I done a short Q & A with Albion Rovers Under 21 Central Defensive Midfielder Kyle Hutcheson in which he discusses how he started playing football, what football team he supports along with how he has progressed at Albion Rovers!
Link to full video: Short Q & A with Albion Rovers Under 21 player Kyle Hutcheson. – YouTube
Link to Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConnorRyan120/status/1332099347350220802?s=20
Scotland are on the brink of qualifying for their first major tournament in 22 years on Thursday night as they face a tough Serbia side in Belgrade.
The Nations League playoff final is a one off game which has given Scotland fans hope as anything can happen in 90 minutes. However, the Serbians have managed to get first team stars Milenkovic-Savic from Lazio and Aleksandar Kolarov from Inter Milan into their side. The pair have managed to avoid new Italian health rules by travelling before the rules were enforced, although Fiorentina defenders Milenkovic and Veljkovic remain doubts as they haven’t travelled. The pair will most likely have to self isolate for 14 days on their return.
The main threat from the Serbians will present itself in the form of Fulham striker Aleksander Mitrovic who has scored an incredible 19 goals in his last 18 international games. Dusan Tadic of Ajax and previously mentioned Milenkovic Savic will also be notable dangers for Scotland to look out for.
Scotland are likely to play their regular 3-5-2 formation which has saw them struggle to score goals however become defensively solid at the back, resulting in Scotland managing 2 goals and 3 clean sheets in their last 3 games. This is probably Scotland’s best way of setting up against the Serbians if they want to get a result, with the Serbians predicted to have more of the ball due to them having both a better attack and midfield.
Scotland have also been boosted with the returns of Ryan Christie, Kieran Tierney and Stuart Armstrong. All 3 missed out Scotland’s previous 2 fixtures due to Armstrong testing positive for coronavirus, with Tierney and Christie missing out as they were close contacts. Scotland have also called up prolific striker Leigh Griffiths who is in the squad for the first time since September 2018. The Celtic man will be looking to extend his international goal tally of 2 goals, but may find it hard to gain a start as Lyndon Dykes has been on prolific form for the National team. The Australian born QPR striker has scored 2 goals in 5 games and has consistently shown to be one of Scotland’s best players when he has played.
Scotland will be missing their famous Tartan Army backing due to coronavirus restrictions making the game be played behind closed doors. The majority of Scottish fans will have to watch the game at home due to most hospitality remaining shut, however they can access it for free through Sky Sports.
Scotland are currently on an impressive 8 game unbeaten run which includes 6 wins and 2 draws. The Serbians on the other hand have struggled recently, with their last win in 90 mins being a 3-2 win against Luxembourg in 2019. Scotland and Serbia last met in 2013 during World Cup qualifying which saw Serbia win 2-0 and end Scotland’s qualification hopes of reaching the 2014 World Cup.
Scotland made it to the final of the Nations League by beating Israel on penalties at Hampden after a 0-0 draw while Serbia reached the final by beating Norway 2-1 in extra time in Oslo.
Euro 2020 will be an international football competition like no other as for the first time it will be held all over Europe in 12 cities including Glasgow, London, Dublin, St Petersburg, Munich, Rome, Bilbao, Baku, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Budapest. This will give a chance for millions across Europe to witness games as many massive teams will be playing in various countries. One country that will be hoping to get into the tournament is Scotland who are desperate to end their 22 year absence at a major tournament. Scotland finished 3rd in their qualifying group, finishing 9 points behind fellow Euro 2020 hosts Russia in which was a pretty disappointing European Championship qualifying campaign. This saw Scotland sack Alex Mcleish throughout the campaign and replace him with Stevie Clarke who hasn’t had the time yet to fully prepare his own team. With a managerial change occurring too late and poor performances on the pitch, Scotland were yet again doomed to another 2 years of sitting in the house watching yet another international tournament without Scotland.
Scotland however have a massive lifeline in the form of the Nations League playoff. The Nations League was a new tournament set up by UEFA which acted as a sort of promotion/ relegation league system in which 4 divisions were created with various groups within them. These groups consisted of 3 or 4 teams and Scotland were handed a place in the third division within a group consisting of Albania and Israel. Scotland would go on to win 3 out of their 4 games in the group seeing them finish top place in their group allowing them to progress to the semi final of the nations league 3rd division playoff. This led to Scotland being drawn at home to Israel in the semi final of the playoff, who Scotland had already played and beaten at home in the group stage. If Scotland can overcome Israel then they will play either Norway or Serbia away from home in the playoff final, with the winner being given a place at Euro 2020. It may seem confusing but the Nations League is Scotland’s only chance of qualifying for a major tournament which is why Scots should be happy with the introduction of the Nations League. If Scotland get through then they are guaranteed to play the Czech Republic and Croatia at Hampden alongside a mouth watering tie against famous rivals England at Wembley.
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was first introduced into football during a friendly match between France and Italy in 2016, and was introduced in order to correct referee’s mistakes during a game. For example VAR has the ability to award penalties or take them away, along with send players off or even reduce a red card down to a yellow. The system is similar to rugby’s Television Match Official (TMO) which can stop play and review if a try has been scored or the severity of a challenge allowing the refs to determine what action is appropriate. Since that friendly match between France and Italy, VAR has been introduced into the top 5 leagues across Europe (Premier League, Seria A, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga) along with being implemented in the Australian and American leagues. VAR across Europe had it’s problems at first however it seems that leagues such as Seria A, The Bundesliga, and La Liga have greatly improved how the technology works and seem to be happy with how it works now. This is due to VAR becoming a lot quicker and referee’s being able to check a monitor on the side of the pitch which allows them to get a closer look at the decision.
The players also stop surrounding the referee as they know the decision is going to a VAR check and they can see this occurring on big screens in the stadium along with fans also getting to see the check live within the ground. If the players do surround the referee then they are only making the VAR check slower which isn’t exciting to see. VAR has also been introduced to the Champions League and Europa League, giving an introduction of the technology to Scottish clubs Celtic and Rangers. An example of this working successfully was seen in the Europa League round of 32 first leg clash between FC Copenhagen and Celtic FC in which Ryan Christie of Celtic FC appeared to commit a handball after his arm was in an unnatural position. The referee originally missed this however after he checked the VAR pitch side monitor, the referee awarded Copenhagen a penalty.
However in the Premier League and Ligue 1, VAR has caused mass controversy leaving fans angry and frustrated with the technology. Fans believe that the technology has drained the passion out of football due to how long it takes to review if a goal should stand or not leaving many fans to think if they should even bother celebrating. Sometimes the decisions given by VAR are very inconsistent within the same game leading to fans scratching their heads over why potentially one decision has been given in the game by the technology but a very similar decision is not given later on in the game or vice versa. There has also been incidents in which the lines for off-sides haven’t been used properly within the technology leading to wrong decisions being made. The biggest concern in the Premier League is the absence of the pitch side monitor making decisions take a lot longer than they should as the VAR is reviewed potentially hundreds of miles away from stadiums at Stockley Park. An amusing incident of VAR being unable to be used was seen in a match between Nice vs Toulouse in Ligue 1 in which rats chewed through the cables prior to kick off rendering the technology useless.
Overall, VAR is an efficient way of being able to review decisions if used properly and quickly which knocks silly mistakes from referee’s and their assistants out of the game. However VAR still has it’s issues leading to fans being disappointed if they can’t celebrate goals quickly and becoming frustrated at simple errors leading to a call for change, potentially even getting rid of VAR all together.
Since I have been 10 years old I have become a massive football fan and witnessed many highs and lows at various football stadiums, mainly at Celtic Park as I am a Celtic supporter. I have owned a season ticket since the 2012/13 season and still continue to have it to this day, sitting in the exact same seat for the last 7 and a half years with my Dad. I have also been to a few games down in England with my high school and in this blog I will highlight the best games I’ve been to!
My first Old firm game is my most favourite game I’ve been to due to it being such a surreal experience and a fantastic win of 5-1. Due to Rangers being out of the top division since I had first got my season ticket, I hadn’t been to a game with such tension as the Old Firm as no other game in Scotland compares to it. I remember my dad telling me that I was shaking until Moussa Dembele opened the scoring in the 33rd minute which slightly calmed the nerves despite going in 2-1 up at half time with Rangers on top. However, a Moussa Dembele hat trick, a goal from Stuart Armstrong and a goal from Scott Sinclair ensured that my first Old Firm was my most memorable one.
My favourite game that I attended with my high school was a English Championship match between Leeds and Brighton in which Leeds had to win in order to keep up their promotion push (Leeds still haven’t been promoted). I didn’t know what to expect going into the game as the previous Premier League matches and Champions League matches that I had attended didn’t have very good atmosphere but the quality of football was terrific. This game at Elland Road was the complete opposite with a poor quality of football but one of the best atmospheres I had witnessed. Chris Wood scored a double for Leeds which sparked some of the best scenes I’ve seen amongst a home crowd showing why Leeds had to get back into the Premier League as they are one of the best supported teams in Britain. This game also gave me a soft spot for Leeds and hopefully under Marcelo Bielsa they get promoted this season to the Premier League.
My favourite game of all time is the Scottish Cup final of 2019 in which me and my dad were lucky enough to get tickets to see Celtic beat Hearts to secure a Treble Treble, the first time this had ever been done in Scottish Football history. Despite a poor performance from Celtic and going 1-0 down to a Ryan Edwards strike in the 52nd minute, Odsonne Edouard managed to get and score a penalty along with capitalising on a mistake from the Hearts defence to secure the cup for Celtic. The result was so important as it resulted in fans crying with happiness as history unfolded in front of them and this game will remain as the most important and memorable game I’ve ever been to.
Below are some other football moments that I have seen throughout the years. Enjoy 🙂
Throughout the footballing world, there are numerous rivalries that stand out depending on location, success, religious differences, and politics which boil over both on the pitch and in the stands. These rivalries have led to amazing atmospheres, fantastic matches and league deciders occurring along with lots of controversy! The 5 derbies that I will be highlighting are The Old Firm (Celtic vs Rangers), The Superclasico (Boca Juniors vs River Plate), and El Clasico (FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid).
The Old firm derby began with the creation of Celtic FC in 1888 which saw Rangers having a direct rival created in the city of Glasgow as they were formed first in 1872. The derby is mainly based on religion as Celtic are the predominately Catholic team while Rangers are predominately the Protestant team. The two teams are also the most successful in Scottish Football history with Rangers winning 54 titles and Celtic winning 49 titles and have been the usual teams to battle it out for the league in most seasons. The Old Firm has been played a total of 420 times with Rangers winning 162 times, Celtic winning 159 times, and 99 games ending in draws. Famous players include Henrik Larsson, Paul Gascgoine, Roy Keane, and Brian Laudrup.
The Superclasico is the derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors which is fiercely contested in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires and is considered to be the best derby in the world due to it’s amazing atmosphere. The two teams are the most successful in Argentinian Football with River Plate winning the league 36 times and Boca Juniors winning the league 33 times. The two sides have met a total of 248 times with Boca winning 88, River winning 83, and 78 matches ending in a draw. Famously in 2018, the two sides met in the Copa Libertadores final, which saw the second leg of the final being forcefully moved to Madrid due to fan violence causing the game to be postponed numerous times. The final was won by River Plate 5-3 on aggregate. Famous players to have played in The Superclasico are Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Alfredo Di Stefano, and Juan Roman Riquelme.
El Clasico is the most recognized derby in world football as it is fought between the two arguably biggest clubs in world football which are Barcelona and Real Madrid. The two sides are the most successful in Spanish football along with being considered as European giants with both sides between each other having won 18 champions Leagues, with Real Madrid winning a record 13. The derby is more based on politics rather than location due to Real Madrid being the team of the Capital in Spain while Barcelona are the team from Catalonia, a region of Spain that wants to be independent. The rivalry is also mainly based on how successful each team is which has allowed both teams to gain a massive worldwide following. Players such as Lionel Messi who plays for Barcelona, and Cristiano Ronaldo who played for Real Madrid, further intensified the rivalry as they are considered the two best players of the current generation with both players winning the last 11 ballon d’ors, Messi winning 6 and Ronaldo winning 5. The two teams have met 276 times with Barcelona winning 115 times, Real Madrid winning 99 times, and 62 of the games ending in draws.
Throughout European football the stars of tomorrow have already began to show their skills and break through into various first teams allowing them to compete in 1st division, Champions League and Europa League football. 5 players that I will be highlighting are Erling Braut Haaland, Sandro Tonali, Mason Mount, Eder Militao, and Lautaro Martinez.
Erling Braut Haaland has stormed onto the European football scene throughout the 2019/20 champions league campaign by scoring 10 goals in 7 games for both RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund. Signed for 18 million by Dortmund from RB Salzburg in January 2020, the Norwegian striker stands at 6 foot 4 inches along with managing to run 60 meters in 6.64 seconds in a match against PSG, showing that the 19 year old is an extremely dangerous striker.
Sandro Tonali is an upcoming Italian central defensive midfielder who has been listed as the next Andrea Pirlo by respectable people within Italian Football. Tonali currently plays for Seria A side Brescia and has been showing solid performances while becoming a regular starter in the first team, chipping in with a goal and 5 assists so far this season. Sandro Tonali stands at 5 foot 11 inches and has even played for the Italian national team 3 teams, making his debut in October of 2019. Sandro Tonali is well on his way to living up to his expectations and destined to become the next Andrea Pirlo.
With the appointment of Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager and Chelsea being handed a transfer ban, Lampard decided to turn to youth in order to fill up his first team squad. One of these players he turned to was Mason Mount who has been put right into the first team after a successful loan spell at Derby County during the 2018/19 season. Mount is one of a few English talents to be playing regularly for the Chelsea first team and has re payed his faith to Lampard giving him a chance by chipping in with 5 goals and 5 assists during the 2019/20 Premier League campaign. Mount has also gained 6 caps for the England National Team and looks set to continue his form so he can try to be a part of England’s Euro 2020 squad in the summer.
Brazilian Center back Eder Militao moved to Real Madrid from Porto in the summer of 2019 after enjoying a successful season in Portugal for 45 million euros. This saw Militao make 6 caps for the Brazilian National Team however his chances for Real Madrid have been restricted with Militao only making 12 appearances for Los Blancos so far. This is due to Real Madrid having the center back partnership of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane who have both enjoyed terrific seasons at the heart of the defense. Militao will get his chance eventually as he is only 22 at the moment and signed a 6 year deal with Real Madrid.
Lautaro Martinez has been a phenomenal striker for Inter Milan and has been great to watch alongside his strike partner Romelu Lukaku and starts almost every game for the Nerazzurri this season so far. Lautaro Martinez has scored 16 goals in 30 matches this season and has also recorded 4 assists giving him 20 goal contributions. Martinez has been one of the most deadly strikers in this seasons champions league scoring 5 in 6 games even though Inter got knocked out at the group stage. Martinez is still only 22 years old and is being tracked by European super clubs such as Barcelona and Real Madrid for sums close to 100 million euros.
Since Rangers liquidation in 2012 resulting in them starting the 2012/13 season in the fourth tier of Scottish Football, Celtic have been the dominant force in Scottish Football. This has seen Celtic gain 8 titles in a row and also rack up three trebles in a row, something that has never been done in Scottish Football history. However Rangers managed to gain promotion back into the SPL in 2016 and ever since have been edging closer and closer to threatening Celtic’s dominance. The biggest indication of Rangers being able to threaten Celtic as title challengers has been seen through the old firm games of the 2019/20 season. These included Rangers playing Celtic off the park in the League Cup final however a Fraser Forster masterclass in goals saw Celtic win the game 1-0. A bigger example came when Rangers surprisingly beat Celtic 2-1 at Celtic Park at the end of 2019 which was their first victory at Celtic Park in 9 years, putting them 2 points behind Celtic with a game in hand going into the winter break.
However, since the end of the winter break Rangers form has been very inconsistent which included a 2-1 loss to bottom of the table Hearts at Tynecastle and also a 2-1 loss away to Kilmarnock. Rangers have also struggled in the final third by scoring only 11 goals in the league since returning from the winter break. This doesn’t seem that bad however comparing to Celtics 24 goals scored since returning to league action things start to look a little worrying for Steven Gerrard’s Rangers. Celtic have also won every single game since the winter break putting them currently 10 points clear of Rangers at the top of the table, though Rangers do have a game in hand.
With Rangers inconsistent form and Celtic currently looking unstoppable in Scottish Football, it seems that Celtic will be able to wrap up 9 in a row after a mid season scare. However, it will be interesting to see if both teams decide to break the bank next season in order for Celtic to win 10 in a row, something which has never been done before, or if Rangers can stop Celtic and secure their 55th title writing Steven Gerrard and his Rangers players into Scottish Football history.
Since the 2011/12 Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich have won the league for the last 7 seasons in a row and have established themselves as the top German club, alongside becoming one of the top European teams on the continent. However, in recent seasons a few teams in the Bundesliga have began to challenge themselves against Bayern and began to provide a sort of big title challenge. These clubs would mainly be Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig who have both came second to Bayern Munich during their 7 in a row Bundesliga title wins.
The biggest threat over the past 7 seasons to Bayern Munich has been Borussia Dortmund, the last team to win the Bundesliga before Bayern’s 7 in a row title wins in the 2011/12 season. Borussia Dortmund have came second to Bayern a total of 4 times out of 7 of the last seasons and on a couple of occasions have only lost the league title by a couple of points, for example the 2018/19 season saw Bayern finish on 78 points while Dortmund got 76 points. Dortmund have also been consistently one of Europe’s top teams, even competing a Champions League Final in 2012/13 in which they lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich.
RB Leipzig are a fairly new team to the Bundesliga, and also a very controversial one. The team got promoted to the Bundesliga in 2016 and were funded by the mega corporation Red Bull who overtook fifth-division side SSV Markranstadt in 2009 which wasn’t popular among German football fans as most German clubs are fan owned, not owned by a corporation. RB Leipzig used their wealth to purchase many amazing young talents and also purchase many players from partner club, RB Salzburg. This has been somewhat successful as they are usually found in the top 4 of the Bundesliga and have appeared in the Champions League and Europa League since gaining promotion. RB Leipzig have came second once to Bayern Munich, remarkably in their first season in the Bundesliga, and look set to challenge Bayern for the title this season.
The 2019/20 season is set to be one of the tensest in years as the top 5 in the Bundesliga are separated only by 6 points making it one of the most exciting leagues in Europe. However Bayern Munich still lead the way and it will be interesting to see if any other teams in the top 5 including Leipzig, Dortmund, Monchengladbach, and Leverkusen, will be able to stay consistent enough to topple the Bavarian giant Bayern for the first time in 8 seasons.
Manchester United, arguably one of the most famous clubs in world football has been going through a very underwhelming time since the departure of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. Since then, Manchester United have been through 5 managers including David Moyes, Ryan Giggs as a caretaker, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, and currently have Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the helm. The club is still run by the Glazer family who have spent £840 million on transfers since Ferguson left which has gained Manchester United a total of 1 FA Cup, 1 Europa League, and 1 League cup.
This has been nowhere near good enough to the standards that are expected at Manchester United considering they are the most successful team in England with 20 league titles and were consistently competing at a high level in the champions league while playing under Ferguson. A particular low point for Manchester United fans is that with their downfall has seen the rise of rival clubs such as Manchester City, Chelsea and more recently Liverpool who have all seen better silverware such as Champions Leagues and Premier League titles come into their trophy rooms. Liverpool are looking very likely to win the 2019/20 Premier League which would put them onto 19 league titles, threatening Manchester United’s dominance at the top of English Football.
Manchester United have decided to attempt to rebuild by buying in and using homegrown young talent such as buying Aaron Wan Bissaka from Crystal Palace and Daniel James from Swansea while also using players from the club’s youth academy such as Scott Mctominay and Brandon Williams. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that he has a 5 year plan to get the club back to the top however fans seem to have ran out of patience with the current boss and would like someone new in charge.
Connors Football Blog
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