As Griffiths toils, Watt a chance Steve could hand Tony
All eyes will be on Hampden Park on Tuesday, but there won’t be a ball in sight.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke will be at the famous old stadium in Glasgow’s Mount Florida to name his squad for the clash with Israel, now less than a fortnight away.
Win that one, then follow up it up with victories away to both the Faroe Islands three days later, and Moldova in November, and the country will be in the play-offs for the World Cup Finals. Simple.
Except, of course, it is likely to be anything but.
As the thrilling penalty shoot-out win over the Israelis in the Euro 2020 play-offs last year showed – and the draw when the countries met earlier in this World Cup qualifying group reinforced – you would struggle to get a cigarette paper between these teams.
In fact, there is an argument that Israel, with their formidable frontline of Eran Zahavi, Munas Dabbur and Manor Solomon, should be slight favourites.
Not that Clarke will be concerned with such predictive context.
He just has to set a team out to stop that trio from scoring, and grabbing goals themselves at the other end of the park.
Resolute defending was at the heart of the win away to Austria,
What is not in doubt is that the flare incident is part of a pattern
a result that has breathed new life into a campaign that had been in danger of dying on its feet.
For the bid to get safely over its next big hurdle, Clarke is blessed with having Craig Gordon in scintillating form for Hearts.
The usual suspects will pretty much pick themselves elsewhere, leaving fans and pundits alike to ponder whether Clarke might be tempted to throw in a wild card.
Something a little left-field, maybe like the previous recruitment of Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams, call-ups made in direct response to the country’s problems in front of goal.
One man who will not be making the cut, however, is Leigh Griffiths.
The Celtic striker, on loan for the season with Dundee, has been the subject of separate police and SFA investigations in recent days after allegedly kicking a flare into the away end during the Dark Blues’ defeat by St Johnstone last Wednesday night.
He apologised and stated his regret that the pyrotechnic ended up back in the stand but has now been charged by police.
How the legal process unfolds remains to be seen but what is already certain is that Griffiths is
making headlines for the wrong reasons.
Controversies and disappointments – on and off the field – have been a regular companion of the 31-year-old.
That has been a frustration for his club – former Hoops boss Neil Lennon axed him from a pre-season trip to France last year when he came back from lockdown overweight and out of condition – and his country.
No Scotland supporter will ever forget the two stunning free-kick goals against England at Hampden in 2017.
His much more-recent feat of scoring the first penalty in the shoot-out against Serbia to help secure a place in the Euros should also be remembered.
When leaving him out for the Finals, Clarke thanked Griffiths for his efforts, and urged him to get ready in case he was needed.
On making the switch to Dens Park, where he has linked up with former Livingston and Hibs teammate, James Mcpake, Griffiths spoke of his desire to knuckle down and focus on playing.
He got himself fit, and impressed enough for team-mate, Charlie Adam, to start talking in terms of him being probably the best finisher in the country, and an outside tip for a Scotland recall.
The Israel-faroes double-header would have likely been too early.
But the Moldova game on November 12 – or even the play-offs themselves – would have been a realistic target had he built up some momentum at club level.
As it is, Clarke – who needs to keep exploring his options up front – is most likely to simply turn his attention elsewhere.
That being the case, a call-up for Tony Watt should not be ruled out.
The manager has, after all, proved himself to be every bit as comfortable using players from Motherwell as he is of those plying their trade with Manchester United.
And with the striker having succeeded in doing what Griffiths seems to have failed to do – managing to put the past in the past and concentrate on his football – there are now no obstacles in place for his selection.
For sure, Watt would like something big to add to his CV, rather than being constantly remembered for THAT goal for Celtic against Barcelona nearly nine years ago.