New generation: Out with old, in with new as Gemmill builds

fast as he wants but if he hasn’t got the intelligence or the ambition then he is not going to go very far.

“But Oliver is willing to listen and wants to get better. That’s an important message for the other young players.”

Gemmill has taken the reins of the 21s after former Sunderland manager Sbragia’s tenure ended with another failed qualification bid.

Next month’s European championships qualifiers against Iceland and Macedonia are already meaningless with Scotland second-bottom of the six-team group and out of contention to reach next year’s finals in Poland.

But with the new man in charge already setting his sights on the 2019 tournament, it’s out with the old and in with the new as the likes of Ryan Gauld, former Caley Thistle player Ryan Christie and Jason Cummings have been dispensed with for the final two games of the campaign.

In their place comes the likes of Nottingham Forest defender Alex Iacovitti, Chelsea midfielder Ruben Sammut, Celtic’s Aidan Nesbitt and Rangers forward Ryan Hardie – who has worked with Gemmill at under-17 and under-19 level – while Aberdeen midfielder Craig Storie keeps his place in the squad.

Gemmill said: “As soon as I was told I was talking the games my focus moved to the players who are eligible to play in the next campaign.

“It seemed common sense to prioritise those players.

“The focus of the staff is to leave no stone unturned in making sure we have maximised our time between now and the next qualification campaign.

“I think these players deserve their opportunity.

“Not only is he physically very impressive, as is his pace, but is very grounded”

Most of them have played at younger age levels and now it’s about giving them the opportunity to see if they can play at 21s.

“I’m very confident they can do it, but we won’t know until we put them in there.”

Craig Storie