youthcomesfirst

Andrew Greig or Chubbs as he is known is a lightning fast winger in the style of Johnny Hayes. He has huge potential but, like so many player who can get past a full back at pace he needs to work on his delivery. Will def play pro football tho. The under 19s have a lot of players who have been at the club since they were 8 or 9 and that is were you build the unity that was mentioned earlier. Some player have had poor seasons but Charlie and the coaches stuck with them and they have grown together. I know the coaches at Celtic and Rangers have been amazed that we have managed to keep our young players together for so long and they believe it will make us a stronger club because of it in the long term. The biggest problem we have is the gap between under 19s and the first team. Most of our under 19s are 16 or 17 and although they are exceptional they are way off the first team and need reserve team experience to bridge the gap. Unfortunately the clubs cant afford to run a reserve league but if the SFA and SPL could fund it in some way then that for me would help players grow and develop and improve the standard of the SPL.

I watched him quite closely last night cause I know our right back postion needs filled with an out and out right back. I have to say that, although he was playing Highland League opposition, albiet the league champions for the last 2 years that he was by far the best player on the park. He showed composure - much needed, vision, confidence and nerve when some of the Buckie lads were arriving a bit late for tackles. A little too early to say if he's up to 'SPL standard' but he seems to have that mix of confidence and ability that Gillet shows on the left.

Thought distribution from the back was woeful, missed out midfield every time. Chris Innes was really disappointing and Duff should def drop back into right back. Rooney was totally isolated as Ritchie Foran chases the ball too much. He seems to feel he needs to be invloved in everything. Dont think he should be dropped as he has a great presence about him. Id go with same as Renegade but replace Innes with Duff at right back. Tel doesn't do 4-4-2 tho.

Surprise, surprise, Neil Doncaster says he's right and we are all wrong. The parachute payments for relegation will still be a tiny fraction of the minimum ?1.5 million loss three clubs will suffer when relegated. Also if this goes ahead the money coming in will need to be spread between 22 clubs instead of the existing 12. Why o why would the SPL clubs vote for that?

Fantastic win today for the under 19s - the first win of the season, 3-2 against top of the table Aberdeen today at Clach park. This would have given the players as well as Scott Kellacher and John Doc a huge lift after the poor result last Sunday against Keith.

Under 17s were playing away to St Mirren today and went down 6-4 in a towsy affair which saw 7 yellow cards and 1 late sending off for St Mirren. The lads fought back three times in the the first half in a really open game with 2 goals from Calum Ferguson and 1 from Harry Stewart. We went 4-3 behind early in the 2nd half and again equalised - Ryan Christie continuing his recent good scoring form. The lads then tired and lost 2 late goals, but considering we had 6 15 year olds in the team this was no disgrace. Special mention goes to Craig Ferguson from the Isle of Barra who must have one of the toughest trips to play for any team. He flies over from Barra on a Friday, trains on a Friday night and Sat morning, plays on the Sunday and doesnt get home til mid-day on a Monday for school in the afternoon!

Would be happy to continue to update on results, info etc. Unfortunately the SFA state that no club can even publish scores never mind league tables until under 19s. Utterly ridiculous. The SFA call the youth age group 'The Elite level' yet they are still worried that young players and coaches will become too concerned about results. Erm hello, surely they should not want to stiffel competitive spirit. I was at the Street League awards 2nite and watched teenagers receive umpteen trophies and medals. Try to tell them that next year they will have no incentive to play - how long would they stay interested in football for?

First ever post. If people are interested I will give updates on the u17s each week. Delighted to say that the under 17s drew 2-2 with Celtic today, and could/should have won. Scorers Ryan Watson and Ryan Christie. Celtic had 5 internationalists in their team and are virtually all full time. We had a squad of 12, with a sub keeper and no outfield subs due to injuries. Team went 1 down midway thru the first half but replied thru an excellent individual efort from Ryan Christie. Early in the second half Ryan Watson turn a defender and cooly slotted past the keepr. Celtic bounced back to equalise with a disputed offside goal(why dont we have linesmen at this level?) We had several chances to win the game but couldn't finish them off. Gone are the days we would try to keep the score down against the old firm. Great to see Terry at the game as well. The futures bright....