to cause us to probably pull him out of the squad.

"If he could kick the ball and be fully competent with that side of it, then we don’t want to be pulling him out of the squad.

"But he's not there yet. He's still probably about five or six days away from being able to do that without any discomfort.

"His training's been limited. He's just been handling and he's not been doing any kicking. Until that settles, then we can't put him at risk."

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Stephen McGinn insists Steve Clarke needs to plan for a Scotland side without Kieran Tierney.

The Arsenal left-back was injured in the 1-1 draw with Switzerland at Euro 2024, the latest in a spate of lay-offs.

With Clarke having adapted his formation to fit in both Tierney and fellow left-back Andy Robertson, McGinn suggested there may be time for a change in the Scotland camp.

"We need to adapt, we need to plan long-term without Kieran Tierney," McGinn said. "When you design a formation to fit in two left-backs, if you're not going to have one of the left-backs, you need to plan moving forward as maybe a back four.

"It's a real shame but he misses a lot of games.

"You don't have to change your manager to have a freshness. I think we need to introduce pace into the team."

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Oli McBurnie grabbed an assist and fellow Scotland international Scott McKenna also started as Las Palmas held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw in La Liga.

Striker McBurnie, in his third appearance for Las Palmas since his summer move from Sheffield United, bagged his second assist of the campaign when he set up Alberto Moleiro for the hosts' opener inside five minutes.

Centre-back McKenna also played his third game for his new club and the Scotland pair were up against the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric and Vinicius Jr, who equalised with second-half penalty to extend Real's club-record unbeaten run to 35 La Liga games.

Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour, 23, is now unlikely to move to Napoli this summer after new Brighton midfielder Matt O’Riley was confirmed to have suffered a serious injury on the Dane's debut. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

Veteran Scotland defender Liam Cooper's proposed move to Hull City as a free agent has collapsed. (Football Insider), external

QPR are set to sign 22-year-old Scottish right-back Harrison Ashby on loan from Newcastle. (West London Sport), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

Scotland Under-21 head coach Gemmill is "delighted" for Kieron Bowie following the forward's recent move to Hibernian. (Herald - subscription), external

Read Thursday's Scottish gossip

We asked for your views after Steve Clarke named his squad - and brought Ryan Gauld out of the international wilderness - for Scotland's opening Nations League fixtures.

Here's what some of you said:

Ricky: I think this is the time now to unleash Ben Doak and Ryan Gauld, find the pattern and shape to fit them both into a tactically well organised Scotland team, who on their day we can get great results. Even with the likes of Kieran Tierney, Lewis Ferguson, Nathan Patterson and Aaron Hickey injured, I am looking forward to these two games.

Keith: Too defensive and negative, it can be a hard watch with Clarke's teams. The Euros were painful with a lone striker and no direct thrust from wide players. I would like to see Gauld, Josh Doig and Tommy Conway start a game and not be brought on for a token 10 minutes when we are chasing a game. Also, Grant Hanley is just a liability at this leve. We are missing a genuine quality wing-back in Hickey as well, so a flat 4-4-2 for me.

Richard: Gauld should have been included in the Scotland squad a long time ago, it's difficult to understand why such a talented player has been ignored for such a long time.

Iain: We don't have a great deal to choose from but Gauld deserves a chance. Not your typical battling midfielder but he's matured and is a great passer, he puts in a good shift and usually chips in with a few goals. Forget the Scottish Messi, he and Billy Gilmour could just become the Scottish Xavi and Iniesta instead, fingers crossed.

Eric: Great to see some new players in the squad but that will only matter if they actually get on the pitch. We had some very tired looking senior players in the Euros, so hopefully they will now be refreshed and ready to support the young talent that I hope will be given a chance. I'm looking forward to a fresh start.

Andrew: I think this is a great post-Euros squad. The team did brilliantly to qualify but seemed to peak too early and by the time of the competition were on a big downward trend. This refreshes and hopefully reinvigorates things. The new players and the reintroduction of Gauld will certainly help. It gives hope going forward, the rebuild starts now.

Marty: About time we saw Gauld in the squad, hopefully he gets the chance to shine with game time. Nice to see Conway back in and Doak too, hopefully Doak moves on this week from Liverpool and gets some game time that helps push for more game time for Scotland.

Robert: Until we can find a true striker with pace, skill and lethal finishing who puts fear into opposing defenders, we are and always will be struggling for goals. Teamwork counts for a lot, but somebody who can conjure up a bit of magic out of nothing is the true missing link.

Steve: If Luke McCowan had played for the Old Firm he would have been in the team before Germany, let's see what happens if he signs for Celtic.

Jim: If he's brought James Forrest and others along just to make up the numbers and they have little prospect of playing then he'll not last the campaign. Not using an in-form Forrest in preference to other less experienced players was baffling. Clarke seems to always be at odds with popular opinion.

Ken: Sadly it's the same old, same old. No surprise inclusions to make a real improvement because there are no great talents available. Fitness and spirit are the only real assets available to the manager. Hopefully they will not disappear as they did in Germany.

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Scotland Under-21 boss Scot Gemmill says "it's why this team exists" after three of his squad were called up to Steve Clarke's senior squad.

Clarke has included striker Tommy Conway, winger Ben Doak and full-back Max Johnston for the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Poland and Portugal.

It means Gemmill is deprived of three of his best talents for the important Euro 2025 qualifying double-header against Spain and Malta.

"Steve knows he can take the players whenever he wants, I've said it from day one," said Gemmill.

"That is the objective of the team, it's why this team exists, to try and help develop the young players.

"It's fantastic that they now get the opportunity to go with the men's A squad, [albeit] Tommy was obviously with them in the summer.

"And if you look through Steve's squads, there is real evidence that the Under-21 team is giving that experience to the players that can help them to push towards the men's A.

"It's obviously brilliant for all the staff to see the younger players getting the opportunity with the men's A team but I think it's also correct to keep it in context.

"The international windows are short, if you add them up, probably roughly 50 days per year, so it's a lot of the work that's going on at their clubs and the credit belongs to the players.

"They're the ones that are putting themselves in a position where Steve knows he can trust them to play."

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Has Steve Clarke's squad selection revealed a plan to move to a different formation?

With just four centre-backs named his 24-man set-up, some are speculating that the Scotland head coach could look to move away from his favoured back-five shape.

For the majority of Clarke's spell, he has deployed 5-3-2 and 5-4-1 formations - the latter of which was used from the start in each of the three Euro 2024 games.

But after a dismal campaign in Germany, Clarke suffered intense criticism for a dull attacking approach and many put that down to the shape he continued to implement.

Speaking on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, coach and analyst John Walker believes the former Kilmarnock manager's squad for the upcoming Nations League matches against Poland and Portugal proves we are now "going to see a 4-3-3".

"We're going to see the end of this 5-3-2, 5-4-1 box-midfield formation," he adds. "It's a formation we brought in only to suit the fact we had two world-class left-backs in Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney.

"We don't have two world-class left-backs any more. We've got a world-class left-back and somebody who will miss 50% of the games every year, so we need something different.

"It needs to be players like Ben Doak, Lewis Morgan and Ryan Gauld who come into those areas in the frontline. Then you've got Che Adams, Laurence Shankland and Lyndon Dykes who will still perform that lone striker role.

"I think we're probably going to see John McGinn slot back one, rather than in a more advanced position. I'm quite excited to see if we take the handbrake off and start going for teams."

Steve Clarke hints the World Cup campaign could be his last as manager... unless Scotland win the trophy.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

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Steve Clarke says he and his Scotland squad "are just the same as everyone else" and "disappointed" with the way their Euro 2024 campaign panned out.

Scotland failed to win a game and didn't make it out of the group stages in Germany despite a highly impressive qualifying campaign.

Head coach Clarke, speaking for the first time since the 1-0 defeat by Hungary consigned Scotland to the exit, said it "just wasn't our tournament".

After naming his squad for next month's Nations League games against Poland and Portugal, he added: "We’re all disappointed we didn’t achieve what we wanted to achieve in the tournament.

"There’s always going to be criticism when you don’t achieve your targets. If all the criticism comes to me, that’s fine, I can take it.

"I think you have to look at the build-up to the tournament. It wasn't smooth, we had a lot of players injured, even from in-camp we lost a lot of players and what we have shown is, if we’re missing one or two key players, we’re not as strong as we would be with them in the team."

Given the strong qualifying campaign, which saw Scotland beat eventual tournament winners Spain at Hampden, hopes were high that Clarke's side could progress from the group stage for the first time.

There has been criticism of the failure to do that, but Clarke said he takes that as a compliment.

"It means me and my staff and the players have done a really good job to raise expectations," he added.

"When I took the job, it was over 20 years since we had been at a tournament, now we’ve been at two of the last three, so we must have done something right.

"If the expectation now is that you have to qualify for the tournament, and you have to come out the group stage, then that is what we’ll try and do in 2026."