"Of course"; Celtic star David Turnbull sets out stall for Scotland selection

By Euan Davidson

May 12, 2021

Celtic star David Turnbull must surely be in the reckoning for the Euro 2020 Scotland squad.

Things are falling into place for the ex-Motherwell man. The squad sizes are bigger [Times]. Massive injuries are ruling out midfield competitors. There’s also the fact that he’s been one of the best players in Scotland this season.

Those are all pretty good omens, albeit ones laced with the bad luck of others. However, it’s not Turnbull’s fault that the Scotland squad are starting to resemble Mr Burns’ softball team in The Simpsons [IMDb]. You’d have to be tinfoil hat-adjacent to concoct a conspiracy about Turnbull travelling up and down these islands, injuring players somehow.

No, it’s not his fault. But it’s something he can absolutely benefit from, and absolutely should benefit from. Turnbull has shown, in a difficult season, that he could provide attacking spark to any midfield.

With 8 goals and 6 assists for Celtic in the league this season [Transfermarkt], Turnbull’s prowess is well-known. However, what’s even more thoroughly understood is that all of a sudden, Scotland have a genuinely class midfield. John McGinn, Scott McTominay and Callum McGregor are all dead certs. Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong are surely getting called up, while the likes of Chelsea’s Billy Gilmour will also fancy his chances.

Even then, though. Surely Turnbull is worthy of selection after a blockbuster year for the Bhoys, on a personal level.

Celtic midfielder David Turnbull / (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Turnbull talks about his Scotland chances

Talking about his Scotland chances, Turnbull was typically modest, but couldn’t hide his ambitions either. The Celtic midfielder said [Daily Record]:

“Of course, I would [like to be part of the squad]. I have played a lot of games this season and have been around the under-21s.

“It is different going up to the senior level but I feel as if I am ready to do that, yes.

“Every young boy dreams of playing for Scotland and qualifying for the first major finals in 20-plus years, it would be great and a dream come true. That’s what everybody looks to do.

“It is a shame for the boys who are injured, bad injuries at a bad time, so I feel for them. It opens up doors for other players, whether it is me or other boys.

“I would be delighted if it was me but I will just need to wait and see. I go out there every week to try to impress.

“Whether he [Clarke] is watching or not, I will try to go out there and try to play the way I do every game and we will see what happens.

“Fingers are crossed.”

Celtic star must surely get the nod

There’ll be plenty of Celtic intrigue in the Scotland squad regardless. You could feasibly argue the key members of Steve Clarke’s squad are either ex or current Bhoys stars. Even those who aren’t with the club any more feature heavily; specifically David Marshall and Kieran Tierney. If you really wanted to, you could claim Andy Robertson, too, who was in the Celtic Academy.

So it’ll be a fun summer regardless. What would turn the anticipation up just a wee notch, though, would be seeing David Turnbull get what he’s earned. “Senior international footballer David Turnbull”: it just sounds right, does it not?

READ MORE: This nonsense patter has to stop