Former Dundee manager Barry Docherty has taken over as Scotland Under-21 head coach, replacing Scot Gemmill for the final two European Championship qualifying fixtures.
Scotland’s young side must secure victories against Azerbaijan at Rugby Park on 30 September and Bulgaria away on 6 October while hoping the Czech Republic drop points to claim a playoff spot. The group leaders, Portugal, remain on track for automatic qualification to next year’s finals in Albania and Serbia.
In his first squad announcement, Docherty has included seven uncapped players, featuring St Mirren pairing Henry Fieldson and Louis Jackson alongside Manchester United defender Daniel Armer. Also selected is 19-year-old Manchester United midfielder Tyler Fletcher, who made his senior international debut before this year’s World Cup and traveled to the finals as a backup for the injured Billy Gilmour.
“He’s obviously made that mark and I want to make sure that all of them get that opportunity, that when they come to the 21s, they now realise that pathway’s really close,” Docherty said.
“We need to work harder to make sure that there’s more opportunities for under-21 players to get the benefit of playing first-team football. Are they getting enough minutes? Are they performing well? And, if they are, then they should come into a national squad. There’s now seven eligible [under-21 players] in the A squad, which I think’s fantastic. This is a really strong squad I’ve got.
Docherty and Scotland senior team head coach Sebastien Pocognoli assume their new roles within the Scottish FA setup during a period of planned transition, with SFA chief football officer Craig Mulholland leading efforts to increase playing time for young players at the club level.
Former Hearts manager Steven Naismith, previously part of Pocognoli’s predecessor Steve Clarke’s backroom team, will support Docherty in his new role.
“I’ll mirror image what the style of play, what the philosophy is,” Docherty explained. “We can enhance Sebastien’s squad with the development of young players, identifying the best ones, improving them and developing them but as we do that, we need to create, in my opinion, that winning team mentality. We’ll be all out to play an attacking style of football, which is attractive to watch and pleasing on the eye.”
