Scottish players in action 21/22

[Super_Scotlandfan]

Some goal from Karamoko Dembele live on bbc2. 

[mccaughey85]

13 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

Yeah I’d have him in. For me he gives you more than Armstrong for example

Just a question of commitment but if he shows he's dedicated this time round then I think he should be forgiven for his lack of dedication in the past.

He provides pace and the ability to beat a man. 

[bookerman]

6 minutes ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

Some goal from Karamoko Dembele live on bbc2. 

Someone needs to ask the question and find out if he intrested in playing for the under 21s. Easy to forget how young he still is.

[Tartan Chris]

10 minutes ago, Super_Scotlandfan said:

Some goal from Karamoko Dembele live on bbc2. 

I mentioned him a few weeks ago when talking about his brother playing for Birmingham.

Endless hype years ago but didn't work out at Celtic so he's hard to drop down a bit to get his career going. Interested if he can reach the top level in time or fizzles out like Ollie Burke has to be a championship mid table player.

Endless he's 100% committed to Ivory Coast he's still potentially an option for the 2024-26 period.

[Tartan Chris]

17 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Sorry but I so disagree. John McGinn is our top scorer and talismanic. The Georgia match is one we need to win for a few reasons and score plenty of goals. That being the case McGinn has to start. I too would like to Ferguson start though and hopefully both will start.

That's fair enough. Keep McGinn in for Georgia away. 

Norway at Hampden will be a party atmosphere so you'd like to think can make 2-3 changes for that from regular team and players should thrive off it.

Very slim chance of winning the group now with the final two games Spain have unless have to get two wins to make pot 2 for the finals draw?

[Tartan Chris]

9 hours ago, syecosse said:

Jordan Holsgrove scored a great free kick winner for Estoril in an away win against Porto, definitely worth checking out. 

Interesting. Never heard of this guy so was expecting 18/19 year old but seems he's 24 and on loan at Estoril from Olympiakos!  Also played 5 games for Celta Vigo in La Liga in 21/22.

Feels a bit of the path Barry Douglas had before Wolves picked him up and he eventually got some caps before fading out.

[syecosse]

3 hours ago, Tartan Chris said:

Interesting. Never heard of this guy so was expecting 18/19 year old but seems he's 24 and on loan at Estoril from Olympiakos!  Also played 5 games for Celta Vigo in La Liga in 21/22.

Feels a bit of the path Barry Douglas had before Wolves picked him up and he eventually got some caps you've  before fading out.

You've never heard of him played u17s to u21s for Scotland  had a year frozen out of football because of a fall out between Celta B and the first team, but on to a second good year in Portugals top flight, in the Ryan Gauld and Andy Irving file of outsiders doing well in decent leagues but not with top sides. 

[Gala Tartan Army (Borders)]

Hickey out for remainder of 2023 due to hamstring injury.

Struggling for full backs for upcoming double header. 

[Tartan blood]

5 hours ago, breeks_mctavish said:

Wait… no strikers?

Craig, is that you?

You can't beLevein I'd suggest no strikers? 😋

I love Dykes, but if he is unavailable for whatever reason, I'd be tempted to play McTominay up front over a non-goalscoring benchwarmer from Southampton. (If that continues to be Che Adams role)

[The Black Bra]

14 minutes ago, Gala Tartan Army (Borders) said:

Hickey out for remainder of 2023 due to hamstring injury.

Struggling for full backs for upcoming double header. 

Pish!

So that’s Robertson, Tierney and Hickey out for the next 2 qualifiers. Did I hear Gunn is out as well? So guessing it will be Patterson & Taylor as FBs.

Thank fuck we’ve already qualified!

[breeks_mctavish]

36 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

You can't beLevein I'd suggest no strikers? 😋

I love Dykes, but if he is unavailable for whatever reason, I'd be tempted to play McTominay up front over a non-goalscoring benchwarmer from Southampton. (If that continues to be Che Adams role)

Only joking bud, totally get your point. Seemed too good an opportunity to miss 😉

We do seem to have more midfielders than we know what to do with. In recent years Man City have played many times without a recognised forward in the team, but not sure our players have the experience or nous to make the system work without a recognised forward. Club teams have more time to perfect different tactical systems. I’d be very surprised if we lined up without Adams or Dykes up front.

[Caledonian Craig]

11 hours ago, Tartan Chris said:

That's fair enough. Keep McGinn in for Georgia away. 

Norway at Hampden will be a party atmosphere so you'd like to think can make 2-3 changes for that from regular team and players should thrive off it.

Very slim chance of winning the group now with the final two games Spain have unless have to get two wins to make pot 2 for the finals draw?

An option for both to play would be to perhaps start with a midfield of maybe McTominay, Gilmour, McGinn and Ferguson.

[Caledonian Craig]

6 hours ago, The Black Bra said:

Pish!

So that’s Robertson, Tierney and Hickey out for the next 2 qualifiers. Did I hear Gunn is out as well? So guessing it will be Patterson & Taylor as FBs.

Thank fuck we’ve already qualified!

Mores the point who will Taylor and Patterson's back-ups be? I'd say probably two from Max Johnston, Josh Doig and Anthony Ralston.

[Caledonian Craig]

Grant Hanley in action for Norwich U-21s:-

https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/23901609.norwich-city-grant-hanley-plays-under-21s-lose-spurs/

[mccaughey85]

7 hours ago, Gala Tartan Army (Borders) said:

Hickey out for remainder of 2023 due to hamstring injury.

Struggling for full backs for upcoming double header. 

Great chance for Patterson to show what he can do.

[The Black Bra]

2 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

An option for both to play would be to perhaps start with a midfield of maybe McTominay, Gilmour, McGinn and Ferguson.

We could try different combinations of McGregor, Ferguson and Gilmour as the two deeper midfielders over two games.

Would like to see Ferguson start at least one game with Gilmour beside him. Wouldn’t hurt to give McGregor a rest and the other two could be playing together for years to come.

[The Black Bra]

2 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Mores the point who will Taylor and Patterson's back-ups be? I'd say probably two from Max Johnston, Josh Doig and Anthony Ralston.

Has Ralston been playing much for Celtic?

[Caledonian Craig]

9 minutes ago, The Black Bra said:

Has Ralston been playing much for Celtic?

I know he played the full 90 minutes yesterday. Pretty sure he has played other games too.

[BryanBlessed]

Thank goodness we've already qualified. Assuming Taylor comes in at LB/LWB and Patterson at RB/RWB. I'm yet to be convinced by Patterson and he hasn't really made the progress we hoped though I appreciate he's had injuries.

Ryan Fraser has probably done enough to be back in and I was quite surprised when he wasn't picked up by another EPL team.

 

[bigfingers]

I don’t mind Ralston, think he’s fairly solid and will do a job if called upon. 

[mccaughey85]

8 minutes ago, bigfingers said:

I don’t mind Ralston, think he’s fairly solid and will do a job if called upon. 

I don't mind him either. End of the day we have qualified already and Patterson will probably start anyways. Ralston is just going to be back up. If he gets a few minutes then fair play to the lad, he seems like a honest lad who works hard.

[Caledonian Craig]

12 minutes ago, bigfingers said:

I don’t mind Ralston, think he’s fairly solid and will do a job if called upon. 

Indeed. He has a bit of experience for us and showed he can be relied on and even scored a goal for us too. A capable third or fourth choice option to be fair.

[ProudScot]

Hickey out is a huge blow. Thank god we’ve qualified indeed.

Always liked Ralston, he will be a fine backup to Patterson. 

Aslong as nothing mental like O’Donnell being called up happens!

[breeks_mctavish]

2 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

Hickey out is a huge blow. Thank god we’ve qualified indeed.

Always liked Ralston, he will be a fine backup to Patterson. 

Aslong as nothing mental like O’Donnell being called up happens!

From the last round of games, it appears that Max Johnson is next in line after Patterson. 
 

Ralston would be a contender for next backup. Also, Harrison Ashby has played a number of games in the Championship this season. Looking further ahead, Calvin Ramsay finally seems to be coming back from injury. 

[Tartan blood]

10 hours ago, breeks_mctavish said:

Only joking bud, totally get your point. Seemed too good an opportunity to miss 😉

We do seem to have more midfielders than we know what to do with. In recent years Man City have played many times without a recognised forward in the team, but not sure our players have the experience or nous to make the system work without a recognised forward. Club teams have more time to perfect different tactical systems. I’d be very surprised if we lined up without Adams or Dykes up front.

Well with our 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice left backs out, and pretty much none of our established strikers on form, maybe we should take this opportunity to really experiment with formation and players. I think we have the depth nowadays to handle this injury and form "crisis" that we are currently in.

This is the first time in decades that even just a couple of injuries to key players isn't an utter disaster.  We actually have some quality players that aren't even getting in the squads right now:

Fraser, Turnbull, Gauld, Doak, Ralston, Ramsay, Shankland, Campbell, Gordon, Forrest, Burke, McBurnie, Stewart, Hyam, Morrison (that's just off the top of my head)

Injuries tend to be when fringe players get a chance to shine. Who knows, maybe someone will force their way into Clarke's plans.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Tartan blood