The March international break is underway with a number of Celtic stars now dotted across the world to represent their countries.
Not including players out on loan, a total of 12 Celtic players have been called up for internationals this month, while others such as Luke McCowan and Greg Taylor have missed out.
McCowan has been fantastic for Celtic this season after arriving for just £1m from Dundee on transfer deadline day last summer.
The central midfielder has impressed the Hoops faithful with his range of passing and creativity, despite being behind £11m star Arne Engels in the pecking order.
So Celtic supporters were surprised when McCowan was denied a first Scotland call-up by national team manager Steve Clarke ahead of the UEFA Nations League double header with Greece.
Gordon Dalziel claimed McCowan was ‘unlucky’ not to find himself in the latest Scotland squad, while ex-Celtic star Simon Donnelly reckons a call-up isn’t far away for the 27-year-old.
Scott Sinclair was snubbed by England boss Gareth Southgate
McCowan’s snub got us at 67 Hail Hail thinking about a similar situation for Scott Sinclair in 2017 when he was flying for Celtic under Brendan Rodgers.
Sinclair was being mooted for a first senior England call-up in October 2017 having started the season with six goal involvements in eight Scottish Premiership matches.
Then-England manager Gareth Southgate announced his squad, however, and Sinclair was unfortunately nowhere to be seen.
Southgate essentially told reporters that Sinclair wasn’t good enough to be a part of the England international set-up.
He said: “I had a conversation with (his manager) Brendan Rodgers about him at the end of last season.
“He’s a good player but we have good quality in that area of the pitch and, at the moment, I think he is just below the level of what we have already got.”
Chris Sutton was left incensed by Southgate call
Ex-Celtic striker Chris Sutton is known for being outspoken and opinionated – and that was no different in October 2017 when he slammed Southgate for the Sinclair snub.
Fuming Sutton wrote in his Daily Record column at the time that the only reason Sinclair was left out was because he played for Celtic in Scotland.
He accused Southgate of English ‘arrogance’ and admitted he was left stunned by the England manager’s decision and subsequent comments.
Sutton said: “Gareth Southgate’s approach towards Scott Sinclair smacks of arrogance. The England manager publicly saying the Celtic star is not up to the required levels for the squads stunned me.
“My big question would be: ‘Why say that?’ There’s a World Cup approaching next summer and it’s not as if Southgate has top-quality players cluttered in every corner.
“If I was Sinclair, I’d be most unhappy. It’s a public slap in the face and it was unnecessary. Actually, it was just downright dismissive towards Scotland.
“If that was an English Premier League player, I’m pretty sure the response would have been along the lines of: “I’m aware of him, he’s in my thoughts. It wasn’t to be this time, but if he keeps working hard, we’ll be aware of it.”
There might not be the same furore or sense of injustice around Luke McCowan’s recent Scotland snub but most Celtic fans agree that both calls by Southgate in 2017 and Steve Clarke in 2025 were wrong.
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