Rangers v Scotland – And then there were none

It wasn’t so long ago, and traditionally it was always the case, that a Scotland squad would be made up of the best players from each half of the Old-Firm. Simply put, The Scottish National Team’s best players would be the best players playing in the top tier of Scottish football.

Various things have happened of late, most notably our drop into the bowels of our game, which have exacerbated the ongoing problems that we face as a footballing nation. Failure to qualify for a major tournament since the turn of the century, coupled with the fact that our UEFA coefficient is in freefall as no Scottish team seems capable of punching above their weight in Europe, has left punters following the national team in a state of disarray.

Gordon Strachan is the latest figure tasked with the challenge of getting us to a major tournament, and all-in-all he has not been a total disaster. I still like to follow Scotland, despite many Rangers fans choosing to turn their back on the national team. We are now playing slightly more attractive football, and are still more than capable of putting in solid displays against the so-called big boys. However, our ability to make a complete mess of things against the ‘minnows’ is a burden which I cannot foresee shifting any time soon.

Strachan’s latest squad announcement has certainly caused a rift amongst our fans, with strong emotions being displayed on each side of the coin. There are those who are glad no player has been called up, for various reasons, and then we have people like myself who are slightly concerned that John McGinn of Hibs is getting the nod before the finest from Ibrox such as Holt or even McKay (although the latter has been called up to the under 21s).  I suspect that those who are happy with no-call ups are exactly that because they either don’t follow Scotland or they simply want our players to be 100% focused on Warburton’s ways of doing things. Both are amicable views and there is no denying that at such a crucial time of the season, losing key players to international duty is far from ideal – especially when it is only friendly matches in question.

On the other hand, I am of the opinion that some Rangers players do deserve a call up. When we were first demoted, Strachan said that our players would not be up for selection because he wanted to choose from the top tier of our game. That is fair enough, but in this latest selection we saw a lower league player picked, and this time it was at the expense of one of our own. Jason Holt outshines John McGinn in every aspect of their respective games, and to boot Holt is playing for a team sitting 14 points ahead of his counterpart’s. This may be a very biased line, but perhaps we are going to have to get used to an ex-Celtic manager continuously overlooking our players?

Their loss is our gain.