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Un-Capped Saints Players


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I'll give you Billy Stark and Stevie Clarke. In my opinion Billy Stark is the best uncapped Scottish player in my lifetime. But the rest?

Denis Connaghan: Great club player but not consistent enough for international honours. Better keepers around at the time.

Jackie Copland: Fabulous player but lacked a yard of pace. If he had that yard he wouldn't have been playing for us.

Gordon McQueen: Only 20 when he left Saints.

Tommy Bryceland: clever, but not physical enough. Spent entire career in lower divisions.

Jim Clunie: big and strong but no pace.

Archie Gemmel: Only 20 when he left Saints.

Willie Renton: Seriously! After us he had a short spell with Dunfermline and then non-league.

Jim Blair: Come on. Apart from being only 22 when he left Saints you think he was better than Denis Law and Alan Gilzean?

Campbell Money: Great club man, deserved to play at a higher level but not perhaps international level.

Cammy Murray: One of my all time favourite players but no, sorry.

Yes - every player has his weakness.

One of the best players ever to pull on a Scotland shirt (despite being a blue nose) was Jim Baxter - he oozed class but was even slower than Bryceland.

I recently watched the '1991 Marching In' video and in that Davie Lapsley recalled when Baxter was at Raith Rovers and Bryceland nut-megged him a number of times during the one match. That reminded me of a game at Ibrox a few years later when I witnessed this nut-meg vendetta going on between the two of them - they seemed more intent on the nut-megs than they were on the scoreline. But they were in deadly earnest - I think they both got booked that day.

My memory was that Bryceland came out on top by some margin.

In many ways Bryceland was similar in style and ability to Baxter but never pulled on a Scottish jersey. He even had a more successful career in England than Baxter. Someone just forgot to let the SFA know.

Edited by northstbuddie
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When Ian Ferguson was at St.Mirren, even at just over 20 years old, he was an incredibly good player. Skill, strength, an eye for goal, the ability to win a game single handed. He was a fantastic player.

Never anywhere near a Scotland squad. He signs for Rangers, who incidentally turned him into a dirty, 'hard man' type player which he really never was with us, and he's in the very next Scotland squad.

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Tommy Gemmell got 1 cap

My faither said he was brilliant but too shy to show it

Likened him to Paul McStay

In the video that was produced about our history, in Davy Lapsley's interview he said that if TG and a bit of devil in him like TB he would have been a better player. Surely true. My biggest heroes by far when I was a boy were TG and Denis Law.

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One of the best players ever to pull on a Scotland shirt (despite being a blue nose) was Jim Baxter - he oozed class but was even slower than Bryceland.

In many ways Bryceland was similar in style and ability to Baxter but never pulled on a Scottish jersey. He even had a more successful career in England than Baxter. Someone just forgot to let the SFA know.

Nobody really knew if Baxter had pace 'cos his football brain was so fast he never had to run. notworthy.gif for Wembley 1967.

Baxter played his 4 seasons in England in the old first division. Tommy B only played in the second and third divisions. (edited to say that I think Oldham might have been in the fourth division).

Edited by rabuddies
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1980's

Billy Stark, Peter Weir, Campbell Money, Steve Clark, Frank McAvennie, Iain Ferguson all should have been capped while playing for St Mirren

1990's

Billy Davies and Brian Martin at a push... and had Norrie McWhirter not been injured. Brian Martin was another player like Paul Lambert who got called up after moving on from us.

2000's

Jack Ross (at a push in his one great season with us)

2010's

Paul McGowan in his first season after signing for us (DL's 2nd season), Steven Thompson as a squad back up player at a push (and no worse than Kenny Miller or Kris Boyd) and maybe John McGinn should be around the squads. Can't see McGowan reaching the next level now

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1980's

Billy Stark, Peter Weir, Campbell Money, Steve Clark, Frank McAvennie, Iain Ferguson all should have been capped while playing for St Mirren

Peter Weir was capped while with us? I seem to remember a home international team that had Billy Thomson, Iain Munro and Peter Weir all playing while at Saints

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Nobody really knew if Baxter had pace 'cos his football brain was so fast he never had to run. notworthy.gif for Wembley 1967.

Baxter played his 4 seasons in England in the old first division. Tommy B only played in the second and third divisions. (edited to say that I think Oldham might have been in the fourth division).

I agree with what you say about Baxter. He had so much class and could send opponents the wrong way with just a body swerve or a wee shimmy. But he could shift OK if he had to. Simply didn't have to. Bryceland was a great wee player too, one of my favourite players but he didn't have Baxter's class.

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