sellick 13 year old to play under 20

[compo 6,585]

I remember a certain wee red headed boy playing against men ten years his senior on the streets at Birkenshaw never done him any harm

[JFK-1 1,691]

I remember a certain wee red headed boy playing against men ten years his senior on the streets at Birkenshaw never done him any harm

 

I think there's a difference between playing street football with older guys who are likely all neighbours and who will be going out of their way not to hurt a small one and professionals playing at an extremely high intensity of determination to succeed and definitely wouldn't take kindly to looking bad against a 13 year old half their size.

 

Whereas the street players would give a lot of quarter to a small younger neighbour these guys most certainly wont.

[Scott7 5,662]

Looks like a player, though, doesn't he?

[JFK-1 1,691]

Looks like a player, though, doesn't he?

 

Looks as if he has the skills but there's more to it than that. I was at school with Jim Bett and there was another guy in our year who was at least as good and many thought even better yet while Bett made it to the top he didn't. A personal opinion looking back now would be that Bett had more courage and was more aggressive on the field than this other guy.

 

Apparently Alex Ferguson always thought that Beckham had the skills at around 14 but still might not make it because they thought he wasn't aggressive enough. Seems they had to put some time into toughening him up and presumably it worked.

[MacK1950 2,299]

I remember the Gray family William the oldest was a decent player,Jim played for Clydebank before moving to Canada,Duncan arguably the best of them all never played for a main club and of course the youngest Andy went on to have a memorable career for the Arabs,Aston Villa,Scotland and of course us.

Also I used to run a school team(primary) in which there was a tremendous young player who unfortunately did not make,WHY? because he was deemed to be to wee.

This new kid looks small but then again he may grow.

[calscot 0]

because he was deemed to be to wee.

 

Are you saying he was incontinent?

[MacK1950 2,299]

Very good but maybe playing on wrong continent:devil:

[alexscottislegend 2,222]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37571868

It's child abuse no less. He may be talented but this is likely to stunt his development. Oh, and what happened to Islam Feruz?

[ian1964 10,613]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37571868

 

Scotland's children's commissioner has called for regulation to stop the exploitation of children by professional football clubs.

 

Tam Baillie said a "wait and see" approach was no longer appropriate.

 

His comments follow the decision by Celtic to feature 13-year-old Karamoko Dembele in its under-20 side against Hearts on Monday.

 

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has since apologised for taking bets on the child's future prospects.

 

Dembele, who was born in London in 2003 and whose parents come from Ivory Coast, joined Celtic in July 2013.

 

Since then he has been fast-tracked to appear with players seven years his senior.

 

'Commodification of children'

 

Following his appearance on Monday, SPFL sponsor Ladbrokes began offering odds of 7/4 on him becoming the youngest Celtic player in history.

 

However, the firm has since apologised and written to Mr Baillie saying it has closed the book on him and taken no bets.

 

In a statement the bookmaker said: "We have written to the children's commissioner this morning, and informed the SPFL of our letter, confirming that no bets were taken on this market before it was removed and to reaffirm our commitment to responsible gambling.

 

"We have also sought to clarify that there was no intention of encouraging the commodification of children in Scottish football and have apologised for any offence inadvertently caused."

 

On its website, Celtic FC said "the teenager didn't look out of place" on the pitch on Monday, despite his markedly smaller frame.

 

The club added: "What we need to remember, though, is that Karamoko is just 13-years-old. He was given a chance to play last night on merit... it is very important that we continue their development at a measured pace."

 

Baillie, the Children and Young People's Commissioner, told BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "There's very longstanding concern with regard to how a professional football clubs treat our children.

 

"We've still got examples of 15-year-olds being held on three-year contracts against their will in some instances.

 

"You've got instances where those contracts pay a pound a week and I believe that HMRC, revenue and customs, have taken an interest in this, and you've got reports that talk about transfers of children, which is quite contrary to any SFA rules."

'Exert sufficient regulation'

 

Mr Baillie said there were too many youngsters involved in the club academy system who would never go on to make it as professionals.

 

He added: "Really the clubs, to some extent, are trading on the dreams and aspirations of those children and young people. But at the end of the day they are exploiting them for monetary gain."

 

Mr Baillie said the issue was currently the subject of a petition going through the Scottish Parliament.

 

He said the Scottish government had adopted a "wait and see" approach which was no longer appropriate.

 

He said: "I think that time has passed for waiting and seeing, and what we need is some action. I've suggested that it requires external regulation because it looks as if the football authorities are not capable of or not willing to exert sufficient regulation for the protection of our children involved at this very young ag

[craig 5,199]

I didn't think it was much of an issue as it was nothing new -- we had Freddy Adu playing in the MLS 'professional' leagues at the age of 14 -- but Craig has highlighted that Dembele doesn't actually look physically developed enough for that level. It could be quite dangerous.

 

It's quite impressive for the lad to be playing at such a level, but he's too young for that to mean anything. Freddy Adu is case in point: because he's playing at such a high level at such a young age you think he'll become a superstar, but it doesn't work like that; Adu's now a distinctly average player, playing in a 'mid-table' (I think?) MLS side.

 

Is that the kids name, Dembele ?

 

If that is the case and if my memory serves me, the name rings a bell and, IF, big if, I am correct.... Rangers also tried to get this boy a few years ago. Celtic offered his older brother an Academy gig simply because they wanted to snare this boy. And he is a Celtic fan so it made sense for him. One of my Rangers contacts said the kid was a really good player, but no better than some of the boys that we have on our books at the time and, I think, he is in the same age group as Leon King.

 

I personally have never seen him play but I know my Rangers contact told me, if this is the same kid, that they were pretty disappointed not to get him.

 

The name rings a bell, but I could be very, very wrong too - I was told the story about 3 years ago.