Weekend Club Report

This weekend was a busy one for Scottish internationals, and those hoping to someday earn their first cap for Scotland. Here’s a quick rundown, organized by how their performances were probably seen by manager George Burley as he considers his first official squad choice for the March 26th friendly with Croatia.

Press your shirt, James (You’ll be needing it)
Your Scotland shirt, that is. James McFadden, best known for his strike against France in the Euro qualifiers, netted two against Arsenal on Saturday, in a match that will be remembered for little other than the horrific injury to Eduardo. Still, a brilliant free kick and a penalty for Fads, and against the best competition in England. Not too shabby.

Three goals for three Rangers
Just in case George Burley ever feels like playing a 4-4-2 (God willing), we certainly have a few options up top. Rangers’ Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith both scored this weekend from the striker position, while Chris Burke netted from midfield. Granted, they were playing Gretna, which is Scottish for “Derby County”.

Two uncapped Hibs … okay … we have enough strikers
It’s a good thing Naismith can play midfield and striker, because the crowd of talent at the pure striker position is getting pretty thick for Scotland. Hibs’ Colin Nish and Steven Fletcher are both looking for their first callups, and both scored on Inverness this weekend.

Berra strong for Hearts
Ridiculously young Hearts captain Christophe Berra (23), though still waiting for his first cap, might not have to wait much longer. The aging Scotland back line could use some speed and agility, and that’s just what Berra could add. A clean sheet against Motherwell this week for Berra and 1-cap teammate Robbie Neilson won’t hurt at all.

Hutton gets a medal, but I give him a “meh”-dal
Sorry. I’m a huge Alan Hutton fan, and I have all belief that he’ll adjust to the speed and technical nature of the Premier League, but he was a bit off of his game in this weekend’s Carling Cup final. He looked nervous with the ball, understandable for a young man at Wembley. Once he does adjust, watch out England. Congrats anyway to Hutton and Spurs on the first major trophy of the season.

Craigie keeps it mostly clean
I call it a dusty sheet. That’s a clean sheet, with one penalty. Scotland #1 Craig Gordon kept strong in goal for Sunderland, allowing only a Jermaine Defoe penalty to cross his path. Rangers’ keeper and regular Scotland back-up Allan McGregor was less successful, as two went past him from Kenny “The Good Doctor” Deuchar, aka the entire Gretna offense. If Dr. Kenny wants to be considered for Scotland, he needs to stay in the top flight, which Gretna will not do.

Green wing Teale does the job for Plymouth
In his first match with Plymouth Argyle after a month of doing not much more than sitting for Derby, Gary Teale performed pretty decently in Plymouth’s 3-1 win over Burnley. He doesn’t look like the rest hurt him too badly, which is good to see. His fellow Scots on the other side of the pitch, Burnley defenders Graham Alexander (32 caps) and Stephen Caldwell (9 caps) had no excuse of too much rest, and allowing three goals is no way to impress the new national coach.

Celts sputter
Scott Brown should have been rested after missing the Barcelona match on suspension, and Barry Robson should have been confident after scoring on the Spanish giants. But both were anonymous on the pitch during Sunday’s lucky 1-0 win over lowly St. Mirren. Gary Caldwell, Steven McManus and Lee Naylor all technically got clean sheets for Celtic, but it was really their keeper Artur Boruc that did most of the heavy lifting. An unconvincing performance after the impressive midweek spirit from Celtic.