For many members of the Tartan Army, new Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli has a fairly straightforward decision to make about who to play up front in his opening match against Slovenia over in Ljubljana on Saturday afternoon.
He can pick Oli McBurnie, the experienced Hull City forward who has been called up for the first time in five years, Robbie Ure, the former Rangers kid who moved to La Liga club Sevilla in a €9m transfer from Sirius in Sweden back in August, or James Wilson, the Hearts teenager who has scored five times in all competitions this season, in attack in the Nations League opener.
There is much excitement about who will take over from Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes and Lawrence Shankland, who have not been selected due to either injury or loss of form, in the Group B1 game in the Stozice Stadium this weekend and a widespread expectation that McBurnie, Ure or Wilson, or two of them together, will lead the line for the national team.
But Scotland icon Don Hutchison has a completely different view.
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The former Liverpool, West Ham United, Sheffield United, Everton and Sunderland attacking midfielder, who knows a thing or two about what it takes to net at international level having done so six times during his own playing days, believes that Kieron Bowie should be the first name down on Pocognoli’s team sheet.
Bowie, the former Raith Rovers, Fulham, Northampton Town and Hibernian forward who moved to Serie A outfit Sassuolo from Hellas Verona in Italy on loan during the summer, has only won two caps for his country to date.
He made his debut in a dark blue jersey when he came on towards the end of the friendly against minnows Liechtenstein in Vaduz last year and he followed that up by featuring as a late substitute in the World Cup qualifier against Belarus at Hampden last season.
Former Scotland manager Steve Clarke left him out of his 26-man squad for the World Cup finals in the United States this summer even though the 6ft 3in player had completed a £7m transfer to Verona in January.
However, Hutchison, who scored memorable winners for his adopted homeland against Germany in Bremen and England at Wembley, feels that Bowie has taken his game to another level since moving abroad.
He is adamant the 23-year-old deserves to be given the nod ahead of McBurnie, Ure and Wilson in the forthcoming Nations League matches against Slovenia, Switzerland and North Macedonia.
“Kieron Bowie would be my choice to start for Scotland,” he said at a promotional event for betTOM. “I commentated on Sassuolo against Juventus recently and it was a crazy game. Bowie came off the bench and scored in that match and helped his side to win 3-2.
“For me, he looks like Scotland’s best No.9 by a distance. He has size, he has presence, he can hold the ball up and he can score goals. He is also doing it in Serie A, which is a high standard.
“There are obviously other players in the Scotland squad who can do different jobs, but if you are looking for the complete package then Bowie looks the best option for me.
“There are some exciting young Scottish players in Italy now. Josh Doig (the former Hibs left-back) was outstanding for Sassuolo in that Juventus game as well. It is great to see more Scottish players making that move over there. But Bowie is the one who stands out most as Scotland’s No.9.”
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Bowie, McBurnie, Ure, who is uncapped at senior level, and Wilson have never scored for Scotland before. So what advice does Hutchison, who made 26 appearances for his country between 1999 and 2003, have for the quartet going into the Slovenia encounter this weekend?
“Be yourself,” he said. “Do not be afraid of pulling on the Scotland shirt and do not be overawed by the stadiums you are playing in. And work as hard as you possibly can during your time on the park.
“I watched Federico Chiesa for Liverpool recently and gave him the Man of the Match award because he ran as though his life depended on it. I think Scotland supporters can latch onto players who work like that. They want to see players giving everything.
“Bowie is playing at the San Siro, in Turin and at the Olimpico. If he is selected, he should not be fazed by the stadium he is in. Oli McBurnie has been around the block too, so he will not be intimidated.
“So just go out, enjoy it and work as hard as you can. Fans will forgive mistakes, but they will always respond to players who are trying their very best.”
Scott McTominay, the former Manchester United midfielder who has pitched in with some important goals for Scotland during his international career, underwent surgery earlier this month and will not be involved in these Nations League matches.
McTominay was not, probably because of the undiagnosed heart condition he had, at his brilliant best during the World Cup this summer. Still, his considerable presence will be badly missed by his compatriots in the forthcoming fixtures.
But Hutchison would like to see Pocognoli – the former Royal Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco manager who has used a 3-4-1-2 formation extensively in the past - to move John McGinn into a more central role and deploy two out-and-out wide men in the absence of the Napoli talisman.
“I would tuck John McGinn in more,” he said. “He is versatile and he does that for Aston Villa. He is a player who needs to get on the ball. I would not ask him to play on the wing and sprint up and down the line for 90 minutes anymore. He can do it, but it is not really his game.
“As players get older, they can lose a yard but use their football intelligence more. Bring McGinn inside, then play someone like Ben Gannon-Doak, who is absolutely rapid, out wide. That feels like the right balance for me.”
