Latest / Scots With A Mic / The Big Summer Catch-Up

Transcript

The Big Summer Catch-Up · Scots With A Mic

0:06
Welcome. To the boys listen to the.
0:17
Passion and come to far. It's John again.
0:19
It's done it's that's today. We're going to be doing a 2526
0:29
preview for the season ahead. I'm joined today by familiar
0:31
faces Aaron Mackintosh and Joe Mctaggart.
0:34
I'm your host Finn Crocker and let's start with some managerial
0:39
movement in the championship, Aaron.
0:40
There's been a lot of movement between managers, obviously
0:43
Brian Gray and rejecting the managerial role at Partick
0:45
Thistle a few with along with a few other movements.
0:49
What do you think of it? Very strange when you think
0:52
about going back to the playoffs.
0:55
I mean, for me, Brian Graham's been Thistle's main man for how
1:00
many years now? When did he join, 2020?
1:03
I think he joined. He's been their star player ever
1:06
since then. And, you know, since he was
1:08
appointed, February time, March time, I think it was.
1:12
He's been so adamant that you wanted that job.
1:16
And, you know, you kept saying every game that was on the
1:19
television, every game that was on your radio, every game that
1:22
was mentioned, the part he said I want the job, I want the job.
1:27
What happens? He gets offered the job and you
1:31
know, he doesn't want it. It's strange one, I kind of see
1:35
it because there's so many off the field.
1:37
I mean, we're seeing it now. How many off the field issues
1:39
arise at this moment in time. It's not strange, but you kind
1:44
of yeah, if he wants to prolong his playing career over a
1:48
managerial career, which could, you know, you could have
1:50
another, you know, he's in fine. You know, he's a he's a fine
1:53
figure of a player. You can have another 2345 years
1:57
at least if he really wanted to in the top of his profession.
2:01
And he's going to Falkirk and he's going to I think he's a
2:04
great signer for Falkirk and I think he's going to do a good
2:07
job there. And and you know, Falkirk gained
2:12
his Thistle's loss. Yeah, I, I think you, you got to
2:15
consider maybe what's going on behind the scenes at Partick
2:17
Thistle as well. If you know, he's, he's been
2:19
given a more detailed plan for what they were able to spend in
2:23
the summer and maybe wasn't happy with that.
2:25
Or on the flip side of if Falkirk were able to offer him
2:28
more than part of Thistle could. And like you said, maybe
2:31
prolonging his, his career. You know, obviously Falkirk back
2:34
in the Premiership. It's quite, it'd be quite an
2:36
attractive offer for him to maybe go in, try and and keep
2:40
them up, at least have a good season with, with Falkirk I.
2:44
Think I think he's going to be a great signing for Falkirk, I
2:46
really do. I think the only thing I said
2:49
about Falkirk is who's going to get the goals for them.
2:53
I've said it before, the last two seasons they've had, you
2:57
know, every sort of player scored, they've had midfielder
3:00
scored, winner scored. They don't really have a natural
3:02
#9. He's.
3:04
Added that situation straight away.
3:07
You've had him, you should get goals.
3:09
Yeah, I mean, Scott Arfield was doing some of the heavy lifting
3:11
towards the back end of last season.
3:13
I. Mean, how many important goals
3:14
did he score? I mean, he scored.
3:16
I think he scored twice on his debut.
3:18
I think it was a hat trick on his debut, yeah.
3:20
Hat trick? Yeah, exactly.
3:23
He's going. They're both experienced
3:25
players. You think he wants another shot
3:27
at the Premiership and I think it's a great signing for
3:31
Falkirk. I really, really do.
3:33
I think you need, I think there's been talks before John
3:37
Mcglin wanting to reunite him. I think he was going to try and
3:40
resign them for Race Rovers. You know, I do remember rumors
3:43
going around that he might be going back to Race Rovers when
3:46
John Mcglin was the manager. John Mcglin was the manager who
3:48
signed them for Race Rovers for Morton and pretty much saved his
3:52
career. No, he was not going anywhere
3:54
more. And you know, there was so much,
3:57
if you might not remember, there was so much really bad stuff
4:01
that was getting said about him from certain things.
4:04
I think the manager at the time said that he needed to lose
4:07
weight and he was one of the thinnest players of the club.
4:09
You know, it's we things like that that just had that and he,
4:12
it took maybe about 3/4 of the season before he started getting
4:17
into rhythm of goals, scoring form.
4:19
And ever since then, he's become the striker who's scored goals
4:22
wherever he's been. Sorry, I'm, I'm not as with
4:25
Aaron, I mean, I think I think it's got potential to be a good
4:30
season for Brian Graham and Falkirk, but I think there's a
4:33
lot of things that we've got to take into consideration.
4:35
I think there's going to be a lot going on behind the scenes
4:39
of Brian Graham and like in his head, because he's come out of a
4:43
manager role to be back in the dressing room with players.
4:46
That was the reason he didn't he didn't stay with Partick Thistle
4:48
as a player on its own. Obviously it's well documented
4:52
that he turned down the job at Partick Thistle and I think
4:55
there's a whole host of reasons that the public will never know.
4:58
But I think we've seen over the years, I mean, the year just
5:04
gone was the first time in a while that two teams that come
5:07
up from the championship. There is a big gap in quality
5:09
between these. Brian Graham, I'm saying only as
5:13
if it was an unhealthy number. It's still a very good number
5:15
but we only got 15 goals last season.
5:17
That's the first year in quite a few years that he's not hit 20.
5:22
We can't ignore that. He's not the player it was two
5:24
or three years ago. I'm not slacking him.
5:26
I think he's still an excellent player at Championship level,
5:29
but I think it's easy to forget the gap there is when you're
5:34
taking the step up from the Championship to the Premiership.
5:37
As well as that, Falkirk aren't going to be on the front foot in
5:41
every game or even going to have as many chances as Partick
5:44
Thistle has in the Championship. John Mcglinn said that to Sky
5:47
when the Frictures were announced last Friday.
5:49
Fans have to realise that they're not going to be as
5:51
successful, they're not going to be turning up his favourites to
5:54
many games, maybe even any games.
5:56
So Brian Graham and the Falkirk attack need to realise that the
6:00
chances they get that quite often are going to be few and
6:02
far between. They need to be even more
6:05
clinical and I feel that could be a bit of a shock to a system
6:07
for Brian Graham, who is used to playing against these defences
6:12
in the Championship and get the better of them physically.
6:15
But there's a much more tactical side to it in the Premiership.
6:19
Yeah, and then we saw obviously Mark Wilson was was appointed as
6:23
part of this little manager instead.
6:26
A lot of the fans were obviously, you know, he's got
6:28
their full support. They'll get behind the manager.
6:31
But they were unhappy that Brian Graham wasn't given the job.
6:35
And I saw quite a few saying the board need to walk.
6:37
You know, they're really unhappy that they've not been able to
6:40
get Brian Graham over them. So we'll see what happens next
6:43
season. Moving on, Dougie Emery, there's
6:46
a lot of noise about him. He stayed at Greenock Morton.
6:50
Neil Lennon signed the new contract at Dunfermline as well,
6:53
keeping him there until 2027. You know, he came in, brought
6:57
players like Victor, One Yaman, you know, big names.
6:59
Obviously he got a red card in his debut so didn't go quite to
7:02
plan but you know, being able to to bring big names to the
7:05
Championship is is something that could be valued at
7:08
Dunfermline and could could help them pitch for Premiership
7:11
maybe. I think I think Dunfermline, I
7:15
think that's going to be the biggest season in the signing of
7:17
the season, getting Neil Lennon and you know, again, I think
7:22
they're going to have to really strengthen their squad.
7:25
I mean, they've been in the bottom half for a little while
7:28
now and I think they do. They've got a good chance and
7:31
we've all got a good chance this year of getting into those
7:34
playoffs. I think it's still a very.
7:36
Yeah, it's really open. Yeah, I think it's a really open
7:38
league. I think we're all, you know,
7:40
speakers, are we throwing support?
7:41
I think that we're still, I think we can get into the
7:44
playoffs. I think no, but I think Partick,
7:46
that's all fans will think, you know, all the rubbish that's
7:49
going on behind there. But if they get a good run of
7:51
games, if you get a good run of form, they can get in the air.
7:55
United have strengthened the game, you know, no, even though
7:59
with Ross County and then Johnston coming down, it's going
8:03
to be a very Open Championship again for those playoffs.
8:08
I think I know Aaron's been very diplomatic about it as a Ruth
8:15
Rovers fan talking about Dunfermline, and I imagine they
8:18
wouldn't want them to do that Well.
8:20
I think Neil Lennon was the best possible appointment.
8:23
Honestly think, I think the fans have realised this.
8:27
I'm glad the fans aren't taking it for granted, but I think the
8:30
potential that Neil Lennon could bring, I'm saying could because
8:33
he's not done it yet. I think when you have a in the
8:36
interim spell was a great example, but there's got to be
8:40
more of that over a sustained period.
8:43
But I'm not just saying about the contacts it'll bring, but
8:46
players will look at the experience that he's got and
8:49
honestly, Barr the end of the Celtic spell in his second stint
8:54
and his spell abroad, he's gone. I know he can.
8:57
Folks say he can be a bit of a meme and a laugh in Scottish
8:59
fruitlatten. He's got a stellar record.
9:02
He did well at Bolton until they faced financial issues Hebsi
9:06
brought up when they had other strong competitors in the league
9:10
and Dunfermline they managed to keep them up.
9:15
I know the points deductions, Hamilton, Aki's played a big
9:19
part in it, but I've got no I went to see them against
9:22
Livingston who ended up going up and I think it was Lenin's first
9:25
home game and honestly you wouldn't have known who was
9:29
second and 9th in that league at a time and that probably shows
9:33
on on his day. The Championship can turn into a
9:35
crazy league. I don't really know what to
9:37
expect from it this season with Arbroath, a part Time Team
9:40
coming into it, but they'll still hold their own in a lot of
9:43
games, I'm sure of it. But I think Neil Lennon has, if
9:48
there is someone out there to take Dunfermline to the level
9:51
that they've got the fan base to be capable of being in the
9:54
Premiership. And I hate talking about the
9:56
size of clubs because I partly don't believe in it at all.
9:59
But when you see the clubs and the fan bases and the geography
10:06
of a lot of the clubs that have been in the Premiership
10:07
recently, Dunfermline, Aaron's, Rate, Rovers, so many clubs have
10:11
got reason to be thinking there's no reason why they can't
10:13
be there either. And Dunfermline have
10:16
experimented with a few managers previously.
10:19
Michael Teds have been the perfect example, trying to get a
10:21
young up, up and coming guy. I saw where they were coming
10:24
from. It just didn't pay off and they
10:25
didn't have the time to give them more time.
10:27
Adding Neil Lennon, it just takes all the boxes.
10:31
I can see it being a really promising period, but Paris fans
10:36
have to be patient as well. I think just one thing there, I
10:39
think the, I mean, I don't think anybody would notice apart from
10:44
Dunfermline fans. They relied too much on Chris
10:47
Kane to for like half the season.
10:50
There was a period where I think, I think there was about
10:54
10-11, maybe 12 games. The only player that scored for
10:58
Dunfermline was Chris Kane and on goals it wasn't for the else
11:02
I mean. What I've what what I've said
11:05
for for years are in I I'm I'm I'm worthy of forgetting about
11:11
Kevin Nesbitt, but I would say since Kevin Nesbitt the firm and
11:14
haven't had a reliable goal scorer.
11:18
I, I sometimes find myself going back to Faizal, back to me
11:20
before, before I remember Kevin Nesbitt, but I feel like that's
11:24
what someone in the Championship needs.
11:27
And I thought Dunfermline, maybe they could have done it with
11:29
Falkirk eventually coming in for him.
11:30
But I thought Dunfermline should have thrown the kitchen sink at
11:33
getting Brian Graham because I know the money's there and
11:36
obviously it hasn't turned out that way.
11:38
I think there's real potential for Connor Young, who's come
11:40
from Edinburgh, came in January and I have full pre season,
11:43
could do him good. But I, I'm, I'm not talking
11:47
rocket science here. I'm sure Neil Lennon knows this.
11:50
A striker is what Dunfermline really need to take it up to the
11:54
next level. Yeah, anyway, moving on to the
11:57
Premiership, there's there's been a lot of movement similar
12:00
to Championship with managers. Obviously Stuart Kettlewell been
12:03
appointed Kilmarnock manager, a shock appointment for Stephen
12:06
Presley at Dundee which caused, you know, a lot of memes and a
12:09
lot of outrage from from fans. Jens Berthel Ascu appointed by
12:15
the well boss, sorry for a butcher in the name of a did.
12:17
And finally, obviously Russell Martin officially appointed
12:20
Rangers manager after all that speculation.
12:22
So there's been a lot of movement.
12:25
What do you guys think has been the best appointment and
12:27
probably the worst, which would be Stephen Presley?
12:32
We just going straight into the Stephen Presley slander, right?
12:35
Now, yeah, go on. It's not much, few years or you
12:42
know anything. You know, he's he's a football,
12:45
you know, pass the football guy. But why did he see that in his
12:48
press conference? Why did he see what he did at
12:51
his press conference? I mean, you, you know, you want
12:54
somebody, you know, really wanting to go for it straight
12:58
away in the season. I mean, we know that Dundee are
13:00
not, you know, going to win the Premiership.
13:02
We know that. But where's the ambition?
13:05
And you know, where's the where's the?
13:09
I like his honesty, don't get me wrong, but.
13:11
I was going to say that. Aaron, can I play devil's
13:13
advocate with you? Yeah, go on.
13:16
What if he said I am your guy to win trophies?
13:20
Well, yeah, I mean, but The thing is we don't know what's
13:22
going to happen this evening. They could do something
13:24
unbelievable. I'm not seeing the Premiership.
13:26
There is a Scottish Cup, there is a League Cup.
13:28
But if, if you're going to see that street, are we?
13:32
You want the fans on site, don't you?
13:33
You. Don't, yeah, you can say, you
13:35
can say you're not the right man for to win trophies, but you can
13:38
also say, you know, I want to change that.
13:40
I've got ambition at this club. I want to be the guy that
13:43
delivers the trophies. I've got a wee bit of a soft
13:46
spot for a stay in prison. My dad taught him at the school
13:48
and he's a lovely, lovely guy. So this is probably why I'm
13:51
fighting this corner a wee bit more than I normally would.
13:54
But I mean, I feel like that quote was taken really out of
13:57
context. I mean, he understood that
13:59
Dundee fans were, I'd say when that point was made, like a lot
14:03
of Scottish law fans confused more than anything because it
14:07
kind of came out of left field quite a lot.
14:10
And he kind of, I think he was trying to get him on board by
14:13
saying, I understand. I mean, you've not got a lot of
14:16
reason to be enthusiastic right now.
14:19
And if you listen to the full quote, he does say, I hope to
14:21
change that. But right now they have no
14:23
reason to think that I am. But I hope to change that.
14:27
That's that's what he said. And social media being it's
14:31
reactionary wonder circled in on a few of those words.
14:35
And I get it. And they're trying to get
14:38
quotes. And believe me, they got it.
14:39
Bloody hell. But I, I, I think, I think folk
14:44
have been a wee bit harsh on that quote.
14:46
I, if I was a Dundee fan I wouldn't be over the moon about
14:48
the appointment. And my main take away from the
14:51
appointment has been was it really worth sacking Tony
14:54
Docherty for? No, I mean, I mean, Stephen
14:58
Presley's came in. Obviously he's spent time down
15:01
in England everywhere, but most recently at Brentford.
15:05
But but there's been reports. Obviously there's a bit of a
15:08
Mexican connection at Dundee already, but they look to sign,
15:12
they look set to sign a Montre trio of George, oh, sorry, Jorge
15:16
Landeros, Jose Orias and Oscar Soto.
15:20
So oh. Well done, well done.
15:22
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
15:23
I've been practicing that. So yeah, obviously using those
15:26
funky connections already. I think they've already got
15:30
Porta. Porta, alas, is Mexican.
15:33
So kind of adding to that. Cohort send the boys to train
15:36
over there as well. Yes, they did.
15:39
I can't remember the name, but they did, yeah.
15:40
Saying a couple of young players over there to.
15:42
Play. So kind of kind of adding to
15:44
that Mexican cohort. It's quite unusual, but excited
15:47
to see who it is because Monterey obviously a big name.
15:49
I think they are at the Club World Cup currently.
15:54
So they're a big, big name, big club.
15:57
Obviously don't know too much about the players, don't watch
15:59
the Mexican League myself, but we'll see how they're coming and
16:02
do. So very for me, just the going
16:06
back to the Presley point when I think it is, I just think it's a
16:11
bit of a risk just because this is a guy who's not managed.
16:14
People say they're not managed in Scotland.
16:16
I mean he's not managed in senior football in about 6
16:21
years. Last job was at Carlisle United.
16:23
I'm sure that was in League 2 in England.
16:26
Wasn't success. I think he only lasted a few
16:28
months and I know that he's gone to Brentford.
16:31
He's gone near been, you know, part of the Academy, being part
16:35
of the coaching side. Then he might have learned
16:37
something completely. You know, you see what Brentford
16:41
are doing in the Premier League, It's quite remarkable the way
16:43
that they're playing. These young players are selling
16:46
them on, you know, profits and stuff like that are selling them
16:49
on brilliantly. And no, the young players are
16:53
still, you know, for me what I've heard are developing
16:57
brilliantly and the so be interested to see what he's
17:01
actually learned at Rentford. I think that's the thing you
17:03
need to see what he does with. I think it's more what is he
17:07
learnt from Brentford rather than what is he learnt from
17:11
Carolina is what is he learnt from Fleetwood Town And it's
17:15
just don't look at those. I think look at what he's going
17:19
to do at Brentford and see if he can do something like that.
17:22
Dundee you might, you might even be a good help for the young
17:26
players as well if he's been involved in player development.
17:28
If they've got good young players, I mean they have got
17:30
good young players, but they need more in the team, then
17:34
maybe getting somebody in player development is going to be a big
17:37
help for. Them.
17:39
Yeah, I mean, that's a good point.
17:42
Stuart Kettle, well appointed as Kilmarnett manager, obviously
17:45
replacing Derek Mcinnis after, I think I'm right to say, walked
17:48
away from Motherwell. Am I right to say that?
17:51
Yeah. Well, you can see that, yeah.
17:52
I think, I think he walked away from Motherwell.
17:54
It came out and said that he had said because of the abuse from
17:58
the supporters, yeah. So yeah, appointed as commander
18:01
manager replacing Derek McInnes. Obviously that'd be a hard, a
18:06
hard role to fill. Obviously Derek McInnes come in
18:09
and been so, so reliable. I'd say for for Kilmarnock,
18:12
steering them back into, you know, trying to get consistent
18:17
top six, obviously not going the way some seasons, but I think
18:22
it'll be quite hard for him to fill the books of Derek McInnes.
18:25
He's he was good for for Motherwell, I'd say.
18:27
But what do you guys, what do you guys see him doing next
18:31
season? It's hard, isn't it?
18:33
It's hard. What what what's successful for
18:38
Kilmarnock? That's the only thing this was
18:40
success getting into Europe is success in the Premiership.
18:45
Just really depends on what the classes, what success and and I
18:50
think, you know, again, we're talking about Stephen Brasley,
18:53
Stuart Kayla has done things at youth development, there's lots
18:56
of young players at Kilmarnock as well.
18:58
I think he'll thrive in that environment and thrive work with
19:03
Chris Burke. I've heard good things about his
19:06
Academy team and I think he might really enjoy working with
19:10
young players again. I think maybe that's the reason
19:12
why they've appointed him over, you know, you've seen what
19:16
Motherwell are doing. You know, they've point to
19:18
foreign managers in the space of how many months, 345 months or
19:22
so they're going for, you know, reliable people, people who work
19:29
in the youth Academy and to try and get this team with young
19:33
players playing further. So maybe that's the key to it.
19:36
Maybe he's not European football.
19:39
Maybe the key is developing the young players, getting them to
19:42
play as many games as you can in this season, try and get the
19:46
next. You know, we see what Bobby
19:47
Wales has done. He's gone to Swansea, he's done
19:50
good things at Cullinet. Can they do something else?
19:53
Can we get another Bobby Wales into that team with young
19:56
players? Can they get another David
19:57
Watson into that team with young players?
19:59
Maybe that's the reason why they've appointed them.
20:02
You touched you touched on what come on the fine success as
20:06
Ireland. That's a good point because
20:07
they've obviously had the high of Europe so recently they'll
20:11
also be so eager to chase that again.
20:13
But there's been so many mitigating circumstances I've
20:16
got in the way since. I think Dundee United's Hibs
20:21
really and Aberdeen really upped their game this season, so to
20:26
take over clubs that have those resources is going to be an even
20:30
bigger ask. They've also lost a manager,
20:34
Derek McInnes. I don't think, with all due
20:37
respect to Kilmarnagar, I think Macinnes had probably outgrown
20:42
his boots at Kilmarnock and I think they were never going.
20:46
It's like with Steve Clark, they were never going to be able to
20:48
get someone in with as much expertise as the guy that had
20:52
just left. No disrespect to Killwell, I
20:55
think Kettlewell was probably a good fit for Kilmarnock.
20:57
I think is still a football works really well, hence they've
21:00
signed a six foot 7 striker or something and that'll be an
21:04
absolute joy to watch at Celtic Park I'm sure.
21:08
But I, I think the most that these clubs like your
21:12
Kilmarnocks and Dundies and those that were in and around
21:16
the relegation zone but were never in too much danger either
21:19
last season. I think the most that they can
21:20
really ask for is to be where St.
21:22
Mirren are, is getting top six and being very comfortable
21:26
having a really compact team and not changing too much every
21:30
year. And if you get top 6 from there,
21:33
maybe build on Europe, maybe build up to Europe in the split.
21:37
But that I don't think Europe can be an expectation for a lot
21:40
of these clubs. Yeah, I agree.
21:44
Moving on to Motherwell, obviously it's a bit of an
21:46
unknown. Their new manager, he was most
21:49
recently head coach in Sweden, IFK, Gothenburg, Gothenburg.
21:55
Joe, you, you can correct me on that.
21:56
It's it's Gothenburg, since that's, I thought it turned it
22:00
from. Yeah, that's where from.
22:02
You'll know. Well, that's where Aberdeen won.
22:03
There, Yeah. Gothenburg.
22:05
Oh yeah. Aberdeen supporter.
22:09
Well, I thought. It might be Gothenburg but I
22:12
wasn't sure. I didn't want to presume it's
22:14
spelt weirdly. It's spelt in the Swedish way.
22:17
Yeah, obviously he's he's been assistant manager at Sparta
22:20
Prague and most recently Copenhagen.
22:24
He spoke highly of Jimmy Talin from his time in Sweden in his
22:26
press conference and obviously mentioned Russell Martin from
22:30
their time as as teammates at Norwich when he was a player.
22:33
He's a bit of an unknown, so I think we'll just have to wait
22:37
and see for what he gets up to. But anyway, Russell Martin
22:41
officially appointed as Rangers manager.
22:44
There's been a lot of noise about, you know, Davidia
22:46
Enchilatte Russell Martin first was was reported to have
22:50
rejected the job and and obviously now officially
22:54
appointed. It was such a vital appointment
22:57
after the takeover was officially announced.
23:00
What do you guys think of the appointment, first of all?
23:02
And secondly, what do you think he has to do to get not only the
23:06
fans keeping the keeping the fans on his side, but also, you
23:10
know, trying to trying to break that Celtic dominance and, and
23:14
you know, it's, it's hard, but go for the title.
23:17
I think what he used to do is get the fans on site quickly.
23:22
Not a lot of them. When I say not a lot of them,
23:25
usually you see some people say I didn't, you know, I think
23:27
they've looked at him as what he was as a player.
23:30
Maybe he was on loan there and wasn't highly regarded.
23:34
That's completely different now. You know, how long has it been
23:37
since he was a player at Rangers?
23:39
It's been a few years now. He's been in management for a
23:42
while now. He's, you know, been successful.
23:45
You know, he's played a good value and good brilliant style
23:49
of play. And I think it's something
23:52
that's a little bit different. I think coming in same we're
23:56
going to play this sound style of play and he knows what.
24:00
No, there's no, there's no getting away from it.
24:03
I mean, we know what he's going to bring and that's what, you
24:06
know, the style of play and what he's going to bring.
24:09
He's not going to change his style.
24:12
I mean, but I think I've just remembered there now.
24:16
I think when he was at NK Dons, there was some fans, some
24:21
supporters, some maybe a fan group in particular that didn't
24:25
like the way that they were playing.
24:27
I think they were 15th or something like that.
24:29
And League One at the time. I think they were League One at
24:32
the time and and you know, he said we're not changing the way
24:36
we're playing. We were the highest in
24:38
possession in this league. We might not be scoring goals,
24:42
but I believe in this team. I believe in this group.
24:45
And so I think, you know, there's no, there's no get away
24:49
from that. We know what he's going to bring
24:51
in terms of style play. What he needs to do is get the
24:54
fans on side, get a good run in Europe as well.
24:57
That's the main thing. And can you judge somebody after
25:02
one season? No, that's the only thing.
25:03
I mean, I mean, this is the first summer in a while that the
25:07
range of appointed a new manager starting in the summer, if you
25:09
get what I mean. You know, Philip Clement was
25:12
appointed mid season and you know, Van Bronkos was
25:14
appointment season. Beal was appointed mid season.
25:17
So he's starting. It's like it's starting the
25:20
whole thing. No fresh up from no grand level
25:22
up. And what he needs to do is get a
25:26
good run in Europe, get a good run of games in the in the
25:29
Premiership when at the hardest venues as possible.
25:33
I don't people are seeing the title race might be narrower.
25:38
I don't see it. It could be, but I just don't
25:41
see it. So getting a trophy on board,
25:45
getting a League Cup, getting a Scottish Cup, one of the two
25:48
success, that's a success, that's a trophy and getting a
25:53
good run in Europe and that's a good starting point and then
25:56
keep building and building up. An embarrassing result versus
26:01
Iceland losing 3 went at home. It was a bad day off for
26:04
Scotland but I'd say an even worse one for Kieran.
26:07
Slicker came off the bench after 7 minutes to make his debut due
26:11
to another Angus gun injury. But within, you know, 60
26:14
seconds, 120 seconds, he gifted the ball to Iceland and Andrea
26:18
Good Johnson capitalised with what what you can only describe
26:22
as an excellent finish. Despite the mistake, the night
26:27
just got worse and worse. Luckily I missed it.
26:30
I was supposed to be going but I took a miss and gave my ticket
26:33
to my dad and I'm sure he enjoyed it a lot.
26:37
You're evil, you know that? You are so evil.
26:39
Yeah, what do you guys make of the game?
26:44
Do we have to talk about the game?
26:45
Horrible. We'll touch it and then we can
26:47
move on to the amazing game of against Lexus then.
26:51
I just want to talk about, I'll talk about Kieran Slicker, but I
26:54
don't want to talk about Kieran Slicker.
26:55
I want to talk about why he was in the position that he ended up
26:58
being. Because there's been a lot of
27:02
talk of oh, there was no one else.
27:05
There was no one else. If there was no one else, then
27:07
how come he was call able to call up someone else?
27:09
Afterwards he talked about how there was someone was that Cal
27:15
McKenna who'd been in training with the squad but wasn't part
27:19
of the match day squad. There was no reason that can be
27:22
Kieran Slicker as well or instead.
27:25
Well, well, I think, I think I just have to add that he wasn't
27:28
planned to be the number 2 on the day.
27:30
Robbie McCrory was actually supposed to be the number 2 but
27:34
was injured in the warm up. I realise that but to me any
27:38
goalkeeper that's in the match day squad should be in a
27:40
suitable position to come on if they need to.
27:43
And I mean if that if if not then what's the point in even
27:46
having him there? So I think it was a horrible
27:51
situation for him to be thrown into and I think Steve Clarke
27:55
has take the full responsibility.
27:56
I mean I think this was actually Slickers first appearance at
28:01
senior level. Don't he's ever played a league
28:03
game. Maybe a handful of League Cup
28:04
games. Yeah, he's played a few in the
28:05
cup, yeah. In FA Cup game for sure for
28:08
Ipswich, I think, I think for Rochdale as well, but.
28:11
Yeah, so I mean, he's not, he's not even played a league game
28:14
yet. So yeah, not, not great.
28:18
It reminded me a lot of it wasn't far off.
28:22
What happened to David Marshall getting his debut for Celtic.
28:26
He he had to come on, he came on at half time against Barcelona
28:31
and and at home and then played the second leg away to
28:34
Barcelona. Celtic ended up holding on to A1
28:37
nil win home and away and I feel like that was a make or break
28:39
for David Marshall's career. I really hope this isn't a break
28:43
for Kieran Sticker and he learns from it.
28:46
I know it's easier said than done.
28:47
I think Kieran Sticker's actually younger than me, which
28:50
is mental to mental to think it. If he's, if he's older, it's
28:53
marginal. So I really hope the whole team
28:56
gathers around him. We've got to be really careful
28:59
how we hand him in the future. But for me, Roston should have
29:02
been that third goalkeeper from the very start to prevent that
29:06
situation ever occurring anyway. I felt really sorry for him.
29:11
I have to admit. I felt really, really sorry for
29:13
him. You just, you know, you just
29:15
see, you've, I think we've all seen at one point they just
29:18
went. You just see a guy who's having
29:21
a shocker and there's nothing you can do about it.
29:23
And when it's a goalkeeper as well, it's even worse.
29:25
You know, You know, it should have been the proudest moment of
29:31
his career. Let's be honest, playing for
29:33
your country in front of Hampden Park, you know, in front of how
29:37
many was there, 30,040 thousand or so at night.
29:41
It should be the proudest moment of your career.
29:43
It's probably one of the worst moments of his career.
29:45
And I've really felt sorry for my thought.
29:48
There were certain things I didn't like in the crowd.
29:50
I mean, there was one thing where I think in the
29:52
second-half, you know, he went and gathered the ball.
29:55
I don't know if he's remember. I think you just said that he
29:58
went and gathered the ball and I think he grabbed it and, you
30:01
know, landed on on it. And I think just to be safe and
30:04
everybody just started the crowd.
30:06
No cheering, you know, clapping their hands.
30:08
And I just think there's no need for that.
30:11
I mean, he's had a shocker. He's a young guy as well.
30:16
You, you don't want to be in that position.
30:19
You know, I didn't want to be, you know, I wouldn't want to be
30:21
in that position. Could you handle being in that
30:23
position? I can't, you know, and it's just
30:27
I just so sorry for him. And you know, I hope, I do hope
30:31
you'll get another chance one day.
30:33
You know, I think he needs for me, he needs confidence.
30:36
He needs a good move on loan somewhere to get some regular
30:40
first team football. Listen, you'll get, I'm sure
30:45
you'll get another cap one day and I've got no doubt about
30:48
that. And I think we've got to be
30:50
careful with them. I think we're not in a good
30:53
situation with goalkeepers at this moment in time.
30:55
We've got to try and protect as many of the young guys as
30:58
possible at this moment in time. And I really hope for his sake
31:01
he gets a good loan somewhere this point in this summer and go
31:05
out, get some games under your belt and get your confidence up
31:09
and then you can come back and enjoy.
31:11
You know, your Angus Gunn will be back, Craig Gordon will be
31:13
back. You know Zander Clark will be
31:16
back. Glenn Kelly will be back.
31:17
Get gather him around these guys and he can learn from them and
31:24
he can learn from playing regular football alone
31:27
somewhere, League 2 if anywhere, and really get your confidence
31:32
back. Yeah, I mean, I think it does
31:35
highlight the the real issue we've got with the goalkeeping
31:38
department, kind of a crisis now.
31:39
I think Steve Clark actually mentioned it.
31:42
There was talks of Chris Brady switching allegiance from the
31:46
USA to to Scotland, 21 year old keeper at Chicago Fire in the
31:52
MLS, You know, real promise and talent.
31:56
You know, there's a lot of talk about him and he mentioned, you
31:59
know, he, he had ambitions to play international in the near
32:02
future, but he didn't really mind who that was for, whether
32:05
it was USA or Scotland. So there was quite some hope
32:10
around that, that he would be called up and there was rumours
32:13
about it, but unfortunately was called up to Moritzio
32:16
Pochettino's USA squad. So that's kind of ended any
32:19
hopes of that. And I think it just compounds
32:21
the the kind of crisis we've got.
32:22
You know, we've got these these veterans, you know, David
32:24
Marshall's now retired. Craig Gordon is what, 40?
32:29
He looks about 60, but he's 42. You know, Angus Gunn, he was
32:34
good when he came in, but there's been errors.
32:36
You know, he wasn't good at the EUR.
32:38
And you know, you think who is our first choice?
32:41
Angus Gunn was he was injured and then Zander Clark's injured.
32:46
Robin McCrory, You know, who do you think can step up into that
32:49
role? Because it is a big role.
32:50
There's nowhere you can hide as a goalkeeper who steps up into
32:54
that role and and, you know, takes us forward into that, you
32:58
know, hopefully new generation of, you know, promising talents
33:01
striving to to qualify for a World Cup.
33:04
It's hard, isn't it, because you've got got you've not really
33:06
got so many coming through this moment in time.
33:09
The under 20 ones looks like they're down to their bare bones
33:13
as well a little bit. And I think the way goalkeepers
33:17
do, one thing you can see about goalkeepers don't have that
33:19
train until they're, you know, in and around where Liam Kelly
33:22
is right now. You know 3031, don't you do
33:25
goalkeepers, you know, see what Craig Gordon's doing.
33:27
He, he, he'd been around for, how long is he playing football
33:30
for? I wish I did my research on how
33:32
long he's been playing football for.
33:35
Goalkeepers will be around forever and ever and ever.
33:38
If the the injury fit, the injury free the fit as a fellow,
33:44
you can really meet your potential 303132.
33:48
That's when you're at your peak as a goalkeeper, not at your
33:50
peak. You know, if you're a
33:52
midfielder, you're thinking your peak 26/27/28.
33:55
There's a lot more to come as a goalkeeper and I hope that, you
34:00
know, we just keep going with these guys that are and you
34:03
know, slicker is one of them. You know, Macquarie, he's not
34:06
far away from that age. I don't think it's 2627.
34:11
No, we need to keep we just seem to keep trying as much as we can
34:15
and you know, we just need to keep believing that we can
34:19
produce. You know, we've produced so many
34:21
good players with late of, you know, recent years or Aaron
34:23
Hecky's come out of, you know, the heart, you know, hell, or
34:27
was he when he was 1617, he played for belonging.
34:29
He's now, you know, he's now playing in the Premier League.
34:34
We got right backs available, we got centre backs, we got
34:37
midfielders. He's a goalkeeper.
34:40
You know, it was never, never a problem.
34:42
A few years ago we had Alan McGregor, we had David Marshall,
34:46
you know, Trey Gordon, all three of them in their crime, wanting
34:50
to be that number one. And you could argue any of them
34:52
could have been. I think, I know, I know we're
34:56
going to come on to the player that's been strongly rumoured
34:59
for a while and Chris Brady, who's not quite been ruled out
35:02
for Scotland yet because he's only made friendly appearances
35:04
for America. But I think there's a case we
35:07
made for Scott Bain because he's just made his permanent move to
35:11
Falkirk. I know his, let me get this
35:14
right, his last game for Celtic was him coming on as a
35:21
substitute for a minute and Joe Hart's last ever game at Celtic
35:25
Park. And before that he came on as a
35:28
substitute because Joe Hart got sent off and then played the
35:33
subsequent game after which was a way to Motherwell.
35:36
So he's played three games in two seasons, a push.
35:40
So he's obviously got a lot of work to do.
35:44
But he's going to be a Scottish goalkeeper playing regular
35:47
football at the top level in Scotland and he's been on the
35:52
books that served it for a while.
35:53
Celtic wouldn't have him if he wasn't a capable goalkeeper, so
35:57
I think that's one to keep an eye on.
35:58
That's probably the only bit of optimism I'm taking from this
36:03
scenario. It's a bit of a like Oscott fans
36:06
I'm really worried about because we've got 2 very capable
36:09
goalkeepers in the league who are sitting on the bench and
36:13
Liam Kelly and Xander Clark. I know they're both injured at
36:17
the moment, but they'll be back soon enough, I assume.
36:20
So I'm really praying that Steve Clarke, I'm honestly, I'd be
36:25
stunned if he hasn't already been on the phone to Chris
36:26
Brady. But if he hasn't already gets
36:29
him on the phone, gets his Scottish granny's signature or
36:32
something and then gets him over for, for, for a chat and then
36:37
hopefully a few games. Because a goalkeeper playing
36:40
regularly at MLS level, I think could be a, a real, a real game
36:45
changer for Scotland's. But I'm saying this, I'm still
36:50
not against Angus Gunn, but I'm questioning his commitment
36:52
because there was talk of him purposely not playing a few of
36:55
those games at the end of last year.
36:59
Yeah, it's one that we'll just have to see for Chris Birdie.
37:02
I guess we can touch quickly on the the Liechtenstein game.
37:05
Obviously, it's one that we had to win.
37:10
It wasn't a question of if, it was just how many we could
37:13
score. It ended up being 4.
37:15
Now when Jay Adams scored the first Scotland hat trick since
37:19
John McGinn in 2019, I think against San Marino, he also
37:23
assisted George Hurst, who got his first goal for Scotland.
37:27
But I think even despite the impressive performance from Jay
37:30
Adams, it was kind of Lennon Miller who who was the star of
37:34
the show for for me personally anyway, Boston, the midfield and
37:37
I know the the opposition was, you know, not good.
37:40
But you can only play what's in front of you first start for
37:42
your country. And he, he looked an absolute
37:45
natural. And you know, you can go back
37:46
to, to when he made headlines for the wrong reasons for, for
37:49
saying he could be the best in the squad in a couple of months.
37:51
You know, he, he, he did apologize for the same time
37:54
frame of use, but wrong. Reason.
37:55
Yeah, I was about to say I don't think he's got anything he he
37:58
should be apologizing for. I think we need players striving
38:02
to be the the the best that they can be.
38:04
And, and for him just saying that he wants to be the best, I
38:07
think it was taken quite out of context.
38:10
And I think that he's proven though that he can be the best.
38:12
And I think in that game that he was I.
38:15
Think, I think he was actually one of our best players against
38:17
Iceland as well. You know, I think he came on.
38:20
He actually did quite well. You know, what could you do when
38:24
you're 31 down? You actually came on.
38:26
He wasn't afraid, you know, for commitment, you know, wasn't
38:30
afraid to run with the ball. He wasn't afraid to pass around,
38:34
wasn't afraid to take some, you know, dangerous crosses away.
38:38
He's stood out well against Iceland and then on against
38:42
Liechtenstein. Again, You've just said you can
38:44
only judge him on who he's up against.
38:48
But you know, you've got to beat these teams and you, you
38:51
certainly stood out very well. Can he do it against Denmark and
38:56
in Copenhagen in a couple of months?
39:01
Time yeah, we can touch quickly on the Premier Sports Cup draw
39:05
that happened I think a couple weeks ago now.
39:07
Hearts in the group stages, they'll face stolen Albion at
39:11
4th Bank on TV. That'll be a good one.
39:14
St. Mirren, St.
39:15
Johnstone, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Dundee and obviously
39:18
Falkirk, the big names in it. Do you see there any being, do
39:23
you see any shocks happening? You know Bricancetti Bonnie Rig
39:27
Rose outside the the the pyramid now, but they could cause a few
39:31
upsets I think. There's only one.
39:34
Yeah, sorry, sorry, Aaron. I think the only one that stands
39:36
out to me purely because they were so close to going up last
39:40
season's maybe Edinburgh City. They've got, they've got, they
39:46
don't have a premiership team in their in their group.
39:49
They've got 2 championship teams in Partick, that's on Ross
39:51
County. Partick Thistle seem to be going
39:54
through. I don't know if a transition
39:56
period is the right word but no one really knows what to expect
39:59
from at the moment. Ross County have got, don't get
40:01
me wrong, a few big hitters coming in, but.
40:04
They'll still be waiting for them to settle in at this point,
40:07
so there's no reason Edinburgh City can't at least have a few
40:12
certain results against those. But apart from that, it's a
40:17
really funny one. I mean you touched Finn on it's
40:21
five of the teams that don't don't come in.
40:22
And so five teams are going to be in Europe this year.
40:26
So I'm happy for, I mean, we've got Kilmarnock and Livingston
40:32
who are going to get a taste for playing against each other in
40:35
the league. I think they've got each other
40:37
on the first day of the league season, but they're also in the
40:39
same grip as each other, which is going to be a funny one.
40:42
And then, I don't know, I think I said it to you when I was
40:44
doing something for my own podcast, that you're going to
40:47
get a chance to see St. Johnstone up close when they're
40:52
coming into the league for the first time in so long.
40:54
So I think it's more just going to be a case of I think there's
40:58
more pressure on the big teams because if you don't get it
41:00
through, that's any idea of a cup ran out the window.
41:03
And that's so important to fans. But it's a lot of it for the
41:07
lower league sides is get a big crowd through at some point, be
41:11
that a home or away against one of the bigger teams.
41:14
And then also get a chance to suss out a few opponents that
41:16
are going to be in your league this year.
41:18
But a lot of the teams there will there will be one.
41:21
There always is take it too much that pre season and then end up
41:25
shooting themselves in the foot. The European fixtures were
41:30
decided, I think it was earlier this week.
41:33
I've lost track to be honest. Rangers drew Panathenacos, who
41:36
finished 13th in last season's Conference League.
41:39
Obviously Rangers got to the quarterfinals, I believe, after
41:43
finishing eighth in the league phase.
41:45
So going straight into the around the 16 inside of the
41:47
playoff, it'll be a tough game for them.
41:49
But I think they do have the the firepower to get through.
41:53
Obviously Panathenacos got such incredible fans, but yeah.
41:57
Sorry to interrupt you there. And I think he's going to be
42:00
really interesting how Russell Martin lines up in Europe
42:03
because football wise reminds me a lot of and positive Hoglu.
42:10
And for all the praise that and positive Hoglu got for Celtic,
42:13
it was all domestically. I mean, I do believe that if
42:16
he'd got another year, he probably would have done really
42:18
well in Europe and obviously he did really well in Europe for
42:21
Tottenham eventually. But that kind of football where
42:25
where you where you refuse to adapt, it's either going to,
42:31
it's either going to take. Off it's really risky.
42:32
It's. Either going to take off real,
42:34
it's, it's very much fight or flight and it's either going to
42:37
take off really well or it's just going to go down horribly.
42:41
And I, I, I don't know if Martin is going to be as stubborn as
42:47
Portugal glue has been this football down South would
42:49
suggest so. But it it might just have to
42:52
accept that in a game where it's a very even game, I think it
42:58
kind of go in all, all guns blazing like like he would
43:01
against St. Mirren.
43:04
Yeah, and it's such a pivotal round in the qualifiers because
43:07
if Rangers win this, they're going to Champions League
43:09
qualifying round 3 as a seeded team, and if they lose this,
43:13
they're going to Europa League qualifying round three as an
43:15
unseeded team. So it's quite a contrast.
43:17
It's the same for Hibs. They've drawn Michelin, Danish
43:22
side. It's quite a tough fixture.
43:24
I mean, I think they've got their their group.
43:27
There wasn't many that you'd France them against.
43:29
I think Anderlecht was in there Shaq to the Nesk.
43:33
So there was there was only there was only really one or
43:37
two. Yeah, but they've they've drawn
43:42
Michelin's. It's a tough fixture.
43:44
It's the first time back in Europe, for instance, obviously
43:46
losing to Astonville and the conference in playoff, which I
43:49
think they were quite unlucky with that draw as well.
43:51
Yeah, that was obviously the Sunshine and Leith brigade
43:56
coming back. But obviously it's a tough
43:58
fixture. You don't you probably wouldn't
44:01
see them as favourites. They I think they'd have the
44:03
second leg Easter Rd. which which is a small positive, but
44:08
but it's going to be a tough one for them.
44:09
I think so. I think could be think if they
44:13
come back with, you know, a goal deficit by teach the road.
44:16
They would probably fancy that. Wouldn't they mean they would
44:19
think East Road for house you would think is pale?
44:22
Yeah, if they come back level, yeah, if they come back level
44:25
that they'll fancy themselves. But I think it's arrived in the
44:27
first leg, which will be a real struggle for them.
44:29
I. Think so.
44:30
I think that first game being a wee is probably going to be more
44:33
tricky. What you think it's going to be
44:34
as well? I mean, people have seen the
44:36
second leg at home, that's fantastic, but we've got to play
44:41
the first. You know, we're going to play
44:42
the wee leg 1st and that's arguably for me worse, isn't it?
44:46
I mean, you would much rather take get as much privilege as
44:49
you can at home before you go away.
44:52
That that's my perspective. That's, you know, it's just
44:55
something I've always thought that should know.
44:58
That's always been in my head. But you know, I think it's going
45:02
to be a very hard game. Yeah, having a hard time.
45:05
But listen, you don't even know. I mean, they've got they've got
45:08
as good a chance as any. And listen, I think the Hibs
45:12
have had some good European results in the qualifiers before
45:18
and not mentioned the Malamo game.
45:21
But Oh my God, that was all years ago.
45:24
But if we. You're older than me.
45:26
I forgot about that. But yeah, that's not mentioned,
45:30
an animal game. But apart from that, I mean
45:33
they've had some good results away from home, difficult
45:35
venues, good comebacks as well. I think Easter Rd.
45:39
I think they had one a couple of years ago as well.
45:43
So who knows? Who knows what this draw can do
45:47
for Hibs? I can also remember by the time
45:50
much on play Hibs at home, their legal have already started.
45:54
So I mean there'll only be one game in, but they'll have
45:57
another game between the two legs as well.
45:59
I think Mitchell, they'll probably be in a bit bit more
46:03
physical. I think it would be a bit more
46:06
ready physically for it. I was just checking if it was a
46:09
summer league. It's not, but there's the league
46:12
starts about two weeks before, which probably suits him quite a
46:15
bit more. Yeah, I mean, there's this new
46:19
thing that's come in to allow Scottish fixtures to get not
46:23
postponed, but put back so to help, you know, the Scottish
46:27
teams prepare for European football.
46:29
But I think it's actually maybe slightly disadvantage not having
46:32
a game between the two legs just to kind of prepare get because
46:37
at the start of the season fitness is is not there yet.
46:40
It obviously takes a couple of months, couple weeks to get into
46:42
the flow of things and not having a midweek fixture, I
46:44
think it's actually slightly disadvantage.
46:46
Yeah, there's. There's been talk of if, I know
46:51
a lot of people have said that a lot of teams might actually not
46:54
use that request that they might have when they get to play a
46:57
fringe just to let players get time in, in their legs.
47:00
But I think if we skip forward to January, February time and
47:06
obviously Celtic, Celtic can have a doing, They're both
47:08
guaranteed to be in the league phase.
47:10
Hopefully the other teams do it as well, but I think they might
47:15
take that request option up. If they were to get through to
47:18
knockouts, I think that'd be a much more important time to use.
47:20
It yeah, I mean say Aberdeen get into the the playoff round in
47:25
the conference league, you know, finish between between yeah,
47:29
well, I'm, I'm not I'm not too helpful and and to be fair, I
47:33
think I'd, I don't know if it's too bad to say this, but I think
47:36
I'd prefer us in conference. I think it'd give us a better
47:38
chance to get into knockouts, whereas in Europa being
47:41
obviously and. Coefficient wise, it'd be very
47:43
wise. Yeah, I mean.
47:44
We are to be these as well. No, I know, but Europa League is
47:48
better away these for me, but I I think to have a chance to get
47:52
into knockouts at least in that top 24, I think conference would
47:57
be better. So Speaking of conference,
47:59
Dundee United drawn against Luxembourg side FC Unis Trasen.
48:03
It's only their second time in Europe.
48:06
The Luxembourg team, they lost to finish side coops 5 nil last
48:10
season in the first round of qualifying.
48:14
And I looked at their their history and they've generally
48:15
been a mid table team in Luxembourg.
48:17
So they were a European debutante last season.
48:22
They they they had a nil nil draw in the first leg against
48:25
coops at home and then they went to to Finland and and got
48:29
absolutely spanked 5 nil. I've seen I've seen this too
48:31
many times. Yeah, it's really not giving me
48:36
great help. I remember, I can't remember
48:38
which Luxembourg team. I think it was a Luxembourg
48:40
team. I can't remember their name.
48:42
Who beat Rangers? All those.
48:44
Years ago. That's it.
48:46
That's it. So yeah, it's giving me a bit of
48:49
a bit of a flashback. It's just given it's just given
48:51
me inter club Descaldes and I know his his I think has bumped
48:57
him about 6th one at home anyway.
48:59
But yeah, I mean I'm I mean coefficientize.
49:02
Both games are important because they're taken as individual
49:04
games, aren't they? Yeah, so, so each win really,
49:07
really helps the coefficient and you'd hope that Dundee United
49:09
could get a win in both and just progress as as far as they can,
49:13
because to be honest, I'd I'd fancy them against.
49:15
Progress. That is such a bad joke, God's
49:22
sake. Yeah, good one.
49:23
Good one, Joe. No, but I fancy them against
49:25
cops so to see them against the team that that was beaten 5 nil
49:30
by coops, you'd really really hope that that they could get
49:33
the job done nice and early win both games and just progress
49:37
was. It coops at was it coops at
49:38
hearts having conference like a few years ago?
49:42
I, I think I can't remember. I remember them having a
49:45
Rosenberg and doing a comeback against them and.
49:48
Coops no. It was when they they were in
49:50
the group with Fiorentino and I'm sure there was a team from
49:54
Finland in it. We're going Wikipedia, you know,
49:56
Wikipedia. Here we go, groups.
49:58
Group A. It's RFS from Latvia.
50:00
Oh. Sorry, sorry, sorry, off road.
50:05
So yeah, it's besak. I hear Fiorentina hearts on RFS
50:08
from I think that's Latvia. I'm a fraud.
50:12
Yeah, Latvia. So nice one, Joey.
50:15
We just maybe Google it and it's not right.
50:17
Yeah, So, yeah, you'd hope Dundee United can progress as as
50:20
far as they could. It's it's kind of like St.
50:23
Vernon last season where they got drawn against God.
50:25
I can't even remember what team, but it was, you know, they were
50:28
big favourites. They progressed for that round
50:29
and then eventually made their match, met their match.
50:32
So just about how far can Dundee United get?
50:37
Hopefully at least one man round man, more so moving on since
50:41
last podcast is a new scheme announced by the the Scottish
50:45
Football Association cooperation agreement.
50:48
They've named it. It's not replacing loans as a
50:51
lot of people have assumed, but it allows better integration
50:56
between between the two teams where players can switch between
51:02
the clubs throughout the season. It allows three players Max per
51:07
team to be put on the list and it's a parent club and a feeder
51:12
club where Premiership and Championship teams can
51:16
essentially lone players to to lower league opposition to lower
51:20
league clubs. And throughout the season if
51:22
they if they've got an injury crisis, if they're playing, you
51:25
know, someone in the cup that they think you know, this player
51:28
would be great to get some good game time, test them out.
51:31
They can get them back in just for a game or two and then send
51:35
them back afterwards. So it it kind of allows those
51:38
players that are are too good to be on the bench, but not good
51:42
enough to be, to be starting for the for the team to get some
51:46
valuable game time in the lower leagues, but also some some game
51:50
time, you know, when it is available.
51:53
It's interesting this because a story broke about 3 weeks ago, 4
51:58
weeks ago, maybe more than that, that Rangers wanted to do this
52:02
with Race Rovers. So it's become something that
52:05
I've become looking up and just seeing all these rules.
52:11
We had one of our directors was on the club channel saying all
52:15
the stuff about it does for me. I'm one of the only people
52:18
probably that strings it promising, you know, that a club
52:21
the size of Rangers wants to loan some players out.
52:25
I think the apparently they've seen us as a club that are on
52:29
the up, they've seen us seeing their player.
52:33
They think that their players would be a good style, style of
52:35
play for Barry Robson and his team.
52:38
They've seen the progression of the football club from the fan
52:41
base we've had. Joe would know more than as
52:45
well. I mean, we we had, we were at
52:48
1400 season tickets. How many years ago?
52:51
Four years ago, five years ago. We're now around about 2 1/2
52:54
thousand. And so they're they're
52:57
interested in coming to be throwers to loan some players
53:00
out. This is a story that broke about
53:01
3-4 weeks ago. We found this out on the club
53:04
channel, it's gone quiet because there's been a lot of changeover
53:08
at Rangers, obviously new boards, new imagine it's going
53:12
to be new director of football as well along with the new
53:14
management team. So it'll be interesting if if
53:16
anything does come to this. I know Celtic I think are
53:19
looking at Queen's Park and here I think here have actually gone
53:23
to East Kilbride, sorry E Dillonshire even they went to
53:27
East Dillonshire and they're going to be doing the
53:30
disagreement with them. So it was no, I'm all for it.
53:35
I think it doesn't make you feel like AB team.
53:38
It makes offence and you want to get as many players into your
53:43
squad as possible. And I've said it before already,
53:46
we've had an injury crush of so many players that may be getting
53:50
3234 players and alone from, you know, one of these corporation
53:56
agreements might help boost your squad up by just a few players
54:00
and that can be enough to help. Yeah, yeah, I mean the, the,
54:04
there's a restriction on it where you can't send players to
54:07
more than one team per league. So obviously if say Aberdeen
54:10
wants to send players to the Championship, they'd have to
54:13
pick one club, 1 club only and you know, commit to that club
54:16
into the. Corporation agreement Celtic
54:18
have entered an agreement with Queen's Park.
54:20
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I know, I know, whoever the big
54:25
guy is at Queens Park, I know he's had relations with Celtic
54:30
in the past and we've got a. Friend.
54:32
Yeah, there's been a few. We've got a friendly with
54:34
Amnition, we had one last year as well, so it wasn't surprised
54:36
to see that happen. There's been a few youth players
54:39
that, you know, went out of contract at Celtic and then and
54:42
then made the move to Queens Park as well, so that doesn't
54:44
surprise me. One thing we've been told as
54:46
well is that if this happens, so if you get, you know, the
54:51
corporation agreement, if you say for example, let's use
54:55
Rangers to be throwers, for example, you can still get
54:59
players on loan that say from Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen,
55:04
whoever you want that's able no, that's above that age limit.
55:08
So it's above the the, I think challenge with.
55:12
The eligible for under 20 ones is what they say.
55:15
That's right, Yeah. So I think they mean Rui Gal,
55:19
Rui, who's our club, one of our club directors.
55:24
Very good guy. If you need to see him, if you
55:27
know he's one of those guys you just want to see him and you,
55:30
it's been all of them. What he can do on club channels
55:34
and club digital channels, he was seeing that.
55:38
If we use Finley Pollock as an example, we had Finley Pollock
55:41
on loan from Hearts last year, he doesn't qualify.
55:44
He's a year, he's a year older now.
55:48
So if Hearts wanted to loan Finley Pollock back, we can get
55:52
him and we can get three players from Rangers within the
55:56
corporation agreement. Yeah.
55:59
So it'll be really, really useful for, for not only
56:03
Championship clubs, but also League One, League 2 and even
56:07
low only clubs to, to get those players.
56:09
Because I'm writing, I think I'm writing in that League One and
56:13
League 2 clubs cannot act as parent clubs.
56:16
They cannot enter cooperation agreements with, you know,
56:19
sending players out to two leagues below them.
56:23
It's only for Premiership and Championship clubs, which is
56:25
maybe a little bit disappointing.
56:26
Obviously not being able to to send players.
56:30
Think when you've got 2. Standard clubs in League One and
56:33
League 2. Yeah.
56:35
So I find that a bit surprising, but it will be good for those
56:38
lower league clubs to to form stronger partnerships with, you
56:41
know, clubs higher up and and kind of develop those those
56:47
partnerships maybe to make that a, a yearly basis honestly.
56:52
So yeah, we'll we'll see what happens with that and I think
56:55
we'll leave it there for for this week.
56:57
Guys, thank you very much for joining me.
56:59
If you've enjoyed the podcast, please let us know what you've
57:02
enjoyed about it if we're missing anything.
57:04
And we'll see you next time, guys.