Tony Ralston

[ProudScot]

Called up for the Denmark game. Very much deserved & IMO would be the best option to start the match with Patterson suspended. 

[Toepoke]

Excellent news, get him straight in the team. 

 

[Blantyre_Braveheart]

Very much deserved. He is a great example of hard work to improve yourself and grabbing your chance when given it. Any young player struggling at 21-23 should look to Ralston for inspiration.

That may sound like hyperbole but it isn't. The guy went from mocking and questions being asked why he was given a new one year deal, to being one Celtic's best performing players, getting a new long term deal and a Scotland call up all in the space of 5/6 months. 

 

Though I am a little surprised, I didn't think Clarke would call up another RB.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Blantyre_Braveheart

[Bobby Russell's Lovechild]

Pleased with this, but can't imagine Clarke starting him in still a pretty important game whilst O'Donnell is there

[Caledonian Craig]

This is a surprise but a good move and it could bee a move that spells curtains for Stephen O'Donnell in the long term. I would be a little surprised if Ralston starts but would expect him to make a substitute appearance at some point in the match. It certainly beefs up the squad.

[Malcolm]

Think he might get a run for ten minutes or so depending on how the game pans out

[PapofGlencoe]

Fully deserved.  

Edited November 14, 2021 by PapofGlencoe

[86glebestreet]

Some turn around for Ralston, well deserved, 

[Guest Scot1]

Happy for the lad, he has deserved his place in the squad for his performances so far this season. Don’t expect him to play unless SOD gets injured during the match. But it’s the first step in his international career 👍.

[Tartan blood]

10 hours ago, Blantyre_Braveheart said:

Very much deserved. He is a great example of hard work to improve yourself and grabbing your chance when given it. Any young player struggling at 21-23 should look to Ralston for inspiration.

That may sound like hyperbole but it isn't. The guy went from mocking and questions being asked why he was given a new one year deal, to being one Celtic's best performing players, getting a new long term deal and a Scotland call up all in the space of 5/6 months. 

 

Though I am a little surprised, I didn't think Clarke would call up another RB.

Absolutely. Not quite the same arc as Andy Robertson, but not too dissimilar. The vast majority of people would have left Celtic a year or 2 ago. But he obviously has the self-belief to make it. I remember reading that him and Tierney had a bit of a friendly rivalry when they were both breaking through. Obviously Tierney won that battle, but Ralston is catching up now!

I wonder if this will be O'Donnell's swansong. If Ralston is still flying by March, and Patterson actually plays for Rangers, can O'Donnell's inclusion be justified much longer? (Fyi I love SOD and it'll be a sad day when he is phased out)

[Caledonian Craig]

12 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

 

I wonder if this will be O'Donnell's swansong. If Ralston is still flying by March, and Patterson actually plays for Rangers, can O'Donnell's inclusion be justified much longer? (Fyi I love SOD and it'll be a sad day when he is phased out)

Indeed. O'Donnell has been a good, loyal servant to the squad who turns up regardless and was an integral part of the team that got us to the Euros. However, there are now better options out there and he is slipping down the pecking order. Our squads need to be selected on the basis of talent and form not loyalty.

[Third Lanark]

45 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Indeed. O'Donnell has been a good, loyal servant to the squad who turns up regardless and was an integral part of the team that got us to the Euros. However, there are now better options out there and he is slipping down the pecking order. Our squads need to be selected on the basis of talent and form not loyalty.

This all fits in with Clarke's philosophy of growing the squad organically. With youngsters coming through, SOD will be gradually phased out in the way Fleck has been and Gallagher, given their ages. 

Regards Denmark, SOD is also on a booking so Ralston may well start.

[Tartan blood]

54 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Indeed. O'Donnell has been a good, loyal servant to the squad who turns up regardless and was an integral part of the team that got us to the Euros. However, there are now better options out there and he is slipping down the pecking order. Our squads need to be selected on the basis of talent and form not loyalty.

O'Donnell at his best is a more than worthy first teamer. But I really wish he'd gotten a move to a bigger team than Motherwell. No disrespect to them, but if he wants to elevate his game to the next level, he won't be able to do that there. I think he's  probably plateaued now because of it. But he's still young. 29, I think. But Ralston is, what, 7 years younger. We'll need to be bedding in the next generation of talent as soon as we can. 

Even though Turnbull is only getting token minutes at the moment, it's still great he has been integrated in the last year. It's far better to have the likes of him, Ralston, Ferguson etc than aging squad members who are not going to improve the first team e.g Fleck, Gallagher, Considine etc

[tjm007]

Good to see some competition for the understudy to Patterson.

[Guest Scot1]

26 minutes ago, tjm007 said:

Good to see some competition for the understudy to Patterson.

Ramsey at Aberdeen coming through, alongside Ashby at West Ham, right back / wing back looks to have good competition for the place. Personally think that Patterson looks to have the highest ceiling, from what I’ve seen. But the likes of Ramsey and Ashby are still really young and will make jumps forward in their progress.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Scot1

[Big Ramy 1314]

It's about fuckin time Tony got a call up. This is exactly the type of player you want your young players, and old, to follow. This lad was written off a year ago, I'm guilty, but he worked his socks off. I have the pleasure of watching this man every week. He is a warrior. Knee cap him in the 39th minute, and he will be out on one leg ready to start the 2nd half.. He bleeds for his jersey. He is no Tierney or Robertson, but when he pulls on the dark blue, Anthony Ralston will go through a fu kin brick wall for Scotland... Well done young man.... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[weekevie04]

How brilliant is it to have competition for a position we've really struggled with.

Patterson has earned the starting spot for now, IMO - set up the winner v the Faroes ; scored on Friday, and gives us athleticism and pace too. Ralston is a very good understudy and I would like to see him even start on Monday. I love SOD as well, but if Ralston is pushing on and a new Rangers man plays Patterson we might well have another KT/Robbo intial (not any more) problem on our hands..

How we can dream of that luxury.

As someone said in the match thread, people are beginning to know the players, there is genuine talent and hard working pros coming through for us. Just hope we can find a goalscorer, it doesn't look it from U21-19 level etc, but then again folk like O'Donnell, Ralston can pop up out of relative nowhere. Kevin Nisbet was playing for Raith 3 years ago etc.

[Big Ramy 1314]

8 minutes ago, weekevie04 said:

How brilliant is it to have competition for a position we've really struggled with.

Patterson has earned the starting spot for now, IMO - set up the winner v the Faroes ; scored on Friday, and gives us athleticism and pace too. Ralston is a very good understudy and I would like to see him even start on Monday. I love SOD as well, but if Ralston is pushing on and a new Rangers man plays Patterson we might well have another KT/Robbo intial (not any more) problem on our hands..

How we can dream of that luxury.

As someone said in the match thread, people are beginning to know the players, there is genuine talent and hard working pros coming through for us. Just hope we can find a goalscorer, it doesn't look it from U21-19 level etc, but then again folk like O'Donnell, Ralston can pop up out of relative nowhere. Kevin Nisbet was playing for Raith 3 years ago etc.

Good post..👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Texas Pete]

15 hours ago, Toepoke said:

Excellent news, get him straight in the team. 

 

 

15 hours ago, ProudScot said:

Called up for the Denmark game. Very much deserved & IMO would be the best option to start the match with Patterson suspended. 

If he starts ahead of O’Donnell why was O’Donnell in the squad ahead of him?

I would be amazed if O’Donnell doesn’t start tomorrow. Ralston has been brought in  for injury cover I think. 

[Tartan blood]

6 minutes ago, weekevie04 said:

How brilliant is it to have competition for a position we've really struggled with.

Patterson has earned the starting spot for now, IMO - set up the winner v the Faroes ; scored on Friday, and gives us athleticism and pace too. Ralston is a very good understudy and I would like to see him even start on Monday. I love SOD as well, but if Ralston is pushing on and a new Rangers man plays Patterson we might well have another KT/Robbo intial (not any more) problem on our hands..

How we can dream of that luxury.

As someone said in the match thread, people are beginning to know the players, there is genuine talent and hard working pros coming through for us. Just hope we can find a goalscorer, it doesn't look it from U21-19 level etc, but then again folk like O'Donnell, Ralston can pop up out of relative nowhere. Kevin Nisbet was playing for Raith 3 years ago etc.

I'd like to think that instead of hoping someone appears out of nowhere, the coaches at youth level are being proactive and scouring Scotland for the best young strikers and getting them into the performance schools. 

If I'm not mistaken, the 21s didn't even play with a recognised centre forward the other day. That is scandalous, and must be remedied. The good thing about having such a young squad is that even if we have to wait 5 years for a top quality striker to emerge, the majority of this group wil still be together. Being impatient, I would rather one apparates into existence long before then. 

It wasn't so long ago that we seemingly no right backs. Who knows, maybe all the buses will come at once in the striking department.

[weekevie04]

1 minute ago, Texas Pete said:

 

If he starts ahead of O’Donnell why was O’Donnell in the squad ahead of him?

I would be amazed if O’Donnell doesn’t start tomorrow. Ralston has been brought in  for injury cover I think. 

I agree with you, but sure Clarke has done that before.

[Texas Pete]

3 minutes ago, weekevie04 said:

I agree with you, but sure Clarke has done that before.

Has he? When? I’m not disagreeing I just can’t remember. 

[Texas Pete]

Clarke might consider starting Ralston to ensure O’Donnell doesn’t pick up a booking tomorrow which would rule him out of the play off semi but I’m not sure if that will come into his thinking. 

Bookings carrying forward to the playoffs is an absolute disgrace. 

[todd]

2 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Clarke might consider starting Ralston to ensure O’Donnell doesn’t pick up a booking tomorrow which would rule him out of the play off semi but I’m not sure if that will come into his thinking. 

Bookings carrying forward to the playoffs is an absolute disgrace. 

If one of the bigger nations ends up in the play offs with crucial players suspended the rules may suddenly change!

[Texas Pete]

Just now, todd said:

If one of the bigger nations ends up in the play offs with crucial players suspended the rules may suddenly change!

The rules should be changed anyway. The SFA should lodge a complaint with UEFA. 

We could end up with several players being suspended after playing 10 games and be drawn against a team in the playoffs which has only played 8 games. How is that fair?