Liam Palmer has taken a swipe at Alex McLeish’s Scotland regime as he insisted the national side are on the right track under Steve Clarke.
The Tartan Army’s morale is rock bottom after a run of four defeats in six competitive games under the new manager – including batterings by Belgium and Russia.
But Palmer is convinced Clarke will get it right as the set up is far more professional than it was when he broke in to the side under Big Eck.
The Sheffield Wednesday star made his debut in the 3-0 defeat that signalled the end of McLeish’s reign and he admitted the foundations are now in place even if the results have not quite caught up yet.
Palmer said: “I was pleased to make my debut but it wasn’t ideal circumstances. Then I had to sit the next one out against San Marino.
“The manager changed after that and since the new manager has come in it’s been a lot more professional.
“In the first camp when McLeish was in charge that is what I’d expected it would be like.
“I’d never been in a camp before so I didn’t know what to expect.
“Now it is not like that. We do things the right way.
“It’s things around the hotel like everybody eating together and wearing trainers, not flip-flops. It’s those type of things that make it a bit more professional.
“It might sound small but waiting to all go to training together and all coming off together feeds into what you do on the pitch. For me they make a difference.”
Palmer insisted Clarke has the backing of the squad – despite the rake of call-offs and refusals.
The Scotland boss saw Andy Robertson, Scott McTominay, Ryan Fraser all pull out this week, with Kieran Tierney kept back by Arsenal and players such as Robert Snodgrass and Matt Ritchie have binned international football.
The crock call-offs for the Euro 2020 double header against Cyprus and Kazakhstan have caused Tartan Army foot soldiers to question commitment but Palmer hit back and insisted the absences are all justified.
He said: “I can only speak for myself but that’s not the case.
“You play for yourself, your family and your country. You’ve got pride and standards that drive you.
“What I would say is it’s a stage of the season when there are a lot of games in a short space of time and you can get niggles that take a bit of time to be right.
“It’s not just the Scottish boys who have got knocks and can’t make it. You see it with other countries. It’s part of the game. If you’ve got an injury you need to get it right, it’s as simple as that.
"Especially over the Christmas period it is a busy one. So the boys who have got knocks, its not just Scotland, its every international team, you see lads who have come off injured and can’t make it. It is part of the game, you know your body and if you have got an injury you have to make it right.”
