Can 'harsh words' spark Dundee improvement?
Ryan Astley hopes the "harsh words" exchanged after Dundee's humiliation against Hearts prompts a much-improved performance in tonight's trip to Celtic Park.The Dark Blues' four-game unbeaten shuddered to a halt as they were thrashed 6-0 last Saturday, and defender Astley said: "We were in on Sunday, we went over it. There was a few harsh words that were needed."We come in on Monday and it was positive, like move forward. It was a blip and we're looking forward to the next game."Every game, you've got to be on it because anyone can beat anyone, and we need to learn from that and not let that happen again."As a team, we always react well to disappointments. We're ready to go there [Celtic Park] and come away with something."Former Dens defender Cammy Kerr, meanwhile, believes a trip to the champions could be the ideal fixture for Tony Docherty's side after the weekend hammering."There's not too much expected of Dundee in going there, but getting a shock result would be obviously massive for them," Kerr told the BBC's Scottish football podcast."It could be the type of games that gets you back on track. All the limelight is maybe on Celtic, with Jota making his home debut, so everything will be stacked against Dundee, but that's sometimes when you can pick up those results and surprise a few people."
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North Wales Chronicle
15 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Max Johnston hopes club success by Scottish players can boost national team
The 21-year-old right-back was part of Sturm Graz's championship-winning side, while Napoli pair Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour, Liverpool's Andy Robertson and Celtic's Anthony Ralston have also met up with the national team for the friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein fresh from top-flight glory. In addition, Lewis Ferguson captained Bologna to their Coppa Italia triumph, Josh Doig helped Sassuolo to the Serie B title and Grant Hanley won League One with Birmingham. 🏴 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑡 & 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑦 💙 @sscnapoli @ScotlandNT — Lega Serie A (@SerieA) June 4, 2025 'It's amazing to see how many trophies in so many different countries that the boys have won,' said Johnston. 'It's amazing to see Scottish players doing so well abroad and it's really encouraging for us that players are starting to win titles now and win cups, so I think that's going to be huge for us. 'As a footballer you want to be a winner, so it's great to see. That'll definitely help us.' Johnston, who moved from Motherwell to Austria two years ago, also appeared in the Champions League as he made 30 appearances for Sturm Graz in the season just finished. The campaign before that, he played 27 times as his side won the league and cup double. Johnston is thrilled with the way his move from Motherwell to the Austrian Bundesliga two years ago has panned out so far. 'It was really enjoyable for me winning the league over in Austria, it was a good season,' he said. 'I feel like I've improved definitely by getting the amount of minutes that I've managed to get over the last year or so. 'As a footballer you need to play to continue to learn, so I feel as though I've been learning and improving every week. 'The Austrian league is a great league for young players. They really try and push the younger generation and give you an opportunity to play. I've really enjoyed the experience on and off the pitch.' Johnston's progress at club level was rewarded when he made his Scotland debut as a late substitute in the Nations League play-off win away to Greece in March, and he now intends to push for more regular involvement with the national team. 'I've got a small taste for it now and it's just made me hungry for more,' he said. 'I want to try and bring what I can to the squad. I like to get forward from my position and create attacking chances, so hopefully that's what I can do for the squad.' Johnston is inspired by his father Allan, a former Hearts, Sunderland, Rangers, Middlesbrough and Kilmarnock winger who won 18 Scotland caps between 1998 and 2002. 'I'm so lucky to have grown up with someone who was involved in the game and he's been a huge help to me, him and my mum as well,' said Johnston. 'Obviously, they've been coming over to Austria and helping me out over there as well, so I'm very lucky for that.'
South Wales Guardian
an hour ago
- South Wales Guardian
Max Johnston hopes club success by Scottish players can boost national team
The 21-year-old right-back was part of Sturm Graz's championship-winning side, while Napoli pair Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour, Liverpool's Andy Robertson and Celtic's Anthony Ralston have also met up with the national team for the friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein fresh from top-flight glory. In addition, Lewis Ferguson captained Bologna to their Coppa Italia triumph, Josh Doig helped Sassuolo to the Serie B title and Grant Hanley won League One with Birmingham. 🏴 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑡 & 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑦 💙 @sscnapoli @ScotlandNT — Lega Serie A (@SerieA) June 4, 2025 'It's amazing to see how many trophies in so many different countries that the boys have won,' said Johnston. 'It's amazing to see Scottish players doing so well abroad and it's really encouraging for us that players are starting to win titles now and win cups, so I think that's going to be huge for us. 'As a footballer you want to be a winner, so it's great to see. That'll definitely help us.' Johnston, who moved from Motherwell to Austria two years ago, also appeared in the Champions League as he made 30 appearances for Sturm Graz in the season just finished. The campaign before that, he played 27 times as his side won the league and cup double. Johnston is thrilled with the way his move from Motherwell to the Austrian Bundesliga two years ago has panned out so far. 'It was really enjoyable for me winning the league over in Austria, it was a good season,' he said. 'I feel like I've improved definitely by getting the amount of minutes that I've managed to get over the last year or so. 'As a footballer you need to play to continue to learn, so I feel as though I've been learning and improving every week. 'The Austrian league is a great league for young players. They really try and push the younger generation and give you an opportunity to play. I've really enjoyed the experience on and off the pitch.' Johnston's progress at club level was rewarded when he made his Scotland debut as a late substitute in the Nations League play-off win away to Greece in March, and he now intends to push for more regular involvement with the national team. 'I've got a small taste for it now and it's just made me hungry for more,' he said. 'I want to try and bring what I can to the squad. I like to get forward from my position and create attacking chances, so hopefully that's what I can do for the squad.' Johnston is inspired by his father Allan, a former Hearts, Sunderland, Rangers, Middlesbrough and Kilmarnock winger who won 18 Scotland caps between 1998 and 2002. 'I'm so lucky to have grown up with someone who was involved in the game and he's been a huge help to me, him and my mum as well,' said Johnston. 'Obviously, they've been coming over to Austria and helping me out over there as well, so I'm very lucky for that.'
Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
The extraordinary story of how Lachie Stewart became a Scottish national hero
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... For all the majestic and, at times, inglorious moments that defined Scottish sport throughout the 20th century, the crowning achievement of distance runner Lachie Stewart is too often forgotten. He was, and remains, one of Scotland's greatest ever athletes, and the sad occasion of his death last week at the age of 81 is a chance to revisit the moment he became a national hero after claiming gold in the 10,000 metres at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. No one, except perhaps Lachie himself, considered such a feat realistic. He was a gifted runner, for sure, but found himself up against a talented field which included Dick Taylor, the British record holder, and Kenya's Naftali Temu, the reigning Commonwealth champion. Above them all towered Ron Clarke, the revered Australian who had set no less than 17 world records during a gilded career. Having taken silver at three previous iterations of the Games, Clarke was widely expected to go one better in Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Lachie's talents had been recognised at numerous Scottish meets and Amateur Athletics Championships, but in truth, he was viewed as an outsider, and even in an age when athletics remained a strictly amateur pursuit, his training regime was unorthodox. Although he joined his local running club in Alexandria as a teenager, and progressed to the Shettleston Harriers, he was a self-taught runner who seldom took to a track, preferring to mark out 800 yard and 400 yard repeats in a local park. Lachie Stewart with his gold medal won in the Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres final at Meadowbank stadium Edinburgh in July 1970. Picture: The Scotsman | TSPL Out of sorts on big day His great virtue, however, was hard graft. Every weekday, the young Scot would run to and from his home in Rutherglen and his workplace at Glasgow Dental Hospital. If ten miles was insufficient, he would give up his lunch break to pound the length of Sauchiehall Street and its surrounding thoroughfares. On occasion, he would even accept the challenge laid down by a bus driver, racing them all the way from Anderston to Shawlands. Come a dreich July day in the shiny new Meadowbank Stadium, the 27-year-old faced an even greater challenge. Lachie had felt a little out of sorts on the day of the biggest race of his sporting life, and had just a few tea biscuits for breakfast. The discomfort was the result of a peptic ulcer – not that he or the thousands of home supporters cheering knew it. 'An idol of mine' With just 200 metres to go, he was in third place, tucked in behind Taylor and Clarke. But buoyed by the crowd's cheers, he kicked on, passing a tiring Taylor and overtaking a grimacing Clarke on the home straight to secure Scotland's first flat race Games gold. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The dogged, wily performance had already secured Lachie's place in Scottish sporting history, but what happened next revealed to the world the true character of a champion, as he walked over to Clarke, shook his hand, and told him: 'I'm sorry to be the one who had to beat you. You've always been an idol of mine.'
