WATCHING his home town team Newcastle United lift their first major domestic trophy in 70 long years after he had met up with the Scotland squad in Glasgow city centre on Sunday afternoon proved a thrilling experience for assistant manager John Carver.
The proud Geordie is fully focused on the Nations League play-off games against Greece in Athens on Thursday night and Hampden on Sunday evening so he made sure that kept a lid on his post-match celebrations.
However, he admitted that seeing the club he spent so many years at both as a player and a coach claim the Carabao Cup with a dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool at Wembley had raised his spirits enormously ahead of an important week for the national team.
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“I was gutted not to be there because I’ve been with a team and not won and been as a supporter and not won,” said Carver. “But to see them win on television was quite incredible, really emotional. It's put a big smile on my face.”
The Englishman believes that Scotland fans will be grinning just as much as he was on Sunday evening when they see what George Hirst has to offer them and is certain that further success lies ahead for the national team with the 6ft 3in striker available for selection.
Indeed, he refused to rule out the Ipswich Town forward, who trained with his new team mates for the first time at Lesser Hampden yesterday, featuring in the forthcoming double header and doing his bit to help the country remain in the top flight of the Nations League.
“He's very similar to his dad [former Sheffield Wednesday and England player David],” said Carver. “He's robust, he's big, he's strong, he's good in the air, he has ability and he can compete.
“If you look at the other strikers we have available, Che Adams is a different type of player, young James Wilson is a different type of player. He's like an old-fashioned centre forward, he's a blast from the past, that's how I see him.
“He gives us something different, he gives us a physicality. If you look at our team, we're not the biggest team out there. So he brings us something different.
“It's exciting that we've now got a young Scottish striker. It's something we've lacked for quite some time. He is now playing regularly as well and is doing well. He's done ever so well in the Premier League with Ipswich.
“It's quite exciting for the Tartan Army for sure because they want to be attending tournaments for the next 10, 15, 20 years. If you've got people like him who want to come and perform and want to play for the team I think that's a huge bonus.”
Adams has been in fine form for Torino in Italy this term while Tommy Conway of Middlesbrough and Kevin Nisbet of Aberdeen both have previous international experience.
Carver, though, stressed that with Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Ben Doak, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Gauld, Lewis Morgan and Dykes all absent, newcomers like Hirst of Ipswich, Lennon Miller of Motherwell and Wilson of Hearts could all force their way into contention for a cap.
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“Absolutely, there's no reason why not,” he said. “Again, I keep reverting to Billy Gilmour. The same situation happened with Billy. We got a couple of injuries and Billy had to go in the team and play. He did it and he did a great job.
“He has developed since and you see him now, he's brimming in confidence. So there's no reason why not. He's in the squad, let's see what happens. You just don't know, you can't predict what's going to happen.
“What a goal he scored at the weekend, what a way to leave his club football and come to international football. He's an intelligent lad, he's bright, he loves football and he's fitted in straight away.”
The Liverpool winger, who was loaned out to Championship club Middlesbrough this season, underwent surgery on a thigh injury earlier this month and will not feature for them again until next term.
The teenager was outstanding for his country in their Nations League matches against Croatia, Poland and Portugal last year and helped them to avoid finishing bottom in their section and being automatically relegated.
Carver admitted there is no ready-made replacement for Doak in the national squad and conceded that manager Steve Clarke had much to consider over in the coming days.
Will he stick with the four man defence which worked so well in Kieran Tierney’s absence? Or will he go back to a back three now the Arsenal man has recovered from the injury which he suffered at the Euro 2024 finals in Germany in the summer? It will be interesting to see who is given the nod to start on Thursday and how they will line up.
Carver, though, is confident that Clarke will find a way. “Ben did extremely well for us in those Nations League games towards the end of the last campaign,” he said. “He is different, he brings us something different. I don't think there's anybody else available who plays the same way as he does.
“But we've got these other young lads who we want to have a look at. We're going to look at them closely. Maybe one of those guys can play in a different way, a different style. Only time will tell. We'll have to wait and see.
“Ben is a miss, he's a good player. But I know Steve likes talking about the players who are here and I'm the same. He's not with us and we can't do anything about it. We wish him well and hope he can get himself fit and playing again. We have to concentrate on the guys who are here. We'll find a way to play.”
