Rangers face Cerny fight & manager setback
Reports in Turkey say Vaclav Cerny, on loan at Rangers from Wolfsburg, is on a three-man shortlist for Besiktas, who want to sign two wingers. (Daily Record), externalRed Star Belgrade left-back Ebenezer Annan, linked with Rangers last month, is being tracked by Dutch club Feyenoord. (Scottish Sun), externalSheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl, linked with Rangers, suggests he is likely to be returning to Germany for a Bundesliga job. (Kicker via Glasgow Times, external)Southampton are favourites to land Rangers-linked Rohl as they bid to bounce back to the Premier League next season. (Daily Record), externalRangers have outlined their proposal for "formal approval" in relation to future tifo displays at Ibrox after condemning an "unacceptable" banner on display at the Old Firm derby. (The Herald, external - subscription)Friday's Scottish gossip
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The National
13 minutes ago
- The National
Who's going to step up and replace Scotland's golden generation?
The youthfulness of Steve Clarke's squad for the friendly internationals against Iceland and Liechtenstein this month has, what with Connor Barron, Kieron Bowie, Tommy Conway, Josh Doig, Billy Gilmour, Max Johnston, Lennon Miller, Nathan Patterson and James Wilson all receiving call ups, certainly been heartening. The members of that nonet have an average age of just 21. Every one of them has a huge amount to offer their country at international level for many seasons to come. They have numerous qualifying campaigns left in them and hopefully a few finals too. The same is true of the injured duo Ben Doak, the Liverpool winger, and Aaron Hickey, the Brentford full-back. It was also encouraging to see the SFA roll out their Cooperation System – which will see up to three Scotland-qualified prospects under the age of 21 move freely between Premiership and Championship parent clubs and lower league outfits on loan from the 2025/26 season onwards – this week. Read more: Similar agreements already exist in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. Hopefully the long overdue scheme will enable our best prospects, who have often been prevented from gaining much-needed competitive game time in the senior ranks simply because their presence is needed to satisfy homegrown player quotas in European competition, to make the difficult transition from the age-group ranks. That initiative was one of the main recommendations contained within the Transition Phase paper which was co-authored by Andy Gould, the SFA's chief football officer, and Chris Docherty, the governing body's head of men's elite strategy and was published last year. That report contained many worrying revelations, damning findings and stark conclusions about how poorly Scotland is doing in comparison with other countries of a similar size across Europe when it comes to producing talented young footballers who are capable of flourishing in the paid ranks. But if anybody needed reminding just how few professionals are emerging, Brown Ferguson, the former Alloa, Hamilton and Partick Thistle midfielder and the current Stenhousemuir assistant manager who is also the assistant regional performance manager at sportscotland and the high performance manager to Scottish Golf, took to X (formerly Twitter) to tell us. He posted a series of alarming statistics about the Premiership last season. Here are a few of the most startling. Just 31.46 per cent of players to start games in the top flight were Scottish. That is down from 45 per cent three years ago. On average, just 3.23 per cent of players kicking off on a Saturday are under 21, just four out of 132. No fewer than 20 team selections failed to contain a single Scot. Aberdeen and Celtic didn't start an under-21 player in the 2024/25 campaign. The SFA have identified these major problems and are endeavouring to address them. The SPFL clubs, who in the past have shown they are more concerned with self-interest than the greater good, have endorsed and embraced their plans. But is it too little too late? Our leading clubs face a raft of challenges running academies and bringing through youngsters who are capable of representing their first teams every year. The issues which Brexit and raids on their age-group squads by their wealthier English rivals have presented in recent years have been well documented in these pages. Far fewer footballers who are good enough are emerging. These are pretty exciting times in Scottish football with Brighton owner Tony Bloom buying a major stake in Hearts and a consortium comprising American billionaire Andrew Cavenagh and the San Francisco 49ers taking over Rangers. With Hibernian a far more formidable force than they were and Aberdeen lifted by their epic Scottish Cup triumph, next season promises to be a belter. Read more: But the focus in recent weeks has very much been on how much money every club will spend and who will be brought in this summer. The new powerbrokers seem unconcerned about doing their bit to help our national game by rearing homegrown heroes. Sure, wanting to promote youth has been mentioned in passing. It appears, though, fairly far down their list of priorities. Such is the money mad modern game. There is, with Barron, Bowie, Conway, Doig, Gilmour, Johnston, Miller, Patterson and Wilson as well as Lewis Ferguson, Jack Hendry, George Hirst, Andy Irving, Scott McKenna, Scott McTominay and John Souttar all in the current Scotland squad, no reason for Tartan Army footsoldiers to panic. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) Yet, the World Cup qualifying campaign which will get underway with away games against Denmark and Belarus in September may well prove to be the last that Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes, Craig Gordon, Grant Hanley, John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Andy Robertson, Lawrence Shankland and Kieran Tierney are involved in. Some will retire after it, others will stay on. But we are witnessing the last hurrah of a golden generation. Will those who come after that aforementioned group grace, as many of their predecessors did, the Premier League and the Champions League? The majority of them still have some way to go to scale the same heights as their compatriots. A few will manage it, but many won't. Clarke lamented how few goalkeepers he had to choose from when he announced his squad last month. He, or his successor, may be left bemoaning the lack of centre-backs, full-backs, holding midfielders, playmakers, wingers and strikers going forward. There must be a concerted collective effort from club owners and managers or qualification for the finals of major tournaments will be a thing of the past.
The Herald Scotland
18 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Who's going to step up and replace Scotland's golden generation?
The members of that nonet have an average age of just 21. Every one of them has a huge amount to offer their country at international level for many seasons to come. They have numerous qualifying campaigns left in them and hopefully a few finals too. The same is true of the injured duo Ben Doak, the Liverpool winger, and Aaron Hickey, the Brentford full-back. It was also encouraging to see the SFA roll out their Cooperation System – which will see up to three Scotland-qualified prospects under the age of 21 move freely between Premiership and Championship parent clubs and lower league outfits on loan from the 2025/26 season onwards – this week. Read more: Similar agreements already exist in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. Hopefully the long overdue scheme will enable our best prospects, who have often been prevented from gaining much-needed competitive game time in the senior ranks simply because their presence is needed to satisfy homegrown player quotas in European competition, to make the difficult transition from the age-group ranks. That initiative was one of the main recommendations contained within the Transition Phase paper which was co-authored by Andy Gould, the SFA's chief football officer, and Chris Docherty, the governing body's head of men's elite strategy and was published last year. That report contained many worrying revelations, damning findings and stark conclusions about how poorly Scotland is doing in comparison with other countries of a similar size across Europe when it comes to producing talented young footballers who are capable of flourishing in the paid ranks. But if anybody needed reminding just how few professionals are emerging, Brown Ferguson, the former Alloa, Hamilton and Partick Thistle midfielder and the current Stenhousemuir assistant manager who is also the assistant regional performance manager at sportscotland and the high performance manager to Scottish Golf, took to X (formerly Twitter) to tell us. He posted a series of alarming statistics about the Premiership last season. Here are a few of the most startling. Just 31.46 per cent of players to start games in the top flight were Scottish. That is down from 45 per cent three years ago. On average, just 3.23 per cent of players kicking off on a Saturday are under 21, just four out of 132. No fewer than 20 team selections failed to contain a single Scot. Aberdeen and Celtic didn't start an under-21 player in the 2024/25 campaign. The SFA have identified these major problems and are endeavouring to address them. The SPFL clubs, who in the past have shown they are more concerned with self-interest than the greater good, have endorsed and embraced their plans. But is it too little too late? Our leading clubs face a raft of challenges running academies and bringing through youngsters who are capable of representing their first teams every year. The issues which Brexit and raids on their age-group squads by their wealthier English rivals have presented in recent years have been well documented in these pages. Far fewer footballers who are good enough are emerging. These are pretty exciting times in Scottish football with Brighton owner Tony Bloom buying a major stake in Hearts and a consortium comprising American billionaire Andrew Cavenagh and the San Francisco 49ers taking over Rangers. With Hibernian a far more formidable force than they were and Aberdeen lifted by their epic Scottish Cup triumph, next season promises to be a belter. Read more: But the focus in recent weeks has very much been on how much money every club will spend and who will be brought in this summer. The new powerbrokers seem unconcerned about doing their bit to help our national game by rearing homegrown heroes. Sure, wanting to promote youth has been mentioned in passing. It appears, though, fairly far down their list of priorities. Such is the money mad modern game. There is, with Barron, Bowie, Conway, Doig, Gilmour, Johnston, Miller, Patterson and Wilson as well as Lewis Ferguson, Jack Hendry, George Hirst, Andy Irving, Scott McKenna, Scott McTominay and John Souttar all in the current Scotland squad, no reason for Tartan Army footsoldiers to panic. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) Yet, the World Cup qualifying campaign which will get underway with away games against Denmark and Belarus in September may well prove to be the last that Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes, Craig Gordon, Grant Hanley, John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Andy Robertson, Lawrence Shankland and Kieran Tierney are involved in. Some will retire after it, others will stay on. But we are witnessing the last hurrah of a golden generation. Will those who come after that aforementioned group grace, as many of their predecessors did, the Premier League and the Champions League? The majority of them still have some way to go to scale the same heights as their compatriots. A few will manage it, but many won't. Clarke lamented how few goalkeepers he had to choose from when he announced his squad last month. He, or his successor, may be left bemoaning the lack of centre-backs, full-backs, holding midfielders, playmakers, wingers and strikers going forward. There must be a concerted collective effort from club owners and managers or qualification for the finals of major tournaments will be a thing of the past.
North Wales Chronicle
35 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Saturday's briefing: Ange Postecoglou sacked as Wales ease past Lichtenstein
Wales kept on course for World Cup qualification with a comfortable win over Lichtenstein. Scotland's problems continued as they were humbled 3-1 at home by Iceland. Postecoglou's two-year reign as Tottenham manager came to an end despite having ended the club's 17-year wait for a trophy with victory in the Europa League final. Postecoglou delivered on his promise of 'always' winning in his second season thanks to the 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao on May 21. It etched the head coach name into the history books as only the third Spurs boss to taste European success and the first since 2008 to lift silverware – provoking an outpouring of affection from a previously split fanbase. A club statement read: 'We are extremely grateful to Ange for his commitment and contribution during his two years at the club. 'Ange will always be remembered as only the third manager in our history to deliver a European trophy, alongside legendary figures Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw. 'However, the board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the club for a change to take place.' Wales claimed a routine 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over minnows Liechtenstein on a night overshadowed by an injury to Neco Williams. Joe Rodon's first Wales goal – only his third in senior football – ended Wales' nervous wait to break the deadlock after 39 minutes. Harry Wilson and Kieffer Moore were also on the scoresheet in the space of three second-half minutes as Wales moved to the top of Group J with seven points from three games. But Wales will prepare for Monday's test against group favourites Belgium in Brussels with major concerns over the fitness of Williams. The Nottingham Forest full-back, in trying to cross on the byline midway through the first half, landed awkwardly and was in obvious pain as the Welsh medics ran to treat him. Williams attempted to get to his feet on two occasions before slumping to the turf and eventually left the pitch on a stretcher. Cieran Slicker had a debut to forget as Scotland's World Cup qualifying warm-up friendly ended with a 3-1 defeat by Iceland at Hampden Park. The 22-year-old Ipswich goalkeeper replaced the injured Angus Gunn in the first half, minutes after which he conceded possession before Andri Gudjohnsen beat him with a terrific drive. John Souttar levelled in the 25th minute from a corner but Slicker and his defenders struggled collectively when the visitors regained the lead from a corner, just before the break, with Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson putting through his own goal. Slicker was again found wanting in the 52nd minute when he was beaten by a Victor Palsson header, which added the gloss for the visitors. Laget sitt det😍🇳🇴 — Fotballandslaget (@nff_landslag) June 6, 2025 Italy's bid to qualify for a first World Cup since 2014 began in horrendous fashion as they were hammered 3-0 by an impressive Norway side in Oslo. Coach Luciano Spalletti was already under pressure following his team's Nations League quarter-final exit in March, which came off the back of a hugely-underwhelming display at Euro 2024 when the holders were eliminated in the last 16. His position now looks increasingly uncertain following a comprehensive humbling in their opening Group I match as goals from Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland in the first half left them trailing Norway by nine points, with only the group winners assured of a spot at the 2026 finals. Taking in tomorrow night's stage 🏟️ — England (@England) June 6, 2025 England will look to uphold their perfect start to Thomas Tuchel's reign when they travel to face Andorra in Catalonia in World Cup qualifying. Northern Ireland go to Copenhagen to play Denmark in a friendly.
