There has been much debate about the merits of Angus Gunn donning the dark blue – or perhaps it should be green or yellow – of Scotland after representing England.
But the Norwich City goalkeeper’s route to winning over his doubters is a simple one.
Some key saves here and there are all it will take for Gunn, son of former Aberdeen and Scotland goalkeeper Bryan, to have the Tartan Army singing his name in unison.
Sport is fickle like that. When things are not going so well your commitment is called into question. But when you are doing the business you’re the bee’s knees.
Gunn has the chance to be more than the current flavour of the month though.
Injury to Craig Gordon and the retirement of David Marshall and Allan McGregor has opened the door for the England youth international to fill the void in Steve Clarke’s squad.
Scotland holds appeal for players
Don’t read too much into the fact Gunn has represented the Auld Enemy at youth level. He’s 27 now and the last of those youth caps were four years ago.
England could have made their pitch for Gunn at any point in that time but they haven’t.
Scotland, in contrast, have been courting the 27 year-old for some time. Former national team boss Alex McLeish made a move for Gunn in both of his spells in charge.
So what’s changed?
A couple of things really. One, England seem to have moved on. That’s okay, their loss can be our gain.
Secondly, Scotland’s fortunes have improved under Clarke.
We may not want to admit that second one but it is true.
From decades of near misses suddenly Scotland has become a much more attractive proposition for any player when the SFA comes calling.
Just ask Scott McTominay, Lyndon Dykes, Liam Palmer or Che Adams.
You can go further back into the history books for Andy Goram, Stuart McCall or Don Hutchison – and there wasn’t a Scot not jumping with pride when Hutchison scored against England at Wembley in 1999.
International requirements more lax in other sports
The point is, it is what you do on the pitch which matters.
That’s why Scottish rugby fans were jumping with joy when Duhan van der Merwe scored that incredible try against England in the opening day win in the Six Nations.
Did anyone care where the South African, who qualifies for Scotland due to his residency here with Edinburgh, is originally from?
The answer is no.
Sport, like every other aspect of society, has become global. Rugby and cricket has led the way for years on making nationality a grey area when it comes to selecting players.
Football is heading the same way. Scotland – and Gunn – will have broken no rules should he make his debut at Hampden on Saturday against Cyprus.
If, and there is no reason to think otherwise, he does well and plays a part in a Scotland victory, who he has played for at youth level will soon fade in the memory.
Gunn is ready to pledge his allegiance to Scotland and we need all the good players we can get.
Besides, with a famous Scottish father who has already represented his country it’s hardly as if we’ve been scraping the barrel trying to find a tartan connection here or some long lost granny somewhere.
In case you are wondering, Gunn’s grandmother is easy to find anyway. She’ll be rooting on her grandson from her home in Invergordon.
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