logo
'It hurts to be out of Six Nations contention'

'It hurts to be out of Six Nations contention'

BBC News24-02-2025

Second row Grant Gilchrist says it "hurts" for Scotland to be out of Six Nations title contention after round three following the one-point defeat by England.A bruising loss to Ireland and the loss at Twickenham leaves Scotland on one win from three games, with Wales to come at Murrayfield before a final weekend visit to play France."We came here to win because we knew we'd put ourselves in a position where we needed to win," Gilchrist told BBC Scotland."But we have to focus on that level of performance - it is going to win us more games than it loses us."We have to now look at winning our last two games and where that will leave us in the Championship. Depending on other results, that's where we're at."Obviously, it hurts to be saying that. I want to be standing here going: 'We have two games and we've got a chance to win the Championship.'"But we weren't quite good enough."After Wales put up a strong fight before eventually going down to grand-slam chasing Ireland, Gilchrist expects a rejuvenated side to arrive at Murrayfield on 8 March, regardless of their run of 15 straight defeats."Six Nations games are so tough - every game is a proper test match now," Gilchrist added."If you're not at your very best, you don't win."Wales will be taking a lot of positives from their game and they'll be coming up to Murrayfield to win."For us, it has to be another step forward in our performance levels."I believe if we add another layer to what we put on [against England], we win the game next week and we go to Paris - looking to add a bit more on again and win there."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

When are the 2025/26 SPFL fixtures due to be released?
When are the 2025/26 SPFL fixtures due to be released?

The National

time4 hours ago

  • The National

When are the 2025/26 SPFL fixtures due to be released?

Clubs across the country are preparing for the new campaign, which begins in less than two months. When are the 2025/26 SPFL fixtures released? The SPFL will publish the full list of matches for the new season across the Premiership, Championship, League One and League Two on Friday, June 20, at 9am. In the top flight, only the first 33 of 38 rounds of fixtures will be released, due to the annual split which takes place in the final weeks of the campaign. Read more: The first round of games across all four top divisions in Scotland then takes place on the weekend of Saturday, August 2. Celtic will unfurl the Premiership flag in their first home league match of the new campaign after they were confirmed as champions for the fourth consecutive year in May. Rangers ultimately ended the season 17 points behind their city rivals, although new head coach Russell Martin is now at the helm ahead of 2025/26. Both sides have lengthy pre-seasons to come through before domestic action returns. Celtic must also negotiate a Champions League play-off in August. Their city rivals will have to make it through three rounds of qualifying to make it to European football's premier club competition for the first time in three years.

Russell Martin can conjure Rangers winning formula if he's learned one thing from Southampton insists Steven Davis
Russell Martin can conjure Rangers winning formula if he's learned one thing from Southampton insists Steven Davis

Daily Record

time5 hours ago

  • Daily Record

Russell Martin can conjure Rangers winning formula if he's learned one thing from Southampton insists Steven Davis

Davis watched Martin's tenure at his other former club Southampton closely and hopes boss has learned from failed experiement Steven Davis is confident Russell Martin can come up with a winning formula at Ibrox - so long as he learns from his failed Premier League experiment. The former Southampton boss is back for another crack at management six months after being sacked by Saints. ‌ The bold passing philosophy that swept the South Coast outfit to promotion to the English top flight was quickly torn apart by their merciless rivals. ‌ A savage run of defeats cost Martin his job but ex-Gers skipper Davis is certain the new Ibrox gaffer will have learned his lessons. Davis - a four-time league himself winner at Ibrox - said: "I'm very hopeful Russell will be successful. Ultimately, that's what we all want, a successful Rangers competing for trophies and winning regularly. Hopefully Russel and his staff can bring that to the club. 'He's obviously very straightforward in terms of how he wants to work. 'He's got a philosophy and a culture that he wants to implement. I think that'd be a good thing. 'I've watched quite a few Southampton games when he was manager there. ‌ 'They obviously did really well in the Championship, maybe not quite so well in Premier League, but he's learned from those experiences. 'He'll be in a better position going into the job at Ibrox, so I'm very hopeful that he can be successful.' Martin has a huge job overhauling an Ibrox squad that proved to be miles off the Premiership pace last term. ‌ The former MK Dons and Swansea manager has insisted his team will put up a better fight than the one which crawled home a massive 17 points behind Brendan Rodgers' swaggering Celtic. He stopped short, however, of making a title declaration as he gave a nod to the scale of the task awaiting him. Davis reckons the Ibrox legions will understand how big a job the new boss faces - but warned that patience will only last so long. ‌ He grinned: 'Unfortunately patience isn't a word used in Glasgow! 'I think everybody going into their roles will know the demands that are going to be on the players and the club to try and get that success as soon as possible. 'I think they're capable of doing it. Celtic have been pretty strong in the last few years, but I don't think that the gap should have been what it was anyway. ‌ 'Rangers have shown in the Old Firm games last season that they can compete — but it's getting that consistency. 'Hopefully they can start the season well. It's such a big thing, the psychology and the freedom within the group, as soon as you start to get that confidence and belief in the tea then it can take you far. "The expectancy will be for Rangers to dominate the ball in the majority of games in the league. ‌ 'But it's what you do with that possession, and that'll be his focus in terms of how he can get into areas where the team can create chances to score - but also with having that balance of the defensive side of things as well. 'All the experiences Russell has gained in his short managerial career will benefit him — you're always better for the experience you have, good or bad. "You learn from it, and you adapt as you go along, and you try to become better.' ‌ Davis has tasted the sedate life Martin enjoyed at Southampton during his own six-and-a-half year stint at St Mary's. But that was nothing like the madness he faced during two spells in Glasgow. ‌ Martin had a brief taste of that frenzied working atmosphere himself during a four-month stint as a Rangers defender - and Davis reckons that will do him the world of good as he gets his feet under the table. 'The pressures are much more in this city,' he said. 'When you go to Rangers, you have to embrace that side of things. If you don't it can swallow you up. 'But Russell knows what he's stepping into. He's got that short-term experience that he's had at the club, and that'll really benefit him going into the job. 'It's very hard to speak about Rangers and Celtic until you actually experience it yourself. 'Thankfully, Russell's got that experience. He only had it for a short period but he's had that experience and he can bring that knowledge with him, which is positive.' :: Davis was speaking as he helped promote 10 Years On - a celebratory event taking place at Belfast's Ulster Hall on May 2, 2026, marking next year's anniversary of Northern Ireland's Euro 2016 campaign. For tickets go to

Glentoran's time will come with fine tuning
Glentoran's time will come with fine tuning

BBC News

time6 hours ago

  • BBC News

Glentoran's time will come with fine tuning

Glentoran owner Ali Pour says the club just needs a bit of "fine tuning" and he will "give it as long as it takes" for the club to achieve took over at the Irish Premiership side six years ago and the club have only won an Irish Cup and County Antrim Shield in that season, Declan Devine guided the club to the County Antrim Shield and a third place finish in the league, when a top-two finish would have secured European they missed out on Europe by losing the play-off semi-final, and were defeated in the BetMcLean Cup final and quarter-finals of the Irish admits it was a "disappointing season" but says the club are "getting there"."We've had a few hiccups along the way, but we are very close. "Had we scored an extra goal and finished second, this would be a very different conversation. Fine margins have resulted in where we are today."The gap isn't huge. I expected better results in the last six years, in terms of silverware. We should have won more trophies, no one can dispute that. "But it's never a huge gap. It's always fine margins. Many of the games we lost or drew last season were so finely poised. We were one goal away from finishing second. "The level is up there, the squad performance, Declan's performance - it's all where it should be. I think we just need a bit of fine tuning."Glentoran haven't won the league since the 2008-09 season, but Pour says he believes the Gibson Cup will return to the Oval sooner rather than later. "Our time will come eventually, whether it's under my control or others. "We are serious contenders. There's no reason why it can't happen - the budget's there, we're still signing top players, Declan is more than qualified and capable of bringing the Gibson Cup here."If I didn't think we were capable, I probably wouldn't invest as much. What would be the point? We are capable of doing it and I'm sure one day we will, Who knows, it could be this season." 'Strong bid' for stadium redevelopment Something that the London-based owner believes could add to Glentoran's all round success and improve things on and off the pitch, is a new League clubs are awaiting news on how much money they will receive from the long-awaited Northern Ireland Football Fund. In Pour's eyes his club have submitted the best application and have requested a large portion of the available £36 million."When you look at the Oval, the stadium is falling apart here and I've seen other stadiums that need money. We have waited long enough. "The government has made a decision that they are going to put an amount of money into football. £36 million is not enough by any means for the whole league, so hopefully there will be more to come."Pour says the club have "ticked all the boxes" with a strong bid, and says it is a "big chunk" of the fund."We put a very, very strong bid in and I am very proud of what we have done. We have asked for a lot, we've asked for a big chunk. "Look, we can build a stadium for £20 million, we can build one for £100 million. It just depends how advanced you want it to be."Our need is clear, we sell out many big games because there is space available, but it's jut not safe. "In terms of impact, our social partnership has done wonders in this area and we understand the need to be sustainable. So, we're very optimistic." 'We're missing a talisman' After finishing third this season, the east Belfast side lost their European play-off semi-final to Cliftonville, something Pour admitted falls well short of the club's standards."European football is very important financially and from an emotional perspective. I was disappointed at the end of the season as our squad was more than capable of progressing through Europe. "We put a very strong team together, so we could have done really well had we qualified for Europe. It was hard to see us not get in there and obviously we could have made a lot of money in Europe in the next few months.""Emotionally, the fans and myself, we deserve to be in Europe. We're a full time club, we're very well financed, we've spent a lot of money over the past few years. It should be a given. "Even statistically speaking, there are four places available. We're a top two/top three team, we should be in Europe every year. Now this is the second year we haven't qualified, it's disappointing." Looking ahead to next season and summer transfers, Pour said manager Declan Devine has identified the positions they need to have already signed Scottish midfielder Liam Burt from Shamrock Rovers and Pour stressed there would be further additions."We may bring in two or three more players to strengthen our squad for next season. We're missing a talisman, we're still lacking a real goalscorer, someone who pulls it all together. So, I think we need one more upfront and one in a more defensive position."The club's women's team have achieved great success in recent seasons, wining three of the last five NIFL Premiership titles, achieving European football and most recently topping their group in the All-Island Cup to progress to the quarter-finals where they will host Dublin side Bohemians."The women's team are the thing that cheers me up," said Pour. "When the men's team isn't doing to well, they give me energy. The manager, Kim [Turner], is doing a great job."They've had a great start to the season and are doing so well in the All-Island Cup. I will support them all the way."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store