Hanlon and McGregor

[Seveno]

Great to have those two playing together again. The best two centre backs that we have had for many a year.

[Greenworld]

Agreed

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[Baader]

Great to have those two playing together again. The best two centre backs that we have had for many a year.


Too true. Probably since we had Kaiser Sauzee in defence. :sauzee:

[hfc rd]

Should be Scotland's CB partnership. Best CB partnership we have had since probably Hogg & Jones

[Callyballybe]

I'm hoping next season we might see one (or both of them) get a cap, particularly McGregor. Don't think he'd be out of place in the Scotland setup at all.

[offshorehibby]

Puts us in a good dilemma about Ambrose

[CapitalGreen]

Should be Scotland's CB partnership. Best CB partnership we have had since probably Hogg & Jones

They are a better partnership than Hogg and Jones.

[Albanian Hibs]

Puts us in a good dilemma about Ambrose

Yip. Ambrose to continue at RB on wed. If David Gray is fit then he should start on bench imo.

[Brightside]

They are a better partnership than Hogg and Jones.

Much better

[Franck Stanton]

The ONLY reason they aren't already established as Scotland's c/half pairing is the West Coat/English bias those idiots at the SFA have. Seems if you play for either of the ugly sisters or a English Championship/EPL side then you are guaranteed a Scotland place irrespective of who you play for. Now I know SJM gets regular call-ups. but he is the exception rather than the rule.

[SRHibs]

They are great but I think we should wait until they are playing consistently at a high SPL level before we begin bemoaning the fact they they aren't playing for Scotland.

[Smartie]

The ONLY reason they aren't already established as Scotland's c/half pairing is the West Coat/English bias those idiots at the SFA have. Seems if you play for either of the ugly sisters or a English Championship/EPL side then you are guaranteed a Scotland place irrespective of who you play for. Now I know SJM gets regular call-ups. but he is the exception rather than the rule.

I'm not sure if I really go for the conspiracy theory.

In my opinion the main reason they aren't picked is because they ply their trade in the Scottish Championship, nothing more and nothing less. It is bold enough of the SfA to choose John McGinn - to take more players who play at such a low level would invite huge criticism.

If we go up and have a decent start to next season I could see both players getting in the squad pretty quickly.

Hanlon I have little doubt will play for Scotland. Whilst McGregor is probably one of if not the best Scottish centre half right now he's getting on a bit and I don't know if he is maybe a fraction too old for a first cap.

[ACLeith]

The ONLY reason they aren't already established as Scotland's c/half pairing is the West Coat/English bias those idiots at the SFA have. Seems if you play for either of the ugly sisters or a English Championship/EPL side then you are guaranteed a Scotland place irrespective of who you play for. Now I know SJM gets regular call-ups. but he is the exception rather than the rule.

Example to support you - Kenny McLean and Graham Shinnie for last Wednesday night

[Elephant Stone]

Hope we're looking to extend both their contracts. We've got Hanlon til summer 2019 but I'd be looking to sign him up for as long as we can, McGregor is obviously out of contract this summer and it would be pish to lose him. New deals all round.

[BlackSheep]

Yip. Ambrose to continue at RB on wed. If David Gray is fit then he should start on bench imo.

This.

But watch out cos all the David Gray loyals will be on your back.

Gray is a good player but has been going through poor form for the last few months and has no one challenging his starting place.

Competition breeds excellence.

[WhileTheChief..]

The ONLY reason they aren't already established as Scotland's c/half pairing is the West Coat/English bias those idiots at the SFA have. Seems if you play for either of the ugly sisters or a English Championship/EPL side then you are guaranteed a Scotland place irrespective of who you play for. Now I know SJM gets regular call-ups. but he is the exception rather than the rule.

Rubbish.

I can't be certain but in the entire history of Scottish football have we ever had a central defensive pairing from the lower leagues of Scottish football??

If we were in the premier league and players were being picked from the 1st division we would rightly be complaining like hell.

This west coast bias nonsense is cast up every time someone here dislikes any issue to do with football. Utter crap.

[cmcd]

Rubbish.

I can't be certain but in the entire history of Scottish football have we ever had a central defensive pairing from the lower leagues of Scottish football??

If we were in the premier league and players were being picked from the 1st division we would rightly be complaining like hell.

This west coast bias nonsense is cast up every time someone here dislikes any issue to do with football. Utter crap.
I could think of quite a few Hibs players in the past who only a few Scotland caps having to make way for inferior Old Firm players

[pacorosssco]

Example to support you - Kenny McLean and Graham Shinnie for last Wednesday night

I feel for Shinnie but Robertson and Tierney are better players. Kenny Mclean has been included and may feel deserves to be in ahead of SJM as playing higher level but Mcginn has done better than him when given game time. Hanlon could yet still have chance of caps but if does and does well will mean a big last contract away from Hibs:(

[ACLeith]

I feel for Shinnie but Robertson and Tierney are better players. Kenny Mclean has been included and may feel deserves to be in ahead of SJM as playing higher level but Mcginn has done better than him when given game time. Hanlon could yet still have chance of caps but if does and does well will mean a big last contract away from Hibs:(
From what I have seen Shinnie is playing further forward and not as a basic fullback. McLean has been outstanding fir most of this season. Not suggesting they should gave played last night but for last Wednesday surely a chance to give them a go. Lee Wallace - I rest my case! 😀

[Fuzzywuzzy]

If McGregor isn't up for player of the year I'll be very confused.

[Franck Stanton]

Rubbish.

I can't be certain but in the entire history of Scottish football have we ever had a central defensive pairing from the lower leagues of Scottish football??

If we were in the premier league and players were being picked from the 1st division we would rightly be complaining like hell.

This west coast bias nonsense is cast up every time someone here dislikes any issue to do with football. Utter crap.

Care to name any better pairing-irrespective of what league they are playing in.

As for west coast bias, been happening for years mate, few examples -
Stanton - Absolute god, played as we all know for us for years , got 6 Scottish caps, moved to the lesser greens 10 caps in 3 yrs. Suddenly, because he played for them he improved ? dont think so.
Cormack - capped once for Scotland, moved south suddenly named in every Scotland squad. there are lots more but cannae be arsed and am off to the pub.
West Coast bias is def alive in Scottish football.

[pacorosssco]

From what I have seen Shinnie is playing further forward and not as a basic fullback. McLean has been outstanding fir most of this season. Not suggesting they should gave played last night but for last Wednesday surely a chance to give them a go. Lee Wallace - I rest my case! 😀

Yes ill agree Wallace should no longer be considered and was waste off a squad number but guys at teams playing SPL will find route to national squad hardest as playing Championship and EPL is much higher level and Celtic guys have mostly experience playing europe.

[ian cruise]

Care to name any better pairing-irrespective of what league they are playing in.

As for west coast bias, been happening for years mate, few examples -
Stanton - Absolute god, played as we all know for us for years , got 6 Scottish caps, moved to the lesser greens 10 caps in 3 yrs. Suddenly, because he played for them he improved ? dont think so.
Cormack - capped once for Scotland, moved south suddenly named in every Scotland squad. there are lots more but cannae be arsed and am off to the pub.
West Coast bias is def alive in Scottish football.

You're not wrong about West coast bias, there's plenty of examples of players only getting capped after they move to the old firm, think Griffiths and Riordan may also fall in to that category, however the point Whilethechief, who you've quoted, is making is correct, if Strachan had picked two championship defenders and we'd lost a goal he'd have been crucified. Never going to happen. If we were in the premiership it's a different conversation.

[Smartie]

It's funny but I'm coming round to Strachan's way of thinking that last Wednesday really was a worthwhile exercise.

I think he needed to see certain players struggle (such as Wallace) and for the team to play as badly as it did for him to make the changes he did.

[PeterboroHibee]

Example to support you - Kenny McLean and Graham Shinnie for last Wednesday night

Scotland have an abundance of midfielders, why pick those two? There are players playing at a higher level, and guys who are younger in the squad. I dont think they are a particularly good example.

As for Hanlon and McGregor, as bad as Scotland's CB options are, neither are going to get selected playing in the Championship (and I cant see it happening for McGregor at all given his age). Id say McGinn is pretty unique to be consistently getting called up and seeing game time. I think for Hanlon to get called up he would have to really perform well in the Premiership if/when we get promoted, but he has been playing well.

[tamig]

They were talking about the lack of decent Scottish centre halves on Sportsound tonight. Darren McGregor got a glowing reference from all in the studio.

[WhileTheChief..]

How many caps did McGregor get when he played for Rangers? :greengrin

It's the same the world over though, not just the central belt of Scotland.

Most international squads are made up of players that play for teams that are regularly near the top of the top division challenging for the title or Euro spaces. These players will have been signed from smaller clubs in a lot of cases and probably wouldn't have had many caps at that stage of their career.

Think Rooney and Ferdinand down south for example.

One of the reasons I'm never keen on our players getting a call up is that it just speeds up their departure. I'm happy with McGregor being a stand out for us every week with no else knowing anything about him!

[leither17]

Scotland have an abundance of midfielders, why pick those two? There are players playing at a higher level, and guys who are younger in the squad. I dont think they are a particularly good example.

As for Hanlon and McGregor, as bad as Scotland's CB options are, neither are going to get selected playing in the Championship (and I cant see it happening for McGregor at all given his age). Id say McGinn is pretty unique to be consistently getting called up and seeing game time. I think for Hanlon to get called up he would have to really perform well in the Premiership if/when we get promoted, but he has been playing well.

Gordon Greer got capped at about 34

[superfurryhibby]

Care to name any better pairing-irrespective of what league they are playing in.

As for west coast bias, been happening for years mate, few examples -
Stanton - Absolute god, played as we all know for us for years , got 6 Scottish caps, moved to the lesser greens 10 caps in 3 yrs. Suddenly, because he played for them he improved ? dont think so.
Cormack - capped once for Scotland, moved south suddenly named in every Scotland squad. there are lots more but cannae be arsed and am off to the pub.
West Coast bias is def alive in Scottish football.

Your getting mixed up here pal. Stanton got 16 caps and won them all at Hibs. He only played for Celtic for a season.

Cormack made his debut v Brazil in 1966c He played for Hibs for another three- four seasons and I'm certain he won more caps whilst at ER.

As for Hanlon and McGregor, Darren will never be capped. Too auld and not enough football in him ( and I know the likes of Greer and Hanley have been capped and are by no means international footballers) Hanlon has a chance and given the competition, he should be in with a shout when we are playing in the top tier.

[eastcoasthibby]

I'm not sure if I really go for the conspiracy theory.

In my opinion the main reason they aren't picked is because they ply their trade in the Scottish Championship, nothing more and nothing less. It is bold enough of the SfA to choose John McGinn - to take more players who play at such a low level would invite huge criticism.

If we go up and have a decent start to next season I could see both players getting in the squad pretty quickly.

Hanlon I have little doubt will play for Scotland. Whilst McGregor is probably one of if not the best Scottish centre half right now he's getting on a bit and I don't know if he is maybe a fraction too old for a first cap.

A fraction too old for a first cap ???? Don't get that at all if he is the best we have then he should get a game ..looks at English set up just Southgate recalling a 34 year old striker cos he is doing the business consistently in a poor team a the foot of the Premiership .... Of they are really on form play them ..

[Smartie]

A fraction too old for a first cap ???? Don't get that at all if he is the best we have then he should get a game ..looks at English set up just Southgate recalling a 34 year old striker cos he is doing the business consistently in a poor team a the foot of the Premiership .... Of they are really on form play them ..

A fair point.

I suppose it boils down to what we think we can do in the rest of this campaign. As long as it is still alive (which it very much is after that result) then we should be playing our best players and scrapping for every point. That may well mean Darren playing.

If it is about building for the future then you'd have to question giving a 31 year old his first cap though. How many future campaigns is he likely to have in him?

[Is It On....]

Too true. Probably since we had Kaiser Sauzee in defence. :sauzee:

Thought I had ventured into the Bears Den when I saw that flag..

[djs69]

I don't think ambrose will be dropped, if gray back in a RB, Hanlon will remain on bench.

[green with envy]

I don't think ambrose will be dropped, if gray back in a RB, Hanlon will remain on bench.

If Gray is fit and starts, although i suspect he won't be, i would hope he would go with the left sided Hanlon as opposed to Ambrose.

[Mike Berry]

I always feel more confident when Hanlon's playing with McGregor.

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