Luke Randall's Talking Points of the Month....

Performance of the Month

 

Bournemouth showed Hull who the real relegation side are this October

Eddie Howe described his side as 'faultless' as they tore Hull apart in a 6-1 thrashing at the Vitality Stadium on 15^th October. Both Bournemouth and Hull are teams many will have as relegation favourites this season, but Bournemouth looked a class above their opponents. Bournemouth came into the match in 13^th, just 2 places above Hull in the table. Hull left in 16^th, falling just one place, although it must have felt like they had fallen to 20^th  as they looked at their relegation ‘rivals’ and became accutley aware of the gulf in class between the two sides.

The two teams contested quite evenly for most of the opening period, before Bournemouth scored two quick fire goals before half time. The second half was more of a late show, as after their fourth goal on 65 minutes, Wilson and Gosling waited until the 83^rd and 88^th minutes to hammer the final nail into Hull’s coffin.

Bournemouth only enjoyed 49% possession throughout the match, but threatened the Hull goal 22 times; a fantastic conversion rate and double the total number of shots that Hull produced. This result took Bournemouth to 13^th, and since then they have climbed to 10^th, just 2 points behind Manchester United.

Player of the Month

Dembele, Celtic's best since Larson?

Moussa Dembele, possibly the buy of the summer in Scottish football for just £500,000 from Fulham, has not stopped producing the goods. It started when he scored a perfect hatrick against Rangers in early September and scored 2 goals against Manchester City in the Champions League. Apart from missing a penalty against Barcelona, he has brought nothing but goals galore to Celtic. Since the10th of September, including the hatrick against Rangers, he has scored 8 goals, his latest being a late goal against Ross County on Wednesday 26^th October. The main question regarding Dembele is how long can Celtic keep him? This is a player who Rangers fans will want to forget in a hurry. Even if he does not play that well, he still scores. He has been quoted as a £40 million striker so it will be interesting to watch what happens in the January transfer window.

Goal of the Month

 

 

My goal of the month goes to Gaston Ramirez, who opened the scoring in a 2-0 win for Middlesbrough over Bournemouth on Saturday 29^th October. His 39^th minute goal helped Middlesbrough climb to 14^th in the table.

It was a wonderful solo goal which saw Ramirez almost run the whole pitch before scoring. He blocked a Bournemouth shot and then took the loose ball from near enough his own box and used a nice piece of skill to take him past the Bournemouth midfielders towards the half way line. Then, he used the space he had found to drive toward the Bournemouth box before brilliantly cutting inside past the final defender (Andrew Surman) and slotting the ball into the net, leaving Bournemouth keeper Arthur Boruc with absolutely no chance.

It was a truly superb strike from Gaston Ramirez which earns a goal of the month award from me.

 

Moan of the Month

A dejected bunch of Scotland players trudge away from another Slovakia goal

Scotland have already made the dream of going to Russia in 2018 for the World Cup a nightmare, after just 3 matches. They cruised to a 5-1 win over Malta in the first match but in the October Internationals, drew at home with Lithuania and lost away to Slovakia. My moan of the month has to be the recent Scotland performances. They dropped points against Lithuania, a country outside the top 100 teams and then went to Slovakia and were beaten 3-0 by a less than average side that hadn’t scored in a number of games previously. They sit in a poor 4^th place in the table and though they aren’t far off top they still look destined not to qualify. Scotland’s next match is against England at Wembley, and though Scottish will be right up for the Wembley clash, hope seems to be fading very quickly.

Why can Scotland never manage it? A good number of their players are playing at a good level in the English Premier League, notably Robert Snodgrass for Hull and Crystal Palace’s James McArthur who scored 2 goals against Liverpool recently. Other players either play in the English Championship or the Scottish Premiership. You could not say the Scotland manager (Gordon Strachan) is poor either as he has managed top sides before, including Celtic and Southampton. Why then can these players never capture their form when they put a Scotland shirt on? Man for man, the Scots have as good a squad as many top sides inside the top 15 or 20 in the FIFA rankings.

Is it the expectation of a nation? Is it that the players don’t play well together as a team? Is it that Gordon Strachan should select different players? The same old faces are given the run out every time. Why does Leigh Griffiths not start? Why is Ross McCormack not in the team? Why are there Scottish Championship players in the squad, such as John Mcginn of Hibernian? Should different players get the call up? Change is needed and fast or Gordon Strachan could be the latest Scotland manager to say goodbye. Hope of a first major tournament in 20 years seems to be disappearing.

 

 

 

by Luke Randall

Innes O'Donnell's Talking Points of the Month.....

 Best Performance

Celtic’s draw with Manchester City is a game that Scottish Football should be proud of. Celtic bounced back from a very poor result away to giants Barcelona in the previous round of matches when they lost 7-0.   As a result many people were expecting a repeat for Celtic to lose yet again.   The comparison between the amount of money that Scottish clubs get from TV rights playing in the SPFL is almost miniscule from what many English clubs get in Premier League.  So for Celtic go out there and score 3 goals against a team of superstars coached by the supposed best coach ion the world seemed implausible.

Manchester City were on great form in the BPL and looked unstoppable under Pep Guardiola who when the time came to play Celtic at Parkhead had still not dropped any points as City manager.  The tactical genius from Brendan Rogers was to put massive amounts of pressure on the Manchester club as they were playing out from the back. Celtic’s star players really did perform on the night with Moussa Dembele scoring two and a Kieran Tierney shot leading up to a Raheem Sterling own goal.  It will remain as a historic night for Celtic under the Rogers Revolution.

 

 

Player of the month 

Kieran Tierney has been putting in some fantastic performances for Celtic and was perhaps the only player in the Scotland team who could be given pass marks in their recent qualifying games.  He has stole Emilio Izaguirre place at left-back and has won over the fans with the Green Brigade making up the chant “Shalalalalalala Kieran Tierney!” In my opinion he has been the most inform Scottish player around the world.  Tierney’s chance against Motherwell when he cruised past 3 or 4 defenders and then proceeded to hit the cross-bar really showed his attacking ability as well as his composure.  He thrives defensively as well, when Tierney was picked for the Scotland team the Celtic captain Scott Brown told the BBC that Tierney wasn’t afraid to go into a challenge and it was great to play alongside him.

 

Celtic's £30 million man..??

 

Best Goal

James Maddison’s goal against Rangers was an absolute stunning free kick from 35 yards out.  It has remained as a very significant goal that showed yet again the troubles of the Rangers defence.  There was controversy leading up to the freekick as even the referee admitted after the game that the tackle on Jonny Hayes from James Tavernier was fair. It was in the very last minute and many people presumed that Andy Halliday’s leveller for Rangers was going to mean the game ended in a draw.  However Maddison, the Norwich loanee, stood up for the freekick and placed it right into the top right corner giving Wes Foderingham absolutely no chance, it was an absolute cracker!

 

James Maddion's goal of the month effort helped Aberdeen sink Rangers with the last kick of the game

      

Biggest Moan

One of the biggest moans in Scottish Football has to be National team.  The tartan army’s first game was against Malta and they hammered them 5-1.  It was great result with Snodgrass scoring a hat trick although against minnows Malta the result was expected and anything less would have been a real disappointment.

 

Scotland didn't need pink strips to look silly in their recent World Cup Qualifying games

 

So there was reasonable confidence into going into the next game at Hampden against Lithuania however, it wasn’t to be. A very poor display meant Scotland found themselves behind at home to Lithuania only a late goal from James MacArthur levelled the score at 1-1.  Gordon Strachan appeared to be at fault from many of his player choices and overall bad tactical performance.

The former Aberdeen, Manchester United and Leeds  player chose to play Chris Martin ahead of Leigh Griffiths which was a real source of frustration.  A lot of Scotland fans consider that Martin doesn’t suit the loan-striker role and doesn’t make the correct runs, and is in fact completely ineffective at times up front in a Scotland shirt. Leigh Griffiths scored a total of 40 goals last season and seemed like the player that would fit perfectly into the striker role, yet he started the game on the bench. 

Scotland’s team played Slovakia later in the week at their ground and another disappointment came.  The 3-0 loss has made it nearly impossible for Scotland to qualify and many fans called Strachan for the sack.  The Russia Dream seemed to be a complete imagination and looks over already

 

 

 

 

by Innes O'Donnell

Callan McCabe's Talking Points of the Month.....

Performance of the month

I have opted not to settle for one performance and instead have chosen Chelsea’s performances since losing 3-0 to Arsenal in September.  This season is going to be big for Chelsea to see if new manager Antonio Conte can bring back success to Chelsea. At the of end of last month they lost to Liverpool 2-0, after this defeat Conte when back to the drawing board and came up with the 3-4-3 formation that has been bringing so much success since, so far the Chelsea squad has been transformed into something new and in the month of October they  had 4 clean sheets. Chelea were exceptional against Manchester United winning comfortably by a four goal margin without conceding in a game Manchester United managed Jose Mourinho was woefully under-prepared for. Mourinho after the defeat complained to Conte saying that “celebrating with the fans at 1-0 is okay but at 4-0 its humiliating”. Mourinho should be more concerned with how far his team are lagging behind a rejuvenated Chelsea side.  

 

Player of the month

This month I think Diego costa has marginally been the best striker so far in the Premier League. He has the back of the net 8 times so far this season which has helped him become the top leading goal scorer one ahead of Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Everton’s (and former Chelsea striker) Romelu Lukaku. Costa has brought his form back this season and he is looking sharper and much more consistent. Although everyone thinks of Costa as a player who gets angry a lot Conte is using this to his advantage and controlling and using Costa’s aggression. At this moment in time I would say it is working really well. When Chelsea lost to Arsenal 3-0 Conte changed the formation to a 3-4-3 allowing the attackers to stay up and not push back too much. This has brought the best out of Victor Moses playing in a new position on the right allowing Costa to float around the midfield and do what he does best, SCORING GOALS!  

Diego Costa has looked like a different player under Antonio Conte this season

 

Goal of the month

Goal of the month for me would be Jordan Henderson’s strike against Chelsea. Henderson showed good composure to collect the ball move it to his right foot and smash it top right out the reach of Chelsea keeper Courtois’s reach helping Liverpool to a 2-1 over Chelsea.

Henderson's impressive strike gave Liverpool an important win over their potential title rivals

 

Moan of the month

My moan of the month is Sir Alex Ferguson commenting Manchester City, Liverpool , Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United are title contenders but that Chelsea are not. This is despite the fact Man United are 8^th in the league and Chelsea are 4^th in the league, his comments have left Chelsea manager Antonio Conte baffled. It’s just the start of the season and everyone knows anything can happen but at this moment in time I personally don’t think Sir Alex Ferguson  can say Chelsea aren’t title contenders when Chelsea’s last four games have been clean sheets one of which was a 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United. United haven’t won a league game since the 24^th of September when the beat Leicester City 4-1, surely it is Chelsea who are the more likely side to top the Premiership table come the end of the season.

 

 

 

by Callan McCabe

Match Report: Larbert High Senior verus Chryston High School

Wednesday 5th October. Larbert High School

Larbert High Seniors 2-2 Chryston

                                '49 Keir Stevenson                                             '3 Chryston no.9
                                 '80 Taylor Gavin                                               '46 Chryston no.5
                                                                                                    

(Chryston win 7-6 on penalties)

 

Larbert had a dramatic last gap equalising goal in the Scottish Cup but couldn’t go on to the next round after losing 7-6 on penalties in a dramatic penalty shootout.

 

It was a closely contested Scottish Cup between Larbert and Chryston

Larbert had a good first few minutes possession but quickly found themselves behind. After losing possession at the edge of the centre circle Chryston struck from the edge of the penalty box and slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner giving the away team an early lead. Larbert High got into the game slowly as a shot skimmed the bar shortly after the Chryston goal. Larbert had a corner late in the first half but the ball was blazed over the bar from yards out. As half time approached Chryston had another good opportunity they broke free of the Larbert defence and on-on-one with goalkeeper Adam Reape he made a good save to keep the score at one nil at half time.

 

Into the second half the visitors doubled their advantage within a minute after winning a corner the Chryston centre half scored with a powerful header. But Larbert wouldn’t be denied and started to get themselves slowly back into the game. They responded with a strike from Kier Stevenson shortly after the Chryston goal, he got onto a through ball and sent the keeper the wrong way. Larbert were back in the game and almost equalised on the 75^th minute when a cross was headed narrowly over the bar. Larbert eventually got the equaliser their play deserved in the 80^th minute when Taylor Gavin scored to make it 2-2.  Later in the 89 th minute Larbert had a chance to win the game but a miraculous save from the Chryston goalkeeper who tipped the ball over the bar ensured the score remained 2-2 and the game was headed into a penalty shootout.

 

The Larbert team prepare for penalties

 

The game went to penalties Chryston missed their second penalty but then Larbert missed their fourth. Each team maintain a 100% record after that and with the score tied at 6 each Larbert had their penalty saved, Chryston scored to make it 7-6 and move onto the next round. It was an unbelievable comeback from Larbert but in the end it proved a step too far and ended in Scottish Cup disappointment.

 

 

 

by Luke McGuire

 





The Four Questions I Would Ask.....Stuart Hogg

The four questions I would ask Stuart Hogg…

Stuart Hogg has been the stand out player for Scotland during some bleak times

 

I would ask Stuart Hogg who inspired him to play rugby and what age was he when he started? I would want to ask him this because he is one of Scotland’s best full backs ever along with Chris Paterson and Gavin Hastings and I would like to know if another fullback inspired him or if it was a player in a different position or a family member. Stuart Hogg has gone onto score 22 tries in his 86 caps and he has 148 points to his name and at only 24 he has plenty of time to get more.

 

I would also ask who is the best player he’s ever played with for club and for country. I would ask him this because he plays in a terrific Glasgow Warriors side that has performed well the last couple of years. He’s played for Scotland since 2012 and lots of good players have broken into the first team. I would want to know if he thinks a young player like Fynn Russell is the best youngster he’s seen, or if he would pick a more experienced player such as Grieg Laidlaw or Sean Lamont.

Stuart Hogg with another try for Glasgow Warriors, but what's more important club or country..???

The next question I would ask Stuart Hogg would be if he would ever leave Glasgow and what team would he leave for. I would ask him this because he’s been at Glasgow for a while and I’d like to know if he sees himself spending his career there or if he would consider a move to another team perhaps a struggling team and build them up or if he would go to one of the bigger clubs in the pro 12 such as Munster or Cardiff blues.

 

The next question I would ask him would be would he rather win the pro 12 with Glasgow Warriors or win the next 6 Nations with Scotland. I would ask him this because I would like to see what is more important to him a club medal or International title, and with Scotland improving over the year I would say it’s certainly looking more possible than in the last couple of years.

by Andrew Gilchrist

The Four Questions I Would Ask.......Walter Smith

Walter Smith was possibly the greatest manager in the history of Rangers Football Club. He won 21 major honours and reached many Cup finals and went through many good European campaigns, notably beating Leeds Utd in the ‘Battle of Britain’ and reaching the UEFA Cup Final in 2008. If I was to interview legendary Rangers’ manager, Walter Smith, I would ask:

 

1) When You First Moved to Rangers, did you think you could achieve just quite as much success as you did?

 

I would ask Walter Smith this because when he went to Rangers as assistant manager to player-manager Graham Souness after a fairly underwhelming playing career, could he really have imagined quite so much success – or even becoming the manager of the football club? He has, over time, developed a swagger when it comes to lifting trophies, and has beaten Celtic more than Jock Stein’s Celtic beat Rangers. He has won 21 major honours with Rangers, more than a sixth of the club’s total honours and has reached European finals and Domestic Cup finals many times. He was a crucial part of Rangers’ record 9 titles in a row throughout the late 80s and the 90s. What’s more is that he returned to Rangers in 2007 and achieved success again, with far less resources than in the 90s. He beat the trend of, ‘It’s never the same the second time round.’ Could he even have imagined becoming the manager of Rangers, taking over from Graham Souness, who galvanised the club and took them to their first league title in years in a very short space of time. He won the league at Pittodrie, where they had not got good results in years. If I was in his position I don’t know if I could imagine what was to come for Walter. It would be good to hear his thoughts.

Walter Smith pictured with one of his many top flight titles

2) Why couldn’t Rangers win a tenth title in a row and did you think Rangers would win it at the start of that season?

I would ask this because Rangers achieved so much success and glory throughout their 9 titles in a row, including many cups and European journeys. They had produced so many World class players. It was the greatest era in the club’s history and most of the players stayed on to try and go for ten in a row. Was it just fate that determined Rangers to fail in the final fixtures or was it his aging team? Was it because Walter had announced he would be departing at the end of the season? It would be interesting to hear if there was a particular reason he thought stopped a legendary tenth title in a row. Did he believe they could do it beforehand?

3) If Rangers hadn’t come calling in 2007, do you think you could have taken Scotland to a major tournament?

I would ask this because I remember Walter Smith saying he would not have left Scotland job for any other management job. He left and did a fantastic job at Rangers again but could things have gone well for the Scots had he stayed? He had been doing a fantastic job at Scotland. He had taken Scotland from Berti Vogts’ losing formula to a winning formula. He beat 1998 world champions France and had helped Scotland climb the World rankings. Does he think that he could have guided Scotland to a World Cup or European Championship? How far could they have gone in these tournaments? How long would he have stayed?

Could Walter Smith have been the right man to take Scotland to a major tournament?

 

4) What do you think of Mark Warburton so far and how long will it take for Rangers to be looking to challenge for the title?

 

Mark Warburton built a squad from a low budget and changed McCoist’s legacy of failure, followed up by Kenny McDowall’s disaster and Stuart McCall’s attempt at promotion. He won promotion to the premiership at a canter, won the challenge cup and led Rangers to the Scottish Cup final, beating Celtic on the way, before narrowly losing in the final. He has made an underwhelming start in the premiership this season so far, not meeting Rangers fans’ expectations. He has set records for worst starts in the top flight in years, despite many convincing performances. What does Walter think, as he has attended many matches and witnessed Mark’s new, fluent style of attacking football? Does he think Mark has done a good job so far? How much time should he be given to get Rangers consistently winning and how many years should he be given to guide Rangers to a 55th title? Walter knows better than anyone of the pressures of being the Rangers manager. Does he think Warburton is coping well with these pressures despite some slightly unusual comments and criticism of ‘The overly negative media’ in Scotland?

by Luke Randall

The Four Questions I Would Ask.......Joe Root

How did you get started in cricket?

 

I would ask Joe this because he started at a little club called Sheffield collegiate cricket club, they play at a decent standard, similar to the level I play for Stenhousemuir.

He is so humble and he is the type of guy that would be your best friend in school. He acts like he is in first year at school and he is like a baby in the England team.

 

A young Joe Root plays cricket in his Sheffield Collegiate shirt

 

 You have played 46 test matches and scored 4005 at a average of 54.86. Do you feel that you can break Alistair cooks record by the age of 30? Then do you think you can record Sachin Tendulkars recored of 15372 runs?

I would ask Joe root this because he is breaking every record there is and he is still only 26 years old. Famous Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was 40 when he retired meaning Joe has 14 years to score 11367 runs if he stays fit. The way he is going now he will smash the record. He is in a 4 horse race with Virat Kholi, Steven Smith and Kane Williamson. Joe just laughs when the journalists ask him about the other players.

Joe Root just loves to bat, he enjoys himself when he is batting. He doesn’t put a lot of pressure on himself and always bats well because he is so relaxed.

 

Hats off, Joe Root hits a 100 runs yet again

 

 

Who was your childhood hero and why?

 I would ask Joe Root this because he grew up in an unsuccessful period in English cricket. The English team were ranked bottom of the ICC world rankings. They lost to Australia heavily in almost every Ashes series and they drew with Zimbabwe in 1996. I would imagine it would be a non-English player. He was in his teens when England were growing as a test match team. The thing is that England had a very good team on paper, but they had no success.

 

Joe Root with Michael Vaughn, but who was his childhood cricketing hero?

 

 

 

What steps did you take to make it as an International batsman?

 

This is my final question because I want to be a professional cricketer for Scotland, I would also like to play for Yorkshire too. I also like the style he plays with and I model my game on Joe’s. I would want to know about his training, the sacrifices he has made to get to the very top of the world of cricket and what it takes to be an International.

 

 

 

 

by Calum Grant

 

 

 

 

Manchester United v Manchester City

Old Trafford

Ibrahimovic 42                           (1-2)          De Bruyne 15

                                                   Iheanacho 36

Saturday  10^th September

Manchester City pulled out a great win by  beating their arch rivals with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford on Saturday that puts them 3 points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premiership table.

Kevin de Bruyne gave Manchester City the lead with a great goal making the United keeper David de Gea move the wrong way within the first 15 minutes.  Pep Guardiola was happy coming into the game as Man City had a 100% start to the season, he was even happier when City went 2-0 up with 9 minutes remaining before the first half ended. Iheanacho put the second goal in by replacing the suspended Sergio Aguero for the game.

 

Kevin de Bruyne bagged his first goal of the season against arch rivals Manchester United

Man United were given a free kick just before half time, captain Wayne Rooney stepped up to take it, he aimed for goal his weak effort was punched away by the keeper who only managed to place it at Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s feet who slotted the ball home from 18 yards on the half-volley. Man United were quickly back on the attack in the second half.

 

Marcus Rashford made a big impact in the second half with some good dribbles and an assist for Ibrahimovich who smacked it straight over the bar. With 20 minutes remaining Rashford took a touch off Ibrahimovic and took on City keeper Claudio Bravo but it led to nothing as he was judged to be offside. After that the performance started to fall from both sides as Fernandinho’s header from de Bruyne’s corner was saved by de Gea.

 

Leroy Sane got the ball from de Bruyne who knocked into the path of the Belgian player who missed narrowly hitting the post and watching the ball roll across the line. David Silva then curled the ball just inches over the bar leading to a goal kick. With de Bruyne’s effort in the game and his great goal he was comfortably the man of the match against their rivals. Manchester City’s win put them at the top of the league by 2 points ahead of Chelsea with a game in hand.

 

 

by Claire Cummings

Rangers Post Old Firm - How Will They Fare for the Rest of the Season?

Mark Warburton’s Rangers went to Celtic Park on Saturday and were heavily beaten 5-1, it was Celtic’s biggest Old Firm win since winning 6-2 in 2000. Further humiliation came from a Moussa Dembele perfect hatrick – right foot, left foot, header - Rangers new signing Philippe Senderos being sent off after a horrendous performance was capped by a bizarre handball and even assistant manger Davie Weir being sent off from the dugout.  Celtic fans celebrated jubilantly while Rangers couldn’t hear the final whistle soon enough. This result leaves Rangers 4 points behind Celtic having played a game more after a generous first 5 fixtures. Rangers have a problem.

 

Does Warburton know who his strongest 11 is yet?

 

Mark Warburton said in his post-match media conference that he does not believe there is a gulf in class between Rangers and Celtic, which many people criticised him for. I personally do not buy into the ‘huge gulf between them’ claim when we are only 5 games into the season and with over 30 games still to be played. Mark Warburton now has serious questions to answer – will he turn this situation round, after only winning 2 matches in the league since winning the Championship title in April. Does Warburton know who his best 11 players are?  It’s is a big question, personally I’m not convinced Barton and Krancjar can play in the same team as they slow down the previous attacking tempo in the midfield from last season. It will be interesting to see the starting line-up picked by Warburton before Saturday’s match against Ross County at Ibrox, now a must win game in my opinion, before a difficult clash with Queen Of The South in the League Cup and, most important of all, a trip to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen. This is the first time Mark Warburton has had to face any real pressure since taking charge last summer. He doesn’t appear to be upset by claims of how far behind they are and unsure about multiple things.

Rob Kiernan should be 'dropped immediately'

I am very confident of Rangers securing 2^nd spot in the premiership this season. They are a good side, despite what many are saying, and play good attacking football and are a match for anyone on their day. They are unfortunately still trying to find their feet at a higher level and it’s time for the manger to accept that the defence is not good enough and hopefully despite his disaster debut Philippe Senderos will come good in the end and Rob Kiernan will be dropped immediately.

I boldly predict a 3-0 victory for Rangers against Ross County as I think Warburton and Davie Weir will drive the players to results in coming weeks. I could easily see Rangers going on to taking maximum points in most of their next matches. However Rangers have not lost like this before, at least since tumbling down the leagues, so it will be interesting to see what lies ahead and how they respond to this. Rangers have to put faith in their young vibrant players such as Josh Windass, Andy Halliday, Jason Holt, etc. to get back to their previous attacking flair. I do think Kenny Miler still has a lot of goals in him and Joe Garner is an exciting prospect, the man who scored against Celtic and will give Rangers some aerial threat for the first time in years. It shouldn’t be all doom and gloom despite Rangers fans feeling hurt after a thrashing at Celtic Park. You can’t sit and feel sorry for yourself after an Old Firm loss, Rangers must get back to winning and end this woeful form and who knows maybe even go on and challenge for the title.



by Luke Randall
 

Claire Cumming's Sport Profile

My favourite player is Eden Hazard because he has got good speed and has some great skills. Eden Hazard is a great football player because his passes are on point and he has a powerful strike.

'On point' passes and a powerful strike, Hazard is the complete player

I started to play football when I was 9 years old. Ever since then I have had a very strong passion for football and I hope to carry that through my life. I play for Stenhousemuir girls U15s Larbert high school of football and school girls’ team. My favourite goal I have scored when I was playing Celtic, I scored a goal from about the edge of the centre circle.

My favourite goal from Eden hazard was when he was playing Liverpool. He managed to take on five of Liverpool’s players and curved the ball from outside of the box to the bottom right corner. Another great moment was when Chelsea were playing West Ham and Eden got past four players provided Ivanovic with the perfect assist.

Hazard had a poor season last season but looks back at his brilliant best this season

Chelsea may have ended up ninth place in the 2015-2016 Barclays Premier League but the year before that they won the league. When they won the league because José Mourhino was a great manager and the team had a lot of dedication and commitment to the cause.

 

I like playing football because it is a great sport and is good fun. When I am not training I like to go out and play football with my friends. We like to play matches and different games and it is fun and I get to play it with my friends when I play a match with my team I will always work to my full ability and work hard.

I am studying Sports Journalism because I love sport, especially football, and want to write about and talk about football in school.

 

by

 

Claire Cummings

 

 

 

Caden Bell's Sporting Profile

My name is Caden I play with Syngenta 03’s my position is goalkeeper. I’m a very big football fan my favourite football teams are Celtic & Man City and my favourite game I’ve been to so far was the title party against Motherwell where Celtic won 7-0, history was made that day when Jack Aitchison became the youngest goal scorer for Celtic.

 

Jack Aitchison makes history becoming Celtic's youngest ever scorer

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=celtic+vs+motherwell+7-0&adlt=strict&view=detail&mid=4D0C8723131B1A6205054D0C8723131B1A620505&FORM=VRDGAR

My favourite player is Paul Pogba the reason why he is my favourite is because he is one of the best in the world, he has the skill, the shooting ability and everything you look for in a player. I loved watching him play when he was in the champions league final and I really want Juventus to win. Here is my favourite Paul Pogba goal scored!

 

Paul Pogba's so goos he can stop to smell his armpits during games

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pogba+screamer&adlt=strict&view=detail&mid=E29509E43549568EDC48E29509E43549568EDC48&rvsmid=E29509E43549568EDC48E29509E43549568EDC48&fsscr=0&FORM=VDMCNL     

My other favourite football player is Sergio Aguero. Aguero has been amazing ever since he joined Man City he has been amazing scoring goals and basically doing whatever he wants, he is an inspirational player here is my favuorite Aguero moment, what a way to win the league!

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=agueros+last+minute+winner&adlt=strict&view=detail&mid=306F24162E50742A83B2306F24162E50742A83B2&rvsmid=306F24162E50742A83B2306F24162E50742A83B2&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSRV

I am studying Sports Journalism so I can keep up to date with all the football news and write about the teams I support.

 

 

 

by Caden Bell