dohadeer

??

I would imagine it might be a drawing of lots. Or they might hold off and host the playoffs nearer the time, if it looks likely that the finals will go ahead.

No - not that I’ve ever been diagnosed with anyway. I’m not sure that you could detect that in someone based solely on posts on a message board. Unless there’s something specific which makes you say that? You’ve got me a bit concerned now.

I haven’t stated an opinion either way on Gilmour being called up, at least not since his first league start. I was just querying/looking for clarification on a false claim that somebody tried to make to boost their argument. Billy Gilmour is a good enough player as it is - he doesn’t need the assistance of exaggerations and lies to make him look better!

Trying to work out who SquirrelHumper is referring to when they claimed that England capped a Chelsea player with less experience? I can’t find any evidence to back that statement up.

March 2019, I think?

He’d played far more than twice, where did you get that from? He had about 9 European appearances, as well as multiple domestic league and cup appearances. I believe that he hadn’t yet started an English Premier League game when he received his first cap, but he was definitely more experienced than Gilmour is now.

I don’t know what you think I’ve done wrong?!

?? I’m asking a legitimate question.

Hudson-Odoi had far more club experience when first capped by England?!

I have. The only English Chelsea player that I can see mentioned is Callum Hudson-Odoi. When he was first capped by England, he had far more experience than Billy Gilmour has now. So, I’m not sure which Chelsea player SquirreHumper is referring to. All of their England players - Abraham, Barkley, Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek and Mount - appear to have had much more experience than Gilmour when first capped by England. Is there someone Chelsea have out on loan who has played for England?

I can’t find any current Chelsea player that was capped for England when they had less club experience than Gilmour currently has. Unless you’re referring to a Chelsea player who is currently out on loan?

Which one?

That’s 2 countries. Your claim was regarding 200-odd countries, which I don’t think you have the evidence to back up. Who have England capped with less experience than Billy Gilmour? (Not disagreeing with you, just asking, because nobody springs immediately to mind.)

Is that true? I would assume that there are plenty of countries who have kept players with as limited amount of senior football under their belt as Gilmour has, in their under 21s, until they have gained more experience.

For a full 90 minutes, probably the last Scotland match, unless I’m forgetting any obvious big games since then, or forgetting any games that I had a big bet on. I don’t have any club allegiances - other than hating Manchester United - so I find it fairly boring to watch a full 90 minutes if I’m not invested in which team wins. I usually just check the results, and watch the 5-minute goals/highlights clips.

Ok, I’ll probably get pelters for this, but I don’t really follow the youth structures or anything like that. What are the performance schools? How are they different/better to what we have done in the past? Why would they allow us to suddenly produce a level of players way beyond what we have ever done before? Genuinely interested, as there have been some hugely optimistic claims in the past few pages of this thread.

Yeah, I totally agree. It was the jump to us having one of the best midfields in Europe that I thought was an exaggeration/extremely unlikely.

Yes, I think there have been many more positive times in the past twenty years, given that this is all hype rather than actual results for Scotland. We’ve not got any results yet which have lifted us out of the doldrums that we find ourselves in. Billy Gilmour’s performances this week don’t transfer to immediate wins or ranking points for Scotland. Again, not being negative, just realistic. We’ve got a lot of work to do to lift ourselves from our current standing. It’s very easy to put together fantasy midfields for three/four years time, particularly after the week that Gilmour has had. What’s not so easy is becoming a successful European international football team.

Gilmour has had an amazing four days/two matches/180 minutes. I don’t think that you can put him in the same category as the other three you mentioned. I’m just trying to be realistic and unbiased. As I’ve said before, I think that a big part of our problem is unrealistic expectations.

I’m happy to take your word for it, rather than having to go back and risk listening to any more Ian Wright! I expect Aston Villa to go down this year, so we’ll probably find out quite soon what level his next step is. I don’t see him as being good enough to play for one of the ‘Big Six,’ but maybe I’ve got that wrong.

‘One of the best midfields in Europe’ and ‘One of the best midfields in the World’ are fairly interchangeable statements, given that Europe is the dominant continent in World football. What you are now saying is getting closer to reality than your original claim. Even McTominay, who is currently our highest-level midfielder, is not quite at the top level yet. There is now a level above Manchester United, as they have slumped in recent times, along with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. So he has a bit of work to do, to prove himself as a first-team regular at the top level. I don’t see him as quite the superstar that you claim he is. To me, McGinn is the most baffling bit of your midfield trio claim. Maybe his great season has passed me by - I believe he won some sort of award as Aston Villa’s player of the season, last season, when they won promotion - but I was totally unaware of him setting the heather alight in the Premier League, to the point where he’d be considered by one of the ‘Big Six.’ I’m willing to be corrected if that’s passed me by. I think we’re talking about different levels of ‘chances’ in terms of this scenario coming true. To me it’s a 1 in 50, or 1 in 100 shot, and Billy Gilmour’s two matches this week have done little to change those chances. I assume that you think it’s a much higher chance than that, of these three all reaching the level you describe? I assume, that in a few years, we will still be discussing our squads being made up of the same level of players we are now - not discussing how we have one of the best midfields in the World. We may produce the odd Champions League latter stages level of player, around once a decade, but the chances of producing several of them in the same position, at the same time, are really very tiny indeed.

Where would the improvement have come from? We’ve not made huge investments or any significant changes to our youth structure have we?

And for the second time this evening..... Steady on. Can you elaborate on your claim a bit please, because I assume if that were the case, would we not be enjoying huge levels of success in our youth teams?

To calm down the hype a bit..... When in history have we ever been one of the best in the World in any position? I’d suggest that you’d have to go back a very long time, to when there were very few international teams, to find a time when Scotland were one of the best in the World in a particular position. Even when we look back with a bit of nostalgic bias, at our best players, Dalglish, Law, and the rest of them, I don’t think we ever put together a group in one position, that would be considered one of the best in the World. We may with a hint of favouritism be able to name a few great eras for Scotland and great players, but at the end of the day, we’ve never been beyond the first round of a major tournament, so it’s very rare that we’ve been one of the best in the World at any position if at all. It may seem to you like we’re close to that now, but in reality it’s a tiny percentage chance of us getting there in the next few years, in the manner that you describe. Even where McTominay is now, there are other countries with players another level above that. For McGinn and Gilmour to both join that sort of level, a huge amount has to happen also. It’s a small, small percentage chance unfortunately, and that’s why it rarely, if ever, happens for a country with our size of player pool and resources.