BigWeegieDosser Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Wasn't there on Saturday, was away in snow bound Oban, but my son reckoned their second moved a fair bit in the air apart from dipping in too. Seems harsh to apportion the blame to Ripley exclusively TV would suggest Lasley could've been sharper in closing down the space available for the shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 on the ripley debate he's a very good "young" keeper and i hope we sign the lad at the end of the season a couple of more years (if he stays here) he will develop into a solid goal keeper we have to look at ourselves as a developing club in a lot of ways and we have to be more patient with certain players He signed a 3 year deal with Boro in July just there so I doubt we could afford to sign him at the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Given his comments in the Times recently, it sounds like he's not even sure he'll be here after January (despite wanting to stay on). I assume that's why we brought in Samson - to step in if Ripley does head back south. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezz Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Whilst we're talking about keepers - I've noticed the last few weeks that Twardzik hasn't even been getting a look in for the U20's. I assume if we can keep Ripley past Jan then Dan will likely be off if someone wants him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Whilst we're talking about keepers - I've noticed the last few weeks that Twardzik hasn't even been getting a look in for the U20's. I assume if we can keep Ripley past Jan then Dan will likely be off if someone wants him? Yes, Dan Twardzik just seems to have disappeared off the radar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Yes, Dan Twardzik just seems to have disappeared off the radar. I'd noticed that as well then he popped up in the u20s game against Falkirk a couple of weeks ago but was out again vs Hibs the next game. Before the Falkirk game the last time he appeared for the 20s was 15th September vs Dunfermline which was the day Samson signed. Given our somewhat bloated squad or more accurately the fact that we have a number of players who aren't seeing any game time at all on our books, I wouldn't be surprised if he was looking to move on in January, or at the very least loaned out until the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotts Well Fan Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Not sure this is in the right place. Just been looking through the Daily Record's 50 top Scottish young players and we only have Dom Thomas (top 10 not yet published) and he is in the high thirties. Cant see anyone making the top 10. This is very worrying to my mind and re-enforces the need to get our youth system functioning again. I know this is Les's ambition and may take a few years but is evidence of the absence of a youth policy under recent management teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 The Daily Record is bog roll 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillibenesque Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Not sure this is in the right place. Just been looking through the Daily Record's 50 top Scottish young players and we only have Dom Thomas (top 10 not yet published) and he is in the high thirties. Cant see anyone making the top 10. This is very worrying to my mind and re-enforces the need to get our youth system functioning again. I know this is Les's ambition and may take a few years but is evidence of the absence of a youth policy under recent management teams. Whilst I agree that the Daily Record isn't worth the paper it's written on (and has an horrific website) I think the articles seem to bear out the quality of our youth. In past years there were always several players in the various under-age Scotland squads, however I'm not sure if we have any at present. We seem to have been completely overtaken by Hamilton, Kilmarnock and possibly even Partick in producing quality youngsters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Of course, the other issue is that it's a bit of a lottery at that age. Not saying we couldn't do better, but there are many players who shine at an early age then disappear while others do the exact opposite. We have Thomas because Celtic thought he was too small, and guys like McHugh and Moore, who scored goals for fun in the U20s for a couple of seasons, never quite managed to make the step up. I'm sure if Erwin was still with us, he'd be on that list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 I don't think it's something we aren't aware of though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Had a look at the player thing. Don't think it means anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_mfc Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Haven't read this article as I agree that the daily record is guff however from what I have read on here it seems to the annual party line from the media up here whenever Celtic get put of Europe ,Scottish football is shite! As stated above its nothing that we don't already know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superward Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 It's just someone's/some folk's opinion in the paper. Wouldn't read too much into it. What worries me more is the lack of representation we have in Scottish youth teams compared to former years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigWeegieDosser Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 It's just someone's/some folk's opinion in the paper. Wouldn't read too much into it. What worries me more is the lack of representation we have in Scottish youth teams compared to former years. Sadly any representation at Scottish youth level almost never carried through into the first team. Much criticism of the U20s lately, I can see their point , watching the footage it looks poles apart from genuine competitive football, the gulf between it and SPL is massive. Needs revamping to close the gap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi-1991 Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 Bring back the reserves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Harrow Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 Ruddy was a class keeper, Randolph all in all the best we have had in a very long time. These two guys may have raised the expectations a bit much. Ripley seems competent for his age and would probably be on a par with a more experienced but lesser keeper in Samson. The likely scenario is Ripley goes, no1 is Samson with Dan no.2 and a re-address for next season. Would make some me sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 Whilst I agree that the Daily Record isn't worth the paper it's written on (and has an horrific website) I think the articles seem to bear out the quality of our youth. In past years there were always several players in the various under-age Scotland squads, however I'm not sure if we have any at present. We seem to have been completely overtaken by Hamilton, Kilmarnock and possibly even Partick in producing quality youngsters. I think we have failed attrociously in developing youth players over the last 5 or 6 years but other Premiership clubs haven't done much better. This season there are only 10 U21 players who have come through their clubs youth system and managed more than 5 starts in the league this season and 7 of them come from 3 clubs (and 3 of them from Kilmarnock). Half the clubs in the league don't have a single player that falls into that category - Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Motherwell, Ross County and St. Johnstone. Meanwhile almost 50% (47%) of all the players in the league are non Scots. That level of player development is absolutely pathetic across the board and something really needs to be done. For the record the 10 players are Callum Paterson (Hearts) 21 Liam Polworth (Inverness) 21 Craig Slater (Kilmarnock) 21 Scott Fraser (Dundee Utd) 20 Sam Nicholson (Hearts) 20 Liam Lindsay (Partick) 20 John Souttar (Dundee Utd) 19 Greg Docherty (Hamilton) 19 Mark O'Hara (Kilmarnock) 19 Greg Kiltie (Kilmarnock) 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 If it's any consolation, McGhee is quoted in an interesting Scotsman article today: The development of young Scottish footballers is the big issue right now. In the debate sparked by Strachan almost everyone agreed we weren’t doing it right. McGhee concurred but was already working on a model for how Motherwell could improve their own system. That was something he and chairman Brian McCafferty agreed should be part of the remit for his return. The model is still a work in progress and therefore under wraps but McGhee, brimming with enthusiasm, will tell me it’s no re-hash of what’s gone before but “radically different”. Young footballers, while participating in a team game, will be encouraged to think of themselves as – here’s that word again, an important one in McGhee’s book – “individuals”. There will be greater emphasis on “personal responsibility”. The players will have to become “almost selfish”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbcmfc Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 I think we have failed attrociously in developing youth players over the last 5 or 6 years but other Premiership clubs haven't done much better. This season there are only 10 U21 players who have come through their clubs youth system and managed more than 5 starts in the league this season and 7 of them come from 3 clubs (and 3 of them from Kilmarnock). Half the clubs in the league don't have a single player that falls into that category - Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Motherwell, Ross County and St. Johnstone. Meanwhile almost 50% (47%) of all the players in the league are non Scots. That level of player development is absolutely pathetic across the board and something really needs to be done. For the record the 10 players are Callum Paterson (Hearts) 21 Liam Polworth (Inverness) 21 Craig Slater (Kilmarnock) 21 Scott Fraser (Dundee Utd) 20 Sam Nicholson (Hearts) 20 Liam Lindsay (Partick) 20 John Souttar (Dundee Utd) 19 Greg Docherty (Hamilton) 19 Mark O'Hara (Kilmarnock) 19 Greg Kiltie (Kilmarnock) 18 That's a pretty worrying stat! I'd have expected most teams to have maybe 2 players in that bracket. Do they still have the rule about having under age players on the bench? I'm sure at one point, you had to have 2? Players under 23? On the bench, but even if you had 2+ In the starting 11, you still had to have 2 on the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 From the glimpses I've seen we have the best batch of youngsters we've had for some time. Thomas, Cadden, Watt, McLean and one or two others look capable. Hopefully they can continue their cup run this season and be ready to step up next season. This follows on from the recent success of Erwin and I think Moore would have been in the same bracket if it wasn't for injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 From the glimpses I've seen we have the best batch of youngsters we've had for some time. Thomas, Cadden, Watt, McLean and one or two others look capable. Hopefully they can continue their cup run this season and be ready to step up next season. This follows on from the recent success of Erwin and I think Moore would have been in the same bracket if it wasn't for injury. At least two of those players probably won't be here next season as they're getting frustrated at the lack of opportunities offered to them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 The question for any youngster is "will I get more first team football at a better team or will I need to drop down a level?" There's merit to dropping down, but it's early days and they might see more playing time in the New Year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 The question is does their ambition match their talent? Very few of young players go on to better things - maybe Steven Lawless is an exception but Alan Martin's career should be a warning to those who can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superward Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 At least two of those players probably won't be here next season as they're getting frustrated at the lack of opportunities offered to them... Watt and Thomas signed contracts until 2018 recently so I cant see them gling anywhere. I assume you are talking about Cadden and McLean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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