10 Mad Facts about the Scotland National Team!

1. Nobody was born in April or August!

Of the 27 men in which Gordon Strachan chose to make up his squad during this international break, none of them we born in the months of April or August, two of the most common months for birthdays in the world – well at least in the top 12. Both of them begin with A which is kind of weird I guess. Umm…they…well that’s enough of that.

2. Steven’s are everywhere!

The most common name within the current squad is Steven, with a total of 4. Naismith, May, Whittaker and Fletcher. The name actually means “Crown”, which is quite honestly irrelevant words just consuming space on a page to fill up a bit of time. There must be a lot of confusion at training though, “Hey, Steven!” is something you’d want to avoid shouting. Maybe they go by nicknames like Fletch, Whitts, May Day, and Naisy. Wow, I just solved the problem of the decade. Time for me to bring around world peace.

3. They’ve scored just 25 goals combined!

Strachan’s men are not so hot in front of goal which given the Georgia game you might have gathered. The whole squad have scored a combined 25 goals for there national team. This might be hard to determine whether it is fairly acceptable or in fact truly dreadful without the knowledge of games played. Well all together the 27 players have 466 caps for our proud nation. Who says goals win games? …Everone.

4. More in England than Scotland!

I suppose this is maybe for the best. 23 of the 27 players in Strachan’s squad play South of the border. Of course the leagues are of a higher standard down there but I still feel the SPFL is being overlooked a little by the gaffer. Often pace can be an issue so I wouldn’t mind seeing some more of the Dundee United lads GMS & Armstrong get a call up not to mention Peter Pawlett of Aberdeen and a few others who have been playing well in Scotland.

5. The first ever ’95 kid!

For the first time ever in a Scotland squad, a player born in 1995 has been included. This is of course Ryan Gauld who is now plying his trade with Sporting Lisbon in Portugal. Currently his ex-teammate Andy Robertson is the only player born in 1994 to represent his nation, will Strachan show his belief in “Mini Messi” and hand him his first international cap against Poland? Of course not. Well maybe as a substitute. Anyway, a lot of you can probably remember 1995, can you believe someone that young is in the Scotland set up?? Where did the time go…?

6. What strike force?

We mentioned earlier that the whole squad has netted just 25 times between them but possibly an even more shocking statistic is that the 4 strikers have scored just 4 goals. Just 4 goals in 48 matches…that’s dreadful. Naisy and Fletch are the only two to score, with Naisy having picked up 3 goals in 31 goals and Fletch with just 1 in 16. Chris Martin has yet to score in 2 caps and May Day has yet to have his day to play. Ross McCormack and Jordan Rhodes who where both left out of the squad have scored a combined 5 goals in 22 games, far from impressive but a little more so than those included.

7. A golden oldie!

Brighton & Hove Albion skipper Gordon Greer didn’t make his international debut until the age of 32. Now 33, the centre-back has 4 caps under his belt and although he may not be Strachan’s first choice, he makes terrific cover for the central defender role which could be crucial now that Grant Hanley has been ruled out of the Poland game. I guess it goes to show that no matter how old you are, you never know when you’ll get your shot.

8. Little and Large!

There is an incredible 11 inches sie difference between Scotland’s smallest player, Ryan Gauld, and their tallest player, Craig Gordon. Gauld comes stands at just  5’5 tall whereas the Celtic goalkeepers is 6’4. I can only imagine that poor little Ryan looks like a lost ball boy at times.

9. 63 caps and adding!

The most capped player within the selected 27 players of this International break, is Darren Fletcher with an incredible 63 appearances for the national team. I can only imagine that the Man Utd midfielder would have racked up a few more caps had his career not been plagued by injury. He is the 11th most capped Scot of all time but is just 2 away from cracking the top ten. He’s a man that we will always be grateful for with tremendous consistency and often a little underrated.

10. They beat Poland!

Back in March a squad very similar to the one Strachan has picked just now actually beat group rivals Poland 1-0. It was a slender victory but it should provide confidence that those players can go out and take something from the group leaders. Poland are coming off a magnificent 2-0 victory over the World Champions Germany so they too will be coming in with a lot of belief which makes this an interesting battle between the two nations. Can we beat them? We’ll have to see…