Hearts icon prefers Nottingham Forest star to former teammate whilst pondering Steve Clarke selection headache
The former Hearts and Leicester City man has identified a problem position for Steve Clarke
After two solid performances against Denmark and Belarus, the Scotland National Team now prepare for their first home World Cup 2026 qualifier against Greece.
The Scots kept two clean sheets in their matches last month and will take particular encouragement from shutting out the Danes, who have a wealth of attacking talent. Despite the two clean sheets, Steve Clarke has a problem with goalkeepers at the moment, as it appears none of Angus Gunn, Craig Gordon and Liam Kelly are getting minutes at club level.
At the age of 42, Gordon brings a wealth of experience to the Scotland camp, however whether he’ll be picked to start against Greece on Thursday is another matter. Former Hearts boss, Robbie Neilson is a good friend of Gordon’s having spent seven years together at Tynecastle, but doesn’t think he’ll get chosen over Gunn.
‘Who do we put in goals?’
Gunn himself hasn’t been getting minutes at club level either but Neilson still believes he’s higher in the selection pecking order than his former teammate. Speaking on BBC Sounds’ Scottish Football Podcast, he said: “I think the first port of call for Steve (Clarke) is probably the goalkeeping situation.
“Who do we put in goals? Craig Gordon’s came back into the squad with massive experience but hasn’t played much. You’ve got Angus Gunn who moved to Nottingham Forest but is yet to play, then I think Liam Kelly has only played once this season. So I think that’s going to be the biggest issue.
“I think Clarke will probably stick with Angus Gunn although I think Craig’s a top, top goalkeeper who brings great experience and will communicate well with back line, but I think he’ll stick with Angus just because he’s had the two games previously. It may even be one of those ones where you make a decision in training, see how they are, how their fitness is, how their sharpness is.”
A problem position
Since Cieran Slicker came on for an injured Gunn in a friendly against Iceland in June, the quality of Scottish keepers has been the subject of scrutiny. Due to a plethora of injuries between the sticks, the 23-year old came on for his first ever senior appearance and looked like a fish out of water at Hampden.
While that was down to injuries, even the first choice goalkeepers haven’t covered themselves in glory of late. Gunn had a very successful Euro 2024 qualification campaign, however made numerous mistakes at the actual tournament.
With the signing of Alexander Schwolow, both Craig Gordon and Zander Clark look to be out of favour in the Hearts squad, which could negatively impact both of their International careers. Furthermore, Rangers goalkeeper Liam Kelly won’t be playing ahead of Jack Butland any time soon.
To find a Scottish keeper actually getting regular minutes you have to look at the bottom end of SPFL table as Dundee’s Jon McCracken has started every league game so far this season. Meanwhile, Robby McCrorie is getting regular game time at Esbjerg FB, however they only play in the Danish Second Division.