Craig Gordon - Scottish Robbie Neilson - Scottish Andy Webster - Scottish Chris Berra - Scottish Paul Hartley - Scottish Calum Elliot - Scottish 3 goals scored by Scots not forgetting Pressley,McCann,McAllister,Sives etc etc.
So you expect us to conquer Europe with an all Scottish team ? Name me a current successful team (domestic or European) which has the majority of their players from their own country. Chelsea ? Liverpool ? Barca ? Real? Rangers? Celtic? Maybe the Italians can manage it, but it is naive to think you can be successful with a team FULL of homegrown talent. I am not suggesting for a minute that we are anywhere near the big European teams but to have any ambition we need to find available young talent and either be successful with them or sell them on for profit. Todays news that we are signing Aguiar and Goncalves (Portugal), Makela ( Finland) and the confirmation of Beslija's arrival prove that Vlad is serious in his ambitions. You asked how many of our players will be there in a year. I honestly dont know but if we are to sell any of them it will be on our (Vlad's) terms unlike previously when some of the best talent Scotland has produced in the last ten years have been sold out of necessity, namely: McCann,Ritchie,Johnston,Weir,Naysmith,McLaren. And I see Rangers are in for Deek Rearend tonight
I measure success differently, so the number of successful teams fielding mostly homegrown talent will be different as well. I don't consider either OF team to be successful, nor the likes of Chelsea who are posting massive losses at the whim of a billionaire. Of course, I'm not saying that I expect a team to use only domestic born players either. Also, I doubt that Hearts would sell all of those players, I wonder more about how much action they will see. Frankly, I am concerned that Hearts (Vlad's) plans will backfire after a couple years, damaging the league more. As for Riordan, most of us are at terms with him leaving as he will do so this summer anyway. So long as we get some decent money if it is to happen sooner, it is alright. We have acquired backup.
Just watching Hearts vs. Hibs highlights now on the hellish mess that is Scotsport SPL. Skacel isn't the tallest, but by god, he's got a bit of muscle on him. Usually I think wee strikers are too prone to getting muscled off the ball by increasingly bulky defenders (that said, almost everyone in football is getting bigger these days) but not this guy. Fantastic wee player.
So, who do you consider successful? If not Chelsea who are dominating one of the world's toughest leages, then I don't know what you're looking for. Most of us want to watch the soccer on the field, not the checkbook balances in the front office. I hate Chelsea, but despite their financial issues, they're a great team.
I want to watch the play on the field, have a team that represents the tradition of the club, and have people in charge that conduct the finances respnsibly so that half of the clubs are not out of business in ten years.
I will. Enjoy finding a new club to support in a couple years. Oh well, that usually does not matter to those who go for the flavor of the day.
I'm not bitter, I just spend too much time on the damn politics board. That, and I'm a lawyer--I got conditioned to be argumentative.
Goncalves, the lefyt back you signed is pure class..he will be starting ahead of valente in the ntl team soon i hope..for thun he was so good arsenal were interested aguir sucks so much though...well he did at benfica. And no team outside of italy has been sucessfull with mostly home grown talent? porto when they won the cl and uefa cup had 17 of 20 players being portugeuse..8 of thier starting 11 were portugeuse. Also a majority of benfica right now is portugeuse in the cl. You can do it scotland!! the world cup misses you
after gers win against kilmarnock and hearts dropping points against inverness,next weeks game will see hearts crumble and the gers will go from strentgh to strentgh,lets face it the jambo,s are serious chokers when it comes to the crunch.