Scottish players in action 20/21

[Hertsscot]

1 hour ago, Third Lanark said:

See that Southampton have rested Adams as his manager says he wants to protect him for the Euros. Good that Fraser and McTom are not starting - less chance of injuries. May help us that Forrest has not been overplayed this season too.

What a great attitude from Hassenhuttl

[Burj_Alba]

56 minutes ago, JECK said:

Get them all off now ffs! 

Don't know which is worse for your health, qualifying or not qualifying. 😄

[COLT NY]

Grant Hanley named in Championship team of the year. Not sure it's enough to get him in the starting eleven though. The three we had starting against Holland looked pretty good, and allowed us to bring one on either side forward whenever we had the ball.

[Blantyre_Braveheart]

7 hours ago, COLT NY said:

Grant Hanley named in Championship team of the year. Not sure it's enough to get him in the starting eleven though. The three we had starting against Holland looked pretty good, and allowed us to bring one on either side forward whenever we had the ball.

He has his faults but has improved a lot over the recent years. He doesn't look it but he is rapid.

Yeah, I agree Hendry, Cooper and Tierney is the defence for me. Until all the subs the defence was solid, with little nervy errors.

I'd have Hanley as the immediate back up. He is a better all round defender than McKenna and Gallagher. Gallagher however is a great aerial and physical presence for when the box is getting peppered with crosses and long balls.

[Third Lanark]

42 minutes ago, Blantyre_Braveheart said:

He has his faults but has improved a lot over the recent years. He doesn't look it but he is rapid.

Yeah, I agree Hendry, Cooper and Tierney is the defence for me. Until all the subs the defence was solid, with little nervy errors.

I'd have Hanley as the immediate back up. He is a better all round defender than McKenna and Gallagher. Gallagher however is a great aerial and physical presence for when the box is getting peppered with crosses and long balls.

Agree with that and your reasoning. It wasn't that long ago when someone suggested we go three at the back and several replies stated we couldn't find 2 decent centre backs let alone three! Now we have choices - and don't forget John Souttar is now fit again and there is also Jason Kerr. Nobody talks about David Bates now or Liam Lindsay!

[mccaughey85]

13 hours ago, COLT NY said:

Grant Hanley named in Championship team of the year. Not sure it's enough to get him in the starting eleven though. The three we had starting against Holland looked pretty good, and allowed us to bring one on either side forward whenever we had the ball.

i would of started him against the czechs alongside cooper and tierney but i was really impressed by hendry against the dutch and now think its a tough decision for clarke.

Edited June 4, 2021 by mccaughey85

[mccaughey85]

glad to see hanley getting another chance with scotland, guy took alot of stick in the past and has done well to get back in the squad.

Edited June 4, 2021 by mccaughey85

[Texas Pete]

3 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

glad to see hanley getting another chance with scotland, guy took alot of stick in the past and has done well to get back in the squad.

I think most guys in our squad (except the newer guys obviously) have had a lot of stick over the last few years.

Cooper, Tierney, Robertson, McGregor, Fraser, O’Donnell all spring to mind but there will be others.  

[mccaughey85]

3 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

I think most guys in our squad (except the newer guys obviously) have had a lot of stick over the last few years.

Cooper, Tierney, Robertson, McGregor, Fraser, O’Donnell all spring to mind but there will be others.  

Yeh but none of those guys got frozen out of the squad for few years like hanley was. hes also had way more stick than any of those guys barring maybe o donnell.

[Texas Pete]

2 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Yeh but none of those guys got frozen out of the squad for few years like hanley was. hes also had way more stick than any of those guys barring maybe o donnell.

Yeah it was more an observation of how some of our supporters love to give players stick, often for no real reason. 

It is good to see Hanley playing well and getting back into the EPL. He’s still only 29 I think so could be a good player for us for another 3 or 4 years anyway. 

[mccaughey85]

3 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Yeah it was more an observation of how some of our supporters love to give players stick, often for no real reason. 

It is good to see Hanley playing well and getting back into the EPL. He’s still only 29 I think so could be a good player for us for another 3 or 4 years anyway. 

what with injuries and suspensions he will certainly be needed and we arent in a position to turn our noses up at someone who is a very good english championship centre back and who also has epl experience.

[ProudScot]

30 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Yeh but none of those guys got frozen out of the squad for few years like hanley was. hes also had way more stick than any of those guys barring maybe o donnell.

He did make errors leading to goals nearly every game he played though to be fair 

[mccaughey85]

10 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

He did make errors leading to goals nearly every game he played though to be fair 

yeh maybe so but he was thrown in at the deep end from a young age, we were also a really poor team both indivdually and collectively during those years and our managers were brutally bad. anyway its nice to see him get another crack at international football and hopefully hes a bit better this time around.

[ceudmilefailte]

17 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

He did make errors leading to goals nearly every game he played though to be fair 

It's the nature of the job. Read a Norwich match forum and more often than not there will be a "wtf was Hanley thinking" comment.

Suppose it depends if you value his tackle success's, pass completion rate, headers won, interceptions and clearances enough to cancel out when he gets something wrong.

Defenders that make the least mistakes are the ones who are least involved in the game.

[Blantyre_Braveheart]

17 hours ago, Third Lanark said:

Agree with that and your reasoning. It wasn't that long ago when someone suggested we go three at the back and several replies stated we couldn't find 2 decent centre backs let alone three! Now we have choices - and don't forget John Souttar is now fit again and there is also Jason Kerr. Nobody talks about David Bates now or Liam Lindsay!

Yeah I know 3 at the back has massively helped them, but as a whole the defence has gone up a few levels since the start of Clarke's reign. 

It was one of our 4 main problem positions but I think we can take it off the list (along with ST). It's not perfect but it's far from the problem position it was.

2 of our CB's will be EPL captain's next season. There has been talk this season of Arsenal converting Tierney into a CB (their defence looks better with him at CB). It's looking like Hendry will end up in the EPL, Bundesliga or a top Dutch/Belgian sides after the EURO's. Compared to where our defence was that is a remarkable turnaround in a few years. You then have Gallagher, McKenna, Porteous, Souttar, Welsh, Kerr and the rest of the St. Johnstone defence to come in as squad players. 

 

We also have quite a few decent sub 19 center backs coming through. Jamie Hamilton, Ibane Bowat, Leon King, Liam Morrison, Kerr Smith and Lewis Neilson. They won't all make it to the required level but if atleast 2 can make it to a decent level, then the future of our defence who be bright.

Leon King is my personal pick as one who will make it big. Nearly every Rangers coach and lots of ex players agree he has the highest potential at Rangers and is the best young player to come through the academy. They include Gilmour and Patterson in that. He has absolutely wonderful technique and I mean that in general, not just for a CB. He turned 17 in January and has still a way to go physically but trains daily with the Rangers first team. He has played 3 or 4 times and has been on the bench another 10+ times. 

Edited June 5, 2021 by Blantyre_Braveheart

[er yir macaroon]

5 hours ago, Blantyre_Braveheart said:

Yeah I know 3 at the back has massively helped them, but as a whole the defence has gone up a few levels since the start of Clarke's reign. 

It was one of our 4 main problem positions but I think we can take it off the list (along with ST). It's not perfect but it's far from the problem position it was.

2 of our CB's will be EPL captain's next season. There has been talk this season of Arsenal converting Tierney into a CB (their defence looks better with him at CB). It's looking like Hendry will end up in the EPL, Bundesliga or a top Dutch/Belgian sides after the EURO's. Compared to where our defence was that is a remarkable turnaround in a few years. You then have Gallagher, McKenna, Porteous, Souttar, Welsh, Kerr and the rest of the St. Johnstone defence to come in as squad players. 

 

We also have quite a few decent sub 19 center backs coming through. Jamie Hamilton, Ibane Bowat, Leon King, Liam Morrison, Kerr Smith and Lewis Neilson. They won't all make it to the required level but if atleast 2 can make it to a decent level, then the future of our defence who be bright.

Leon King is my personal pick as one who will make it big. Nearly every Rangers coach and lots of ex players agree he has the highest potential at Rangers and is the best young player to come through the academy. They include Gilmour and Patterson in that. He has absolutely wonderful technique and I mean that in general, not just for a CB. He turned 17 in January and has still a way to go physically but trains daily with the Rangers first team. He has played 3 or 4 times and has been on the bench another 10+ times. 

I worry King might not be tall enough to be a top class centre back. He may still be growing, though. He will make it in midfield if there’s a problem I’d think. 

[SWMM82]

2 hours ago, er yir macaroon said:

I worry King might not be tall enough to be a top class centre back. He may still be growing, though. He will make it in midfield if there’s a problem I’d think. 

Don’t need to worry about him being tall enough, the boy is the real deal, similar levels of potential to Billy Gilmour but obv in a different position. 
 

Also I’m understanding that Liam Morrison is moving up to Bayern’s second string and will be training with the first team soon.

[Blantyre_Braveheart]

2 hours ago, er yir macaroon said:

I worry King might not be tall enough to be a top class centre back. He may still be growing, though. He will make it in midfield if there’s a problem I’d think. 

Perhaps. He is still growing but I doubt he goes beyond 6"1.

He's the same height as Sergio Ramos and he is taller than Fabio Cannavaro and Carles Puyol, so it's not like there hasn't been "top class" 6 foot center backs. Nathan Ake and David Alaba are also both shorter than him. 

There is no denying it is a massive disadvantage, especially in the Scottish game. But if he works hard on the other aspects of his game, then he can surpass those more physical adept.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Blantyre_Braveheart

[shug macdiarmid]

52 minutes ago, Blantyre_Braveheart said:

Perhaps. He is still growing but I doubt he goes beyond 6"1.

He's the same height as Sergio Ramos and he is taller than Fabio Cannavaro and Carles Puyol, so it's not like there hasn't been "top class" 6 foot center backs. Nathan Ake and David Alaba are also both shorter than him. 

There is no denying it is a massive disadvantage, especially in the Scottish game. But if he works hard on the other aspects of his game, then he can surpass those more physical adept.

Maldini was only 6ft 1" and the only defender I might rate above him, Baresi, was only 5ft 9". Tierney has shown how class and attitude are more important than height.

[ProudScot]

4 hours ago, er yir macaroon said:

I worry King might not be tall enough to be a top class centre back. He may still be growing, though. He will make it in midfield if there’s a problem I’d think. 

Tierney is about 5’10 and looks like he could end up a CB in a 3 at a top, top club. 

[er yir macaroon]

1 hour ago, shug macdiarmid said:

Maldini was only 6ft 1" and the only defender I might rate above him, Baresi, was only 5ft 9". Tierney has shown how class and attitude are more important than height.

It’s not essential but if you’ve got Tierney as one of three centre backs, you’d want the other two to have good height. Hopefully he makes it to 6ft 3 in or so to make his life much easier. 

[er yir macaroon]

2 hours ago, Blantyre_Braveheart said:

Perhaps. He is still growing but I doubt he goes beyond 6"1.

He's the same height as Sergio Ramos and he is taller than Fabio Cannavaro and Carles Puyol, so it's not like there hasn't been "top class" 6 foot center backs. Nathan Ake and David Alaba are also both shorter than him. 

There is no denying it is a massive disadvantage, especially in the Scottish game. But if he works hard on the other aspects of his game, then he can surpass those more physical adept.

He can still make it of course at that height, but I’m also thinking about who he might be playing alongside e.g. Tierney.

The other thing is Gerrard ruled out McCrorie playing as centre half and he is about 6ft 2 in.

[mccaughey85]

plenty of top class centre backs have been 6ft or under in the last 20 years. 

[er yir macaroon]

48 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

plenty of top class centre backs have been 6ft or under in the last 20 years. 

I know but it’s a disadvantage, especially if your partner is 5ft 10 in. I’m still hopeful he ends up 6ft 3in but it’s not a deal breaker. 

Edited June 5, 2021 by er yir macaroon

[er yir macaroon]

4 hours ago, SWMM82 said:

Don’t need to worry about him being tall enough, the boy is the real deal, similar levels of potential to Billy Gilmour but obv in a different position. 
 

Also I’m understanding that Liam Morrison is moving up to Bayern’s second string and will be training with the first team soon.

That would be good news about Morrison. He looks a fantastic prospect.