Clarke has done Rangers a massive favour by leaving Patterson out of Scotland squad
Steve Clarke has done Nathan Patterson and Rangers a massive favour by not calling the young defender up to the Scotland squad.
Some were expecting the in form Gers youngster to be handed a first senior call up when Clarke named his squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers.
In the end, Patterson wasn’t selected but it is easy to see why there was such a strong case for his inclusion.
The 19-year-old has had a crazy few weeks as he has gone from rock bottom to sky high in almost record time.
After being part of the so-called ‘party 5’ lockdown breakers, some wanted him nowhere near the first team.
However, injury struck and with James Tavernier ruled out Patterson took his chance when it came and made himself an Ibrox hero with a Europa League goal against Antwerp.
All has now been forgotten and even though a lengthy SFA ban is in the post, a call up to Scotland would’ve been the icing on the cake for the young defender.
However, it would’ve been the worst possible thing for him.
We think Patterson is already a good player and he has the potential to be a great one but he needs to be brought back down to earth.
In the space of a few weeks, he’s gone from public enemy number one to Scottish Premiership winner with his boyhood club.
A Scotland call up would’ve taken his excitement to another level and right now he needs to be kept close to the ground.
In reality, he’s still a fringe player and he gets nowhere near the team when Tavernier is back.
It is true that the right-back position is a problem area for Scotland with no decent player available in that position.
But calling up a vastly inexperienced youngster would be the wrong move to fill that gap.
Clarke has done the right thing here as Patterson is bound to be called up eventually, we should be thankful that he will have the chance to develop as a Gers player before taking that next step.
We love Patterson but we can’t allow him to get carried away in all of this.
He still has a ban to come and once that lands his season will effectively be over.
Let’s let him settle down over those weeks and through the summer so he is ready to work for a first-team chance next year.
Then we can talk about a Scotland call up.
In other Rangers news, Keith Hackett has lifted the lid on how Sunday’s referee will deal with Alfredo Morelos against Celtic.