Blantyre_Braveheart

With how average/poor he and Celtic have been it drops your value and clubs looking at you. The EURO's will be key for Christie with where he ends up. A great EURO's and the clubs he is linked with improve. I read his contact bizarrely ends in January. If that is true someone is getting an absolute bargain. With 6 months left on the deal, you can't command more than 2/3 million.

SFWA Young Player of the Year nominees Lewis Ferguson (Aberdeen) Josh Doig (Hibs) David Turnbull (Celtic) Nathan Patterson (Rangers) I think Turnbull will win it, but for me it should probably be Doig. Doig has been consistently playing at a high level of performance all season at just 18, for the third best team in the country. Even as a big Rangers fans, I have no idea how Patterson has even been nominated. He has played less than 10 league games this season.

I can honestly think of one under the wall freekick. Even before this nonsense they were an absolute rarity. Charlie Adam's goal in the OF derby is the only successful low freekick I have seen.

#

My 23 man squad GK - Marshall, Gordon, McLaughlin RB - O'Donnell, Patterson CB - Hanley, Hendry, Gallagher, McKenna LB - Tierney, Robertson CM - McTominay, McGinn, McGregor, Turnbull, Armstrong, Gauld RM/LM - Forrest, Fraser ST - Adams, Dykes, Christie, Nesbitt If it goes to 27 man then Considine/Taylor, McLean/Fleck, Gilmour and Griffiths/Shankland

He has impressed me, he is very suited to Rangers system. Quick, good close control, hard working and has a good one touch pass. I'll be honest, I'm surprised how quickly he has adapted and developed. When there was first talk of his signing outside of a cheap homegrown back up option, I didn't think he was going to make an impact. After looking up his scouting data and clips, I changed my mind a little and I hoped long term he could be developed over 6-12 months and develop into a half decent squad/back up option. He seems to have done that 6-12 months in a couple of months and is ahead of schedule. He is still a bit away from Scotland and a starter for Rangers but a good preseason, continuing to improve and hopefully staying injury free could change that. The one major thing he has going for him in terms of Scotland is how light we are in the wide areas. We only really have Fraser and Forrest as natural wide players. After that it's Christie and Armstrong who prefer playing centrally. I Can't think of anyone after that. Maybe give Dembele at Peterborough a call and see how he is.

Shame they got destroyed. It will still be great experience for the lad and he will have learned a lot playing against against an old pro like Lafferty. As a teenage centre back you learn more in 1 or 2 pro game against a decent striker, than you do in 20/30 youth games.

Wright got Rangers MOTM and scored a beautiful goal. McLaughlin had a decent game and is very quick off his line. Patterson came on for the last 30 minutes. Kerr was pretty solid for St. Johnstone. May and Kane had good games for St. Johnstone but I doubt they ever see a Scotland squad. It's a real shame Ali McCann chose to play for Northern Ireland. He looks a really good prospect and will probably get a decent move in the summer. It Shows the difference in depth between us and N. Ireland. McCann is one of their top prospects while he'd struggle to start in our u21s.

Wright and McLaughlin start for Rangers. Patterson on the bench. He's been dropped to give Tav minutes before the quarter final. On a side note what is going on with this appeal? It was supposed to be finished yesterday and we still haven't heard a thing.

I feel like he could demand a transfer in the summer. Told not to go out on loan and then barely makes a match day squad. Tuchel putting 2 keepers on the bench than having him on the bench in champions League games. I'd feel completely slapped in the face and disrespected.

Greg Taylor will be there as LB cover. I doubt Clarke drops him now.

Big miss as he brings energy and solidity to the midfield. He brought a different style to the rest of our midfield options and we don't really have another option like him. Campbell and McCrorie are probably the closest in style but aren't there yet. Gutted for him on a personal level aswell. Missed Rangers winning the title and now misses the EURO's.

I'm sure he was quite rated at Rangers. He just didn't develop to the required level. I'm sure we sold him with a buy back clause, as the club still had hope he would develop. Hopefully this works out for him and he kicks on. We seen with Shankland and Nisbett that a young ST can develop out of nowhere in the lower leagues

I'm sure in Europe at that time you could only play 3 non Scots in Europe.

Looks like Man City's Harkin is coming in as DoF. If the Rumours about Howe wanting Hughes as DoF then does this all but rule out Howe. I wonder if they'll end up with Enzo Mascera. The Man City u23 Manager was rumoured to be the frontrunner before the Keane/Howe links happened.

I felt Maxwell had a decent game and got caught out a few times by Boyle but recovered well at times. The main issue was a player on the right constantly dropping deep 3/4 yards deeper and playing Boyle and Nesbitt on when the rest of the defence was trying to catch them offside. It really hurt Maxwell who already hard a difficult task against the best non of winger in the SPL. Maxwell's goal was fantastic and showed his wonderful technique. He still has a way to go physically and defensively but hasn't long turned 19 and his technical ability is very good. For me he's behind Doig and Hickey but is highly rated by both Rangers and Scotland.

McGinn spent 2 years in his early 20s in the Scottish championship. Kind of negates the Scottish championship arguement. Didn't Christie barely play any football for a couple of seasons after joining Celtic. Fraser after initially doing well at 18/19. Became a back up and then struggled in his early 20s in the top tier of English football. It wasn't until he was 23 that he started playing well and starting more. I mean our best RB in recent history (Hutton) didn't properly breakthrough at Rangers until 22. He only made sub appearances over a few years and made very few starts. On statistics it looks like he's played a lot but he was mostly a late sub. The only way you are starting or making multiple sustained appearances for Rangers/Celtic at 18/19 now, is if you are going to be something special. Coaching matters more until 17/18 than playing first team football under a lesser coach with lesser facilities. I include Rangers with that. Gilmour is a better player now than he would've been had he stayed at Rangers playing first team football with lesser coaching, lesser facilities and training with poorer players.

Kennedy is 18 turning 19 not 19 turning 20. Rangers are using a progression system where they go to the championship on loan then go on loan to the SPL or English league 1/championship. These loanees will be in the SPL or League 1 next season. Breaking into Rangers and Celtic is 10x harder than breaking into any other Scottish club. Any mistake you make is highlighted and criticized. You don't get the leeway you get to make mistakes at smaller clubs. Allan McGregor, Callum McGregor, McTominay, Gallagher, Hendry, Fleck, etc played very little first team football in their teens.

https://theathletic.com/2505913/2021/04/10/dundee-united-the-team-trying-to-revolutionise-scottish-football-and-produce-champions-league-players?source=user-shared-article Interesting article in the athletic about Dundee United and their academy. They seem to have a lot of promising youngsters coming through at the moment. Hopefully they can continue developing and break through in the next season or 2. If they do as the article says and want to bring through a team playing a style developed through the academy, then I feel they need to move on from Mellon. His style is too direct and defensive for the vision they want. He's done an alright job but with United's budget and players they should be doing and playing better.

Aye he should be nowhere near the squad. If we want someone with a great strike from range, with good set pieces then call up Turnbull. It's been 4 years, we can't keep making the excuse of "a fit" Leigh Griffiths is our best striker. England game aside with his 2 freekicks, Griffiths has actually produced very little for Scotland in all his caps. Turnbull brings that same level of freekicks and brings those big moments people want Griffiths in the squad for.

Nathan Patterson having a very good game again today.

Isn't it due to the funeral being at the same time. It isn't just rangers vs. Celtic that's affected it's every Saturday game that could be postponed.

If tuchel isn't interested in using Gilmour, why on earth didn't he let him go out on loan.

I don't think it's one foot out the door or such. I think it more about the short term view of the EURO's. He's only really brought in new players and long term absentees who Clarke felt could take other players positions. Hanley, Hendry and Adams have come in and jumped ahead of established players. Nesbitt has came in and taken Shankland/Griffiths slot. While I think Turnbull, Gauld and Gilmour are fantastic technical players and will long term be midfield mainstays. The problem is along with Left back, central midfield is our strongest area of the park. While I'd personally want atleast one of the 3 in the squad, I can see the reasons for Clarke's midfield choices. Fleck, McLean and others are good footballers who have played consistently at high levels, done well and have never really let Scotland down when called upon. While I can understand his thinking in taking these experienced players over the younger inexperienced guys, I do feel it is very short term thinking. Getting creative players like Turnbull, Gauld and/or Gilmour (& Patterson ahead of Palmer at back up RB) bedded into the squad ahead of the September qualifiers could be key for us in finishing 1st or 2nd over 3rd. Turnbull set piece wise would be a game changer for us and I say that as a Rangers fan. He has absolutely wonderful delivery and that could be a massive difference maker. FYI I like McLean and Fleck. I think they are good players and they would walk into any other home nations squad/First team (England aside). The problem is they are very similar players and don't offer anything different to McGregor or the like. They don't have that spark I feel our current midfield is missing. Turnbull, Gauld and Gilmour are very different to what we have in midfield and are stylistically more like continental players that like to dominate the ball. I hope the EURO's go to 27 players and Clarke takes a chance on a couple of these guys. Even at that you are more likely to see a solid hand, than a Ryan Gauld at the EURO's.

QotS vs. Hibs on BBC Scotland atm. Quite a few promising young Scots on show. The obvious at Hibs in Doig, Porteous and Nesbitt. At QotS the Rangers loanees of Dickson (CM) and Maxwell (another LB) are highly rated and have fantastic technique. There is also Mebude and Breen but I'm not sure about those 2 developing further.