Scratching Below The Surface

Dundee United have led the way in recent years, having a reputation of pulling good players from the depths of Scottish football.
Danny Swanson, Morgaro Gomis, Barry Douglas, Craig Conway and new arrivals Mark Millar & Michael Gardyne have all been plucked from the lower leagues in Scotland.

Now Dundee United are an established top 6 SPL team consistently competing for European places. They have no money to spend, and have the same financial constraints of much of the Scottish clubs. They have relied heavily on their youth system, and free transfers. The quality of players they have managed to bring in sets them aside.

I remember sitting inside Starks Park in 2007 wondering who David Goodwillie was. He now looks set to become a big player for Scotland over the next 10 years. Likewise with Johnny Russell, United have been able to consistently produce players of such quality.
In January, youngster Scott Allan was snapped up by West Bromwich Albion after impressing for United at the start of the season. Admittedly, the SPL lost one of it's hottest prospects, but Dundee United will have made a tidy profit on the transfer.
The quality of scouts to spot a player and a bargain are even more crucial now than ever before For example, how many of us had actually heard of Danny Swanson of Berwick Rangers when he signed for United? Now signed for Peterborough this summer, he has been one of the success stories of Scottish football.

There are still plenty prospects in the SFL at the moment waiting for their break in the top flight.
John Baird has recently moved to Dundee from Raith Rovers. He has played in the SPL with St Mirren before, but has came on leaps and bounds since his last stint. Obviously Dundee have ambitions to secure SPL football by the end of next season, but why hasn't a premier league club snapped up Baird before Dundee did?

Falkirk are another team that support the SFL gold mine. It's no secret that there is no money in Scotland, this has forced lower league teams especially to field younger players. From 17 first team players, 10 have come from the Falkirk academy. Craig Sibbald has massive potential after making his debut at 16 this season. He has held his own at such a high level and scored 2 goals in the league last season. Future Scotland international? Most likely.
From Reece Donaldson of Raith to Lee Kilday of Hamilton, most clubs have 2-3 players who can potentially play in the SPL or down England. This to me, suggests progress.

Dundee United have taken advantage of such good players at a low price. Notable transfers include:
Danny Swanson - Berwick Rangers
Morgaro Gomis - Cowdenbeath
Barry Douglas - Queen's Park
Craig Conway - Ayr United

Conway, Gomis & Swanson now play in the championship. Douglas seems to have Paul Dixon ahead of him in the pecking order, but has played a considerable amount of games and has proved he can play at this level.
Other teams must now follow United and take advantage of the quality of young players coming through the ranks.
It still seems that teams see trust in youth as too much of a risk, although it has proved to be the way forward.
In times of financial deprivation, Scottish clubs can still progress. Such moves will also benefit the national team in the long term.

Maybe then, we can qualify for a major tournament.

Euro 2012

The First Post


I want to start with a Euro 2012 post.

I personally have Germany to win, but France also seem a good outside bet.

More specifically, I want to look at SPL players past & representing their countries in Euro 2012.

Firstly, the Polish.
Thought Artur Boruc was in with a shout, but it wasn't to be. Poland have one player who has played SPL football as they face possibly the easiest group. 29 year old striker Pawel Brozek will be the SPL's first representative.
Brozek came to Celtic in January from Trabzonspor in an attempt to get first team football and prove he was worth selection for the Poland squad. He achieved the latter. Only played 3 games for Celtic, and didn't find the net, but with Stokes & Hooper in such excellent form he didn't really stand much chance.

It is mostly always forgotten that  Newcastle United shot-stopper Tim Krul played in Scotland. In season 2007-2008 Krul signed for Falkirk on a season long loan deal. Falkirk hinted at a permanent deal, but Newcastle (quite rightly), turned this down. Krul kept a clean sheet on his debut in a 4-0 victory over Gretna. However, things took a down turn as he received his first career dismissal & dislocated his shoulder, forcing him to miss a chunk of the season. Krul did manage to make 22 league appearances for Fakirk before returning to Newcastle where he has been one of the premier leagues stand out keepers last season. Fully deserves his call up. His Netherlands side face Brozek & Poland in Group A.

In Group C, we have Croatia.
Stipe Pletikosa had a trial at Celtic but surely that can't count?
The obvious name that springs to mind is Nikica Jelavic. Jelavic signed for Rangers in 2010 from Austrian side Rapid Vienna for a fee of around £3.5m. As a Vienna player, he scored 3 goals in 2 games against Celtic in the Europa League. Jelavic proved to be a lethal goalscorer netting 30 league goals in 45 games for Rangers. This did not go unnoticed. In January, Everton took the gamble & paid £5.5m for the forward. He immediately became a hit in the Premiership scoring 9 goals in 13 games, including 2 against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Our first current SPL player (bearing in mind that Brozek will have moved back to Trabzonspor), is Celtic's Greek forward Georgios Samaras. Samaras isn't a renowned goalscorer, and is often criticised for his style of play. However, on his day, he can cause defences all kinds of trouble. Seems to save his best performances against Rangers or in European games, so Euro 2012 may be the perfect stage for him to show what he has.
Samaras signed from Manchester City in 2008, initially on a loan deal, but was soon made permanent after Samaras delivered a string of impressive performances. To date, Samaras has made 111 league appearances for Celtic and scored 32 goals. He also has over 50 caps for Greece.

Daniel Majstorovic would almost definitely have been going with Sweden, but a knee injury has kept the 35 year old out of the tournament & was one of the reasons behind Celtic opting against renewing his contract. He has now returned to AIK in his homeland.
Celtic defender Mikael Lustig is a player who is going to the Euro's. Lustig signed for Celtic in January on a free after his Rosenborg deal expired Celtic had to fend off the likes of Fulham and Espanyol to secure his signature. He was injured upon arrival at Celtic, and hasn't featured much. He has made 4 league appearances and has 23 caps for Sweden.

Kasper Schmeichel is one of the Danish keepers attending the tournament. Schmeichel's story is similar to that of Tim Krul, in that he came to Falkirk on a loan deal. Son of Manchester United legend Peter. He is now first choice keeper at Leicester City.

Finally, we have the Republic of Ireland.
Goalkeeper Shay Given was at Celtic as a kid, and even featured on the subs bench. Kenny Dalgish knew better and signed him for Blackburn Rovers in 1994. He has since established himself as a consistent premiership keeper and has played for Newcastle, Manchester City & Aston Villa.

Darren O'Dea was a product of Celtic's youth academy. He made his debut under Gordon Strachan but failed to impress current boss Neil Lennon and has been sent out to Reading, Ipswich & Leeds United on loan. He is currently a free agent after leaving Celtic last week.

Aiden McGeady is one of the Celtic youth academy's biggest success stories. Mcgeady scored on his debut in 2004 against Hearts. In 6 years in the Celtic first team, McGeady flourished under both Martin O'Neill & Gordon Strachan and became a major part of how Celtic played. Famous for 'The McGeady Turn' the tricky winger made 185 league appearances for Celtic and scored 31 goals.
In 2010, McGeady broke the Celtic record for their highest fee received after Spartak Moscow forked out £9.5m to lure him away from his boyhood club. Also one of Ireland's big players.

The last SPL past/present representative is LA Galaxy forward Robbie Keane. Keane was signed in 2010 by Tony Mowbray on a short term loan deal in a forgettable season for Celtic. Keane however, proved a big hit. He scored 12 goals in 16 league games for Celtic and showed his class as he became Celtic's player of the year for the season. He is the Republic of Ireland captain and holds the goalscoring record for his country with 53 goals.