What a superb job Steve Clarke has done to steer Scotland to back to back European Championship finals.
I think I’ll be in Germany for five days next summer and I wouldn’t even be able to guess how many thousands of the Tartan Army will be there with me.
You can already say with real confidence that Scotland will be a competitive side with a great chance of being the first one to get to the knockout stages.
We’ve got strength in depth in most areas and we’re probably just a top striker away from going to an even higher level.
I was delighted for Zander Clark and Liam Kelly getting their first caps out in France.
A dream come true 🏴🇫🇷
Pleasure to be a part of this group of lads 💙 pic.twitter.com/jpw2ReeiRJ— ZanderClark (@Zanderr1) October 18, 2023
That was the right thing to do.
Angus Gunn could be our goalie for a generation – he’s been magnificent – but you never know what’s going to happen next in football.
The choice of which three goalies go to Germany will be fascinating.
Craig Gordon has just made his first appearance in a closed-doors game for Hearts after the best part of a year out with his double leg break.
And you can be sure he’ll have the Euros in his sights.
If his progress continues without any setbacks, Steven Naismith will be the first manager to have a big decision to make.
Does he pick Craig over Zander?
If he does, then Zander is the next one with a huge choice.
Does he look to get out in January?
If Angus, Craig and Liam are all playing for their clubs and Zander isn’t, you’d imagine that will be Steve’s three for his Euros squad.
If it was me, I’d be doing everything to make sure I was getting game-time.
The same could apply to Craig, of course, if he doesn’t get back into the Hearts team over the next three months.
Fingers crossed they are all fit in January when the big decisions will need to be made.
All credit to young Fin Robertson.
It’s not that long ago it was looking as if he would have to drop down a level from Dundee to get his career up and running again.
Now he’s getting regular game-time in the Premiership and was called up for the Scotland under-21s.
I’ve always liked him as a player.
He’s very neat and tidy on the ball and the way he’s stuck at it when the going has been tough at Dens speaks volumes for his character.
Fin showed that a loan – even one at Cove Rangers that wasn’t a great success – can benefit you in the long run.
That’s why I won’t be writing Max Anderson off.
He’ll be looking at Fin re-establishing himself at Dundee and thinking that he can do the same when he comes back from Inverness.
Saturday will complete the first set of fixtures in the Championship.
I’ll be able to give a better opinion of Raith Rovers’ title credentials after they face us at Gayfield.
Whatever the result, we’ll be reasonably pleased with our start to the season.
But getting to the 15-point mark is the Arbroath aim and would give us a great platform to build on.
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