People tend not to take to social media websites to shower praise upon those who are in the public eye so it would be entirely wrong to read too much into the negative online reaction to the Scotland squad announcement this morning.
Within minutes of the SFA revealing the names of the 26 players who Steve Clarke will be taking to the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States this summer, the snipers were savaging the national team manager and lambasting his selections.
Craig Gordon and Grant Hanley – veteran campaigners who many anonymous online posters were incredulous had made the cut - were soon trending on X.
So, too, were Kieron Bowie, Oli McBurnie and Lennon Miller, talented and on-form footballers who many Tartan Army footsoldiers wanted to see given the nod but who were overlooked, had quickly joined them.
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The historic 4-2 win over Denmark at Hampden back in November, a result which saw Andy Robertson and his team mates top their qualifying group and end a 28 year wait to reach the World Cup, was a distant memory as the worldwide web warriors vented their spleens.
That Gordon had started in goals and Hanley had played at centre-half on that joyous occasion in Mount Florida was completely forgotten.
But seasoned Clarke observers always knew there would be few major shocks in this Scotland squad, fully expected Gordon and Hanley to be included and suspected that Bowie, McBurnie and Miller as well other fringe players would miss out.
The former Kilmarnock manager is loyal to a fault and was never going to leave any of the men who have served him so well in the past at home if they were fit and available, regardless of their advancing years.
Keeping a core group intact during his record-breaking seven year tenure has enabled him to foster a strong togetherness which has been pivotal to the success which the country has enjoyed.
Lyndon Dykes, who has been on target for Charlton Athletic on just five occasions in the 2025/26 campaign, may not have been as prolific as McBurnie, who has found the net 18 times this term for Hull City, in the English Championship of late.
But he is a huge personality who is good for morale in the camp and who has come up with massive big moments in important games for his adopted homeland in the past. The burly forward also offers his team mates an outball if they have to, as is likely to be the case, go direct.
It is certainly a shame that both Bowie, who scored a last-minute equaliser for Hellas Verona in their draw against Italian champions Inter Milan in the San Siro on Sunday night, and Miller, who has featured regularly for Udinese in Serie A since completing his £4.75m move from Motherwell, will not be involved.
But there are good reasons for their absence. Che Adams, Dykes, George Hirst and Lawrence Shankland have repeatedly shown what they are capable of up front on the international stage.
Southampton striker Ross Stewart, who probably only got in because Tommy Conway of Middlesbrough suffered a serious injury at the weekend, is vastly-experienced despite only having two caps to his name. The 6ft 2in target man has 11 goals to his name.
Would Miller, too, have featured with Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, John McGinn, Ryan Christie, Kenny McLean and Lewis Ferguson all ahead of him in the pecking order? He is still young, just 19, and his time will come.
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The presence of Ben Gannon-Doak, the Bournemouth winger, and Findlay Curtis, the Rangers teenager who was outstanding during his loan spell at Kilmarnock during the second half of the season, will give Scotland youthfulness, trickery and pace in attack. They will complement the older members of the set-up nicely.
Goalkeeper is a major concern. Angus Gunn, Gordon and Liam Kelly have played a grand total of eight games between them for Nottingham Forest, Hearts and Rangers respectively during the past eight-and-a-half months. Will they be able to hit top form when in matters most in the Group C meetings with Haiti, Morocco and Brazil with so little competitive football under their belts? It is a worry.
But Clarke can certainly be confident the men who he has turned to will not be overawed by the enormity challenge that lies ahead of them and will rise once again as they try to reach the knockout rounds of a major tournament for the first time ever.
They have been over the course before at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 and, while they fell short in both of those finals, now have the nous needed to go through.
