Sebastien Pocognoli's Bold New Scotland Squad

Sebastien Pocognoli has wasted no time putting his stamp on Scotland.

The new head coach’s first squad is bold, scarred by absentees, and bristling with fresh faces. Five players earn their maiden full call-ups, a dozen World Cup names are missing, and the message is unmistakable: reputations mean less than form and fearlessness.

New era, new names

Robbie Ure, the Sevilla striker who took the scenic route to the top, headlines the newcomers. Luis Binks, captain at Brondby, joins him, along with Celtic right-back Colby Donovan, Hearts winger Josh McPake and Swansea defender Stephen Welsh.

For a first squad, it’s a striking level of change.

Pocognoli’s opening Nations League campaign will lean heavily on players who have forced their way into the conversation rather than simply inherited a place in it. Ure, 22, arrives with the kind of numbers you cannot ignore: 20 goals in 20 matches for Swedish side Sirius earned him a move to LaLiga and, now, the international nod he narrowly missed before the World Cup.

Former Scotland striker James McFadden summed up the feeling around Ure on Sky Sports News. He pointed to the forward’s prolific spell in Sweden and his leap to Sevilla as proof he can operate at the highest level, hailing his decision to leave home early, forge a career abroad and develop away from the glare. It is exactly the sort of profile Scotland have lacked in the number nine role for years.

The competition up front is about to change.

McBurnie back in from the cold

Alongside Ure’s arrival comes a familiar face. Oli McBurnie, last capped in 2021, returns to the fold after a long, frustrating spell on the outside. The Hull City striker has fought his way back to the Premier League and, with that, back into the national picture.

McFadden acknowledged the backlash McBurnie has faced in recent years but underlined the forward’s passion for playing for Scotland and his persistence in working on himself away from the national team. Now, Pocognoli wants to see if he can finally make that number nine shirt his own.

For a squad light on established, in-form international strikers, the timing is significant.

Big absences, bigger opportunities

The scale of the overhaul is stark. Twelve members of the World Cup squad are missing from the Belgian’s first selection.

Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay is out as he recovers from minor heart surgery. Rangers striker Lawrence Shankland misses out with a hamstring problem. Torino’s Che Adams is also injured. That trio alone would normally form the spine of Scotland’s attacking and midfield threat.

They are not the only ones absent. Rangers’ John Souttar, Celtic’s Anthony Ralston, Hibernian defender Grant Hanley, Wrexham’s Dominic Hyam, Manchester United youngster Tyler Fletcher, Millwall forward Lyndon Dykes, Stoke’s George Hirst and Swansea’s Ross Stewart all drop out of the picture, at least for now.

The gaps have created space. Pocognoli has chosen to fill it with energy and momentum rather than caution.

Form rewarded across Europe

One of the clearest examples of that approach is Luke Graham. The Stoke City defender impressed in Scotland’s pre-World Cup training camp in May and has followed that up with a breakthrough club season, playing every minute of Stoke’s last four Championship games as The Potters collected three wins and a draw. Now, he steps into the senior squad.

Across Europe, familiar names resurface. Josh Doig and Kieron Bowie, both at Sassuolo in Serie A, are recalled. So too is Lennon Miller of Udinese and Hearts forward James Wilson. All four have been trusted again after building steadily away from the spotlight.

Billy Gilmour’s name jumps off the page. The Napoli midfielder returns after a knee injury forced him to withdraw from Steve Clarke’s final squad before the coaching handover. His absence at the World Cup was keenly felt; his reappearance under a new boss feels like a fresh chapter rather than a simple restoration.

Goalkeepers Scott Bain and Jon McCracken also come back into the fold after Craig Gordon’s retirement from international duty following the World Cup. The goalkeeping group, completed by Angus Gunn and Liam Kelly, now has a very different complexion.

Donovan steps in, McPake steps up

At Celtic, Colby Donovan has quietly made himself undroppable at club level. The right-back has featured in all of Celtic’s games this season and now replaces his team-mate Anthony Ralston in the national squad. It is a clean, ruthless selection call that underlines Pocognoli’s readiness to reward current form.

Josh McPake earns his chance after a sharp start to life at Hearts following his summer move from St Johnstone. His directness and work rate have not gone unnoticed, and he now joins a midfield group that blends established Premier League figures like John McGinn and Ryan Christie with emerging Serie A and Serie A-based talents such as Lewis Ferguson and Miller.

Stephen Welsh, now at Swansea after a successful loan spell at Motherwell from Celtic last season, completes the group of first-timers. His inclusion reflects a growing trust in defenders who have proven they can handle regular football rather than simply sit on big-club benches.

The squad in full

Goalkeepers: Scott Bain (Falkirk), Angus Gunn (San Jose Earthquakes), Liam Kelly (Rangers), Jon McCracken (Bradford City)

Defenders: Luis Binks (Brondby), Josh Doig (Sassuolo), Colby Donovan (Celtic), Luke Graham (Stoke City), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Aaron Hickey (Brentford), Scott McKenna (Dinamo Zagreb), Nathan Patterson (Torino), Andy Robertson (Tottenham), Kieran Tierney (Celtic), Stephen Welsh (Swansea City)

Midfielders: Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Billy Gilmour (Napoli), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), Josh McPake (Hearts), Lennon Miller (Udinese)

Forwards: Kieron Bowie (Sassuolo), Findlay Curtis (Rangers), Ben Gannon-Doak (Bournemouth), Oli McBurnie (Hull City), Robbie Ure (Sevilla), James Wilson (Hearts)

It is a squad that stretches from San Jose to Sevilla, Udinese to Dinamo Zagreb, Tottenham to Torino. Scotland’s reach has rarely felt wider.

Nations League on the horizon

The testing starts immediately.

Scotland open their Nations League campaign away to Slovenia on September 26, a 2pm kick-off that will give Pocognoli his first look at this reshaped group under pressure. Switzerland visit Hampden three days later on September 29, before a trip to North Macedonia on October 3.

Then comes a second meeting with Slovenia at home on October 6, followed by a November double-header that could define the campaign: North Macedonia at Hampden on November 13 and Switzerland in the return fixture on November 16.

By then, the answers to the obvious questions will be clearer. Can Ure carry his club ruthlessness onto the international stage? Will McBurnie finally silence the doubts and lock down the central striker role? Can this new generation of scattered Scots, hardened in Spain, Italy, Denmark and beyond, knit quickly enough into a team that does more than just compete?

Pocognoli has made his first move. The risk now is shared by those he has backed.