Latest news with #Ayrshireman
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland fans owe Steve Clarke their support in World Cup qualifying
And the national team manager was once again targeted for vicious abuse from the crowd when his charges were defeated 3-1 by Iceland in their first June friendly match in Glasgow on Friday night. Boyd, who played under the former Newcastle United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa assistant at Kilmarnock, felt for his fellow Ayrshireman as he knows from personal experience how difficult the end-of-season fixtures are to negotiate. Read more: The Sky Sports pundit was pleased to see Scotland beat minnows Liechtenstein 4-0 in Vaduz on Monday evening and is optimistic there will be no lingering ill-feeling when the opening Group C matches against Denmark and Belarus away take place in September. 'In football today, the highs are high, but the lows are becoming lower now than they've ever been,' he said after taking part in a McDonald's Fun Football session with Scottish youngsters at Hampden. 'There's so many people with opinions and the fans have got access to so many social media platforms. So the scrutiny on managers has intensified from my day. There's no getting away from it. 'We have come so far under Steve. Look at where Scotland were when he took over. Yes, we missed out on the last World Cup, but he has taken us to back-to-back Euros. Now we are looking qualifying for the upcoming World Cup, you would expect a little bit of more positivity. (Image: SNS/SFA) 'Steve will know himself the friendly results have not been good enough. But when was the last time we won a friendly at Hampden? I think it was 2016, a long time ago. It puts you under pressure before a ball is kicked. There is less margin for error. 'I've played in the June friendlies. I know they are part of the international fixture list now and I know you have to deal with them. But I think they present problems because of the time they come at. 'Look at the highs that so many players have had this season, look at [Scott] McTominay and [Billy] Gilmour with Napoli and [Lewis] Ferguson with Bologna in Italy, look at [Tony] Ralston at Celtic and [Andy] Robertson at Liverpool A lot of boys in there have lifted trophies. They have to come in off the back of that and perform at a half-empty Hampden. 'Because of where Scotland have been the last few years, people just expect Scotland to rock up and win these games of football. But they're not easy. Could the performance against Iceland have been better? Of course it could. But it's end of a long, hard season.' Read more: Boyd continued, 'Luciano Spalletti was sacked by Italy after a 3-0 defeat to Norway. I think these June fixtures are going to cause managers in international football a lot of problems going forward. 'No disrespect to Iceland and Liechtenstein, but these are two teams we should be beating. If they were in our World Cup qualifying group we would be delighted. But because we performed poorly against Greece and Iceland and lost both games a lot of people were saying, 'We've got the World Cup coming up, we've got to be better than that'. (Image: SNS/SFA) 'But Scotland will be better. The players have achieved a lot of their goals. They've gone to back-to-back Euros. They drew with Portugal and beat Croatia and Poland to get into the Nations League play-offs. They have done really well. But the fans expect now. There have been generations of teams who haven't achieved what they have. But the next step is the World Cup. 'Come the qualifiers, everybody will be ready to go. I'm sure Steve will just be delighted to get through these friendlies. I think Steve and this group deserve everybody to be together when they have a crack at the World Cup qualifiers because they have produced for the country before. They have brought the feelgood factor back. 'Will it end sour? Of course it will. That's part and parcel of football. It always happens. But let's see where these qualifiers take us. I do believe we have got an opportunity of getting to the World Cup.' That campaign will come a little too quickly for the boys and girls who took part in the McDonald's Fun Football sessions at Hampden on Monday – but Boyd is hopeful the long-standing initiative will produce a few more players like Che Adams, George Hirst and Lawrence Shankland for Scotland in the years to come. 'Programmes like McDonald's Fun Football are important for communities across Scotland,' he said. 'They give children a safe, positive place to just play the game and have fun. 'McDonald's are offering more free sessions this summer across Scotland and it's brilliant to see. I wish I had this when I was a youngster, I would've loved it. I'd encourage every parent to not miss out and to get their child signed up to their nearest free session.' Kris Boyd was celebrating the latest free wave of McDonald's Fun Football sessions this Summer, available to all children aged 5-11 across the UK. You can sign up now for your nearest free session at
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Why Steve Clarke won't repeat 4-4-2 experiment in World Cup qualifying
Nor was Boyd, who is as well known these days for being a forthright and knowledgeable pundit for Sky Sports as he is for his heroics in the final third during his previous existence, surprised when Che Adams scored a hat-trick and George Hirst netted his first goal for his country during an emphatic and badly-needed 4-0 triumph. However, the man who found the target on seven occasions during his 18 cap international career suspects it will not be an experiment that will, despite its resounding success this week, be repeated once the World Cup qualifying campaign gets underway in September. Even against Group C minnows Belarus. Read more: The Ayrshireman can understand exactly why members of the Tartan Army have grown frustrated at the failure of a Scotland striker - of Adams, Tommy Conway, Lyndon Dykes, Hirst, Lawrence Shankland and James Wilson - to score during the past 12 months. Adams' early opener on Monday evening was the first time in 367 days, in 12 games, in 1,116 minutes, that a player who was leading the line for the national team had found the target. His effort ended a drought which stretched back to the goal which Shankland pitched in with against Finland in the second half of the Euro 2024 warm-up friendly at Hampden on Friday, June 7, last year. But for Boyd, who took part in a McDonald's Fun Football session for local youngsters at Hampden on Monday afternoon before watching the second June friendly at home on television, centre forwards scoring goals has become of far less importance in the modern game. He doesn't think the failures in the Nations League play-off against Greece in March and the June friendly against Iceland last Friday night can be attributed to the Scotland attackers' lack of ruthlessness. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) 'The issue is that we grew up in an era when there was always two strikers and those two players usually got you the goals,' he said. 'But I think we've been quite fortunate that we have a number of players behind a striker who have been able to deliver for Scotland. 'The role of a striker has changed over the years, there's no getting away from it. But that lone striker role that we deploy quite a bit allows us to get players from the middle of the pitch forward and they have contributed to Scotland in a big way over a period of time. 'To be honest, I think that's just where the world of football is right now. Look at Mo Salah at Liverpool, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue at Paris Saint-Germain and Lamine Yamal at Barcelona. They're all big players who score goals for their clubs but they're all wingers. 'If you take the likes of Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski out of the equation, there's not an awful lot of old-fashioned No 9s any more. Football has changed, it's evolved.' Boyd believes that Clarke, who he worked under towards the end of his playing days at Kilmarnock, would be savaged by Scotland supporters if he played two strikers in important fixtures, in the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers, because it would mean that he would have to drop one of his best midfielders. Read more: 'What Steve needs to do is get the best out of the boys that he's got,' he said. 'Sometimes it is best to play with one up front and have the players that we've got behind him get the goals. That is the way it works. 'If Steve was to put in another striker and drop one of our star midfielders, drop John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Lewis Ferguson or Billy Gilmour, he's going to get criticised for that. 'Our strikers have got strengths in their game, there's no doubt about that. But there's not really an out-and-out goal scorer among them. If a team is a jigsaw and you're trying to put it all together, you need to realise where we're really strong and that is behind the striker with our midfielders. 'Throughout the Steve Clarke era, those players, those big players like John McGinn, Ryan Christie, Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour, have almost always produced when it has mattered most.' Boyd, though, is hopeful that we have, even in this era of false No 9s, shadow strikers and twin No 10s, not seen the end of the 4-4-2 formation. He will not be at all surprised if it is in vogue once again in the not too distant future. (Image: SNS Group / SFA) 'Will it come back?' he said. 'Will we see two strikers up front again? You know, the big guy and the small guy? Do you know what? We just might. 'In football, everybody likes to try to reinvent the wheel. But nine times out of ten the game will revert back to what it was before. I for one hope that is the case. I would like to see Steve get two strikers on the pitch and create opportunities for them to score goals. But I do think we will go back to one up front when World Cup qualifying comes around.' That campaign will come a little too quickly for the boys and girls who took part in the McDonald's Fun Football sessions at Hampden on Monday – but Boyd is hopeful the long-standing initiative will produce a few more players like Che Adams, George Hirst and Lawrence Shankland for Scotland in the years to come. 'Programmes like McDonald's Fun Football are important for communities across Scotland,' he said. 'They give children a safe, positive place to just play the game and have fun. 'McDonald's are offering more free sessions this summer across Scotland and it's brilliant to see. I wish I had this when I was a youngster, I would've loved it. I'd encourage every parent to not miss out and to get their child signed up to their nearest free session.' Kris Boyd was celebrating the latest free wave of McDonald's Fun Football sessions this Summer, available to all children aged 5-11 across the UK. You can sign up now for your nearest free session at
The National
3 days ago
- Sport
- The National
Why Steve Clarke won't repeat 4-4-2 experiment in World Cup qualifying
Having been a member of a few potent strike partnerships during his own playing days, the former Kilmarnock and Rangers player very much approved when the national team lined up in an old-fashioned 4-4-2 formation against Liechtenstein in the Rheinpark Stadium in Vaduz. Nor was Boyd, who is as well known these days for being a forthright and knowledgeable pundit for Sky Sports as he is for his heroics in the final third during his previous existence, surprised when Che Adams scored a hat-trick and George Hirst netted his first goal for his country during an emphatic and badly-needed 4-0 triumph. However, the man who found the target on seven occasions during his 18 cap international career suspects it will not be an experiment that will, despite its resounding success this week, be repeated once the World Cup qualifying campaign gets underway in September. Even against Group C minnows Belarus. Read more: The Ayrshireman can understand exactly why members of the Tartan Army have grown frustrated at the failure of a Scotland striker - of Adams, Tommy Conway, Lyndon Dykes, Hirst, Lawrence Shankland and James Wilson - to score during the past 12 months. Adams' early opener on Monday evening was the first time in 367 days, in 12 games, in 1,116 minutes, that a player who was leading the line for the national team had found the target. His effort ended a drought which stretched back to the goal which Shankland pitched in with against Finland in the second half of the Euro 2024 warm-up friendly at Hampden on Friday, June 7, last year. But for Boyd, who took part in a McDonald's Fun Football session for local youngsters at Hampden on Monday afternoon before watching the second June friendly at home on television, centre forwards scoring goals has become of far less importance in the modern game. He doesn't think the failures in the Nations League play-off against Greece in March and the June friendly against Iceland last Friday night can be attributed to the Scotland attackers' lack of ruthlessness. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) 'The issue is that we grew up in an era when there was always two strikers and those two players usually got you the goals,' he said. 'But I think we've been quite fortunate that we have a number of players behind a striker who have been able to deliver for Scotland. 'The role of a striker has changed over the years, there's no getting away from it. But that lone striker role that we deploy quite a bit allows us to get players from the middle of the pitch forward and they have contributed to Scotland in a big way over a period of time. 'To be honest, I think that's just where the world of football is right now. Look at Mo Salah at Liverpool, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue at Paris Saint-Germain and Lamine Yamal at Barcelona. They're all big players who score goals for their clubs but they're all wingers. 'If you take the likes of Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski out of the equation, there's not an awful lot of old-fashioned No 9s any more. Football has changed, it's evolved.' Boyd believes that Clarke, who he worked under towards the end of his playing days at Kilmarnock, would be savaged by Scotland supporters if he played two strikers in important fixtures, in the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers, because it would mean that he would have to drop one of his best midfielders. Read more: 'What Steve needs to do is get the best out of the boys that he's got,' he said. 'Sometimes it is best to play with one up front and have the players that we've got behind him get the goals. That is the way it works. 'If Steve was to put in another striker and drop one of our star midfielders, drop John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Lewis Ferguson or Billy Gilmour, he's going to get criticised for that. 'Our strikers have got strengths in their game, there's no doubt about that. But there's not really an out-and-out goal scorer among them. If a team is a jigsaw and you're trying to put it all together, you need to realise where we're really strong and that is behind the striker with our midfielders. 'Throughout the Steve Clarke era, those players, those big players like John McGinn, Ryan Christie, Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour, have almost always produced when it has mattered most.' Boyd, though, is hopeful that we have, even in this era of false No 9s, shadow strikers and twin No 10s, not seen the end of the 4-4-2 formation. He will not be at all surprised if it is in vogue once again in the not too distant future. (Image: SNS Group / SFA) 'Will it come back?' he said. 'Will we see two strikers up front again? You know, the big guy and the small guy? Do you know what? We just might. 'In football, everybody likes to try to reinvent the wheel. But nine times out of ten the game will revert back to what it was before. I for one hope that is the case. I would like to see Steve get two strikers on the pitch and create opportunities for them to score goals. But I do think we will go back to one up front when World Cup qualifying comes around.' That campaign will come a little too quickly for the boys and girls who took part in the McDonald's Fun Football sessions at Hampden on Monday – but Boyd is hopeful the long-standing initiative will produce a few more players like Che Adams, George Hirst and Lawrence Shankland for Scotland in the years to come. 'Programmes like McDonald's Fun Football are important for communities across Scotland,' he said. 'They give children a safe, positive place to just play the game and have fun. 'McDonald's are offering more free sessions this summer across Scotland and it's brilliant to see. I wish I had this when I was a youngster, I would've loved it. I'd encourage every parent to not miss out and to get their child signed up to their nearest free session.' Kris Boyd was celebrating the latest free wave of McDonald's Fun Football sessions this Summer, available to all children aged 5-11 across the UK. You can sign up now for your nearest free session at
Scotsman
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Scottish golfer chasing third title triumph on Hotel Planner Tour
Euan Walker sits just one shot off lead in Challenge de España in Girona 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... Euan Walker is one shot off the lead heading into the final round of the Challenge de España as the Scot chases a third win on the Hotel Planner Tour. Walker followed opening rounds of 65 and 67 at Fontanals Golf Club with another 67 in the penultimate circuit to sit on 14 under par. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Ayrshireman birdied the fourth, seventh, ninth and tenth before dropping his only shot of the day at the par-3 11th but quickly got that back at the 13th. Euan Walker in action during the third round of the Challenge de Espana at Fontanals Golf Club in Girona |'It was really good today,' he said. 'I played really nicely throughout and made very few mistakes. I actually hit loads of great putts and quite a lot of them didn't go in, but that's just the way it goes after I holed some nice putts over the first two days.' Walker will be in the final group on Sunday with Frenchman Clement Charmasson, who leapt into the lead with a 66, and Swiss Benjamin Rusch, who is on 12 under. 'Yeah, that is exciting,' admitted the 29-year-old. 'It doesn't come round too often, to be honest, being in that position in a tournament. You have got to play close to your best to be there.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Walker's group in the third round included home favourite Luis Masaveu, who shared the halfway lead with Swede Oliver Gillberg and is still in the hunt on 12 under. 'That was quite useful because I thought 'you know what, if he takes it out with a few birdies then there's not really much pressure on me' and I had the opportunity to feed off him, which I was able to do on the front nine,' admitted Walker. 'It's very changeable,' he added of the conditions at the Girona venue. 'We played nine holes in almost perfect weather then it got a little colder and windier before it was absolutely horrible for the last three holes and last two in particular. 'I mean, the par I made on 18 was up there with the best pars I have ever made. Every shot was really difficult.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Walker made his Hotel Planner Tour breakthrough in the 2022 British Challenge presented by Modest! Golf Management before adding the Swiss Open title last year. 'Try and do exactly the same as I have done the first three days as I have given myself a load of birdie chances,' he said of his plan for the final round on this occasion. After carding a second successive 67, Hotel Planner Tour newcomer Graeme Robertson sits just outside the top 20 on seven under alongside both Jack McDonald and Sam Locke after they carded matching 68s. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Elsewhere, Farmfoods Scottish Challenge champion Brandon Robinson Thompson holds a three-shot lead heading into the final round of the Turkish Airlines Open at Regnum Carya in Belek. Bidding to land a maiden win on the main tour, the Englishman stormed to the top of the leaderboard with a brilliant nine-under-par 62, a course record-equalling effort that was illuminated by an eagle at the 12th. 'The scary part was I probably could have had a few more, but, you know, beggars can't be choosers,' joked Robinson Thompson, who has Spaniard Jorge Campillo, China's Haotong Li and South African Robin Williams chasing him.
