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Scottish Players in Action 18/19


PASTA Mick

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3 hours ago, bazmidd said:

I am not disagreeing about the standard of league I actually agree, but there are some outstanding players in that league more so than in the SPL who look capable of playing in EPL and McGinn at the moment looks like one of them. For us he looks like a Scottish Championship player though and nowhere near EPL standard. Even bottom of EPL players are a good standard. Good enough to be playing in a Euros anyway

For all the money that's been spent on transfers and wages in the Championship (I'd expect half a dozen of them to get hammed for FFP) the standard is shockingly average. I actually can't think of many players in that league that are good, never mind outstanding. Look at Temmu Pukki, for Celtic he scored 7 goals in 26 matches, in the Championship he's scored 24 in 32.

The English are self-promoters, about as much as we're self-haters.

Take out the top 6 in the EPL and it's just an extension of the Championship. 

In all honesty, he looks as good in the Championship as he did in the SPL. Yes, he'll probably play in the EPL, but it won't be with a top 6 club. Paterson, Arfield, McArthur, McDonald all play/ed in the EPL recently, how many of those players do we rate? I'd say none.

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2 hours ago, Chripper said:

For all the money that's been spent on transfers and wages in the Championship (I'd expect half a dozen of them to get hammed for FFP) the standard is shockingly average. I actually can't think of many players in that league that are good, never mind outstanding. Look at Temmu Pukki, for Celtic he scored 7 goals in 26 matches, in the Championship he's scored 24 in 32.

The English are self-promoters, about as much as we're self-haters.

Take out the top 6 in the EPL and it's just an extension of the Championship. 

In all honesty, he looks as good in the Championship as he did in the SPL. Yes, he'll probably play in the EPL, but it won't be with a top 6 club. Paterson, Arfield, McArthur, McDonald all play/ed in the EPL recently, how many of those players do we rate? I'd say none.

I think the Championship is still very kick and rush....which suits a player like McGinn....it’s why he stands out, and the fans love him because he is all action and puts himself about. But, for me, he’s not a good enough footballer to make an impact at international level, would rather have McTominay in there.

Won’t be long till we see Gilmour in about the full squad.....now there is a proper footballer!👌🏼

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2 minutes ago, SWMM82 said:

I think the Championship is still very kick and rush....which suits a player like McGinn....it’s why he stands out, and the fans love him because he is all action and puts himself about. For me he’s not a good enough footballer to make an impact at international level though, would rather have McTominay in there.

Definitely. 

A while back Aston Villa fans were Christening him as the Scottish Steven Gerrard. Just show you how football can blind people.

On pure skill level alone, McTominay is by far our best central midfielder. People rate McGregor and Christie, etc, but if they're honest with themselves they'll realize that those players just are not of a standard that we should expecting in a Scotland shirt. Long gone are the days of Lambert, McAllister, Collins, Fletcher and Ferguson.

All over the park we just don't have good options.

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6 minutes ago, Chripper said:

Definitely. 

A while back Aston Villa fans were Christening him as the Scottish Steven Gerrard. Just show you how football can blind people.

On pure skill level alone, McTominay is by far our best central midfielder. People rate McGregor and Christie, etc, but if they're honest with themselves they'll realize that those players just are not of a standard that we should expecting in a Scotland shirt. Long gone are the days of Lambert, McAllister, Collins, Fletcher and Ferguson.

All over the park we just don't have good options.

There is where our opinion differs slightly. I don’t believe McTominay is particularly skilful, I would describe him as a SAFE player (not a criticism), a player with good touch and is assured on the ball....which is not the case with McGinn..... we all witnessed that against the likes of Belgium and Portugal.😱

I actually like Christie and McGregor (in a deeper role), and I also think Armstrong has the ability to influence games more. 

Kenny McLean, McDonald, Shinnie definitely not up to that standard.

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17 minutes ago, Chripper said:

Definitely. 

A while back Aston Villa fans were Christening him as the Scottish Steven Gerrard. Just show you how football can blind people.

On pure skill level alone, McTominay is by far our best central midfielder. People rate McGregor and Christie, etc, but if they're honest with themselves they'll realize that those players just are not of a standard that we should expecting in a Scotland shirt. Long gone are the days of Lambert, McAllister, Collins, Fletcher and Ferguson.

All over the park we just don't have good options.

We don’t but a good manager could get the squad we have to a tournament. 

Northern Ireland have a couple of good defenders and the rest of their squad is mince, their manager gets more than the best out of them & therefore they win more than they lose.

If McLeish was a dog you’d take him out the back and put him out his misery. 

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McGinn is a box to box player. We play with Whelan as holding midfielder, McGinn as B to B and then Grealish as number 10 linking with the strikers.

I do agree with a point made above there's plenty of players who look good in fast paced league football but then struggle where more thought is required at international level.

I just think he's still trying to establish himself at international level and is playing for nation with no belief it can achieve anything.

Personally I think best Scotland midfield is McTominay holding at DM (seeing as that is a role he plays when he starts for his club). McGinn as inbetween and then Armstrong as furthest forward midfielder as he can make good runs and score goals.

Loved watching him this season anyway, he'll be in premier league soon enough.

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4 minutes ago, SWMM82 said:

There is where our opinion differs slightly. I don’t believe McTominay is particularly skilful, I would describe him as a SAFE player (not a criticism), a player with good touch and is assured on the ball....which is not the case with McGinn..... we all witnessed that against the likes of Belgium and Portugal.😱

I actually like Christie and McGregor (in a deeper role), and I also think Armstrong has the ability to influence games more. 

Kenny McLean, McDonald, Shinnie definitely not up to that standard.

He plays a lot more forward balls than people give him credit for. The first thing he did when he came on against San Marino was play a ball behind their full back for one of out players to whip into the ball. Technically McTominay is top-drawer, you don't play for Manchester United if you're not.

Yeahh… don't even mention the Belgium and Portugal matches. I'm sure McGinn still has nightmares about them.

All three are fine, but that's all they are. They're just fine.

Agreed, sadly, though, they're a part of the squad because we have no strength in depth.

6 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

We don’t but a good manager could get the squad we have to a tournament. 

Northern Ireland have a couple of good defenders and the rest of their squad is mince, their manager gets more than the best out of them & therefore they win more than they lose.

If McLeish was a dog you’d take him out the back and put him out his misery. 

I don't know. For starters we have to solidify the defence and build from the back. We have SPL standard central defenders and I'm afraid that doesn't cut it at international level.

I'm not going to blame McLeish, it's like kicking a dog while he's down. Our problems lay far deeper than our manager or even our players. The whole infrastructure must be ripped up and Scottish football must have a clear and progressive vision, otherwise there'll be a continuation of mediocrity.

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6 hours ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

Completely agree about the championship. Quite a lot of average spl players have managed to forge out good careers in a league that many English are convinced is better than the SPL

I don't think you could plausibly argue that any more than three SPL clubs could survive relegation from the English Championship for long so in that respect its certainly higher standard.

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12 minutes ago, mcnish said:

I don't think you could plausibly argue that any more than three SPL clubs could survive relegation from the English Championship for long so in that respect its certainly higher standard.

Normally I would be 100% behind you on that but currently I think the championship is seriously lacking in depth.

Do however think you could drop any championship team into the SPL and they would survive very easily.

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45 minutes ago, Chripper said:

He plays a lot more forward balls than people give him credit for. The first thing he did when he came on against San Marino was play a ball behind their full back for one of out players to whip into the ball. Technically McTominay is top-drawer, you don't play for Manchester United if you're not.

Yeahh… don't even mention the Belgium and Portugal matches. I'm sure McGinn still has nightmares about them.

All three are fine, but that's all they are. They're just fine.

Agreed, sadly, though, they're a part of the squad because we have no strength in depth.

I don't know. For starters we have to solidify the defence and build from the back. We have SPL standard central defenders and I'm afraid that doesn't cut it at international level.

I'm not going to blame McLeish, it's like kicking a dog while he's down. Our problems lay far deeper than our manager or even our players. The whole infrastructure must be ripped up and Scottish football must have a clear and progressive vision, otherwise there'll be a continuation of mediocrity.

I think I’ll blame McLeish on your behalf then 

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2 hours ago, Chripper said:

He plays a lot more forward balls than people give him credit for. The first thing he did when he came on against San Marino was play a ball behind their full back for one of out players to whip into the ball. Technically McTominay is top-drawer, you don't play for Manchester United if you're not.

Yeahh… don't even mention the Belgium and Portugal matches. I'm sure McGinn still has nightmares about them.

All three are fine, but that's all they are. They're just fine.

Agreed, sadly, though, they're a part of the squad because we have no strength in depth.

I don't know. For starters we have to solidify the defence and build from the back. We have SPL standard central defenders and I'm afraid that doesn't cut it at international level.

I'm not going to blame McLeish, it's like kicking a dog while he's down. Our problems lay far deeper than our manager or even our players. The whole infrastructure must be ripped up and Scottish football must have a clear and progressive vision, otherwise there'll be a continuation of mediocrity.

So what does an infrastructure look like that addresses our issues?

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1 minute ago, romanticscot said:

So what does an infrastructure look like that addresses our issues?

Look at Spain, Belgium, France, etc, even England. Those nations focus on proper progression at grassroots level. This is a good base to start off.

All layers of the Scottish football system should be as one. There should be a clear vision for the way forward for Scottish football, a way to improve the standard of football, a way to begin producing great young players and a way to improve the national team The way that is now is a complete and utter shambles and the SFA and the clubs aren't interested in arresting matters.

If you want a detailed outline then I'd be happy to write one up.

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Great to have the best player in the world in the least important position on the park,

Shame that to perform well in that position you need a world class left sided defender, left sided midfielder, defensive midfielder and of course a player or two with the ability to get on the end of those balls you deliver.

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3 hours ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Great to have the best player in the world in the least important position on the park,

Shame that to perform well in that position you need a world class left sided defender, left sided midfielder, defensive midfielder and of course a player or two with the ability to get on the end of those balls you deliver.

We have a very good left midfielder in Fraser. He's one of only a few in that league that has more assists than Robertson.

We are lacking a quality forward. You'd think that Mcburnie would have more job but he has struggled at this level so far. I think he will end up being a decent forward for us. 

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Problem is the tempo at international level is far too slow for Robbo to get into the final third. Whereas Liverpool quickly switch the play and move the ball so he can pop up on edge of opposition box within 3-4 passes it's more likely 6-7 passes with a more laboured build up and plenty more defenders behind the ball.

Add in less of the ball and more defending he has to do and he simply can't get into the areas enough to do damage.

Not sure what the answer is other than to go back to 3-5-2 and get him higher up the pitch that way.

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Robertson like Darren Fletcher can only do so much, it’s a cliche but it’s a team game. We need to produce a high quality attacking midfielder and someone capable of scoring 20-30 goals in 60 caps. With that you can get away with a workman like team around them. 

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6 minutes ago, Tartan Chris said:

Not sure what the answer is other than to go back to 3-5-2 and get him higher up the pitch that way.

Precisely.

In resting phase it allows us, as you say, to get him (and the right wingback) further up the park and it ultimately create natural angles, as opposed to the usual lines that that we tend to struggle with.

4 minutes ago, ParisInAKilt said:

Robertson like Darren Fletcher can only do so much, it’s a cliche but it’s a team game. We need to produce a high quality attacking midfielder and someone capable of scoring 20-30 goals in 60 caps. With that you can get away with a workman like team around them. 

I don't see anyone coming through that could step up to that kind of level. Maybe Billy Gilmour, but it's silly to hang so much hope on a 17 year old. Cochrane and McDonald looked excellent last season, unfortunately, Levein thought that Hearts would progress more with English journeymen.

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