Zander


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15 hours ago, aagb1884 said:

And obviously it's not Steve Clarke's job to care about this, but because Jason Kerr's moved away in part because he doesn't think he'll break into the Scotland squad at Saints, it's incredibly frustrating to see Zander out of this squad especially when he's out of contact. It actively harms our chances of keeping players if the impression they get is of Saints harming their chances of a Scotland call up.

Another way of looking at it would be we're less likely to be able to keep players who are getting regular call-ups for Scotland?

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McLaughlin has played more league games for Rangers this season than hes missed.

Kelly v Clark is a toss up tbh, both solid keepers capable of the spectacular. 

Not entirely sure why theres such a meltdown over whether Clark sits on the bench for the games or if Kelly sits on the bench. Clark is clearly now in the thoughts of the Scotland staff and I'd feel pretty confident in thinking hes 4th choice for Scotland as it stands. 

If McLaughlin drops out Rangers side again then I wouldn't be shocked, if Clark keeps up his form, to see Clark above him again and back in the squad.

Time is ticking for Craig Gordon who turns 39 in a few months too.

Plenty of time and further opportunities for Zander. His foots in the door now so he just needs to make sure Steve Clarke keeps looking through it, and he'll get his rewards.

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10 hours ago, RandomGuy said:

Kelly v Clark is a toss up tbh, both solid keepers capable of the spectacular. 

Not entirely sure why theres such a meltdown over whether Clark sits on the bench for the games or if Kelly sits on the bench.

I don't think the reaction is just about this one instance of Zander being left out. It's about year after year of seeing top-performing Saints players being left out. You're maybe right about Kelly v Clark being a toss-up, but why does it always have to be the St Johnstone player who loses the toss-up?

I have absolutely no doubt that there's a long-running unconscious bias against St Johnstone players that stretches back through numerous Scotland managers. It comes from exactly the same place as "Perth's not a football town" and "St Johnstone are in a relegation battle every season".

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1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

I don't think the reaction is just about this one instance of Zander being left out. It's about year after year of seeing top-performing Saints players being left out. 

I think it's just poor timing for them, tbh. They all hit form at a time when Scotland couldn't afford to risk chucking players in and others had the managers trust.

27 minutes ago, Abernethy Saint said:

I don’t think it is Clark v Kelly, though. I think Kelly is number 2, so it’s Clark v a guy that probably won’t play 10 times this season.

McLaughlin has already played 7 times this season, so I'm fairly sure he'll reach 10.

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18 minutes ago, RandomGuy said:

I think it's just poor timing for them, tbh. They all hit form at a time when Scotland couldn't afford to risk chucking players in and others had the managers trust.

I think that's really, really stretching believability.

Poor timing for every Saints player who's been touted for a call-up and not got one, but not for the many, many players from other Scottish clubs who have been given their first call-up over the years? Poor timing for Stevie May to get a call-up while he was banging in goals for Saints for a whole year, but not for him to get one the very next month after he left us?

So weird how it's always poor timing for St Johnstone players to get a chance, but not for Motherwell, Hibs, Dundee United etc players. So the timing's fine for Liam Kelly (who has no caps) to get a chance, but not for Zander Clark (who also has no caps) to get his.

Other players only ever "had the manager's trust" because they had, at some point, been given a first chance.

 

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Gordon & McLaughlin are seen as the two main 'keepers for Scotland now I think. Kelly and Clark as the back-ups. Kelly has the bigger name, due to him playing in England previously unfortunately.

I think McLaughlin will establish himself as the main 'keeper this year for Rangers and I could see Gordon and McGregor retiring at the end of this season. This is why I wonder if Rangers would be looking to Clark sometime in the future, although it depends how they see the future of McCrorie too.

At least Bain isn't being picked.

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19 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

I think that's really, really stretching believability.

Poor timing for every Saints player who's been touted for a call-up and not got one, but not for the many, many players from other Scottish clubs who have been given their first call-up over the years? Poor timing for Stevie May to get a call-up while he was banging in goals for Saints for a whole year, but not for him to get one the very next month after he left us?

So weird how it's always poor timing for St Johnstone players to get a chance, but not for Motherwell, Hibs, Dundee United etc players. So the timing's fine for Liam Kelly (who has no caps) to get a chance, but not for Zander Clark (who also has no caps) to get his.

Other players only ever "had the manager's trust" because they had, at some point, been given a first chance.

 

Kelly 'has the manger's trust' because he played in England. So much of being picked for the Scotland squad is based on whether you've had that experience. This is why players like Ryan Gauld or Liam Henderson don't get a look-in despite (so I'm told) having good seasons. Hendry is the exception to this as he only just left Celtic.

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13 hours ago, RandomGuy said:

McLaughlin has played more league games for Rangers this season than hes missed.

Kelly v Clark is a toss up tbh, both solid keepers capable of the spectacular. 

Not entirely sure why theres such a meltdown over whether Clark sits on the bench for the games or if Kelly sits on the bench. Clark is clearly now in the thoughts of the Scotland staff and I'd feel pretty confident in thinking hes 4th choice for Scotland as it stands. 

If McLaughlin drops out Rangers side again then I wouldn't be shocked, if Clark keeps up his form, to see Clark above him again and back in the squad.

Time is ticking for Craig Gordon who turns 39 in a few months too.

Plenty of time and further opportunities for Zander. His foots in the door now so he just needs to make sure Steve Clarke keeps looking through it, and he'll get his rewards.

Another way to look at this is results: If Scotland keep getting results, it's hard to argue with the players Clarke picks.

Lose next Month .... different story.

Zander has more than proven himself, Rangers second choice keeper being in the squad is no surprise.

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1 hour ago, Linky said:

Gordon & McLaughlin are seen as the two main 'keepers for Scotland now I think. Kelly and Clark as the back-ups. Kelly has the bigger name, due to him playing in England previously unfortunately.

I think McLaughlin will establish himself as the main 'keeper this year for Rangers and I could see Gordon and McGregor retiring at the end of this season. This is why I wonder if Rangers would be looking to Clark sometime in the future, although it depends how they see the future of McCrorie too.

At least Bain isn't being picked.

Gordon has already said that he fancies playing into his forties. Citing Buffon as an example. He lost a couple of years with injury remember.

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  • 1 month later...
21 hours ago, HOODLUM65 said:

"Could shite the bed and wake up with clean sheets" .:laugh:

(nicked from elsewhere).

Only Septic have conceded fewer goals.

If only we could find a striker.

A well measured comment.  No need to admit to plagiarism, I would never have known your opening remark was not from your own mind!

It could be argued that our defensive record is better than Septic's.  They spend most of their games camped in the opposition's half though not always productively.  How many saves does big Joe actually have to make?  Even more to the point, has he had to face a penalty in the League yet? 

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4 hours ago, rik2304 said:

Sevco considering a move for him according to Scott Burns.

Funnily enough, I was wondering when Sevco would be linked with him. Good age, and wouldn't break their dodgy accounting system. But they love their Muppet in goal. Who knows, but wouldn't be surprised if they were looking at him.

Edited by Melbourne Saint
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On 9/27/2021 at 9:43 AM, Linky said:

Every player should be allowed to go and play at a higher level. However, I would hope all 3 of those that might be looking to move onwards (Rooney, McCart & Clark) have the honour and respect for the club to sign a new contract with a minimum fee release clause so that the club gets some money from their exit rather than nothing.

Depending on how long McGregor continues for, I could see Clark going to Rangers before long.

Bingo. I just hope, if he does go, we make a bid for the Livi 'keeper. However, what we're more likely to do is bring in McCrorie on loan.

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41 minutes ago, Linky said:

Bingo. I just hope, if he does go, we make a bid for the Livi 'keeper. However, what we're more likely to do is bring in McCrorie on loan.

I've done my scouting, and based on the usual Callum Davidson criteria, it'll be Ryan Sandford.

Ticks all 3 boxes.

- On loan

- From Millwall

- Little to no senior experience

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29 minutes ago, RandomGuy said:

I've done my scouting, and based on the usual Callum Davidson criteria, it'll be Ryan Sandford.

Ticks all 3 boxes.

- On loan

- From Millwall

- Little to no senior experience

Not someone from abroad that will require months to acclimatise before he trusts them?

Or mid thirties with loads of injury problems?

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