Ben Doak

[Bzzzz]

Came on for the last 15/20mins of Liverpool's FA Cup game v Wolves.

Seriously, looks quality anytime he's near the ball, nippy, skillful, aggressive, intelligent and quick.

EASILY good enough for the first team right now! FIngers crossed we'll see him in the squad for the March double header.

Not been this excited about a young player for a long long time. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by Bzzzz

[Big Ramy 1314]

4 minutes ago, Bzzzz said:

Came on for the last 15/20mins of Liverpool's FA Cup game v Wolves.

Seriously, looks quality anytime he's near the ball, nippy, skillful, aggressive, intelligent and quick.

EASILY good enough for the first team right now! FIngers crossed we'll see him in the squad for the March double header.

Not been this excited about a young player for a long long time. 

I was gutted when he left Celtic, but this lad is a machine. Trust me, he is going places and thank fuck he is Scottish !!

[mccaughey85]

He looks exciting, clarkes gotta at least consider picking him for the squad if he keeps getting gametime. 

[Squirrelhumper]

He's playing more regularly than some rhat will hope to be in the squad.

[ProudScot]

Get him in defo 👍🏾

[theabsentee]

Agree with all comments, made a point of watching the 2nd half here on a winter break in Tenerife with the hope he would get on, he did & impressed. Looks totally comfortable at that level & he didn't seem at all faced, the boy knows he is good enough & is hungry to prove it👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

 

[Malcolm]

People were saying the same about billy gilmour last year - remember him?  Let’s wait and see if he can break in to the first team and Get a regular spot. If he can he should be considered for the squad.

[vanderark14]

8 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

People were saying the same about billy gilmour last year - remember him?  Let’s wait and see if he can break in to the first team and Get a regular spot. If he can he should be considered for the squad.

yeah, lets not praise any youngsters or talk about them till we see if they become the real deal. Thats a good idea🙄

[Malcolm]

1 minute ago, vanderark14 said:

yeah, lets not praise any youngsters or talk about them till we see if they become the real deal. Thats a good idea🙄

praise them yes….   Pick them, no.  Once they become established, then yes.

[vanderark14]

Just now, Malcolm said:

praise them yes….   Pick them, no.  Once they become established, then yes.

I'd happily see them picked for the national squad to give them the experience. I don't see any negative in doing that, it does no harm at all. 

 

 

[Malcolm]

5 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

I'd happily see them picked for the national squad to give them the experience. I don't see any negative in doing that, it does no harm at all. 

 

 

if he has an Irish granny I would agree. Give him a few minutes in the next game

[ProudScot]

42 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

if he has an Irish granny I would agree. Give him a few minutes in the next game

If he had an Irish granny he would have been capped by them when he was at Celtic!

[DAVIDB46]

We do this all the time , yes the lad looks promising . but running on for 10 minutes in a cup tie every few weeks , does not make you ready for competitive international football. 

[Tartan blood]

1 hour ago, Malcolm said:

praise them yes….   Pick them, no.  Once they become established, then yes.

Are you saying we shouldn't have picked Gilmour? He's generally been above average to excellent for Scotland. He's struggling for game time at the minute but he has gained a lot of premier league experience at a very young age. He is still a huge talent that deserved the recognition he got for Scotland.

I'd say there is absolutely no harm in picking Doak for the squad. We don't have to start him, or even play him for more than a few minutes, but integrating him into the squad and getting to know his inevitable future teammates can only be beneficial for everyone. Andy Robertson will keep him grounded.

[Tartan blood]

15 minutes ago, DAVIDB46 said:

We do this all the time , yes the lad looks promising . but running on for 10 minutes in a cup tie every few weeks , does not make you ready for competitive international football. 

I'm not sure many people here are saying he should be thrown straight into the first 11. 

The majority, if not all, of Tierney, Patterson, Hickey, Gilmour, Ferguson, McTominay, Porteous, Turnbull and Doig are all going to be heavily involved for Scotland for the next 7-10 years. We should be introducing Doak to this group of players as early as possible. 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Tartan blood

[Malcolm]

39 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

Are you saying we shouldn't have picked Gilmour? He's generally been above average to excellent for Scotland. He's struggling for game time at the minute but he has gained a lot of premier league experience at a very young age. He is still a huge talent that deserved the recognition he got for Scotland.

I'd say there is absolutely no harm in picking Doak for the squad. We don't have to start him, or even play him for more than a few minutes, but integrating him into the squad and getting to know his inevitable future teammates can only be beneficial for everyone. Andy Robertson will keep him grounded.

ok, I’m not totally against the idea, but we need to be careful about who we omit at his expense.  In my view it should be hard to get in to the squad but equally if you are in the squad you shouldn’t be dropped Willy billy for the next big thing.

we do have an alarming number of our top players not getting a regular game at the moment.

 

[breeks_mctavish]

1 hour ago, Tartan blood said:

Are you saying we shouldn't have picked Gilmour? He's generally been above average to excellent for Scotland. He's struggling for game time at the minute but he has gained a lot of premier league experience at a very young age. He is still a huge talent that deserved the recognition he got for Scotland.

I'd say there is absolutely no harm in picking Doak for the squad. We don't have to start him, or even play him for more than a few minutes, but integrating him into the squad and getting to know his inevitable future teammates can only be beneficial for everyone. Andy Robertson will keep him grounded.

Exactly, Gilmour has had several excellent games for Scotland and contributed to some great results. His career has gone a bit off track lately. Hopefully he can turn it round. But it was certainly no mistake to include him for most of his caps.

[thesaint]

4 hours ago, Tartan blood said:

Are you saying we shouldn't have picked Gilmour? He's generally been above average to excellent for Scotland. He's struggling for game time at the minute but he has gained a lot of premier league experience at a very young age. He is still a huge talent that deserved the recognition he got for Scotland.

I'd say there is absolutely no harm in picking Doak for the squad. We don't have to start him, or even play him for more than a few minutes, but integrating him into the squad and getting to know his inevitable future teammates can only be beneficial for everyone. Andy Robertson will keep him grounded.

Agree completely on both points. Billy Gilmour is a major talent and will come through this difficult time in his career. He is still only 21 for heavens sake and has experienced football at the highest level. The sort of ability he has doesn't just dissapear. As for Doak get him involved with the squad. What is there to be lost in doing that? 

[Arbroath1320]

7 hours ago, Malcolm said:

praise them yes….   Pick them, no.  Once they become established, then yes.

Some of us are old enough to remember the exciting Celtic youth team of 1970. The player everyone was looking forward to seeing in a Scotland shirt was Vic Davidson. There were other players in that team - such as Dalglish and McGrain - but they did not generate the same level of excitement.

But even Davidson was eclipsed by the Hibs starlet of that era - Peter Marinello. 

And the moral of the tale? Keep your fingers crossed for Doak but let's not get carried away quite yet...

[Bzzzz]

8 hours ago, Malcolm said:

People were saying the same about billy gilmour last year - remember him?  Let’s wait and see if he can break in to the first team and Get a regular spot. If he can he should be considered for the squad.

I didn't think Gilmour was good enough, and that's after watching him for years at youth level... so I'm no judge obviously but Doak looks exciting. 

[Tartan blood]

10 hours ago, Malcolm said:

ok, I’m not totally against the idea, but we need to be careful about who we omit at his expense.  In my view it should be hard to get in to the squad but equally if you are in the squad you shouldn’t be dropped Willy billy for the next big thing.

we do have an alarming number of our top players not getting a regular game at the moment.

 

I could see your point if Clarke was about to choose a tournament squad with a maximum of 26 players. But he can choose as many or as little as he wants for every other game. So he can call up all the guys he was going to anyway and just add Doak in. 

I'll totally understand if Clarke doesn't include him in March. His time will come. But if he does get called up and gets some minutes, he would probably be close to the youngest cap ever for Scotland. Certainly the youngest in the modern era.

[DAVIDB46]

Still think we are stuck between a rock and a hard place , so many of our regular starters don’t get much club football action or not really in clubs long term plans .

The good thing for Doak is that Liverpool are very much having a transitional season, maybe he will get more action than i expect 
 

 

[mccaughey85]

26 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

I could see your point if Clarke was about to choose a tournament squad with a maximum of 26 players. But he can choose as many or as little as he wants for every other game. So he can call up all the guys he was going to anyway and just add Doak in. 

I'll totally understand if Clarke doesn't include him in March. His time will come. But if he does get called up and gets some minutes, he would probably be close to the youngest cap ever for Scotland. Certainly the youngest in the modern era.

Pretty sure he would be the youngest ever. 

[Diamond Scot]

Said it before, im not one for sticking in the flavour of the month as I think its a good thing to have a settled squad and make people earn call ups.

However every now and then (happening more often these days) a player comes along that its so obvious will become a full international that there is little benefit in them playing in the U18 / 21s.

I believe Doak falls into that category in the same way Gilmour and Hickey did and to a lesser extent Patterson.

If we were super strong in forward areas then maybe keep him waiting but its likely that he would take the place of somebody like Brown, Fraser or Turnbull so its not like the strength of the 1st team is going to be affected.

[thesaint]

30 minutes ago, Diamond Scot said:

Said it before, im not one for sticking in the flavour of the month as I think its a good thing to have a settled squad and make people earn call ups.

However every now and then (happening more often these days) a player comes along that its so obvious will become a full international that there is little benefit in them playing in the U18 / 21s.

I believe Doak falls into that category in the same way Gilmour and Hickey did and to a lesser extent Patterson.

If we were super strong in forward areas then maybe keep him waiting but its likely that he would take the place of somebody like Brown, Fraser or Turnbull so its not like the strength of the 1st team is going to be affected.

As i said before nothing to be gained by not bringing him into the squad.Let's see how he reacts when he is involved with the top squad.Could be a surprise to our opposition as he is still just about going under the radar(Scotland fans aside).Could be a good option on the bench.