Scotland boss Steve Clarke Get the latest news from Record Sport with our daily newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest news from Record Sport with our daily newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice He played with Kenny Dalglish and went on to manage Ally McCoist and Mo Johnston. So it seems reasonable to conclude that Graeme Souness has more than a decent idea of what a proper
Scotland striker looks like. And the former Rangers boss suspects, unless Steve Clarke can find one of his own between now and the summer, then the national side might come up agonisingly short in the quest to make history at Euro 2024. Clarke will begin the countdown to the big one on Friday night in Amsterdam when his side squares up to the Dutch in the first of four warm-up matches before taking his squad to its Bavarian base in June. And Souness is hoping that, over the course of this fine tuning process, the manager unearths a front man who is reaching a rich goalscoring vein of form at just the right moment in time. Read More Related Articles Celtic take on Man City during
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Premier League rivals announced Read More Related Articles Rangers news bulletin as Borna Barisic 'makes' exit decision and Mohamed Diomande faces call-up red tape Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes have been holding the fort manfully over the last couple of years and are already nailed on to make the flight to
Germany so long as they avoid injury between now and June. But Lawrence Shankland is making a late run for the No.9 shirt with a blistering campaign for Hearts. With 27 goals already notched for the Tynecastle club this season, Shankland has fired his way into the argument for a starting place when Clarke names his team for these next two friendlies against Netherlands and Northern
Ireland. And, while Souness wouldn’t be presumptuous enough to tell Clarke how to go about the business of bossing Scotland, he does believe a reliable and prolific striker remains the missing piece in the manager’s jigsaw. Souness - who scored four goals for his country in an international career spanning 12 years and three
World Cup Finals - said: “We have a really good chance in the Euros. “We are a very well-organised team who can cause anyone problems. But I do think we’re still short of a goalscorer up front. Scott McTominay has scored a lot of our goals over the past year or so. “But a striker who can get you goals is the hardest thing to find. They are the match-winners and the guys who decide games. In the three games that we play in the group, we will frustrate teams. We can play on the counter and win games. I honestly think all three of our games are 50-50. You just need a little bit of Lady Luck along the way.” Lady Luck pulling on a dark blue shirt would help. But a proven scorer of goals is what Souness wants to see most of all. Dykes has nine Scotland goals in 35 caps - but has only bagged five all season leading the line for QPR in England’s Championship. Adams has five from 27 for his country and has found the net 12 times during Southampton’s season in the second tier. Shankland, however, has two goals from just seven Scotland appearances - including a crucial late equaliser against Georgia at Hampden in the qualifying campaign - and has been ripping up Scotland’s top flight all season. But Souness will leave it to Clarke to decide which of them represents Scotland’s best bet heading into this summer’s tournament. He said: “I won’t be picking the team for our manager but I do look back at my own three World Cups. “In each one of those World Cups, you can always point to a game where we just didn’t quite do the right thing. In
Argentina in ’78, we lost the first game against Peru. In ’82, we conceded a couple of goals against
New Zealand and ended up going out on goal difference. “In 86, the Uruguay game was one we should have won. Sometimes you just need a little bit of luck on the day. If we can get that in the Euros, we’re capable of getting a result in all three games. Graeme Souness alongside Roy Keane “We’re capable of playing in a way that will frustrate teams like Germany. It’s just about taking your chances and maybe getting a little bit of luck along the way.” What Souness knows for sure is that Clarke has been blessed with options in the heart of the pitch thanks to the emergence of a golden generation of Scottish midfielders. Aston Villa skipper John McGinn is the top scorer in Clarke’s squad with 18 goals from 62 caps - which is just one short of McCoist’s international haul. And Scott McTominay’s huge contribution to the qualification campaign means the
Manchester United man has now weighed in with eight Scotland goals in 47 appearances. With a firm nod of approval Souness continued: “McGinn is a super player. You certainly wouldn’t like to play against him. He can bully opponents. He’s strong and powerful. I know Callum McGregor has had a knock recently and hopefully he’s going to be OK. “Then there’s Billy Gilmour who is a terrific little footballer. I remember the night at Wembley in the last Euros - we got a 0-0 but we really should have beaten
England on the night - and Billy Gilmour was magnificent. “He absolutely ran the show for Scotland in midfield against some big stars in the England team. It didn’t work out for him when he went out on loan to Norwich a couple of years ago. “But he’s put that behind him now and he’s proven himself to be a quality Premier League player at Brighton. He doesn’t give the ball away. He’s a cute little player who will only get better and better over these next few years. “The midfield doesn’t concern me at all. I think we are very strong in the middle of the park. It’s scoring goals that concerns me.” Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow Daily Record
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