GARRY O'Connor's unexpected recall to international football yesterday is an indication of the willingness of the present Scotland manager, George Burley, to grant absolution for past sins.
The Birmingham City and former Hibernian striker was one of the 25 players named by Burley for the forthcoming World Cup qualifying matches in Macedonia and Iceland, his inclusion a slight surprise after his omission from the pool chosen for last wee
k's friendly against Northern Ireland.
O'Connor earned a reputation for unreliability during Walter Smith's tenure as national team manager when he went AWOL before a trip to Ukraine for a Euro 2008 qualifier two years ago and spent some time in exile before being re-instated by Alex McLeish.
The suspicion that he had not found favour with Burley firmed up when he was not selected for either of the latter's previous two squads, for the friendlies against Croatia and the Czech Republic last season. Burley, however, stressed yesterday that his exclusion until now was for legitimate reasons.
"As far as Garry was concerned before, I had said that he had to be playing regularly for his club," said the manager. "That wasn't the case at the time and then he had trouble with an abscess in his mouth. Well, now he's fit and playing and on form, so he's back in.
"As for anything that might have occurred in the past, that did not concern me. I haven't had any problem with Garry and I don't expect to."
O'Connor's return is at the expense of Steven Fletcher, the 21-year-old Hibs striker who earned his second cap when he came on as a substitute against Northern Ireland. Burley on this occasion is inclined towards experience.
Shaun Maloney is also recalled to the national colours, following his move from Aston Villa to Celtic. Like O'Connor, he had not been a regular choice for his club, but the Scotland manager was convinced of his readiness to return when he saw his lively performance in a 3-0 victory over Falkirk last Saturday.
"We know Shaun is a good player," said Burley. "He's quick, he's skilful and, on top of that, he can play in various roles. He gives you options and you need that for the kind of matches we have coming up."
The two other players to drop out of the Northern Ireland party are Gavin Rae (still injured) and Steven Whittaker, the Rangers full-back. Four of the five players who missed last week's friendly – the Celtic pair, Paul Hartley and Gary Caldwell, and full-backs Kevin McNaughton and Callum Davidson – are available again.
The veteran defenders, David Weir and Graham Alexander, drafted into the vacancies created by McNaughton and Caldwell last week, retain their places, an indicator of Burley's preference for experience – they have 96 caps between them – for the two away games that begin the qualifying series.
The full article contains 483 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
