We Can Be Euros: Steve Clarke's best decision was selecting Billy Gilmour against Switzerland

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Can Scotland make it past Hungary and into the knock-out rounds? Our expert panel dissects all of the biggest talking points from Euro 2024.

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00:00Now Scotland go into their final Group A game needing a win against Hungary to have a chance

00:08of making it through to the knockout rounds for the first time in Euros history. I suppose

00:12John in order to assess their chances we need to start with the performance against Switzerland

00:16in the 1-0 draw on Wednesday and it's a massively improved performance compared to the game

00:20against Germany wasn't it? Yeah it was a huge turnaround on many fronts, not least I think

00:26Steve Clarke did a really good job tactically on Wednesday night, he nullified all the Swiss

00:32threats that looked so dangerous when they'd beaten Hungary in their movement, he just

00:37had a way to figure it out and he constantly seemed to be laying little traps with the

00:42press that turned the ball over and gave us a chance to play. He also did really well

00:48in picking Billy Gilmore which is something we've been asking for and I know he's got

00:53this whole I was always going to play him in the second game, still going to say well

00:57why didn't you play him in the first game? But he is so crucial in the goal, if you see

01:03it it's a nothing ball out, he takes it on his chest, controls it and flicks it around

01:07the corner and from there we break. I'd say seven or eight other players at least in that

01:12team would have just hooked it out as far as you could go, stuck it up in the air and

01:15hoped someone was chasing it. So there was a lot to build on, a lot of improvement, wouldn't

01:21be Scotland without giving away a daft goal every now and again. It just felt like, not

01:28even the giving away, I mean it's you make a mistake and Shaqiri pounces on it and sticks

01:33it literally in the top corner with curve, the keeper's got no chance.

01:38Jason Vale – Yeah, of all the players you don't want to give the ball away to is European

01:42Championship version of Jean Shaqiri, that's the last player you want to give the ball

01:47to. I mean looking at like, I think there obviously been a few concerns about the defence

01:51especially of someone like the unfortunate Rolston who obviously did give the ball away

01:54for that goal. He's not had an easy tournament, obviously only really drafted him because

01:58of injuries. Do you think Steve Clarke's likely to make any changes at the back line or is

02:02he really just going to sort of take that performance and say, you know, this is the

02:06best XI now, we're going to build on the game against Switzerland and try and go from there?

02:09Richard Morgan – Well of course you'll have to change with Kieran Tierney being out injured,

02:13so that brings Scott McKenna in to the team and my son and I have this debate about what

02:21level of footballer do you need to be when you've been released by a club and haven't

02:24signed somewhere else, to be without a club and at what level are you unemployed? I think

02:29Scott's just on the right side of that, he's without a club, he's between clubs weighing

02:33up options, he's not unemployed. But it is weird to have this kind of unattached player

02:37in the team. I don't see him changing Rolston simply because he's incredibly loyal, he's

02:43incredibly aware of what that would do to the psychology of the group as well. It's

02:50not Anthony Rolston's fault and everyone keeps saying that, he's played such little football

02:55this year. And who'd have thought, I mean he's been kept out of the team by Celtic's Canadian

03:01right back, so who would have thought a guy called Alistair Johnston would be undermining

03:07Scotland's hopes at a Euros? His form has kept Rolston out of the team, which means he's not

03:13ready to play. But listen, the kid bounced back, I always think of him as a kid because we've seen

03:19him come through from the ranks, but he bounced back so well after a really hairy 10 minutes

03:24where he looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else. It was like, oh no, where am I supposed

03:28to be? Oh, I don't have to tackle him. But then he bounced back really well and you could tell

03:32how much that meant to the rest of the players, constantly G'ing him up, gets down the right side,

03:37wins a throw in or a corner or something like that. The guys are like, yeah, come on Tony,

03:41well done. So I think that speaks to a lot of good energy within the group as well.

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