Blantyre_Braveheart

We beat Albania 3-2 and have qualified for the elite round with a game to spare. We play Italy on Nov 2nd to see who wins the group

Not like the BBC to engage in hyperbole...

Kyogo gets clipped on the back of the head after pushing the defender first, then falls backwards holding his face. Bit of a strange one, Livi had possession in the Keepers hands aswell.

Unless he is there to see Karlan Grant, we can only hope he is just there to watch one of his former clubs in WBA.

They have a very good chance, I'd be shocked if they don't make it. They are unbeaten in their 6 qualifiers. They drew away to Mexico, USA and Jamaica. They also just beat Panama who are the team in 1 place behind them in 4th. They are building a good young team and aren't the diddy team they once were. Jonathan David and Alfonso Davies are their stars.

He has good technique. He plays as an inside forward for Rangers u18s at times.

I really hope so, we desperately need a ST coming through. We seem to have quite a few promising players (16-19) in every other position outside ST and GK.

You're right it was Fletcher. 12 years ago was when he left Hibs for Burnley. I think for years there was this archetype of a ST in the SPL. Big, strong, hard working and with a bit of pace. Basically a English lower league haddy. We seem to be seeing less of them in the last couple of years. With Watt I felt he got overhyped a bit too much due to that goal. He still had a lot of potential but I think people expected too much from him after his goal and he maybe couldn't handle the expectations. I remember Snoddy saying being overhyped and linked with big clubs affected him and his game after that u19 euro run. Took a while to recover.

There are a lot of Italian strikers aswell. Quagarellia, Di Natale, Toni, Caputo, etc Then you have guys like Illcic at Atalanta, Glenn Murray, Aduriz who turned into the best ST in Spain for a while, Ricky Lambart and Grant Holt who all blossomed late in their career.

Russell is 31 and I do agree we generally need to be looking forward but we are very light up front and out wide. If he keeps up this great form then, I'd have no complaints with him getting a recall. Some players when they hit their late 20s/early 30s everything mentally just clicks and they become much better players. Zahavi with Israel is a good example. Was a decent player but come his early 30s everything just clicked.

He is years away but watch out for Rory Wilson. Only 15 and scoring regularly for the Rangers u18s. Scored a double for the Scotland u17s yesterday aswell. He turns 16 in January and is being linked with Liverpool and Manchester city. Probably for the best to head down south early. Gerrard isn't one to give young players a chance. But you then add in that no decent u21 ST has broke through in the SPL in about 10/15 years and it makes it an even larger hill to climb. The last one was probably Garry O'Connor. Griffiths, Shankland, Nesbitt, etc all had to go through the lower leagues.

I know Mebude and Middleton can play ST but why isn't Gemmell calling up Urain, Stretton or Joseph. We only really have Pressely as an out and out ST in that team.

Isn't McKinstry a winger?

Gilmour is past a prospect. He is our first choice CM. Anderson is a CM

Scotland Under-21s Squad Brian Kinnear West Ham United PS Archie Mair Lincoln City PS * Cieran Slicker Manchester City Harrison Ashby West Ham United Tom Clayton Liverpool Josh Doig Hibernian Aaron Hickey Bologna Lewis Mayo Partick Thistle PS ** Adam Montgomery Celtic PS Stephen Welsh Celtic Elliot Anderson Newcastle United Scott Banks Crystal Palace PS Jack Burroughs Ross County *** Lewis Fiorini Lincoln City **** Scott High Huddersfield Town Stephen Kelly Rangers PS Marc Leonard Brighton & Hove Albion PS Ben Williamson Livingston ** Kai Kennedy Dunfermline Athletic PS ** Stuart McKinstry Leeds United PS Dapo Mebude AFC Wimbledon PS ***** Glenn Middleton St Johnstone ** Aaron Pressley AFC Wimbledon ****** PS – Denotes Scottish FA JD Performance School Participant * On loan from Norwich City ** On loan from Rangers *** On loan from Coventry City **** On loan from Manchester City ***** On loan from Watford ****** On loan from Brentford

I liked the TV deal we had when it was split between BT and Sky. We got a lot more games that weren't just Rangers and Celtic away games. I'm sure Scotland has the highest per capita football attendance in the world. That stat was pre COVID though.

And the SPFL employees (not just Doncaster) get paid an exorbitant amount of money for it. When their accounts were done recently it was worked out that the average salary of an SPFL employee was higher than an EFL employee and just under an EPL employee. If they were doing their job and getting great TV and sponsorship deals, I would have no problem with them earning a high end wage. The problem is they aren't and haven't been. We have a TV deal with a company who see us as an after thought and a poor value long term deal with a company name that is laughable. Cinch I mean who thought signing a deal with a company with that name was a good idea. And worst of all they didn't even get the sponsorship deal they went through an agency and gave away £500k of the deal. SPFL needs cleared out from top to bottom. SFA is the same aswell but that's a topic for another day.

No games on Wednesday on sky despite a lot of big games on. Some TV deal we have. 11th match day and Sky have already skipped 2 match days. What good is slightly more money, if fans can't watch any games.

I'm sure he was subbed as they had to reshuffle their team after going down to 9 men.

If Taylor was fit Ralston would probably be on the bench. The other LB options are Bolingoli who can't defend and Montgomery who is inexperienced and a natural winger. In saying that Ralston is doing well and should be in consideration. I think the only reason he isn't, is that Clarke likes to keep a solid core squad. For me Ralston should definitely be ahead of McGinn at Hibs as our 3rd choice RB.

They are 18, still u19 players. In saying that I have no idea about their ability or potential.

I wasn't making the point about Middleton's height to say he can't play upfront. I was saying about his height because Gemmell-ball's sole tactic is to boot it long to a striker. At 5"9 that just isn't going to work. If we were playing passing football the majority of the time, then Middleton's height wouldn't even be a thought.

There's also Urain at Bilbao, Rudden at Thistle and Bowie at Fulham. Nah instead let's play a 5'9 winger as a lone striker and punt the ball long to him all game... That'll definitely work. Honestly when are the u21s finally going to be put out of their misery? Despite some big results that look good on paper, their is a reason no club has touched Gemmell. He is a honking coach that is a throw back to the 80s. Problem is we'd just end up with someone like him again because the SFA are clueless when it comes to our youth game.

Wright just now is close control and a quick turn. He massively needs to work on his end product. If he can't do that let alone getting into a Scotland squad, he'll struggle to make the Rangers squad. With Johnson it's about keeping him fit, he seems to be made of biscuit. Hopefully he can get a run and stay injury free. There is a player there. Quick with good control.

Aberdeen have only played 15 games so far this season.