THE online reaction to Lewis Morgan of New York Red Bulls being handed a late call-up to the Scotland squad for the Euro 2024 finals yesterday was entirely predictable.
There has long been a clamour for Ryan Gauld, the former Dundee United kid who has been performing well for Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS for the past three years, to be selected among a certain section of the Tartan Army.
Members of his unofficial fan club were quickly out in force on social media demanding to know why he had been overlooked and expressing their incredulity he had not received the nod.
Steve Clarke had little difficulty explaining why the attacking midfielder had not been considered for Germany as he spoke at Hampden ahead of the friendly international against Finland this evening.
However, he stressed that he was well aware of what Gauld is capable of and expressed hope that Morgan’s promotion to the senior set-up will bolster the skilful playmaker’s belief that he can feature for his county at some point in the not-too-distant future.
“I know what we're doing behind the scenes,” he said. “I don't care what anybody else says, I know my staff and I are doing everything we can to take as wide a view across the world as we can.
“We know where all the young boys are playing, where they are in my thoughts in terms of pecking order and where they'll fit into the squad. We watch the MLS.
“The other one who gets mentioned in the MLS quite a lot I believe is Ryan Gauld. But Ryan's trying to get in ahead of John McGinn and Scott McTominay and Lewis Ferguson – who is obviously injured now – and Ryan Christie and Billy Gilmour. So he maybe has to be a little more patient.
“Position for position, everyone has to know that we're watching and to always perform to their maximum. Because you never know. We've got some older boys in the squad as well, and it might be, as we move forward to the Nations League games, we need a little refresh. So just keep doing what you're doing.”
Clarke, who will finalise his 26 man squad for the Euro 2024 finals today, preferred to concentrate on what former St Mirren and Celtic winger Morgan, who has been drafted in to replace injured Liverpool kid Ben Doak, can offer Scotland in the final third Germany.
“Lewis can add a lot to the group,” he said. "I don’t do like-for-like. But after losing Ben you look at how we can replace someone who can dribble, has pace and can beat a man.
“I’ve watched Lewis on video quite a lot actually. I was supposed to have a day off, but I was sitting watching videos of players all day. We’ve have also had reports on him, which have been ongoing for a while now.
“Lewis brings something a little bit different. He can play wide, beat a man, he can dribble, he has pace. He’ll be a good addition to the squad. I'm bringing him in as a forward. He can play centrally, he can play off the left or right. So he gives me three great options up front. And he scores goals, in the MLS.”
Clarke revealed that Morgan, who won two caps for Scotland against Peru and Mexico back in 2018, was on the first flight out of New York to Glasgow after being contacted by SFA performance director Graeme Jones.
“He's in the country,” he said. "I allowed Graeme to make the initial call to Lewis. He started to explain the situation, and Lewis said, 'I'll stop you there, I'm coming’. That tells you how pleased he is to be in our squad.
"I have to thank his club, New York Red Bulls for their co-operation. They're in season so it could have made it difficult because we’ve gone past the deadline. But they were great to deal with and were never going to stand in his way. He won’t be involved against Finland because he’s just travelled back.”
Clarke called up Tommy Conway, the Bristol City striker who netted for the Scotland Under-21 side against Turkey on Monday, as a replacement for Lyndon Dykes earlier this week and is also optimistic about what the uncapped forward can contribute in Germany.
“He’ll offer more than direct physicality against a big centre-half. He'll run off the back of them, he'll make them run, he'll make them chase, he'll keep working them. He's a little terrier up front, chasing people down. He'll bring us something we need. It's interesting having two new faces in the squad. It might just freshen it up a little as well.”
Clarke will go for experience in the final warm-up match before the Euro 2024 opener against Germany – Angus Gunn, Jack Hendry, Grant Hanley, Kieran Tierney, Anthony Ralston, Billy Gilmour, Callum McGregor, Andy Robertson, John McGinn, Ryan Christie and Che Adams should all start against Finland tonight.
He enjoyed taking an open training session at Hampden in front of hundreds of schoolchildren yesterday and is hoping the cheers of Scotland fans – even those who are miffed about Gauld not being a part of things – ring out when the final whistle blows this evening.
“It's going to be great,” he said. “We didn't get the chance in the last Euros to do something like this. Even the training session this morning was unbelievable, fantastic. Hopefully there's a future Scottish international in that crowd of kids.
“That's why we did it, we wanted to engage with the young ones, hopefully we can engage with a few more of the adult population tomorrow night, put a good performance. Getting a good result would be nice as well and we'd head off to Germany in good shape.”
