It can’t be dressed up; Celtic star David Turnbull’s Scotland snub is a shocking decision

Add as preferred source on Google

There’s simply no way you can explain Celtic midfielder David Turnbull missing out on the Scotland squad and sound reasonable.

Scotland’s official 26-man squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers was released today. The Scots are due to face Austria, Israel, and the Faroe Islands in a fresh qualification campaign.

However, Turnbull, who has been the in-form midfielder in Scotland this year, bizarrely wasn’t selected. Instead, the likes of Ryan Christie and John Fleck, who he’s out-performing, bagged a spot.

Even Steve Clarke himself has struggled to explain his decision with any real substance. Speaking on Sky Sports News today [13:05], the Scotland boss made the following remark:

“Midfield is a really strong area. David is a good player. Got into the Celtic team. He’s doing really well and is one for the future and one to keep an eye on.”

David Turnbull is ready for Scotland now; we’re not talking about a 16-year-old

Talking about Turnbull being one for the future is simply patronising. It’s made to sound as if he isn’t quite ready for this level of football. This elite level of competition against the likes of Israel and the Faroe Islands. Chances are if you start Turnbull in either of those matches he would be one of the best players on the pitch.

You could’ve understood this decision from Clarke had it been for the European Championships this summer. After all, he will undoubtedly feel loyalty to the players who got him there. That would’ve been understandable. But this is a fresh qualifying campaign. A chance for new names to make their mark and for Clarke to drop the underperformers.

He already did that to an extent by bringing in the in-form Jack Hendry. But to not include Turnbull as part of any mini-overhaul is ridiculous.

The fact it’s not properly been justified also tells its own story. All Clarke has effectively said is “the rest of the players are good”. What actually is it about Turnbull that makes him unsuitable for these upcoming fixtures?

You won’t get an explanation because there isn’t one. And it’s a decision that’s clearly upset the Celtic supporters too. Here’s a look at some of the fan reaction on social media:

https://twitter.com/stephenness1/status/1371840074711719940

In other news, Clarke desperately tried to brush off speculation regarding the Celtic job.