Ahh … international friendly dates. There’s nothing like them to produce short-term injuries in players for top clubs. Just as Portugal has to deal with Ronaldo and Nani coming up mysteriously lame (and then, most likely, healthy again on Saturday), Scotland has our own dubious injury worries. No less than seven players [...]

The eyes of the Tartan Army may be fixed on Hampden for next Wednesday’s senior friendly with Croatia, but some attention should also be paid to the U-21 team, who are in arguably a more important match on the same day in Aberdeen, taking on Finland for survival in group 6 of the 2009 UEFA [...]

Well, obviously not all of them will get the chance, but here is the first match roster from George Burley for the March 26th friendly against Croatia. Notes after the list.
Goalkeepers
Craig Gordon, David Marshall, Allan McGregor
Defenders
Graham Alexander, Russell Anderson, Christophe Berra, Gary Caldwell, Christian Dailly, Alan Hutton, James McEveley, Stephen McManus, Gary Naysmith
Midfielders
Scott Brown, [...]

George Burley has not yet announced any of his roster for the March 26th friendly between Scotland and Croatia, but he came out this morning in support of one of the older members of the Scotland squad, Rangers defender Christian Dailly. With 66 caps, Dailly is sixth all-time in Scotland appearances, and the most-capped [...]

Bad news for our reader Ali … looks like this one’s off, mate.
The proposed friendly between Scotland and Iran on May 28th looks to be in serious doubt, after George Burley made some comments today all but ruling out the fixture. My main issue is the reason he’s giving.
“We have a problem in May [...]

First off, though I sometimes like to forget it, there are other sports than football, and congratulations to the national rugby side on their 15-9 win over England today. There hasn’t been a lot to cheer about for Scotland in this year’s Six Nations, but beating England is meaningful regardless of the context, and [...]

In a move that is likely to cause even more whining from the Old Firm bosses, Scotland coach George Burley is considering a friendly on May 28th with Iran. The match would be in Tehran, and the date is only four days after the Scottish Cup final, so if Rangers or Celtic is involved [...]

Without a competitive (or otherwise) match since the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Scotland spent another month gathering no points in the FIFA World Rankings, but managed to hold on to 14th place. The auld enemy down south managed to raise a spot to 11th, and our next opponents, Croatia, took a step down to take [...]

New Scotland manager George Burley has called up 27 players to a training session and first team meeting set for 3-5 February. Here’s the list.
Goalkeepers
Alexander (Ipswich)
Gordon (Sunderland)
McGregor (Rangers)
Marshall (Norwich)
Defenders
Alexander (Burnley)
Anderson (Sunderland)
Caldwell (Celtic)
Dailly (West Ham)
Hutton (Rangers)
McManus (Celtic)
Murty (Reading)
Naysmith (Sheffield United)
Weir (Rangers)
Midfielders
Brown (Celtic)
Ferguson (Rangers)
Fletcher (Manchester United)
Hartley (Celtic)
McCulloch (Rangers)
Pearson (Derby)
Robson (Dundee United)
Teale (Derby)
Strikers
Beattie (West Brom)
Boyd (Rangers)
McFadden (Birmingham)
Maloney [...]

Well, we don’t yet have a manager, but as of today, we do know the first test that manager will face, and it’s a big one. Croatia will be headed to Hampden Park on March 26th, as part of their ramp-up for the Euro 2008 finals this summer. I was personally hoping for [...]