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Scottish players in action 19/20


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2 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

You can be positive sometimes m8.

I am positive about Gilmour, I think he's a real talent and has a great chance.  That said I know how difficult it is to break through so I don't get worked up about a young player's prospects until they start playing regularly at a decent level. 

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2 hours ago, ErsatzThistle said:

Has Feruz retired from football or is he still trying to find a club ?

Last I heard he had put on a lot of weight.

This might sound like the punchline, but his career didn't even begin.

I don't know. I'm not sure how old he is. I think it's fair to say that his career is finished, at least at professional level.

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52 minutes ago, aaid said:

I am positive about Gilmour, I think he's a real talent and has a great chance.  That said I know how difficult it is to break through so I don't get worked up about a young player's prospects until they start playing regularly at a decent level. 

I think you're right here. Feels like if anyone is going to make it at a high level it's him, but you never knowm. So for now let's just relax and be happy in the knowledge that in 2 years we may have a really exciting player in our team. Patience. 

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8 minutes ago, The_Dark_Knight said:

This might sound like the punchline, but his career didn't even begin.

I don't know. I'm not sure how old he is. I think it's fair to say that his career is finished, at least at professional level.

He's 23 and will be 24 next month.  Has played zero football in the last two seasons and precious little before that.  Hasn't been injured. Just not interested as far as I can see.  I think that's it for him. 

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1 hour ago, aaid said:

He's 23 and will be 24 next month.  Has played zero football in the last two seasons and precious little before that.  Hasn't been injured. Just not interested as far as I can see.  I think that's it for him. 

Will go to university and do sports science & be featured in a couple of years on some “teen sporting prodigy, where are they now” tv show

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3 hours ago, aaid said:

He's 23 and will be 24 next month.  Has played zero football in the last two seasons and precious little before that.  Hasn't been injured. Just not interested as far as I can see.  I think that's it for him. 

Maybe he just didn't want to have longevity as a footballer. He probably just wanted to enjoy himself, etc. Which is fair enough, it's his life.

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8 hours ago, The_Dark_Knight said:

Maybe he just didn't want to have longevity as a footballer. He probably just wanted to enjoy himself, etc. Which is fair enough, it's his life.

Possibly, and if that's the case I'm sure that when the inevitable "I had the world at my my feet and blew it" story appears in the Sun if the Record he'll be taking that philosophical line and won't be blaming everyone else for not making it.

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3 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:

He was a complete waster. 

If I moved to London and earned that much money as a teenager I'd have been a waster too! 

I find it more remarkable when these guys are actually able to stick at it to become decent professionals. 

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1 hour ago, mrniaboc said:

If I moved to London and earned that much money as a teenager I'd have been a waster too! 

I find it more remarkable when these guys are actually able to stick at it to become decent professionals. 

It's not just a case of sticking at it though.  I suspect the majority of young players fail to make the breakthrough because either they don't develop to a level that's good enough, they get an injury that either limits their ability or sets their development back or they don't have the mentality to be a top footballer.

I wouldn't necessarily equate not having the mentality with being a waster, not all youngsters who lack the mental strength required will be wasters but all wasters will lack the mental strength.

At a club like Chelsea, everything is set up for a young player to succeed but no-one can force someone if they don't want it.

If I'm reserved about Gilmour's chances it's not because of Feruz, from what I see Gilmour is a completely different character, its about two other midfielders, Michael Woods and Gael Kakuta.

Both of these were in the same position that Gilmour is in right now, highly rated, early exposure with the first team - Woods made his first team debut at 16 - both seen as being future first team stars.

Kakuta got an injury when he was 17 - broken ankle - which set him back but given that he represented France at every age level from 16 to 21, didn't impact on his ability.  Truth is he just didn't kick on the level that was expected/hoped for.   He's had a reasonable career since but nothing close to what was hoped for.

Woods had a more serious ACL injury when he was 17/18 which meant he was out for a lot longer and then generally struggled with other injuries.  Unlike Kakuta, his injuries certainly impacted his development - he lost a lot of time when he should've been growing as a player - and I suspect probably impacted his ability.   He's now playing for Dover Athletic in the National League, having bounced around the lower reaches of English football since leaving Chelsea.

There's no suggestion that either of these guys did anything wrong or lacked application.  In Kakuta's case he was one of the most highly rated players in the world at 16, at 21 he was just one of the pack.   For Woods, he was unlucky with injuries.

I think that the period between 16 and 20 is such a difficult period for young players, so much can go wrong for them and in many cases there may be nothing they can do about it.

I know that a combination of us not doing well for the last 20 or so years and not having an iconic player during that period means that people clutch at straws, especially when we have someone at a top European club but lets just see how the guy develops and don't put any pressure on him.

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3 hours ago, aaid said:

It's not just a case of sticking at it though.  I suspect the majority of young players fail to make the breakthrough because either they don't develop to a level that's good enough, they get an injury that either limits their ability or sets their development back or they don't have the mentality to be a top footballer.

I wouldn't necessarily equate not having the mentality with being a waster, not all youngsters who lack the mental strength required will be wasters but all wasters will lack the mental strength.

At a club like Chelsea, everything is set up for a young player to succeed but no-one can force someone if they don't want it.

If I'm reserved about Gilmour's chances it's not because of Feruz, from what I see Gilmour is a completely different character, its about two other midfielders, Michael Woods and Gael Kakuta.

Both of these were in the same position that Gilmour is in right now, highly rated, early exposure with the first team - Woods made his first team debut at 16 - both seen as being future first team stars.

Kakuta got an injury when he was 17 - broken ankle - which set him back but given that he represented France at every age level from 16 to 21, didn't impact on his ability.  Truth is he just didn't kick on the level that was expected/hoped for.   He's had a reasonable career since but nothing close to what was hoped for.

Woods had a more serious ACL injury when he was 17/18 which meant he was out for a lot longer and then generally struggled with other injuries.  Unlike Kakuta, his injuries certainly impacted his development - he lost a lot of time when he should've been growing as a player - and I suspect probably impacted his ability.   He's now playing for Dover Athletic in the National League, having bounced around the lower reaches of English football since leaving Chelsea.

There's no suggestion that either of these guys did anything wrong or lacked application.  In Kakuta's case he was one of the most highly rated players in the world at 16, at 21 he was just one of the pack.   For Woods, he was unlucky with injuries.

I think that the period between 16 and 20 is such a difficult period for young players, so much can go wrong for them and in many cases there may be nothing they can do about it.

I know that a combination of us not doing well for the last 20 or so years and not having an iconic player during that period means that people clutch at straws, especially when we have someone at a top European club but lets just see how the guy develops and don't put any pressure on him.

Who was that eligible that we had, who was captain of the Chelsea u21's (defender, I think)? Went to somewhere like Swansea (possibly on loan), then career sunk without trace.

 

Not getting excited about Gilmour at all, ATM. So many false dawns with our youngsters and where he is now, to where he should be in the next couple of years is a massive chasm. We thought that Gauld was doing everything right and he had his head screwed on, etc

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7 minutes ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

Who was that eligible that we had, who was captain of the Chelsea u21's (defender, I think)? Went to somewhere like Swansea (possibly on loan), then career sunk without trace.

Josh McEachran - Scottish parents.

Levein approached him but he wasn't interested in playing for us.

McEachran did show a fair amount of promise early on and was being tipped as a future England player. Only for his career to stall and go into sharp decline.

He was released by Brentford just a couple of months ago.

It would actually be quite funny to see him in the papers begging to be called up :lol:

Edited by ErsatzThistle
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34 minutes ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

Who was that eligible that we had, who was captain of the Chelsea u21's (defender, I think)? Went to somewhere like Swansea (possibly on loan), then career sunk without trace.

 

Not getting excited about Gilmour at all, ATM. So many false dawns with our youngsters and where he is now, to where he should be in the next couple of years is a massive chasm. We thought that Gauld was doing everything right and he had his head screwed on, etc

There's been a couple in recent years.  Alex Davey, centre back was playing for Dagenham and Redbridge and Boreham Wood in the National League and is now the USFL - second tier in the USA.

The other was Ruben Sammut that was briefly on loan at Falkirk.  He's just signed for Sunderland.

Totally forgotten about Steven Watt, and lets not forget the mighty Warren Cummings who actually did play for Scotland once.

Edited by aaid
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21 hours ago, aaid said:

He's 23 and will be 24 next month.  Has played zero football in the last two seasons and precious little before that.  Hasn't been injured. Just not interested as far as I can see.  I think that's it for him. 

The size of him as a teenager I wouldn't be surprised if he was closer to 33.

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6 hours ago, ErsatzThistle said:

There were always whispers that he was actually two or three years older than he was.

Yeah thats right. It was also said he was in fact from Tanzania and the war torn Somalia refugee was fabrication. May well be bullshit of course  

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