Phewww!!

[DoonTheSlope]

 

[BoundaryFault]

My new favourite thread.

I was joking about Duncan Ferguson on another thread, but could someone like that, or maybe Scott Brown, do a reasonable job with the U-21s?

 

[syecosse]

About time, hopefully a whole new positive set up top to bottom......or maybe not. 

Thinking of Scots involved with youth Kevin Thomson and Darren Fletcher(although would be sutprised if he would be interested).

[Burj_Alba]

Fantastic opportunity for the new manager and under 21 coach to align and get some sort of cohesion in structure so that the transition from under 21 to senior squad should be easier. Like Spain and others do.do

It has always seemed that they were two completely distinct jobs and setups, now a chance to change the whole approach.

[daviebee]

7 minutes ago, Burj_Alba said:

Fantastic opportunity for the new manager and under 21 coach to align and get some sort of cohesion in structure so that the transition from under 21 to senior squad should be easier. Like Spain and others do.do

It has always seemed that they were two completely distinct jobs and setups, now a chance to change the whole approach.

Is it too much to hope that this is what's going to happen and why the announcement has happened now?

Probably.

[TDYER63]

3 minutes ago, daviebee said:

Is it too much to hope that this is what's going to happen and why the announcement has happened now?

Probably.

I am vaguely intrigued that there may be something interesting happening,  but my head tells me its nothing more than coincidence. 

[syecosse]

Just seen this about Gemmill

No tournaments made in 13 years. 4 attempts. 

Highest position 4th. 

30 games lost v 21 won. 

[scotlad]

Thank goodness for that! 🙌

[Hertsscot]

1 hour ago, syecosse said:

Just seen this about Gemmill

No tournaments made in 13 years. 4 attempts. 

Highest position 4th. 

30 games lost v 21 won. 

And the style of football has been dreadful more often than not. I'm sure he's tried he's hardest but I'm glad that things are going to be freshened up.

[DoonTheSlope]

1 hour ago, syecosse said:

About time, hopefully a whole new positive set up top to bottom......or maybe not. 

Thinking of Scots involved with youth Kevin Thomson and Darren Fletcher(although would be sutprised if he would be interested).

Hopefully it’s at the request of a new manager who will bring his own man in like Vogts did with Bonhoff

Get the age groups playing the same style as the first team so any promotion through the ages is an easier transition

[Diamond Scot]

Steven Thompson would be an excellent choice. Really buys into youth development.

Maurice Ross or John Kennedy would be good shouts aswell.

Id like to see the U21s and even younger age groups focussing on calling up the best potential and then trying play an agressive but still technical style. Im not so fussed on results.

[Yosemite Sam]

Haven't been on here for a few days so when I saw the topic heading 'Phewww!' I assumed it was in relation to England's World Cup exit 😄

The actual topic is also fully deserving of the Phewww mind

[immcinto]

1 hour ago, DoonTheSlope said:

Hopefully it’s at the request of a new manager who will bring his own man in like Vogts did with Bonhoff

Get the age groups playing the same style as the first team so any promotion through the ages is an easier transition

Or at least someone with coaching abilities that will convince young players to play for u21 rather than rejecting that path like Hickey and others

[Caledonian Craig]

I would like to think the SFA have woken up but I doubt it. 

Who takes over? Someone of the ilk of Scott Brown would do well I think.

[Ally Bongo]

48 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I would like to think the SFA have woken up but I doubt it. 

Who takes over? Someone of the ilk of Scott Brown would do well I think.

They have got off the hook and avoided any huge backlash by England not winning the World Cup

 

[vanderark14]

16 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I would like to think the SFA have woken up but I doubt it. 

Who takes over? Someone of the ilk of Scott Brown would do well I think.

Same here, if this is about changing things from top to bottom then I'm all for it. It's long overdue 

 

[bonzo]

On 7/18/2026 at 1:07 PM, syecosse said:

Just seen this about Gemmill

No tournaments made in 13 years. 4 attempts. 

Highest position 4th. 

30 games lost v 21 won. 

Prime candidate then?

[biffer]

On 7/18/2026 at 2:35 PM, DoonTheSlope said:

Hopefully it’s at the request of a new manager who will bring his own man in like Vogts did with Bonhoff

Get the age groups playing the same style as the first team so any promotion through the ages is an easier transition

That's what I'm hoping as well. Need to structure the system better

[Malcolm]

they will get Rainer Bonhof back in when Berti gets a second chance at the big job.

[NE TA in the weeg]

Does the SFA have a Director of Football?  A particular person who the national team coach, all the age group coaches including u21 and heads of the performance academies report to?

Changing the manager and u21 manager at the same time is an opportunity to look not just at individuals, but at the whole organisation.

[Scots_Wha_Hae]

21 minutes ago, NE TA in the weeg said:

Does the SFA have a Director of Football?  A particular person who the national team coach, all the age group coaches including u21 and heads of the performance academies report to?

Changing the manager and u21 manager at the same time is an opportunity to look not just at individuals, but at the whole organisation.

Essentially yes, it’s Craig Mulholland. They call him Chief football officer rather than director of football.

[NE TA in the weeg]

10 minutes ago, Scots_Wha_Hae said:

Essentially yes, it’s Craig Mulholland. They call him Chief football officer rather than director of football.

Right, ok.

I'd suggest this is also an area where we're underperforming then.  EDIT: Andy Gould had accepted Gemmil's years in position without demanding higher performance against measurable targets such as u21 players making the step-up to the national squad, the CFO wasn't doing their job either.

Look at Germany's reset in the lead-up to the 2006 world cup - whilst a lot of the focus was on Klinsmann as the new national coach, the assocaition put a huge amount of time and effort into getting the structure right as well (although the WC2006 probably came too early for them, as the u11-u18 director Matthias Sammer wasn't in place until Spring 2006).  And now, after their underperformance at USA2026, the'yre not just repalcing Nagelsman as head coach: Per Mertesacker is coming in as Technical Director.

.

EDIT: I looked up the date of Mulholland's appointment.  It's too recent to blame him for the longstanding failures in Scottish football.  His predecessor Andy Gould probably deserves more of the finger pointing, but so do the SFA: Gould only left to take up a position at FIFA - it doesn't look like he was under any pressure to improve.

Edited July 28 by NE TA in the weeg

[Tartan blood]

58 minutes ago, NE TA in the weeg said:

Right, ok.

I'd suggest this is also an area where we're underperforming then.  EDIT: Andy Gould had accepted Gemmil's years in position without demanding higher performance against measurable targets such as u21 players making the step-up to the national squad, the CFO wasn't doing their job either.

Look at Germany's reset in the lead-up to the 2006 world cup - whilst a lot of the focus was on Klinsmann as the new national coach, the assocaition put a huge amount of time and effort into getting the structure right as well (although the WC2006 probably came too early for them, as the u11-u18 director Matthias Sammer wasn't in place until Spring 2006).  And now, after their underperformance at USA2026, the'yre not just repalcing Nagelsman as head coach: Per Mertesacker is coming in as Technical Director.

.

EDIT: I looked up the date of Mulholland's appointment.  It's too recent to blame him for the longstanding failures in Scottish football.  His predecessor Andy Gould probably deserves more of the finger pointing, but so do the SFA: Gould only left to take up a position at FIFA - it doesn't look like he was under any pressure to improve.

I heard that there was a new appointment at the SFA in the last couple of weeks. A position related to development. Is that Mullholland? Seems like too big a coincidence that Gemmill left his position at the same time as a new appointment.

I really hope big changes are afoot.