Scotland manager Steve Clarke didn’t speak to David Turnbull personally to explain his decision not to select him for his international squad.
Scotland are due to play Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands in World Cup Qualifying over the next couple of weeks.
Many had touted Turnbull to be selected. Prominent pundits such as Michael Stewart have also voiced their displeasure with the decision in the aftermath of the announcement.
Turnbull couldn’t hide his disappointment when speaking to reporters on the issue this weekend. Surprisingly, he was also not contacted personally by Clarke and given an explanation.
As quoted by Herald Sport (20/03 print edition, page 8), he said: “Maybe a wee bit [disappointed], yeah. I wasn’t expecting to be first pick or whatever – but I had my eye on the squad. These things happen, you just need to work around it and keep doing what I’m doing, working hard.
“The game at the weekend and the remaining games of the season give me a really good platform to show what I can do. I’m just trying to give myself the best opportunity I can.
“Steve didn’t speak to me but I got called by someone who works with the national team, who said Steve wanted to pass on a message. I wouldn’t like to say what the message was. It was good to get a message, at least.
“[Scotland] is a big motivation. I just want to go out and play as well as I can and if that is good enough, then I hope it is. But it comes down to Steve Clarke, the manager, it is his decision and I need to respect that. I just need to keep working hard.”
Clarke did speak to others who missed out, including Leigh Griffiths, so perhaps Turnbull is a bit further away from the Scotland set-up than we think.
In fairness, the Scotland boss did explain his reasons in the media. He told The Glasgow Times amongst others that there is simply too much competition in the middle of the park to consider the former Motherwell player right now.
That was likely the message passed on to Turnbull too.
Hopefully the young Celtic star can use the snub as a real motivating force in the tail-end of the season. What better way to convince any doubters than producing a fine performance against Rangers tomorrow?
In other news, police send final Celtic Park derby warning as health impact of George Square incident is made public.
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