piffer Posted October 16, 2018 Report Share Posted October 16, 2018 Is it wrong to be a bit jealous of them now. Missing their two best players they’ve just beaten Ireland. A young energetic team playing decent football with a bit of experience added for good measure. Certainly seems to be some good prospects in there. Giggs was a risky appointment but he’s been willing to risk his career by going down this route and overhauling the whole setup. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killie billies pal Posted October 16, 2018 Report Share Posted October 16, 2018 I think they benefit from the location of the country, any young kids showing real promise end up at either Manchester, or Liverpool clubs if they are in the north, the ones from south can go to either Welsh club or London teams , they certainly get taught the right ways on very good surfaces, fair play to them, always liked the Welsh . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skygod Posted October 16, 2018 Report Share Posted October 16, 2018 They have a smaller pool of players than Scotland, soccer is rivalled by rugby in the south and they don't seem to rely on the "granny" rules as much as the other British Isles countries, England excepted. It helps having a Gareth Bale but they are far from a one-man team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fankle Posted October 17, 2018 Report Share Posted October 17, 2018 (edited) They are essentially an offshoot of English football and are reaping the benefits of the megabucks that clubs down there are throwing at youth development. Edited October 17, 2018 by Fankle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby14 Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 the location of the country On 10/16/2018 at 10:05 PM, killie billies pal said: I think they benefit from the location of the country, any young kids showing real promise end up at either Manchester, or Liverpool clubs if they are in the north, the ones from south can go to either Welsh club or London teams , they certainly get taught the right ways on very good surfaces, fair play to them, always liked the Welsh . By location I assume you mean next to England. So why don’t we benefit in the same way? Any players deemed good enough are often on the radar of clubs in England (Gilmour/Feruz) but the truth is there’s not many of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killie billies pal Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 I meant the Southern areas of England, i am including the Liverpool and Manchester areas as they don't look up here anymore, they wait for a Scottish club to pick them up then "steal them". I think we have also suffered for not having a Bale or Ramsey for our kids to look up to, I think there are decent Scottish kids, but they get rich too quick in OF world and lose the desire to really make it, Feruz being a perfect example. I know of a few lads who were scouted by Killie, Ayr, St Mirren, then the OF come sniffing and the parents automatically think that going there is for the best, sadly for the kids they should have stayed provincial. Then there is the weather, and conditions, heading to Centre Parts in Penrith area, I noticed a school on outskirts has six full size pitches, every one of them in immaculate condition, so think how good the ones further south are. The pitches our kids play on are a disgrace, and the rest have taken away the goalposts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piffer Posted October 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 The gold fish bowl is a huge issue. Speak to a kid in Wales and no matter how diehard they are they can see beyond Swansea and Cardiff. Up here to many in a position of power preach that the OF is the be all and end all of football. Blanking the world outside. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lroy Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 43 minutes ago, killie billies pal said: Then there is the weather, and conditions, heading to Centre Parts in Penrith area, I noticed a school on outskirts has six full size pitches, every one of them in immaculate condition, so think how good the ones further south are. The pitches our kids play on are a disgrace, and the rest have taken away the goalposts. The pitches and facilities at Prestwick Academy are much better/equal to any secondary school I've seen down here. Fair enough it got rebuilt after I left, but so have many of the schools down here. I don't think that's necessarily an issue now, maybe in the past; none of the guys I work with now have a clue what a blaes pitch is. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skygod Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 You only have to look at the OF players - Celtic especially - in the 2013 Victory Shield team to see that most kids don't make it with the OF. Celtic have become so efficient at youth level that they produce many more players than they could ever need. Most of these kids are picked up by clubs at a decent level while, on the other hand, Rangers seem unble to produce players for themselves or other clubs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historyman Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 I don't think any of the comments have mentioned the main reason why we are failing to produce many good players and that is we have poor coaches producing technically inferior players. Just look at the results at all age groups in the male national teams. They have terrible for years now with no sign of improvement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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