PUBLIC EMERY NUMBER 1
FORMER Scotland skipper Barry Ferguson last night blasted Arsenal for blocking Kieran Tierney’s return to the international squad.
In the latest episode of the mustlisten Fergie Time podcast, the Record Sport columnist, left, defends the list of big-name players who have withdrawn from Steve Clarke’s squad ahead of the final Euro 2020 qualifiers against Cyprus and Kazakhstan. But he has given both barrels to Unai Emery’s club for refusing to let £25million Tierney out of their sights even though he’s now
playing regularly for their first team. Fergie said: “That’s out of order from Arsenal. Tierney is one of the best players in the squad and I imagine he’d be a big character in the dressing room as well.
“Watching him at Celtic he had his fist clenched and he got fired in about people. So you would want that in your squad. If I was the manager I’m like, ‘No you get in here, even if you’re not going to play then be about the place!’
“But do the clubs control it now? Because I think he’d be the type of boy who would want to turn up. From everything I’ve heard about Tierney he’d be straight up on a plane wanting to be involved. But Arsenal are obviously calling the shots.
“Tierney would strike me as the type of person who would say, “No, I want to go.’”
Newcastle winger Matt Ritchie is the latest to ask not to be considered for selection. His decision to retire comes as Clarke attempts to cope with the losses of Tierney, skipper Andy Robertson, Bournemouth talisman Ryan Fraser and Leeds stopper Liam Cooper.
Lewis Morgan was drafted in from the fringes of Celtic’s first-team squad yesterday along with Derby’s Graeme Shinnie.
But Ferguson refused to accept some players may have lost their appetite for the national cause.
He said: “Scotland should be beating Cyprus and Kazakhstan. If these guys aren’t turning up they must be injured because six points are a given.
“If players aren’t turning up because they don’t want to play for Scotland then that’s another thing.
“But I believe these guys are injured otherwise they’d want to be there.”