Hickey and Hepburn to Bayern

[ahemps]

58 minutes ago, BingMcCrosby said:

Seen quite a few young rangers players linked with the big clubs recently as well.

According to McCoist Rangers are bigger than Chelsea and only Man City, Liverpool and Man Utd are bigger. If Celtic are equally as big then we already have a large proportion of our squad at big clubs. 

[Gunz]

On 07/08/2020 at 16:52, ahemps said:

That is unlikely for a country of our size although Belgium have done it and we are closer in population to them than Germany or Brazil. A more realistic aim is to have 3-4 top players and a bunch of players who are good players and sufficient to play to a managers plan. Lots of small countries that do well may only have 1 or 2 top players but the rest of the team are capable of playing to a good level and tactics. Apart from Bale and Ramsay Wales are pretty average but the rest of the team can play a good support role which has gave them a very successful recent spell. I think we almost have the supporting players but we just need a few gems to come through.

Something like the recent Croatia team would be a realistic dream IMO (not suggesting we will get to a World Cup final) especially if more players keep moving abroad. Just say in the next 5 years or so you had Tierney at Arsenal, Gilmour at Chelsea, Hickey and Hepburn at Bayern. Then perhaps a core of players playing at random clubs such as Everton, Hoffenheim, Fiorentina etc. Always felt sticking to the UK is something that has held the home nations back.

[senorsoupe]

On 07/08/2020 at 05:16, Carnoustie Young Guvnor said:

As for Harry Souttar, don't know why anyone would ask me obviously, but what other 21 year old CB's do we have at a similar level?  The answer is none, we don't have any.  McKenna is nearly 24 and still not got a move to that level, John Souttar the same.  Hanley is pish and at that level next year.

We don't have one single CB playing at a higher level, and none playing at an equivalent level that are as young as him.

Minor inconvenience, he's cap tied to Australia

[HuttonDressedAsLahm]

13 hours ago, Gunz said:

Something like the recent Croatia team would be a realistic dream IMO (not suggesting we will get to a World Cup final) especially if more players keep moving abroad. Just say in the next 5 years or so you had Tierney at Arsenal, Gilmour at Chelsea, Hickey and Hepburn at Bayern. Then perhaps a core of players playing at random clubs such as Everton, Hoffenheim, Fiorentina etc. Always felt sticking to the UK is something that has held the home nations back.

Seems plenty of young English lads have made the jump to Germany now.  Sancho has achieved more than any other English teenager in that time

[invergowrie arab]

If any of these players have half the talent of John Rankin, Michael Stewart or Grant Brebner then we have a golden age on the way.

Edited August 12, 2020 by invergowrie arab

[Grangemouth Bairn]

12 hours ago, senorsoupe said:

Minor inconvenience, he's cap tied to Australia

Did he not get something mental like 4 goals in his first 2 caps ??

Clarke mustn’t have thought he’d ever be good enough for Scotland ??

[Melanius Mullarkey]

16 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

Did he not get something mental like 4 goals in his first 2 caps ??

Clarke mustn’t have thought he’d ever be good enough for Scotland ??

Yes. Against Cambodian posties and Filipino joiners.

[senorsoupe]

5 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

Yes. Against Cambodian posties and Filipino joiners.

No, that's not true

They were Nepalese posties and Taiwanese joiners.  Either way being 6'6" against players of those nationalities presents a very distinct advantage when competing for headers!

[Melanius Mullarkey]

29 minutes ago, senorsoupe said:

No, that's not true

They were Nepalese posties and Taiwanese joiners.  Either way being 6'6" against players of those nationalities presents a very distinct advantage when competing for headers!

Nepalese, Taiwanese, Dirty knees, look at these.

[The Moonster]

Bologna seem to be pushing in the Italian media that they're confident of signing Hickey for £2M.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

3 hours ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

Yes. Against Cambodian posties and Filipino joiners.

Well hopefully the laddie develops well and plays at a major tournament for the Socceroos.

[Utter Roaster]

7 hours ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

Nepalese, Taiwanese, Dirty knees, look at these.

Reported for er...making me feel old? 

[BB_Bino]

At the ripe old age of 40, I have seen the nation produce some absolutely cracking teenagers, who could even beat world greats like Brazil, Holland, Italy and England however some how, just some how they don’t progress from “cracking teenagers” to “cracking adults” just nearly enough.

I keep my fingers crossed that the current crop, and those mentioned in the original post, can change this and become the real deal, but I’ve seen it so many times before that it all gets a little bit boring and repetitive.

Let’s keep hoping though [emoji1303]

[stuart87]

Do we really produce amazing teenagers? We hardly ever qualify for age group World Cups and European Championships.

[Carnoustie Young Guvnor]

3 hours ago, BB_Bino said:

At the ripe old age of 40, I have seen the nation produce some absolutely cracking teenagers, who could even beat world greats like Brazil, Holland, Italy and England however some how, just some how they don’t progress from “cracking teenagers” to “cracking adults” just nearly enough.

I keep my fingers crossed that the current crop, and those mentioned in the original post, can change this and become the real deal, but I’ve seen it so many times before that it all gets a little bit boring and repetitive.

Let’s keep hoping though

How many of them were at Bayern Munich?  I'm a similar age, and its undeniably the case that for almost all of the last 30 years we've been producing broadly shite teenagers, who did f**k all in age group football and f**k all as adults, with a few notable exceptions. 

That's the whole point, that's why we're excited, the kids we are producing now are a hell of a lot better than Mark Burchill and Stephen Hughes.  Billy Gilmour is one of the best teenagers in world football, there hasn't been a time when you or I have been alive that Scotland have had one of those.

[Carnoustie Young Guvnor]

Man City and Bayern are probably two of the three best club sides in the world right now. To have them both competing to sign a scrawny plooky kid from Hearts who just turned 18 and him just be another one of many we have like that is very exciting.  Your pessimism is misplaced.

[John Lambies Doos]

At the ripe old age of 40, I have seen the nation produce some absolutely cracking teenagers, who could even beat world greats like Brazil, Holland, Italy and England however some how, just some how they don’t progress from “cracking teenagers” to “cracking adults” just nearly enough.

I keep my fingers crossed that the current crop, and those mentioned in the original post, can change this and become the real deal, but I’ve seen it so many times before that it all gets a little bit boring and repetitive.

Let’s keep hoping though [emoji1303]

#genetics

[The Moonster]

Edinburgh Live reporting that Hickey wants assurances from Bologna "in writing" that he'll get first team football, according to some Italian news agency.

Not sure what I think here, to me if you've got the option to go and learn at Bayern Munich at 18 years old you take that with both hands, but would he be much worse served playing Serie A football every week, when he probably won't get a game in Germany?

[Carnoustie Young Guvnor]

1 hour ago, The Moonster said:

Edinburgh Live reporting that Hickey wants assurances from Bologna "in writing" that he'll get first team football, according to some Italian news agency.

Not sure what I think here, to me if you've got the option to go and learn at Bayern Munich at 18 years old you take that with both hands, but would he be much worse served playing Serie A football every week, when he probably won't get a game in Germany?

I think both would be good for him.  Would doubt that's true about in writing.

[Carnoustie Young Guvnor]

I wonder what a midfield with Hickey and Gilmour would look like.   

That's the thing about the kids we are producing these days, they can really fuckin play like.

Fifteen or twenty years ago we were producing mostly haddies with the odd gem, Celtic tbf technically good players, but now our kids are talented and technically excellent. 

Those two are small and weak and not fast which will be our weak spot as well as professionalism and exposure to top level football.  But they can really play.

Go on youtube watch a video of Hickey, see a kid at 17 who is comfortable spraying sixty yard crossfield passes against adults in the pro game with both feet that's fucking fantastic like and he does it all the time. 

He's playing against internationals every week even at this level, its no fuckin u19 football they dinnae muck about and he strolls it every week.  He definitely has what it takes to go very very far in the game.