Jump to content

Celtic and Hearts B Teams in Lowland League?


falski

Recommended Posts

On 10/01/2023 at 22:11, Shannon said:

That 3-1 win v Civil Service Strollers shows the quality of the Rangers B team varies so much depending if likes of Lowry, Devine and others on edges of first team play or not. Lowry hat trick tonight from midfield while other teams have faced lot weaker Rangers B teams lately and lost. Farce.

Berwick Rangers beating a pretty weak Rangers B team 3-0 at the weekend shows the farce of the B teams as it can be a completely different team depending on when you play them in the season. 

I know if wont matter too much this season but if Berwick for example beat Civil Service by 1 or 2 points to the title or from relegation spot or qualifying for Challenge Cup then really unfair as the teams have played a completely different Rangers B team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Shannon said:

Berwick Rangers beating a pretty weak Rangers B team 3-0 at the weekend shows the farce of the B teams as it can be a completely different team depending on when you play them in the season. 

I know if wont matter too much this season but if Berwick for example beat Civil Service by 1 or 2 points to the title or from relegation spot or qualifying for Challenge Cup then really unfair as the teams have played a completely different Rangers B team.

I see yer point but i stated on the Rangers thread that there was only one change from the team that beat Tranent the previous week and 7 of Saturday s team at Berwick started in the win at Cowdenbeath the week before. 

As much as they shouldn't be in the league in the 1st place its hardly completely different teams.

Not sure about the rest of the seasons line ups but you definitely have points regarding players eligibility and the impact it could make on the league in general. Same goes with Celtic and Hearts. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, stanley said:

I very much remain to be convinced that having a B team in the Lowland League will make any difference to how well our youngsters do in the first team and how many end up making it with us.

This is the weakest argument against the B teams / it is pretty certain that young players do benefit from this 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is an article in the Edinburgh Evening News today about Hearts player development, together with an indication that they will be applying to retain their LL place next season.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/hearts-reveal-details-of-their-development-plan-and-the-need-for-change-after-decision-on-five-players-4044682

No Hearts B team player has progressed to the first team, although a few have taken up places on the bench (as unused subs).

The regular B Team players who will be ineligible next season have all been told that they are free to find other clubs (Aaron Darge, Leo Watson and Aidan Denholm), so there's no evidence of progress there.

The focus now appears to be on the younger ones (U18s) to make the step up.

Edited by Footballfirst
Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, cowdenbeath said:

Isn't that meant to be the point getting players coming through to their first team.

I'm not saying there's no benefit to the youngsters by playing in the B team. The article seems to suggest that the B team being in the Lowland League will make some sort of impact on how many break through to our first team. I honestly can't see that happening. I could be wrong but I don't think us having a B team in the Lowland League for years will suddenly see a few of the youngsters becoming regulars in the first team at Hearts and making it with us. We basically don't really have any first team regulars who came through the youth ranks at us currently (there's been the odd fringe player like Smith) and I don't think a couple of seasons playing against non-league teams will change that.

Regardless of the above, I still strongly object to their being B teams in the Lowland League . I think there's more benefit of sending the players out on loan to play alongside older players than there is of having a large group playing together in the Lowland League. We'll certainly have to improve over the years to compete once you get Pollok, Auchinleck, Linlithgow etc. replacing the likes of Edinburgh Uni and Dalbeattie.

Edited by stanley
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, stanley said:

I'm not saying there's no benefit to the youngsters by playing in the B team. The article seems to suggest that the B team being in the Lowland League will make some sort of impact on how many break through to our first team. I honestly can't see that happening. I could be wrong but I don't think us having a B team in the Lowland League for years will suddenly see a few of the youngsters becoming regulars in the first team at Hearts and making it with us. We basically don't really have any first team regulars who came through the youth ranks at us currently (there's been the odd fringe player like Smith) and I don't think a couple of seasons playing against non-league teams will change that.

Regardless of the above, I still strongly object to their being B teams in the Lowland League . I think there's more benefit of sending the players out on loan to play alongside older players than there is of having a large group playing together in the Lowland League. We'll certainly have to improve over the years to compete once you get Pollok, Auchinleck, Linlithgow etc. replacing the likes of Edinburgh Uni and Dalbeattie.

You make the point that Naismith made in the Evening News regarding the lack of boys making it into the first team. I suppose he is saying what they did in recent years wasn't working hence the LL thing, will it be any better time will tell.

Personally i'm not keen on them being in the league.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, cowdenbeath said:

You make the point that Naismith made in the Evening News regarding the lack of boys making it into the first team. I suppose he is saying what they did in recent years wasn't working hence the LL thing, will it be any better time will tell.

Personally i'm not keen on them being in the league.

Yes, I totally get the comparison to Naismith's point. I suppose I just think the cause of the problems of youngsters not making it won't be solved by Lowland League football but the reality remains to be seen. For one thing, we are barely giving any youngsters a chance and haven't for a while. No matter how many times they play in the Lowland League, without actually playing any of them in the first team, they'll certainly never make it.

Edited by stanley
Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

No Hearts B team player has progressed to the first team, although a few have taken up places on the bench (as unused subs).

Didn't the centre half Neilson step up? and the boy Smith who is now out of loan somewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

Didn't the centre half Neilson step up? and the boy Smith who is now out of loan somewhere.

Neilson was signed from Dundee United last summer and only made a couple of appearances in the B team before playing in the first team. Connor Smith is already 21 and had played in the first team before the B team was even created. Neither are examples of players who established themselves in the B team then made the step up to the first team as a result.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

Didn't the centre half Neilson step up? and the boy Smith who is now out of loan somewhere.


Neilson had already made 15 top flight appearances for Dundee United, plus 8 in League 1 for Falkirk on loan. Smith had already played for the Hearts first team, and had over 50 SPFL appearances under his belt, including 29 for Queen's Park in League 1 last season. I don't think there is any way they can be held up as Lowland League success stories.

On the contrary, the fact they played a couple of games in the Lowland League despite that clearly never being the long-term plan for them actually calls into question the integrity of the league in terms of B teams being at varying strengths throughout the season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Neilson played one B Team game early in the season. However he was drafted into the first team as Hearts were short of centre backs due to injury. He ended up playing 10 games for the first team in the first half of the season.  Those games led to him being ineligible to play further B team games before the new year.

Since the new year he has played in a few B team games, primarily for match fitness, as he is now down the pecking order for first team selection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...