Stephen O’Donnell

[ropy]

O’Donnell did 2 bad things, his poor crosses, and he is a donkey.

Patterson did one good thing, his involvement in the goal, and he is a world beater.

That has been the level of debate.

Will O’Donnell battle it out with McGinn for the jersey in the next international break?

[Detournement]

O'Donnell hasn't let Clarke down yet. He'll start the Israel game for sure.

Reading people pretending he's miles out his depth when he's consistently put in solid performances over 12 months is tedious. 

[Mean Gene]

19 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

What do I base that on ? Well, probably the fact that he's played only a handful of senior games and has not been seriously tested defensively in any of them. 

And also the fact that defensively against Moldova, he was rank. 

As pointed out above, SoD obviously has limitations and over the course of time possibly Patterson or Ramsey will become Scotland's 1st choice right back. 

But last night....defensively...he was tremendous. 

 

I get the game situation. For what it’s worth he started 2 Europa League last 16 games and a 45 mins last 32, scoring with almost his first touch. He didn’t look out of place, physically and ability wise. On top of that he played an entire Old Firm which he coasted.

For me, Patterson was not rank defensively, I get he had a few shaky moments but overall his contribution to the game was decent. He provided a genuine option for the midfield to pass to down the right and after a shaky start, generally kept possession of the ball. 
 

I could go through about 10 separate incidents where SOD made an absolute c*nt of it, the favourite being where he ballooned the ball back to Gordon trying to play a back pass. The whole defensive thing… for me people only think he’s tremendous because they expect so little from him. 

[Bing.McCrosby]

Wonder why Everton bid for patterson and not O'donnell?

They need to speak to some of the scouts on here.

[craigkillie]

Is it because Patterson is 19 and O'Donnell is 29? Just a thought.

[craigkillie]

I get the game situation. For what it’s worth he started 2 Europa League last 16 games and a 45 mins last 32, scoring with almost his first touch. He didn’t look out of place, physically and ability wise. On top of that he played an entire Old Firm which he coasted.
For me, Patterson was not rank defensively, I get he had a few shaky moments but overall his contribution to the game was decent. He provided a genuine option for the midfield to pass to down the right and after a shaky start, generally kept possession of the ball. 
 
I could go through about 10 separate incidents where SOD made an absolute c*nt of it, the favourite being where he ballooned the ball back to Gordon trying to play a back pass. The whole defensive thing… for me people only think he’s tremendous because they expect so little from him. 

There's major revisionism here. Rangers got a bit of doing against Slavia in the last 16, and the big problem was the absence of Tavernier and Jack with their replacements not being up to their level. Again, that's not a surprise for a 19 year-old, but he got a bit of a free pass because you're happy to judge players on potential as much as you are ability.

[Mean Gene]

3 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

Is it because Patterson is 19 and O'Donnell is 29? Just a thought.

That’s part of it yes. Patterson could still be playing under 19 football at this moment but looks comfy playing men’s football. SOD is 29 and looks petrified anytime the ball comes near him. 

[Bing.McCrosby]

Just now, craigkillie said:

Is it because Patterson is 19 and O'Donnell is 29? Just a thought.

Again craig, id rather not converse with you anymore.

[Bonksy+HisChristianParade]

20 minutes ago, BingMcCrosby said:

Wonder why Everton bid for patterson and not O'donnell?

They need to speak to some of the scouts on here.

There’s people on here claiming SoD is better than Tavernier ffs. Absolute fruitcakes. If he was, Rangers might have, you know, signed SoD when he was available. But they didn’t, because he’s not. 

[Bonksy+HisChristianParade]

2 hours ago, Barney Rubble said:

Thankfully I am not one of them.

The lowest rated player on the BBC site was Craig Gordon.

And talk sense - a full back with 23 international caps for Scotland is not 'fucking shite on the ball'.

No, he isn’t. Gordon is 4th. 
 

[ropy]

13 minutes ago, Bonksy+HisChristianParade said:

There’s people on here claiming SoD is better than Tavernier ffs. Absolute fruitcakes. If he was, Rangers might have, you know, signed SoD when he was available. But they didn’t, because he’s not. 

Who is claiming that, I’ve missed that.

[Bing.McCrosby]

Just now, ropy said:

Who is claiming that, I’ve missed that.

Oh its been said a few times!

Barney rubble and 2237383 or whatever hes called! 

Who i think are actually the same person so maybe just 1 person thinks that.

[ropy]

1 minute ago, BingMcCrosby said:

Oh its been said a few times!

Barney rubble and 2237383 or whatever hes called! 

Who i think are actually the same person so maybe just 1 person thinks that.

Your own fault for reading his posts.

[Barney Rubble]

7 minutes ago, Bonksy+HisChristianParade said:

No, he isn’t. Gordon is 4th. 
 

Not when I looked he wasn't.

Your opinion on SOD and mine differ, I accept that.

This narrative that a guy who has 23 caps and is trusted by a manager who had two seasons working with him is 'fucking shite on the ball' doesn't wash though.

He is trusted by his manager for a reason.

Would that the supporters showed a similar level of trust in the manager's ability to choose the right options depending on the opposition. Assuming everyone is fit and healthy, I would expect SOD to start v Israel for the reasons stated above. Patterson needs to work out the Tavernier conundrum, because until he is preferred by his club manager against middling to decent opposition, his case for being chosen for Scotland before SOD is seriously weakened.

[Bing.McCrosby]

Just now, ropy said:

Your own fault for reading his posts.

 christ I know, this was a few wks ago. I dont anymore

[eez-eh]

1 hour ago, Detournement said:

O'Donnell hasn't let Clarke down yet. He'll start the Israel game for sure.

Reading people pretending he's miles out his depth when he's consistently put in solid performances over 12 months is tedious. 

That’s just complete pish though, he was awful in the Euros opener.

[ropy]

1 minute ago, eez-eh said:

That’s just complete pish though, he was awful in the Euros opener.

I thought McTominay was poor in that match, O’Donnell was under utilised.  Views were decided on his performance when he miscontrolled the first ball.  Others had greater flaws.

[eez-eh]

1 minute ago, ropy said:

I thought McTominay was poor in that match, O’Donnell was under utilised.  Views were decided on his performance when he miscontrolled the first ball.  Others had greater flaws.

Agreed, McTominay was also poor and they weren’t the only ones. I don’t think McTominay has ever done particularly well in a midfield role under Clarke.

I’ve nothing against O’Donnell, seems a decent guy, but he’s had a few stinkers.

[DukDukGoose]

It's clear for anyone to see that O'Donnell is an average to good SPFL Premier League player.

That doesn't mean he can't have evenings like last night when he outperformed himself. Why anyone would try and play down his performance is beyond me. What a waste of energy.

Hilarious that we're using metrics such as the BBC player rater to judge a players performance.

[AJF]

Lets be clear, O'Donnell never played badly last night. It was his lack of end product that most people are holding against him but in a 1-0 away victory against Austria then you will take that performance all day.

However, right/wing back (along with striker) is most definitely one of our priority positions that we need to upgrade on - and I don't imagine I'd be alone in having that opinion. People are quick to say that O'Donnell is criticised for every mistake he makes but the exact same happened with Patterson. The advantage that Patterson (and Ramsey for that matter) has here is age and potential.

We are often critical about not giving young players an opportunity and I think this is a great time to do so, particularly in a position where the player they'd replace has had an average/mediocre international career - which is not intended to be insulting at all, just realistic.

Edited September 8, 2021 by AJF