stewarty

I saw a link on twitter last night talking about some sort of argument between the "heavyweights" of English and Stewart... After I had stopped snorting with laughter I quickly moved on. No need to click on the link as it would clearly have been a lot of manufactured outrage and ego.

I really hope Tav finds some form as I don't think we can afford any more lapses in his concentration. Kent has to start for me. Even if you only get 55-60 minutes out of him, we will need someone who can carry the ball and cause problems up the left hand side to take the pressure off Tav/ Arfield on the right since thats where a lot of our attacking play is focused.

Did Gerrard make a mistake in not training on that surface the day before the game? There were times where we misplaced passes and got caught out as they seemed to glide past us with the extra confidence of being comfortable with the pitch. And being very generous, Tav seemed to misjudge the bounce for their second goal.

Sadly I think you are right. International recognition, and hopefully some goals, will hopefully bolster his sell-on value.

Middleton has since been quoted in the press about having to learn the other side of the game and how he feels he has a better understanding of how he can benefit the team. All good stuff - and as said I'd prefer he was doing this learning in an a competitve environment where any potential mistakes don't cost us

If he's going to bring in Shankland, why not Gilmour? The Russia game is a write-off anyway, so what is to be lost?

Given how lightweight Barisic has been in the tackle up to now (last night aside), Kasdorp probably deserves the stick!

So many good performances, but again Alfy for me because of the way he constantly put them on the back foot and allowed us to get up the pitch. Without that, I think they would have caused us more problems.

No, you’re not. There was a bit of chat around Allen’s appointment and then Gerrard’s appointment to that effect. I seem to recall a piece on the club website, or perhaps in the papers where the process was explained.

I did wonder whether he and Gerrard got on with each other.

As far as I understand, each FA is able to set their own rules to an extent. So long as you haven't got a full cap for another country, you can become a citizen of Mongolia and play for their national team, should their FA allow it. The difficulty we have in Scotland is related to the unique status of the home nations within the UK. Because from a state point of view, we all have British passports so there would be nothing to stop Scots, Welsh and NI players representing England, unless there was some restriction. I'm sure someone else could give a clearer explanation, but that is the gist of it I think. And as I say above, the element about younger players having 5 years of schooling in Scotland becoming eligible to play in Scotland, is to do with Gordon Smith. This is the route that Jordan Rhodes took to qualifying to play for Scotland.

Its for each individual to identify how they wish, really. There is an interesting one coming up with a 17yo on our books, Murray Miller, being invited to train with Australia and is potentially going to be called up to one of their squads. He has played age groups for Scotland up till now, but qualifies for Oz having been born there. Its down to the boy himself what he chooses. I think he has Scottish parents who moved back from Oz, so you can see why he might identify as both Scottish and Australian.

Ordinarily I would agree, but I think the extension to kids who have spent 5 years at school here and are in effect, naturalised Scots, I'm okay with that if they are willing to commit to playing for us. Many other nations have much less stringent rules and give out passports to suit their needs. I have more issue with those

You can see why Jack would be keen to perform in training given its taken so long for him to get another call up. But also, in the midst of a training, he might not have known it would be such a lengthy session and got caught up in the middle of it, without thinking about his knee. The bottom line here is that the SFA have a duty of care and that extends to liaising with each player's club and managing any known conditions they have. The SFA are bang to rights here, unless Jack himself has ignored advice and should have known better.

Its only related to someone who has gone to school in Scotland for 5 years so really you would need to be in Scotland from age 12, maybe 13 max, and even then only qualify once you are 18. The reason I say that is because I've heard Gordon Smith mention it about his time as SFA CEO and how he brought this rule in.

He doesn't qualify for Scotland I don't think. Pretty sure the only way you can become naturalised is if you went to school for a period of years in Scotland - I think it might be 5.

There's quite a bit of unrest among the Hearts support. But the way Levein took on the manager role, and the level of influence he has as Director of Football, they've backed themselves into a corner.

Agree but we also need to factor in his ability to make a difference in big games, such as vs Them. We will know at the end of the season whether this particular gamble pays off.

Well put. We should be talking ourselves up, but also retain some realism. All Sunday proves is that players are only as good as their last game in some folk's eyes. But for me there is plenty to be positive about and you are not even factoring in the likely £1-2m we might recover if we move on the likes of Grezda . I would also value Kamara significantly higher than the £65k we paid for him, or whatever it was. Edmundson also has good potential value if he develops

Finally a good bit of PR management for the club, the day after the afternoon before. Not that I'm suggesting Kent was signed purely because we lost as I'm sure the deal would have happened regardless. Welcome back Ryan - lets kick on!

The very fickle nature of football and the sliding doors moments that can decide matters. It could easily have been the other way round. On the latter point, I am increasingly in agreement.

No news on Grezda departing? If we could recover the £2m spent on him, that would help re the fee for Kent.

Every transfer is a risk, but at his age and potential, £6-7m is a value we should be able to recover fairly easily if he performs like we suspect he can. And the lad clearly wants to play for us. Officially excited!

Davis for me too. I thought he sprayed the ball about reasonably well in the first half, and in the second half he was instrumental at breaking up their attacks early on a few occasions. Sadly his final balls were not quite of the quality we have come to expect.

The title will not be won or lost based on Old Firm games alone. Yesterday was a blow, but perhaps we needed a reality check, a marker for a few players that they will need to show more in order to provide the challenge we all think they are capable of providing. For once the international break might have come at the right time for us.