Socceroos in Scotland - A Scottish Premier League Preview with Paul Murphy

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Foreign.

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Hello and welcome to the Aussie Football Passport.

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And I've got a special episode today because I have Scottish

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independent football writer with me, Paul Murphy.

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Paul, welcome to the Aussie Football Passport. Yeah, thanks very

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much for having me. Good to talk to you about this topic. Something very interesting,

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close to my heart on both sides. Yeah, definitely.

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So that's great. And Paul, I just wanted to give a

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quick plug to your wonderful book Socceroos in Scotland, which is

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out now. Well worth a read. I'm waiting for my copy to

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get to me. But Paul, did you want to give us a quick overview,

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I guess, of what inspired you to write this book? Yeah, well,

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I'd written one book for Fair Play Publishing, which is an Australian

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publishing house and a lot of their books are fairly

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niche sports books, especially football.

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So I'd done one on a Swiss Thai football player, an autobiography.

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And I was thinking of an idea for a second book. And obviously

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you think about things you know about and that the publishing house might be

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interested in, but being is it Australian based and obviously the number

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of Australians that have gone to the Scottish Premiership,

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especially in the past 10 years, has grown remarkably.

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And obviously we saw a few years ago at the World cup there were so

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many players with a connection to Scotland playing in Scotland or had

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played in Scotland or would in the future play in Scotland. So I thought,

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you know, it would be interesting to have a closer look and a deeper dive

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into those links. And then I started to think about the, you know, the evolution

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of the Australian influence in the Scottish game has been quite significant

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and it was quite interesting to see as well from the research, you know,

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how much influence Scots had on the Australian game prior to the

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movement in the opposite direction. Obviously lots of Scots went to play in Australia and

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In the past 40 or so years we've seen much more traffic in the

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other direction, I think especially the last 10, 15 years.

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Yeah, definitely. I think a lot of people do forget particularly I think it

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was the 70s and 80s, wasn't it Paul, where a lot of Scottish

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players emigrated across to Australia to take part in

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the nsl. I believe it was at the time, or what it was known as

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at the time and particularly in Melbourne and Sydney. I think most Scott turned it

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up but there was a few in other places around, you know, obviously Perth and

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Brisbane as well where on base. But yeah, it's quite a rich history. And it's

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not just music that Scotland and Australia have ties in, is it? So it's a

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wonderful story to tell and I'm

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glad That you have, Paul. So it leads me to my next question.

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Have you got a favorite Aussie player who's played in the Scottish Premiership?

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Well, I mean, as a Celtic fan, it has to be Tom Rogic.

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I mean, I do. I mean, I really like Scott McDonald as well. I thought

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he was a really, really important player for Celtic for a number of years.

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He scored some big goals, was instrumental in a

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couple of championship wins. But for me, Tom Rogic,

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just the way he plays is my type of player. The skill he has,

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the goal. Some of the goals he scored were obviously exceptional. He didn't tend to

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score ordinary goals. Almost every goal he scored was incredible

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qual. So, yeah, I'd have to say Rogic would be my favourite

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of the Aussie players and I did manage to interview him and he was

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playing for Australia in the World cup qualifier against Thailand.

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Ah, yes. As I'm based in Bangkok,

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he did the press rounds and he's got a bit of a reputation for not

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being that happy to talk to the press. And yes, the experience wasn't.

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He wasn't the most talkative person, but as

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a player I thought he was an exceptional talent. Yeah, one of those

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players that Lee left the talking on the field,

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much like another Aussie who played in the Scottish

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Premiership, Aaron Moy. I think both of them were renowned for not

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being very forthcoming in terms of their, I guess, off the field

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antics, if you like, or off the field speaking. But on the field, two very

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class footballers, weren't they? Well, strangely enough on that, the day I spoke to

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Rogic, Aaron Moy was also down for press duties. So we

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had Rogic and Moy and I was with the Australian journalists. So it wasn't just

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me one on one. And I think we were all kind of a bit.

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Is this all they're giving us? So the two of them. And then after that,

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Matty Ryan came and it was like, oh, okay, somebody who likes talking.

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Finally. Yeah, suddenly Matty Ryan was a bit of a relief after Moy

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and Rogic's, you know, limited communication skills. Yeah, Fair to

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say I had your work cut out for you that day. But thankfully Matt Ryan

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came in to save the days. He likes to do Matty.

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Brilliant stuff. And I guess as well,

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Paul, in terms of. I want to get

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your thoughts on what you think Australian players bring to the

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Scottish Premiership. Is it? Is there? I guess we've seen so many over

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the years now make the journey to the Scottish Premier League. Do you think it's

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the. I guess without putting words in your mouth. Do you think it's that sort

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of physicality that they bring? I think that's a large part of it.

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Certainly in the process of writing the book and

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talking to a lot of people that were involved in the players,

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coaches, journalists, a lot of them highlighted that aspect

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of the game, that there was a lot of overlap between what's valued in

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Australian sports and what's valued in the Scottish game. And the

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athleticism relishing the physical challenges of the game, I think

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it makes them a good fit for the Scottish football. But more than that,

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I think when you're, you know, players are moving from one country to another,

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there's so many barriers that can, you know, stop them

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being successful. But I think just a very similar culture and obviously

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there's no language barrier. It makes it so much easier to fit in to

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a new dressing. And I think the mentality is quite similar as well. The sense

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of humor is quite similar. So it's more than a bit obviously on the

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pitch, obviously that sort of relishing the physical battle

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is definitely up there with some of them. Not all players obviously have that profile

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because Tom Rogic I mentioned was. It was never known for, for that kind of

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style. But a lot of the players do fit the profile for sure.

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And it's interesting you make mention there. Tom Rogic, definitely not renowned for

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his physical presence, but he was still relatively successful at

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Celtic, wasn't he? And then when you compare him to someone like a Daniel Arzani

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who came to Celtic and it was, you know, more technically proficient,

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shall we say. But he, he really str. Struggled at Celtic, didn't he?

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With I mean, injuries of course played a part, but he, he never really fitted

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in with Brendan Rogers Celtic, did he? Yeah, I mean he was

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fairly young as well, so there was that, that factor. But yeah,

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the injuries. But we've seen with Brendan Rodgers a few times,

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sometimes the players arrive and they never really get a chance. So I,

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I don't 100% trust Brendan Rodgers views on.

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On players and especially young players coming through. But at the same time,

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Arsani's not really going on to, to prove Celtic wrong,

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if you know what I mean. From that point of view, I think some

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players, not all players will work out as you know, but that one definitely didn't.

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Of course I can back you up on my, on your thoughts on Brendan Rodgers

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being a Liverpool fan because yes, we definitely

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both rode the same roller coaster that is Brendan

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Rodgers as a manager at your football club. So we

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can certainly agree there. Now Paul, I Guess

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let's get into a bit of a preview of the Scottish

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Premiership for this upcoming season, which kicks off this weekend and

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there's been a very big transfer and I know

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it probably pains you to talk about it being a Celtic fan, but Cammy Devlin

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has left Hearts and has joined his former manager,

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Derek McInnis at Rangers, along with Lawrence Shankland as well.

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What are your thoughts on this move? Well, I think Kami

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Devlin definitely fits the profile of A typical Derek McInnis

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side, not known for flair. You know, he's a guy

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that's going to be into the midfield work all day,

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put in a lot of physical challenges and I think

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every player in the Scottish Premiership needs something, somebody like that

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and it's a useful asset to have. And Devon's obviously been

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at hearts for five years. I think he's 28 years old,

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so he's kind of should be at the peak of his powers,

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possibly. You might argue that kind of move would have been better a couple of

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years ago to go to a bigger club. So the question obviously is can he.

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I mean, obviously, I'm not saying a step up in level really Hearts

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finished ahead of Rangers last season, but can

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he make the step up to a club with bigger expectations, a fan

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base that's going to be much more demanding than it has been at Hearts,

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but obviously he's, he's got the experience. He's an Australian international,

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but unfortunate to feature much of the world, not to feature the World cup,

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but the signs are there's. He's, he's a

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fair, he's. He's a pretty safe bet for Rangers because he's been

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one of the, you know, a strong player at this level for a number of

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years. Obviously last season Harks missed him when he's had that spell out injured

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and that was maybe could have been the difference between being champions

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and not because obviously their form, their reform, especially towards the end of the season

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was really poor and perhaps in a couple of those games maybe his presence could

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have swung the balance a little bit. So, yeah, it's going to be interesting.

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Like I said, he's very much Dennis

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McInnes signing. Obviously he's moved there, wants him to come with

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him and he was. I mean, I know Stifflin was linked to Celtic as well,

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but I think. I'm not sure that's just media mischief. They often link players with

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both sides. Whether there's any. Any truth in it or not, I have no idea.

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But yeah, I think it's hard to see him being A flop, I think.

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I think he'll be a solid signing for Rangers ultimately.

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Yeah, he's a known quantity. I guess both the coach knows him and,

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and therefore should play him, you know, in the correct position which is, you know,

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such a, a revolutionary thing for some managers. But I

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guess that's good. But yeah, a very interesting. Interested to

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see how he handles the pressure of being in that glass Glasgow fishbowl.

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Right. With Celtic and Rangers there. It does break a

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lot of players, doesn't it? But I think as you said, the experience, he has

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been in the league for five, the past five seasons now should hold

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him in good stead. We hope for that. I mean obviously you probably don't

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being a Celtic man, but I'll stop bringing that up. But yes,

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it's a big move. And what's been the sort of

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reaction in Scotland that you've seen

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after the move's been confirmed? Paul, have you seen

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anything that's I guess particularly stood out? I think most, I mean,

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certainly what I've seen is most fans seem to be quite happy with the move.

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They do see it as a, one of those logical signings where

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it's again a low risk signing and a known quantity, as you said.

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So I've not seen anything, I've not seen anything, you know,

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negative about it. But I mean I think there's people

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on the Celtics side maybe more Wiz may say, well, he's a,

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he's a fairly average player. He's not, he's not, he's not again a game changing

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signing. He's just a solid, he's just a solid player but he's nothing

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to fear. Like bring in a superstar that's going to be making the difference in

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games. I did, I mean I did consider the, when I was writing the book

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as well. There's, there's a clear difference in terms of the profile of Aussie signings

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for Celtic and Rangers. Celtic signings have tended to be attacking players,

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flare players like kind of obviously Viduka and player

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players like Rogic and Moy and then of course the goal scorer like

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Scott McDonald, Rangers Craig Moore, you know, Davy Mitchell,

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a bruiser of a striker. Muscat obviously knowing

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a lot, knowing a lot for that. And Tony Vidmar, more like an athletic fullback.

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So yeah, it's kind of interesting to look at the difference and I think,

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you know, there's certain ways of saying that a certain club has a certain philosophy

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over the years and I think Cammy Devlin arguably suits the Rangers

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philosophy more than Celtic. Yeah, that's, that's a very interesting I

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guess perspective that I guess probably might not be considered so

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much here in Australia because I guess, I guess a lot of football

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fans are just preoccupied about players making the

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move to as big a club as possible and, and therefore it's kind of

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seen that you know it's a great move for Cammy Devlin but yeah,

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the, the profiling of the club or the player and seeing

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sort of who fits a philosop. So I guess given that,

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yeah it should be a pretty, a pretty good signing

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for Cammie Devlin to join Rangers considering all of that. A hard working

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player and arguably probably what Rangers needed after last

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season where they as well fell away. Right. I mean similar to Hartz.

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They had a back end of the season though that they sort of fell away

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and ultimately cost Danny Roll his job as well. And why they brought in Derek

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McInnes. Yeah, I mean I think it was a great

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opportunity for both Rangers and Hawks last season, particularly Rangers because

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obviously they're used to being this second top club over

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the past number of years and Celtic were desperately poor at times last season.

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They obviously had turnover managers. They hung in the scraped

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wins. You know, they kept turning up and just scraped and of course they kind

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of raised a level towards the end of the season. It was. Yeah. And maybe

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again Rangers might, if they'd had somebody else in that, a Cammy Devon type in

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that midfield, maybe he'd have made a difference in those in that final, final weeks

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of the season when they fell, they fell apart a little bit. Yeah. Yep.

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So very interesting. So let's see what he can do. Hopefully has a good

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impact at Rangers and doesn't become another Matt Mackay because that

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would be. That'd be terrible for him. But looking forward to this season

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there's been a couple of Aussies joined the Scottish Premiership.

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A couple more at Dundee United, a couple

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more at Motherwell which both seem to be qu Australian players

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at the moment. And then we've got a new goalkeeper in at St Mirren in

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the form of Jacob Chapman. I guess out of the four or five there,

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Paul is one in particular caught your eye or one or two

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of those new Australians joining the Premiership.

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Yeah, I mean I think the Jake Girdwood Reich,

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if I get that pronunciation right, I think he kind of stands out

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a little bit because his career path's been interesting because he's got

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the Scottish, the Scottish connection. Having played at youth level at St.

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Johnston at 22 years old and

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I think he was. If I'm not Mistaken. He, you know, he was

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considered a hot talent when he was younger but

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he was been in America, he's gone back to New Zealand. And his

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age profile as well, I kind of like. I kind of like the look of

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his profile in terms of his, you know, his age, the experience he

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has. I think that could. Could prove to be quite an interesting one.

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And it looks like Jacob Chapman is going

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to be the. He's been earmarked as a starting goalkeeper. Okay.

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So I think he's obviously not going to be. He's not there to be a

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squad player. He's started all the League cup games so far. So I

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expect him to be, you know, work out as a good signing for St.

241
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Marne. But yeah there's, there's been. I mean it's only a couple of

242
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things. Lucky Rose, he's hit the ground running.

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Three goals in two league cup games. He's a little bit older

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obviously. He's 27 now. But again it's now or never for

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him in terms of making a move. I don't think he's not been up

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to Europe before, right? No, I don't believe so either Paul.

247
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Yeah. So I think it's interesting to go at that age to see

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if he can make something of himself in Scotland. But yeah,

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he certainly made a good start because even though the games have been against lower

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league opposition, getting off the mark in the first couple of games is definitely going

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to be good for his confidence, particularly for a striker. Right.

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And he's not been the most prolific striker in the A league

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which was what surprised me actually to be honest that, that he got.

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Got. Got the move there so to. To Dundee

255
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United. So it was a surprise. He had a really good season at Newcastle jets

256
00:16:49,330 --> 00:16:53,310
as well who had a fantastic season. But yeah it

257
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interesting one and I do wonder what sort of impact it has on Zach

258
00:16:57,710 --> 00:17:01,570
Sapsford who. Who was fantastic for Dundee United last season, wasn't he

259
00:17:02,070 --> 00:17:05,370
scored goals against both Rangers and Celtic which is, you know,

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pretty good for. For a guy that's first, you know, playing his

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first season in the premiership. So I mean I know that he did get shifted

262
00:17:13,990 --> 00:17:17,530
out to sort of more of a wide role at times and Locky Rose is

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sort of the main number nine. So I wonder if. And Paul,

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if you probably think similarly to me that that might be the set United

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00:17:26,390 --> 00:17:29,790
go with for this season as Locky Rose is the

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main man and Zach Sapsford out wide. Yeah, I think that's a good possibility.

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And I think that again those league cup games I think that that's been the

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lineup in a couple of those games and I think Zach scored a couple of

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goals as well. So the early signs is that they're maybe linking

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up well. So they're definitely. I think I would be surprised if they start without

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them or one of them in the starting lineup. I'd expect to see that in

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the first few games and see how it goes. But, yes, that sounds like a

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00:17:55,690 --> 00:17:59,590
promising combination they have. Yeah, definitely. And hopefully,

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00:18:00,090 --> 00:18:03,270
of course, being familiar with each other from the A League,

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I mean, obviously they didn't play together, but that might assist with the

276
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link up there. And of course, Dundee United lost Ryan

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Strain to Falkirk, or they let him go, I should say. And that opened

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the door to Josh Rawlins coming in. So that looks like it might be a

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00:18:22,050 --> 00:18:25,310
direct swap there. I think Josh has got a couple of

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games in those League cup games so far to start the season. So promising

281
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signs for him as well. Yeah, he started three League cup games

282
00:18:33,710 --> 00:18:37,650
already, so he's. Again, they've obviously earmarked

283
00:18:38,150 --> 00:18:41,250
him as a starting player again. His profile is interesting.

284
00:18:42,290 --> 00:18:45,250
He went to Utrecht when he was younger, right? Yes, he did. Yeah.

285
00:18:45,730 --> 00:18:48,690
And then I think if I remember rightly,

286
00:18:49,970 --> 00:18:53,010
he made his debut quite young. Yeah, I think it was around

287
00:18:53,330 --> 00:18:57,090
16, 17 from memory. Went to Utrecht maybe after

288
00:18:57,170 --> 00:19:00,910
one a league season or half an A League season, and then came

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00:19:01,410 --> 00:19:05,590
back home to the A League, moved around once or twice and then

290
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has found himself back in Europe. So. Yeah, and he's under

291
00:19:10,850 --> 00:19:14,150
23 international, so he's probably. He probably feels that, you know,

292
00:19:14,650 --> 00:19:18,230
this is an opportunity for him to kind of show his reach, his potential

293
00:19:18,730 --> 00:19:21,070
a little bit more. Because I think he's 22, so again, he's a good age.

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I mean, nature are kind of signing some interest, you know, some players that have

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00:19:25,690 --> 00:19:28,350
got some good years ahead of them. And I think he looks like a very

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00:19:29,100 --> 00:19:32,700
interesting player in terms of the experience he's had already.

297
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,540
The fact that he's been in Europe is probably going to benefit him. He's maybe

298
00:19:36,860 --> 00:19:40,540
obviously a lot older and wiser now, maybe more ready for the challenge.

299
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,779
But yeah, I think he could be a very solid signing for United.

300
00:19:45,340 --> 00:19:48,380
Yeah, and you raise a good point there, Paul. And probably

301
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,340
one I wanted to ask and sort of discuss a little

302
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,546
bit was the Scottish Premiership, you're looking at about what, 36,

303
00:19:56,654 --> 00:20:00,060
38 games a season just in league games, whereas in the

304
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,860
A League you're looking at about 26, 27. And if you make it all the

305
00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:08,220
way to the Grand Finals, that's known here you're getting 30 games max

306
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,660
in the league. That's even before the, you know, the league Cups, which was already

307
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,580
seen what, three, four games so far. Then you got the,

308
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:20,420
the, the, the Scottish cup as well. So it

309
00:20:20,660 --> 00:20:23,540
no doubt takes a bit of a toll on these A League players and,

310
00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:27,620
and that's where someone where like Josh Rollins previous experience

311
00:20:27,700 --> 00:20:31,860
in Europe might come in handy. We saw actually with Adrian Sega

312
00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:36,260
Chic when he went to Portsmouth last season. His experience held him up in

313
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,060
good stead, whereas a lot of the younger A league players seem to get a

314
00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,900
bit of injuries there. So I wonder if that's something that

315
00:20:43,460 --> 00:20:46,660
some of these players and some of these clubs are going to have to manage

316
00:20:46,740 --> 00:20:49,860
this season for the debutantes coming into the league,

317
00:20:50,180 --> 00:20:53,740
given the vast difference in amounts of

318
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,060
games and the intensity that they played out with relegation being at stake there

319
00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,750
as well. Yeah, I mean, absolutely. But it's a squad game

320
00:21:02,250 --> 00:21:05,910
now and I think these players will have to be prepared to be, you know,

321
00:21:06,410 --> 00:21:10,350
set out a couple of games sometimes to be rested and obviously especially the younger

322
00:21:10,850 --> 00:21:13,950
ones, they, you know, they tend to have learned to be less consistent. So they'll

323
00:21:14,450 --> 00:21:18,390
have to be patient perhaps at times. But yeah, definitely the physical challenges will

324
00:21:19,270 --> 00:21:23,110
be difficult at times, I imagine. And we've seen several

325
00:21:23,610 --> 00:21:27,350
Aussie players last season suffered injuries, not just the young ones, but obviously

326
00:21:27,430 --> 00:21:30,380
we saw a few that sat out a lot of the season. So yeah,

327
00:21:30,450 --> 00:21:34,050
hopefully these guys will not have that problem. But yeah,

328
00:21:34,770 --> 00:21:38,810
they will have to take time to adapt to that, of course, and that's

329
00:21:39,310 --> 00:21:42,890
all sort of crystal ball stuff. And while we're on the topic of crystal balls,

330
00:21:43,390 --> 00:21:47,170
I guess Paul, I want to get your opinion on some of the

331
00:21:48,370 --> 00:21:51,970
more experienced Aussies in the Scottish Premiership.

332
00:21:52,130 --> 00:21:55,930
Ones that I guess are looking for a second chance, particularly two at

333
00:21:56,430 --> 00:21:59,650
Aberdeen in the former Kasuna Yengi and Nick Suman.

334
00:21:59,970 --> 00:22:03,800
I think Nick Suman is more or less the backup keeper or even

335
00:22:04,300 --> 00:22:08,080
third choice keeper there at Aberdeen. But Kasuni Yengi, do you think with the

336
00:22:08,580 --> 00:22:11,720
change of manager there that he might get

337
00:22:12,220 --> 00:22:15,600
a chance? I mean, obviously we're sort of spitballing here and just guessing,

338
00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:19,120
but do you think the door might be a jar for Cassini?

339
00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,800
It's hard to see. I know Stephen Robertson made some positive noises,

340
00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:26,240
said, you know, he's going to have a chance preseason,

341
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:33,140
but they've brought in two strikers which

342
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,420
is an indication that maybe if he is in their

343
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,340
plans, he's going to have to fight for his place. He might just be A

344
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,340
backup option. I did read that in a

345
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,940
couple of Japanese teams were interested in him again. Obviously he spent that moment but

346
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,460
he got injured again, so he's missed a lot of football and

347
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,450
that's obviously for a new manager. Coming in might be looking at that thinking

348
00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,240
this guy's not going to be at his sharpest. So I think the odds are

349
00:23:00,740 --> 00:23:03,840
against it. I mean, I think he might be looking at other options.

350
00:23:04,340 --> 00:23:07,720
Regardless of what's been said in public, I think in private

351
00:23:08,220 --> 00:23:12,040
he might be weighing up another move somewhere else. But like I said, we can't

352
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rule out the possibility he gets a second chance. It's a talented player. I think

353
00:23:16,740 --> 00:23:19,960
he's been unlucky with these injuries, but Aberdeen, obviously, we imagine

354
00:23:20,460 --> 00:23:23,680
that they'll be looking at him in pre season and seeing if he's going to

355
00:23:24,180 --> 00:23:26,720
be up to it or not, but I don't think he's not had any game

356
00:23:27,220 --> 00:23:30,560
time yet so far. I think

357
00:23:31,060 --> 00:23:34,040
we'll see if he features in the Aberdeen squad this weekend. That will give us

358
00:23:34,540 --> 00:23:38,000
a better indication. Yeah, definitely. Otherwise you could pro.

359
00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,600
Again, we don't want to jump to conclusions, but you could more or less otherwise

360
00:23:43,100 --> 00:23:46,280
say that he's either rehabbing an injury or he is on

361
00:23:46,780 --> 00:23:50,160
his way out at Aberdeen, which, yeah, it seems to be the theme unfortunately for

362
00:23:50,660 --> 00:23:54,380
Cassini the last probably three to four seasons. I mean, he had a bad luck

363
00:23:54,460 --> 00:23:59,180
at Portsmouth earlier and I think there was another

364
00:23:59,340 --> 00:24:02,620
club in Scotland that I can't remember, but yeah,

365
00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:06,180
that. It seems to be a little bit of a cycle and hopefully he

366
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,540
can break it, but yeah, it's not looking particularly good for Cassuni.

367
00:24:10,700 --> 00:24:14,340
Now, speaking of another player that's been slightly injury prone over

368
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:19,260
the past couple of seasons, it's Ryan Strain. As. As I made mention, he's left

369
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:23,180
Dundee United. He's joined Falkirk, who had a fantastic first season

370
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,970
back in the premiership last season finishing in the top half there.

371
00:24:27,930 --> 00:24:31,370
Do you think Ryan Strain can work his way in?

372
00:24:31,870 --> 00:24:35,250
I mean, Falkirk have also had a few outgoings with the bigger

373
00:24:35,750 --> 00:24:39,090
clubs coming and hand picking their best along the way. So do you think that

374
00:24:39,590 --> 00:24:42,930
might open the door for Ryan Strain? Yeah, absolutely. I think he's a

375
00:24:43,430 --> 00:24:46,850
proven Scottish Premiership player. I'm sure seen him over the

376
00:24:47,350 --> 00:24:50,690
years, what he can do and I can't see any reason why

377
00:24:51,190 --> 00:24:54,750
he wouldn't make the right back spot his own or. I mean, he's started okay.

378
00:24:55,250 --> 00:24:58,430
He got a goal and an assist last week, so that's, That's a strong

379
00:24:58,930 --> 00:25:02,950
start. It depends on who's up against in the competition, but he's

380
00:25:03,450 --> 00:25:07,029
certainly, you know, he's shown he's good enough at this level. He's still only 29,

381
00:25:07,529 --> 00:25:10,630
so he's not. He's not past it by any means. So, yeah, I think.

382
00:25:10,710 --> 00:25:14,390
I mean, Falkirk will have to accept, obviously, if the better players moving on,

383
00:25:15,830 --> 00:25:19,390
they've. Again, I think it's like a Cammy Devil situation. He's experienced

384
00:25:19,890 --> 00:25:23,250
at this level. They've watched him over the years and

385
00:25:23,750 --> 00:25:26,570
they think he can do a job. So, yeah, I think he'd be a good

386
00:25:27,070 --> 00:25:30,490
fit. Yeah. It's probably more of a question for

387
00:25:30,990 --> 00:25:34,130
Ryan if he can keep himself off the treatment table, really,

388
00:25:34,630 --> 00:25:37,650
isn't it? Given his injury history over the last couple of seasons. Ultimately,

389
00:25:38,050 --> 00:25:42,970
what cost him a Socceroos jersey at the World cup as well, because the

390
00:25:43,470 --> 00:25:47,170
lack of right backs in the Australian setup at

391
00:25:47,670 --> 00:25:51,370
the moment is quite astounding. And obviously Lewis Miller going down with an

392
00:25:51,870 --> 00:25:55,690
injury last season as well. Now off to Hibs,

393
00:25:56,190 --> 00:25:59,730
and we saw Ante Suto sort of hit the ground running

394
00:26:00,230 --> 00:26:04,530
in that after that winter transfer from the Croatian

395
00:26:05,030 --> 00:26:08,970
league. Do you think he can win a spot in that Hibs

396
00:26:09,470 --> 00:26:13,330
lineup, or do you think he's more or less locked into that super sub role?

397
00:26:14,370 --> 00:26:17,970
But, I mean, from what I've seen, I like the look of this

398
00:26:18,470 --> 00:26:21,730
guy. I think possibly they'll be

399
00:26:22,230 --> 00:26:25,570
trying to find a way for him and Boyle to work together. And let's face

400
00:26:26,070 --> 00:26:29,290
it, Martin Boyle's now 33 years old, so he's kind of, you know, they've got

401
00:26:29,790 --> 00:26:33,690
to look at a succession plan. If you like the way Boyle

402
00:26:34,190 --> 00:26:37,330
plays, it's about speed that can go on forever.

403
00:26:37,890 --> 00:26:41,500
So there might be managing their minutes a little bit,

404
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,500
but I think they've got to give him a chance.

405
00:26:45,820 --> 00:26:49,260
I think they've got to try and see what he can do as a regular

406
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,260
starter, whether they can work together or not. I'm sure they're experimenting with that

407
00:26:53,420 --> 00:26:56,140
in training and maybe the friendly games. But,

408
00:26:56,540 --> 00:26:59,660
yeah, I think he deserves a chance to show because

409
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,780
I think what we saw of him last season, he looked like he could be

410
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,480
a real asset. And if I'm not wrong, he was. He was in

411
00:27:06,980 --> 00:27:10,360
the squad for the World Cup. He was released from the. One of the provisional

412
00:27:10,860 --> 00:27:14,760
squads, right? Yeah, he was. Yeah. I mean, his form at Hibbs actually landed

413
00:27:15,260 --> 00:27:18,600
him in the Socceroos squad in the March window.

414
00:27:19,100 --> 00:27:22,280
From memory, he didn't get any game time, but then he got called up again

415
00:27:22,780 --> 00:27:25,920
to the provisional World cup squad. So there's obviously Something there, as you said,

416
00:27:26,420 --> 00:27:30,120
Tony Popovich likes as well, because he did have to switch

417
00:27:30,620 --> 00:27:34,120
his international allegiance somewhere along those lines as well,

418
00:27:34,620 --> 00:27:38,140
from Croatia to Australia. So, yeah, it's probably just now

419
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,740
about building on that back half of the season and seeing if you can get

420
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,140
a consistent. A consistent amount of game

421
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,180
time there for goals. Yeah, I mean, I think this, again, this weekend

422
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,540
will tell us, give us a lot of information about what

423
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,140
these guys are going to do this season ahead and what the clubs have planned

424
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:00,940
for them, how the clubs rate them. But I would.

425
00:28:01,660 --> 00:28:05,700
I would. I would not be surprised to see Sutton, the starting line for

426
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:08,780
him this weekend. I'd like to see him in that, to be honest, because I

427
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,980
think, like I said, what I saw of him, maybe lack of consistency a little

428
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,180
bit, is what's keeping him from that starting spot. But if he's at a good

429
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,580
preseason, I think it's going to be. It's quite an exciting player to watch.

430
00:28:19,980 --> 00:28:22,300
Yeah, definitely. So fingers crossed for Ante.

431
00:28:23,020 --> 00:28:26,220
And look, we've touched on Martin Boyle there,

432
00:28:27,020 --> 00:28:30,780
Mr. Reliable Jack Idaho. I don't think there's really too much to say about

433
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,520
him. He's there. He's pretty much locked and loaded at that sort of level.

434
00:28:33,910 --> 00:28:37,110
Left side, centre, back in the back, three there for Hibbs.

435
00:28:37,610 --> 00:28:41,070
So long. May that continue. Unless you've heard any. You've seen anything

436
00:28:41,570 --> 00:28:44,950
else that suggests otherwise. Paul? Not really. There was. I mean, I did notice he

437
00:28:45,450 --> 00:28:48,910
was subbed at halftime last week and the European game, that was a bit of

438
00:28:49,410 --> 00:28:53,110
a disaster. What I understand it was a tactical switch rather than.

439
00:28:53,510 --> 00:28:56,790
Because he'd been having. I think the whole team had a nightmare in that game,

440
00:28:57,110 --> 00:29:00,030
by the sounds of it. That's the only thing that makes a little bit of

441
00:29:00,530 --> 00:29:04,310
doubt why he was chosen to kind of come off at halftime,

442
00:29:04,810 --> 00:29:07,050
which is never a good thing for him, a player to be. To be subbed

443
00:29:07,550 --> 00:29:11,370
at that point in the game. But, yeah, I think, yeah, I expect

444
00:29:11,870 --> 00:29:14,650
to see him in the starting lineup for most of the games this season as

445
00:29:15,150 --> 00:29:19,130
he was last season. Yeah. All right, no worries. Yeah, I think you're probably

446
00:29:19,630 --> 00:29:22,850
about right now. I'm going to ask for one cheeky last question,

447
00:29:23,170 --> 00:29:26,730
Paul. Who's your prediction to win the Scottish

448
00:29:27,230 --> 00:29:30,570
Premiership this season? It's really

449
00:29:31,070 --> 00:29:34,690
tough to predict after. I mean, I can't see Hearts repeating what they did

450
00:29:35,190 --> 00:29:38,030
last season. The early signs of not been good for them.

451
00:29:38,190 --> 00:29:40,830
Not at all. They've lost some of their best players.

452
00:29:41,790 --> 00:29:44,270
So it's going to be between Celtic and Rangers again.

453
00:29:45,630 --> 00:29:49,350
I think looking at the signing Celtic

454
00:29:49,850 --> 00:29:52,710
have made, they need a couple more players. So it's going to depend a little

455
00:29:53,210 --> 00:29:56,030
bit on the transfer movement over the next. Over the next month.

456
00:29:56,750 --> 00:30:00,550
I'm going to say Celtic because I still think if

457
00:30:01,050 --> 00:30:03,720
they get the right players and they're going to have a slightly stronger squad.

458
00:30:04,350 --> 00:30:08,470
Martin o', Neill, I'm not inspired by him being the manager

459
00:30:08,970 --> 00:30:11,710
again. I think it's a lazy decision by the board who,

460
00:30:12,030 --> 00:30:15,270
as you may be aware, have not been doing a good job.

461
00:30:15,770 --> 00:30:18,950
I've been really inactive and non communicative with the fans and I think

462
00:30:19,450 --> 00:30:22,750
it's just they've not been proactive enough. But range.

463
00:30:23,250 --> 00:30:26,950
I think McInnes is a limited manager. He's a solid Scottish

464
00:30:27,450 --> 00:30:30,760
Premiership manager, but there's a reason why he hasn't gone to a bigger club job

465
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,360
at this point of his career, until this point in his career. But he,

466
00:30:34,860 --> 00:30:38,360
he will have them organized, make them tough to beat, which obviously

467
00:30:38,860 --> 00:30:40,840
is. Can. Can win your leagues, obviously.

468
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,920
So I think it's going to be a bit of a. It's gonna be.

469
00:30:45,420 --> 00:30:49,240
It's gonna be tight. I can't see anything, anything else, but a fairly tight battle

470
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,960
could go either way. But if Celtic can get a couple of better signings through

471
00:30:53,460 --> 00:30:57,320
the door in the next month, I'll go with Celtic. Yeah. Yeah, I, I think

472
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,080
I have to agree with you there, Paul. It's just a sort of case that

473
00:31:01,580 --> 00:31:05,320
Celtic have just got enough quality to do the job. Even though there is that

474
00:31:05,820 --> 00:31:09,320
complete disconnect between the board and the fans and the

475
00:31:09,820 --> 00:31:13,359
ability to come up with a good squad, it just

476
00:31:13,859 --> 00:31:16,680
feels like that that's going to be the case. So it ranges, I think.

477
00:31:17,180 --> 00:31:20,960
Derek McInnes, how's he going to handle the pressure of being the Rangers manager?

478
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,920
It's a big call. A lot of new signings in the door there as well.

479
00:31:25,420 --> 00:31:28,880
And how are they going to cope making the step up to play for

480
00:31:29,380 --> 00:31:32,840
Rangers? A lot of what ifs. Whereas I think with Celtic, most of

481
00:31:33,340 --> 00:31:36,880
the squad is still there, but the quality probably isn't

482
00:31:37,380 --> 00:31:40,520
where it should be. So that's what might be the leveler, I guess,

483
00:31:41,020 --> 00:31:45,080
between the two sides in Glasgow. Yeah. Hard to see Hearts repeating

484
00:31:45,580 --> 00:31:49,080
what they've done considering the turnover of players, particularly their

485
00:31:49,580 --> 00:31:53,330
key players, and then what they've dished up in the Champions League

486
00:31:53,830 --> 00:31:57,170
qualifiers so far. Some pretty big warning signs in fact, if, if you're

487
00:31:57,670 --> 00:32:00,370
a Hearts fan. So hopefully they can rectify that.

488
00:32:00,690 --> 00:32:04,610
But yeah, I do. Do you see a surprise packet this

489
00:32:05,110 --> 00:32:08,690
season coming through to. To challenge the. The duopoly of Glasgow.

490
00:32:09,090 --> 00:32:13,490
Not really. I mean we had obviously Motherwell were very strong last season but

491
00:32:13,990 --> 00:32:17,210
again they've lost their. Their manager. Hibs are very

492
00:32:17,710 --> 00:32:20,730
inconsistent. You never know what to expect. Hibs get on their day when you addicted

493
00:32:21,230 --> 00:32:24,640
to. They certainly it's not. They're not strangers to beating Celtic and Rangers

494
00:32:25,140 --> 00:32:28,200
in one off games but they can't seem to kind of put together a run

495
00:32:28,700 --> 00:32:32,400
to kind of do what Hearts did last season and push them and mount

496
00:32:32,900 --> 00:32:36,760
an actual title challenge. So it's hard to see another team sort of pushing

497
00:32:36,919 --> 00:32:40,160
at the moment. But you know the surprise package is a

498
00:32:40,660 --> 00:32:44,120
surprise so they'll so one that might surprise us. Yeah, yeah.

499
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:48,240
Hopefully there is just to spice it up but probably not so much for the

500
00:32:48,740 --> 00:32:52,120
Celtic and Rangers fans. I'll just be hoping for domination and a ding

501
00:32:52,620 --> 00:32:56,020
dong battle battle between themselves and their team to come out on top.

502
00:32:56,420 --> 00:32:59,900
All right, well, that is it. Thank you very much Paul for

503
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,580
your time. Really appreciate you going through the Aussies with me that are in

504
00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,580
Scotland and of course don't forget Paul's books,

505
00:33:07,140 --> 00:33:10,700
Socceroos in Scotland. I'll post a link on my social so

506
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,260
you can have a look at that and grab a copy because I'm

507
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,980
very much looking forward to reading it. It's a great book. No doubt and yeah,

508
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:24,240
thanks again, Paul. Enjoy the Scottish Premiership and no Doubt

509
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,680
we might catch up and see how the Aussies are going later on this year.

510
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,840
Yeah, pleasure talking to you. Thanks for inviting me on and looking

511
00:33:32,340 --> 00:33:35,640
forward to a good season. Thanks, Paul. All right, that's it for the Aussie football

512
00:33:36,140 --> 00:33:39,520
passport. Thanks for listening and I'll be back soon with

513
00:33:40,020 --> 00:33:42,000
another episode. Thanks for listening. Bye now.