Scotland Football Squad Under Sebastien Pocognoli: New Era, New Faces
Sebastien Pocognoli did not tiptoe into the Scotland job. He kicked the door open with a squad list that feels like a reset.
Five uncapped players. A dozen World Cup names missing. Established figures returning from the cold. This is not a caretaker’s squad; it is a statement.
New Era, New Faces
The headline arrivals are Robbie Ure and Luis Binks, two very different footballing stories converging on the same moment.
Ure, the former Rangers academy striker who detonated his reputation in Sweden with 20 goals in 20 games for Sirius, now walks into the national team as a Sevilla forward. At 22, and also eligible for Ukraine through his grandparents, he has chosen this shirt and this moment. James McFadden, speaking on Sky Sports News, called his path “brave” and “unconventional” – a young striker willing to leave home, build himself abroad and come back with a LaLiga move as proof he belongs at the top level.
Binks arrives by another route. The 25-year-old Brondby captain has already worn dark blue at under-18 level, then switched to England’s youth ranks, but Pocognoli has persuaded him to return. Now leading a side in the Danish SuperLiga, he offers a composed, left-footed defensive option at a time when Scotland’s back line is being reshaped.
Celtic right-back Colby Donovan, Hearts winger Josh McPake and Swansea defender Stephen Welsh complete the group of first-time call-ups. Donovan has played every game for Celtic this season and steps in for club-mate Anthony Ralston. McPake’s reward comes off the back of a sharp start at Hearts after his summer move from St Johnstone. Welsh, fresh from a strong loan spell at Motherwell last season, now gets his chance at full international level.
This is not tinkering. It is a refresh in real time.
Big Names Back, Big Names Missing
The new caps are only half the story. Oli McBurnie is back.
The Hull City striker, whose last Scotland appearance came in 2021, returns to a squad that has debated his place for years. McFadden, who knows the scrutiny of leading the line for Scotland, was clear: McBurnie “deserves his opportunity” after rebuilding himself, forcing his way back to the Premier League and staying relentless enough to demand another look at that number nine role.
Between the posts, Scott Bain and Jon McCracken are recalled after Craig Gordon’s retirement from international football following the World Cup. The baton has passed, and Pocognoli has wasted no time in confirming his new hierarchy of goalkeepers.
In midfield, there is a familiar name with a fresh concern. Billy Gilmour returns after a knee injury kept him out of Steve Clarke’s final squad, now arriving from Napoli as one of the technical pillars of the side. By contrast, Scott McTominay is absent as he recovers from minor heart surgery, a significant loss both in quality and in big-game personality.
The casualty list in attack is just as stark. Rangers striker Lawrence Shankland is sidelined with a hamstring problem. Che Adams, now at Torino, is also out. Across the pitch, 12 players who went to the World Cup are missing from Pocognoli’s first group, a turnover that underlines how quickly this team is being retooled.
Rangers’ John Souttar, Celtic’s Ralston, Hibernian defender Grant Hanley, Wrexham’s Dominic Hyam, Manchester United youngster Tyler Fletcher, Millwall forward Lyndon Dykes, Stoke’s George Hirst and Swansea striker Ross Stewart are all left out. Some through injury, some through form, some because a new manager wants new answers.
Defenders Recut, Midfield Rebalanced
Luke Graham is one of the more intriguing inclusions. The Stoke City defender, capped three times at under-21 level, was part of Scotland’s pre-World Cup training camp in May and has since played every minute of Stoke’s recent four-game run in the Championship, a sequence of three wins and a draw. He arrives in rhythm and in form.
He is joined at the back by familiar names in new club colours: Jack Hendry at Al-Ettifaq, Scott McKenna with Dinamo Zagreb, Andy Robertson now at Tottenham, and Kieran Tierney back at Celtic. Josh Doig and Kieron Bowie, both at Sassuolo, return to the fold, as does Hearts forward James Wilson and Udinese midfielder Lennon Miller.
The midfield core still carries a recognisable spine: Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson, Gilmour, John McGinn, Kenny McLean. Around them, McPake and Miller bring a different energy, younger legs and a point to prove.
Up front, alongside McBurnie and Ure, Pocognoli turns to Kieron Bowie, Rangers’ Findlay Curtis, Bournemouth’s Ben Gannon-Doak and Hearts’ Wilson. It is a forward line that mixes promise with unfinished stories, heavy on potential and light on guaranteed international goals. That is the gamble.
McFadden’s Verdict: Competition at Last?
For McFadden, the emergence of Ure and the return of McBurnie strike at the heart of Scotland’s long-standing problem area.
“Getting that move to Sevilla shows that he has the capabilities to go and play at the highest level,” he said of Ure, highlighting a position where Scotland have “struggled with for a number of years.” In Ure, McBurnie and the younger forwards, Pocognoli is trying to build not just depth, but genuine competition for the number nine shirt.
On McBurnie, McFadden pointed to the criticism the striker has faced and his determination to fight back: passionate about playing for Scotland, patient, self-focused, back in the Premier League and “definitely worth coming in and having a look at to see if he can go and make that number nine spot his own.”
It is a challenge as much as a compliment. The door is open. The position is there to be claimed.
The Road Ahead
All of this feeds into a demanding Nations League schedule that will test Pocognoli’s ideas immediately.
Scotland open away to Slovenia on 26 September, then host Switzerland three days later. October brings a trip to North Macedonia on the 3rd and a home meeting with Slovenia on the 6th. The campaign closes in November with North Macedonia visiting on the 13th and a potentially decisive away game against Switzerland on the 16th.
There is no soft landing here. A new head coach, a reshaped squad, key absences and bold promotions – all thrown straight into competitive football.
Pocognoli has promised to make Scotland fans smile. The names he has chosen suggest he is prepared to take risks to do it. Now the question hangs over this squad: will this be remembered as the start of a new cycle, or the moment the rebuild asked too much, too soon?
