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Scotland boss Clarke threatens Klopp and Co. with FIFA ruling


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Scotland boss Steve Clarke says he is not afraid of getting tough with the likes of Jurgen Klopp after seeing numerous withdrawals from his national squad.

Scotland captain Andy Robertson, Scott McTominay and Ryan Fraser all missed the win over Cyprus and they will sit out Tuesday’s final Euro 2020 qualifier with Kazakhstan. Leeds rLiam Cooper

was also another key man missing from Clarke’s squad and the former Kilmarnock chief has hinted that he is prepared to be “strong” and make the most of regulations surrounding international squad withdrawals if a similar thing happens again in March.

Scotland face the Euro 2020 play-offs in March 2020 with their opponents likely to be either Bulgaria or Israel and Clarke would be well within his rights to block players playing for their clubs if they have withdrawn from his camp though injury.

At the current time Clarke confirmed he saw no merit in enforcing FIFA’s rule which stops players from being selected for their club for a further five days after the international window if they are deemed to be injured.

That might well have stopped Liverpool boss Klopp from selecting Andy Robertson, who has an ankle problem, for the Reds’ game at Crystal Palace this weekend.

“As you probably noticed from my short time at Kilmarnock, I don’t mind a fight if I have to have a fight, as long as it’s a fight for the right reason,” Clarke said.

“If I do have to have a fight, I’ll face it head-on. I don’t shirk away from it. I don’t think I’m a soft character.

Andy Robertson TEAMtalk

“If I need to be strong, I’ll be strong. But, for the moment, I don’t see any value in it.

“When we talk about March, I am sure everyone will turn up for the squad I pick in March, injuries permitting.

“It becomes a case of not wanting to cut off your nose to spite your face. You have to be in a position where you can get your best players.

“You don’t want to cause upset between players, clubs and international managers. I also have to take it at face value that every call-off is an injury call-off.

“The only one which was for personal reasons this time was Matt Phillips. Everyone else was flagged up as an injury by their club.

“You don’t want to harm the relationship between players and their clubs. It’s easy to say: ‘Invoke the five-day rule’.

“But I’m not sure there are any winners when you do that. It puts the player in a difficult position.”

Source: https://www.teamtalk.com/news/scotland-boss-clarke-threatens-klopp-and-co-with-fifa-ruling

Good on Steve, still showing he's not afraid to stand up.

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3 hours ago, Killie1984 said:

Mckenna costs the team another goal. That's 2 and the Cyprus goal that shouldn't have been chopped off. 

Need a better option for left sided defender

Seem much better as a team with Naisy as a false 9.

Unfortunately the best option is out for 3 months...

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McKenna is an absolute cart horse. I've seen ships with better turning circles and I don't think he made a pass the other night that a pacy player couldn't have read and then intercepted. He's basically Grant Hanley - and people loathe him so I just don't understand it.

Given the lack of options Scotland have he should probably be in squads, but for him to be the 'automatic choice' is lunacy.

Thought Gallacher looked much better the other night, plus he has a nice wee bit of 'Broadfoot sleekit' about him that would complement Findlay well.

I'd also stick with Taylor at LB,  Robertson and Tierney simply aren't reliable enough for us, and to give the captaincy to one of our strongest positions is a nonsense too

and both SOD and Palmer are much of a muchness. Worth noting that SOD would have been slated for giving the ball away like Palmer did for the first goal....but it seems to have slipped everyones mind.

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Palmer got called out at half time by the pundits covering the game for Sky, and again on Sportscene later that night.
For all that Taylor played well, he’s simply not as good as Robertson or Tierney so if they are fit and available they will play in front of him, and quite rightly so. We have precious few players good enough to compete with the best from other countries. I’d have Robbo left back, Tierney playing left centre back and leave McKenna out as he’s gash. 

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