Hanley has to be Clarke’s first-choice pick at the heart of Scotland defence
Ten years, four managers, 32 caps but not a lot of Scotland love for Grant Hanley.
That, says ex-norwich hero Simon Lappin, should change at Euro 2020 when the Canaries skipper simply must be a firstchoice at centre-half for Steve Clarke (inset).
Lappin has joined the chorus of praise for Hanley, who Norwich manager Daniel Farke reckons found the form of his life when leading the club back to the Premier League.
Among 47 appearances this season were a trio of Scotland comeback games in March – his first caps for three years to continue a stop-start international career.
He’s one of nine deployed in central defence by Clarke in the 2020/21 campaign.
Andy Considine, Declan Gallagher, Jack Hendry, Scott Mctominay, Kieran Tierney, Scott Mckenna, Liam Cooper and Paul Hanlon are the others.
But the national boss will wish to cement a pairing, or trio, for the summer and Lappin tips Hanley to be a mainstay after watching him all season as a BBC Radio Norfolk pundit.
The ex-st Mirren winger said: “Grant has been outstanding and deserves his Scotland place.
“Norwich have taken the league by storm and he’s been at the forefront of that as leader and captain.
“As everyone who’s been to games this season knows – you can hear players so clearly – he’s the one always dictating, pulling people around and using their voice.
“Grant is the one standing out.
Forging a great partnership with Ben Gibson gave Norwich that platform to play from.
“He’s a great reader of the game, sees danger and is quicker than people give him credit for.
“The amount of times he makes a last-ditch tackle, chasing people down, it’s fantastic how he covers the ground.”
Hanley featured for Gordon Strachan, Alex Mcleish and now Clarke since being capped at just 19 by Craig Levein a decade ago.
He was playing Premier League for Blackburn back then but dropped to the Championship with them before moving to Newcastle for £6-million. Five months out injured disrupted his top-flight season last year as Norwich were relegated.
But they’ve bounced straight back and Hanley can crack the big time again. “Grant was playing at 18 in the so-called best league in the world,” recalled Lappin.
“He’s had experiences good and bad since. Steve Clarke has seen him many times in England so knows what he’s capable of when injury-free in a confident team.
“This season has built positive energy for him. Hopefully he takes that into Euro 2020 and gets the chance to do it again in the Premier League. That will only benefit Scotland, too.
“Establishing a partnership will help Steve, rather than all the chopping and changing.
“Grant’s not even 30, so he’ll want to accumulate as many caps as possible.”