I CAN WELL UNDERSTAND how enticing it must have been for the young Billy Gilmour to have left Ibrox for Stamford Bridge. The move got him into the Scotland team, sadly, he fell foul of managerial changes at Chelsea – the current boss clearly doesn't rate him highly. Now he has moved-on, to Brighton.
OK, the 'Seagulls' are, for the moment, a Premiership club; yes, as things stand, they lie fourth in the table, while Chelsea are tenth. However, last season, Brighton probably over-achieved in finishing ninth in the Premiership, while Chelsea finished third. So, by any measurement, Gilmour has left a big club for a smaller one.
I accept too, not even The Old Firm pair could match the salary he will be able to command on the South Coast of England. However, not even Chelsea can guarantee the regular European football he might enjoy back in Glasgow, and while Brighton probably got a serious nose bleed by finishing ninth in the Premiership last season, it still wasn't enough to get them into the third tier Europa Conference League.
Money may well be, as it has been for the last 140 years, a major factor in top Scottish talent moving south. But, I would like to think once, as Gilmour has done, you have become a regular starter for the national side, it's all about the glory and the bigger stage – Europe at club level, the European Championships and World Cups at international level.
So, I am extremely disappointed that our two biggest clubs didn't make a serious effort to recruit Gilmour in this transfer window. To me, it shows a lack of ambition.
I HAD TO LAUGH on Friday morning, when I logged-on to The Online Guardian and read Ewan Murray's preview of this weekend's first Old Firm clash of the season.
The dear old Guardian advertises itself as a “British newspaper.” In this case they've used British, when they meant to use English. The only interest they have in Scottish football is in the Bigot Brothers. I suspect Mr Murray, their tame 'House Jock' needs his sat nav to find his way to every Scottish ground except Hampden, Ibrox and Parkhead, because these are the only grounds he visits on a regular basis.
Murray laments how Scottish football is, more than ever, a two-horse race. This blog has for years been pushing for real material change in how Scottish football is run at the elite level. We have too-many average or below-average clubs. We are over-reliant, certainly in the top division, on badge-kissing, second, third or fourth-rate foreign imports. We don't promote native talent, and it is hurting Scottish fitba.
I am more than ever convinced we need, fewer “Senior” leagues; we need to pro-actively promote the signing of Scottish players; and, we most-certainly need a CBA – a Collective Bargaining Agreement, so we can have a flatter, fairer, playing field.
THE FORMER mining village in East Ayrshire which I have called home these past forty-plus years is a grim place this morning. It is widely believed that we display more union flags per house than any other settlement in Scotland, and, while new council tenants are no longer automatically supplied with a print of King Billy, on his white horse, at the Battle of the Boyne along with their house keys – the village remains staunchly protestant with a distinct orange hue.
Oor wee junior fitba team did win yesterday, but that only partly assuaged the grief following events in the East End of Glasgow earlier n the afternoon. GvB has a big job on his hands, restoring confidence before this midweek visit to Amsterdam.
I feel maybe this Rangers squad has a serious mental problem – they appear to play better in Europe, where expectations are lower, than they do in Scotland, where they are expected to win every game. Something perhaps for the boss to ponder.
Saturday's was a terrible result for the club, they were a very-poor second to Celtic and no amount of whitabootery can mask the fact, domestically, they are a poor second-place to a far from stellar Celtic outfit.
AS A KILMARNOCK fan I was not at all happy at losing to Hibs, at Easter Road. Apparently Hibs had 24 shots at goal, but scored only once, while having to play with ten men for 80 minutes, following Ash Taylor's straight red card proved too much for Killie.
I've had a couple of looks at the Taylor sending-off. Back in the day this was never a red card, since Taylor clearly won the ball when he challenged Martin Boyle, then Boyle fell over his leg. If we are going to penalise, far less dismiss defenders who clearly win the ball, then we might as well declare football a non-contact sport and stop playing.
Taylor went for the ball – he won the ball – it was never a foul. Bloody-awful refereeing.
These are hard times for the Rugby Park faithful. The team has yet to get going this season, while there has been an epidemic of nose bleeds further down the A77, with the other lot topping The Championship.
It's all the fault of my mate JT, who is a confirmed Somerset Parker. He hasn't managed to see a single Ayr United game this season as yet and he reckons that's why they're winning. I am confident, once he gets back, they will start to slide down the table.
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