Oli McBurnie’s road from Scotland exile to unlikely second chance under Pocognoli as striker ready for fresh start

Yet amid the talk of new beginnings is a familiar face carrying perhaps the most personal sense of unfinished business. Oli McBurnie has waited five years for another Scotland cap. At 30, and with 16 outings without a goal, the striker returns to the international fold with something to prove — to himself as much as anyone else after falling short of the standards he expected.

“There were times when it looked like I was never going to come back,” McBurnie said. “The older I've got and the more mature I've got, you really appreciate these times a lot more. When I was last in the squad, I was a kid really. You think it's just going to always be like this. I probably did take it for granted a little bit.”

That admission goes some way to explaining this latest chapter. McBurnie's Scotland career became defined by frustration: the lack of goals, his exclusion by Steve Clarke and an unflattering perception that he was somehow a difficult presence within the national team.

He accepts some responsibility for his previous struggles.

“I didn't play well enough when I put on the Scotland shirt,” he confessed. “I can hold my hands up and say that. I didn't give the best representation of me as a player or as a person and that's something that I'm here to change.”

McBurnie recall closes difficult chapter involving Steve Clarke

Pocognoli has given him that opportunity after a season in which McBurnie's form demanded attention. He scored 19 goals for Hull City last term, including a dramatic 95th-minute play-off winner against Middlesbrough that secured promotion to the Premier League. He has yet to score this season, but his performances have still caught the eye.

His return is particularly significant given the complicated relationship he had with Clarke. The former Scotland manager guided the country to major tournaments, but McBurnie never managed to convince him he belonged in his plans.

Before this summer’s World Cup squad was selected, McBurnie made a late attempt to establish where he remained in contention for a call-up. “I rang Steve and I said, 'I feel like I've been playing well' and I just wanted to know his reasoning for [leaving me out] and if there was something he wanted me to do to improve. It went the way it went,” he said.

“There were no sour notes. He explained to me his reasons and that's completely fair enough. I said I would keep performing, I'd keep trying to work my way into his plans. I never managed to do that. I was gutted. I felt like I had something to add to the Scotland team. The pinnacle of football to me is representing your country and representing your country at a World Cup is as good as it gets.”

Pocognoli, arriving with fresh eyes, has judged McBurnie on what he sees now rather than what happened before. The Belgian has also made a point of acknowledging his predecessor, speaking to Clarke by telephone after taking the Scotland job.

“Yes, I spoke with Steve,” he revealed. “Just nice meeting on the phone, very kind, very humble in the way that he wanted to pass on the message and the heritage. That was very helpful for me.”

Clarke was supportive of the transition, Pocognoli added: “He was really happy from his time. He felt also that it was the right time, and I think it's a natural way what happened now and he wished me all the best. I think we will see him again around the team, so that's only positive.”

From five years in the wilderness to a new Scotland dawn

It is a cordial handover, but Pocognoli now faces the task of building on Scotland's recent progress while introducing his own ideas and giving opportunities to players waiting on the fringes.

McBurnie is one of those beneficiaries, but he arrives with baggage he is determined to leave behind. The most notorious example remains an infamous video from 2019 in which he was heard saying he hoped he would not be called up by Scotland.

At the time, he was a 23-year-old breaking through at Sheffield United. Now he describes it as the behaviour of an insecure young man and reckons that becoming a father and spending a year playing abroad have helped change his outlook.

“It's something that I shouldn't have said,” he admits. “I didn't expect it to go out to the world. I rang Steve Clarke straight away and apologised. “I've had two kids since I last won a cap. I have a fiancée. I've lived in Spain for a year. I've done all sorts of things that have opened up my mind and given me gratitude. I'm a different person, 100%. I still have the edge but... I'm happy where I'm at now. I'm a lot more content with myself as a person.”

McBurnie has waited five years for another chance and wants the one thing that has eluded him throughout his Scotland career.

“It's got to me at times,” he says of his failure to find the net for Scotland. “It's been hard to deal with. My job is to score goals and it didn't happen so a one-yard tap-in or one that goes in off my backside - anything to get me off the mark with my country would be incredible.”

A new manager has opened the door. A changing squad has created opportunity. Now McBurnie has the chance to write a different chapter. The stage, at long last, is his again.