Texas Pete Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 23 minutes ago, hannibal smith said: Naismith has been the stand out player this season for Hearts and is noticeably sharper than at the end of last season after a proper preseason. strange call to bring him in after McBurnie pulling out as although he has been in amongst the goals he has been playing in midfield, often in a deep role. Yeah a few folk have said it’s a bit of a strange replacement for McBurnie as they are totally different types of players. As long as Griffiths and Russell stay fit I doubt Naismith will see much action anyway I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASTA Mick Posted September 3, 2018 Author Share Posted September 3, 2018 6 minutes ago, ProudScot said: Northern Ireland and Wales squads are always padded out with them. And they are both better than us. They also cap talented 17/18 year olds. Meanwhile we pick 36 year olds like Gordon Greer. The reason Wales are better than us might be more to do with their better players than their lower league players. Cummings showed last season that he's not quite good enough for us at the moment. I'd rather call Watt or Rhodes up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyBlueScot Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 16 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said: Jason Cummings has 6 goals in 6 games this season and is eight years younger. I honestly think our continued obsession with experience over youth is a hindrance Do we not halve the oldest average age in teams more often than not? Tierney, Souttar, Robertson, McTominay, Fraser and McGinn are all likely to start on Friday and all 24 and under. McGregor, Griffiths and Forrest are hardly over the hill whilst McKenna and Hendry and out injured. Not sure you can say there is an obsession with experience over youth. It's good to have the experience of Naismith and Mulgrew whilst bringing those youngsters through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 7 minutes ago, ProudScot said: Northern Ireland and Wales squads are always padded out with them. And they are both better than us. They also cap talented 17/18 year olds. Meanwhile we pick 36 year olds like Gordon Greer. How many of them actually play? Can’t be many for Wales anyway. Capping of youngsters is always an interesting topic. Some folk say we never cap teenagers but guys like Tierney, Robertson, Danny Wilson, Garry O’Connor, Oli Burke, Darren Fletcher and James McFadden all made their senior debuts as teenagers. Granted, that’s not that many but I’m sure there must be more in the recent(ish) past but that all I can remember. Sadly we probably don’t have that many young players at a high enough level to catch the eye of the Scotland manager and force him to take a risk on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudScot Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 11 hours ago, PASTA Mick said: The reason Wales are better than us might be more to do with their better players than their lower league players. Cummings showed last season that he's not quite good enough for us at the moment. I'd rather call Watt or Rhodes up. The point is they pick players of the right age which we don’t. A young player for us is 27. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 1 minute ago, ProudScot said: A young player for us is 27. Apart from our captain who's 24, an every present/already been captain in Tienrey who's 21, Souttar who's 21, Hendry, 23, McBurnie who's 22, McTominay who's 21, McGinn who's 23 etc? The vast majority who will/would have started on Friday if fit? Even likes of McGregor at 25, Hanley at 26, Forrest at 27, Phillips at 27, Griffiths at 28 means the average age of the starting 11 is well below 27. Only really Gordon/Mulgrew who bring the average age up. Can't think of any in 21s who are deserving of a call up. As we saw with Tierney, if you are good enough, you're old enough and will get a chance. Burke got a chance, he was shite and ended up back in the 21s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyBlueScot Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 23 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said: Apart from our captain who's 24, an every present/already been captain in Tienrey who's 21, Souttar who's 21, Hendry, 23, McBurnie who's 22, McTominay who's 21, McGinn who's 23 etc? The vast majority who will/would have started on Friday if fit? Even likes of McGregor at 25, Hanley at 26, Forrest at 27, Phillips at 27, Griffiths at 28 means the average age of the starting 11 is well below 27. Only really Gordon/Mulgrew who bring the average age up. Can't think of any in 21s who are deserving of a call up. As we saw with Tierney, if you are good enough, you're old enough and will get a chance. Burke got a chance, he was shite and ended up back in the 21s. Agreed. Reading this forum you'd get the impression that we have a team of old men. There is the founding of a team that will be there at the next world cup campaign and beyond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazmidd Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Tony Watt wins player of the month award ahead of Naismith..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rab The Crab Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 27 minutes ago, bazmidd said: Tony Watt wins player of the month award ahead of Naismith..... Well deserved, I’m a big fan of Watt and he could be a massive asset to the national team but we’ve been here before. Hopefully he’s grown up now and maintains this form till our next international break at which point it’ll be hard to ignore him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASTA Mick Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 2 hours ago, ProudScot said: The point is they pick players of the right age which we don’t. A young player for us is 27. Which young players are we not selecting which we should be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
er yir macaroon Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 16 minutes ago, PASTA Mick said: Which young players are we not selecting which we should be? and who are the old players that we are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyD Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Snoddy is the only one over 25 that I think you could make a case for not being included. Yes, he's playing for West Ham regularly right now, but listening to their fans they're less than impressed. "Working hard, but not good enough" is the summation. As for younger players who should have been called, Liam Lindsey is the obvious one to me. We've got a squad with 2 actual centerbacks in it.. that's just stupid. He's 22. Had a good season in the Championship last season despite being relegated. Barnsley not lost a league game, only letting in 3 in the 6 games so far. Should probably have been in Malky's squad, but continues to be overlooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaid Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 4 hours ago, Rab The Crab said: Well deserved, I’m a big fan of Watt and he could be a massive asset to the national team but we’ve been here before. Hopefully he’s grown up now and maintains this form till our next international break at which point it’ll be hard to ignore him. Based on his previous track record he'll have fallen out with the manager by then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceudmilefailte Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 6 hours ago, bazmidd said: Tony Watt wins player of the month award ahead of Naismith..... Aye but he's not got the experience that Naismith has............................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 1 hour ago, ceudmilefailte said: Aye but he's not got the experience that Naismith has............................... No, he is not as good as Naismith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceudmilefailte Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 8 minutes ago, Malcolm said: No, he is not as good as Naismith. Might be better than him in two years time though, you don't bring guys over thirty in as third choice striker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 11 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said: Might be better than him in two years time though, you don't bring guys over thirty in as third choice striker. I have seen nothing in tony watt to make me think he will be as good as Naismith, even in two years time. If I’m Mcleish I’m im picking the best players for now as every chance im out a job in two years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hannibal smith Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 16 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said: Might be better than him in two years time though, you don't bring guys over thirty in as third choice striker. You bring the best players in that are available to you at the time. Watt is having a purple patch, the last time he had a purple patch was when he signed for Hearts two years ago and was called up to the Scotland squad for the game in Malta. His purple patch soon ended due to his horrendous attitude and was out the door at the first opportunity. Hope he has learned from his experiences and continues to knuckle down with St Johnstone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraveheartGordon Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 On 9/3/2018 at 7:08 AM, PASTA Mick said: Is this a joke? Not really no, am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rab The Crab Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 2 hours ago, hannibal smith said: You bring the best players in that are available to you at the time. Watt is having a purple patch, the last time he had a purple patch was when he signed for Hearts two years ago and was called up to the Scotland squad for the game in Malta. His purple patch soon ended due to his horrendous attitude and was out the door at the first opportunity. Hope he has learned from his experiences and continues to knuckle down with St Johnstone. He never got a call up while he was at Hearts. His last call up and indeed when he made his debut was when he was at Blackburn for our Denmark/Czech friendlies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 On 9/2/2018 at 9:05 PM, borojock said: Cant see him getting any real game time this season unless there is injuries, suspensions or Mourinho falls out with someone For the 3 midfield positions i see him as 8th I really think some are blinkered by the fact that he plays for Man Utd rather than his ability and we've been caught out by this a few times I doubt he’d be anywhere near the Man U first team if he wasn’t a very good player. He’s still very young and inexperienced though and whether he’s good enough to break into the starting 11 at Man U remains to be seen. This time last year Andy Robertson wasn’t getting a start for Liverpool and now he’s a first team regular and Scotland captain. A lot can happen in football in a short space of time. Of course, it could go the other way and McTominay could fade into the obscurity of the English lower leagues. Hopefully not though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrniaboc Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 1 hour ago, Texas Pete said: I doubt he’d be anywhere near the Man U first team if he wasn’t a very good player. He’s still very young and inexperienced though and whether he’s good enough to break into the starting 11 at Man U remains to be seen. This time last year Andy Robertson wasn’t getting a start for Liverpool and now he’s a first team regular and Scotland captain. A lot can happen in football in a short space of time. Of course, it could go the other way and McTominay could fade into the obscurity of the English lower leagues. Hopefully not though. Yeah, I think he might have already shown he has the ability. After a match against Chelsea last season I remember someone Tweeted "75% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. The rest is covered by Kante, and Kante is covered by Scott McTominay". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hannibal smith Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 7 hours ago, Rab The Crab said: He never got a call up while he was at Hearts. His last call up and indeed when he made his debut was when he was at Blackburn for our Denmark/Czech friendlies. He did, i remember there were three hearts players who travelled to Malta, Watt, Patterson and Hamilton. Google it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceudmilefailte Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 10 hours ago, Malcolm said: I have seen nothing in tony watt to make me think he will be as good as Naismith, even in two years time. If I’m Mcleish I’m im picking the best players for now as every chance im out a job in two years. 9 hours ago, hannibal smith said: You bring the best players in that are available to you at the time. Watt is having a purple patch, the last time he had a purple patch was when he signed for Hearts two years ago and was called up to the Scotland squad for the game in Malta. His purple patch soon ended due to his horrendous attitude and was out the door at the first opportunity. Hope he has learned from his experiences and continues to knuckle down with St Johnstone. I don't rate Tony Watt, so a poor example it's the short term fix attitude that I have a problem with Heaven help us if we qualify and take a 33 year old Naismith to the finals. Rhodes or Cummings would be far better solutions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazmidd Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 6 hours ago, mrniaboc said: Yeah, I think he might have already shown he has the ability. After a match against Chelsea last season I remember someone Tweeted "75% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. The rest is covered by Kante, and Kante is covered by Scott McTominay". That's a cracker, and I just hope that's where Scotland fans appreciate his talents lie. He is very much a Kante type player, much like Fletcher was in his prime so I just hope the TA don't expect a Giggs or Ronaldo playing for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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