The height of nonsense

[loch71 10]

Before and after Matt McKay's first start on saturday, much of the talk about the Australian POTY was centred on his height, or lack ot it. "A jockey without a horse" was one of the comments I heard on several occasions. It got me thinking, whether this was a purley Scottish trait? For example, on sunday I watched Spurs V Fulham and I couldn't help noticing the height of one Luka Modric of Spurs, a reputed £30 million pound player that was coveted by various clubs over the summer. Modric is equally short in stature but I cannot recall ever hearing the Croatian playmakers height ever being called into question in relation to the EPL? To take the comparisons to a greater level, do you think that Xavi, Messi and Iniesta suffer from being short? These 3 are regarded as being 3 of the greatest footballers on our planet and they all come in at 5 foot 7 or less. Looking closer to home, young Forrest at Celtic is slip of a lad but has been far and away Celtics most influential player over the last 3/4 weeks.

Anyway, I suppose my point is that I wish we would just judge the player on his ability and not his height. I have no doubt that Matt McKay will be a success at Rangers. If played in his right position I really feel that he can add to and match the craft and industry of Davis on the other side of our midfield. He has a great engine, has an eye for a pass and more importantly is very comfortable on the ball and I feel that after 5/6 years of trying we could have a genuine left sided midfielder in our team

[Adoniram 1,919]

Yes it is a Scottish thing and one of the reasons why we are pish at club and international level in European competitions.

It is endemic in our psyche to want to see or produce players who are leg breakers or who are over 6ft tall and can run about all day with little skill.

I personally cannot stand this mentality and the outlook that a crunching tackle gets more applause than a piece of good football.

There was a programme on a while back that focused on this problem within our game and i can't remember who it was interviewed but they admitted that had Messi,Xavi and Iniesta come through the Boys Club level in Scotland they would more than likely have been rejected for being too small.

As for Matt McKay i said from day one (and was pilloried for it) that he was a very good player with qualities and attributes that would improve our 1st team. He may not be a Gio or Tugay but he is a very good and valuable addition to our team and squad and will do well in a Rangers jersey.

[Blue corn flakes 1,282]

I want him in the team every week because i would put money on it that he will become one of our best and most important players. Sadly when McCulloch comes back he will probably be benched.

[loch71 10]

I want him in the team every week because i would put money on it that he will become one of our best and most important players. Sadly when McCulloch comes back he will probably be benched.

If that was the case I feel that Ally would be digging his own grave. I know it all about opinions but anyone who thinks we are a better team with McCulloch in there know jack sheite about football

[Edmiston Drive 3,846]

Good topic from the OP and have to say , I agree with the points made so far by all the above posters.

[Misteral 2,932]

I have no doubt that Matt McKay will be a success at Rangers. If played in his right position I really feel that he can add to and match the craft and industry of Davis on the other side of our midfield. He has a great engine, has an eye for a pass and more importantly is very comfortable on the ball

I agree with you, Matt

[caseyjones 3,009]

Yes it is a Scottish thing and one of the reasons why we are pish at club and international level in European competitions.

It is endemic in our psyche to want to see or produce players who are leg breakers or who are over 6ft tall and can run about all day with little skill.

I personally cannot stand this mentality and the outlook that a crunching tackle gets more applause than a piece of good football.

There was a programme on a while back that focused on this problem within our game and i can't remember who it was interviewed but they admitted that had Messi,Xavi and Iniesta come through the Boys Club level in Scotland they would more than likely have been rejected for being too small.

As for Matt McKay i said from day one (and was pilloried for it) that he was a very good player with qualities and attributes that would improve our 1st team. He may not be a Gio or Tugay but he is a very good and valuable addition to our team and squad and will do well in a Rangers jersey.

Jim Spence.

Do some Scottish football coaches need to be more open-minded when it comes to height?

The World Cup in Africa would appear to suggest the answer is a resounding "yes".

Recently I heard it said that Lionel Messi wouldn't have graduated through the Scottish game because he was too small.

The same would apply to Xavi, Iniesta and a host of other talent at the World Cup.

A lack of height hasn't hampered the careers of top players Xavi, Messi or Iniesta. Photo: Getty.

And the Mexican goalkeeper Oscar Perez at 5 foot 7 inches would have been laughed off the park in Scotland.

The Mexican may have spring in his legs like Zorro and reactions quicker than Speedy Gonzalez, but everyone knows that keepers have to be 6 foot-plus, don't they? (Sorry, Andy Goram....who was he?)

A generation of Scottish coaches continue to confuse athleticism with height and strength.

They have failed to grasp the notion that acceleration, pace, suppleness, flexibilty, speed of thought and dynamic power are crucial components for players.

Watch Messi use his 5 foot 6.5 inch frame to roll players two stone heavier off the ball, and his alacrity of movement and thought leave opponents in his wake.

Yet I hear of clubs who still want to know what height a boy's parents are before they'll sign him.

So if Messi ever has a son looking for a club, don't come to Scotland for a trial.

This is not a diatribe against the Peter Crouches of this world, but ability cannot be determined by height and strength alone, as many coaches seem to believe.

The evidence at this World Cup has shown the opposite to be true.

Marcelo the Brazilian full-back/wide player scrapes in at 5 foot 7.5 inches, while Italian centre back Fabio Cannavaro is 5 foot 9 inches, two positions widely regarded in Scottish football as requiring 6 foot-plus stature.

How many good young boys are lost to the game because of this closed-minded obsession with height?

And, more importantly, where did this parochial view come from?

After all, this is a nation which gave birth to the ball wizardry and genius of midget gems like Jimmy Johnstone and Billy Bremner, not to mention Denis Law, who at 5 foot 9 inches had a spring in his legs which left much taller defenders grounded.

At one time we produced pocket dynamos who had the strength, speed, agility and, above all else, the sheer raw talent to allow them to grace the world's greatest stages.

I suspect they're still out there, waiting for their chance if only some coaches could find it in themselves to put their measuring tapes away.

On the same subject, 5'9" Javier Mascherano is currently playing at centre back for the best team in the world.

[BlueSuedeSambas 54,324]

There's a young boy from up here who was playing with Aberdeen's youth teams but left because they said he won't ever be 6'2 or 6'3 and ultimately that means he'll never be tall enough to play centre back in the SPL.

[pye1965 26]

Would you like to be the one to tell Billy Bremner (5,5")that he was too small to play football?

[RFC55 109,977]

There's a young boy from up here who was playing with Aberdeen's youth teams but left because they said he won't ever be 6'2 or 6'3 and ultimately that means he'll never be tall enough to play centre back in the SPL.

Bocanegra should eradicate that myth

[Adoniram 1,919]

Jim Spence.

On the same subject, 5'9" Javier Mascherano is currently playing at centre back for the best team in the world.

Cheers.

I don't recall the Spanish National team being all 6ft plus. Football at the top level is all about technique and fitness allied to supreme professionalism.

If we can produce players in the past with the technique of Dalglish,Baxter and Law then we can do it again.

I fear however that society will not cultivate such players due to numerous factors coupled with this obsession we have with height and power.

Willie Henderson

Jimmy Johnstone

Willie Johnston

Bobby Russell

Jim Baxter

Davie Wilson

Bobby Lennox

Billy Bremner

Talent will beat power 99 times out of 100 and the sooner we change our mindset and approach the better.

[caseyjones 3,009]

Cheers.

I don't recall the Spanish National team being all 6ft plus. Football at the top level is all about technique and fitness allied to supreme professionalism.

If we can produce players in the past with the technique of Dalglish,Baxter and Law then we can do it again.

I fear however that society will not cultivate such players due to numerous factors coupled with this obsession we have with height and power.

Willie Henderson

Jimmy Johnstone

Willie Johnston

Bobby Russell

Jim Baxter

Davie Wilson

Bobby Lennox

Billy Bremner

Talent will beat power 99 times out of 100 and the sooner we change our mindset and approach the better.

Totally agree. A gifted footballer can be trained into becoming an athlete, but the opposite isn't possible to the same degree.

[robertkay 39]

Some coaches do have a close minded approach on this and its almost as if they make their mind up on a player in the car park before their trial period starts.

It is, though, worth noting that even when the players are judged on technique rather than build, we will possibly still be lacking. Not enough young players play enough football any more to properly hone their skills. So, while there have undoubtedly been gems lost to the game because of their height, I still think they would be too few and far between because kids prefer the xbox to a kickabout.

[RFC55 109,977]

Its no coincidence in our side that our best players are the smaller ones. Davis and Naisy being the prime example. However in modern day football quick players seem to take place of talented footballers, so if you are built like a brick shit house stand 6ft + and run like fuck then you have pretty much made it

[jmo21 15]

Yes it is a Scottish thing and one of the reasons why we are pish at club and international level in European competitions.

It is endemic in our psyche to want to see or produce players who are leg breakers or who are over 6ft tall and can run about all day with little skill.

I personally cannot stand this mentality and the outlook that a crunching tackle gets more applause than a piece of good football.

There was a programme on a while back that focused on this problem within our game and i can't remember who it was interviewed but they admitted that had Messi,Xavi and Iniesta come through the Boys Club level in Scotland they would more than likely have been rejected for being too small.

Totally agree. Incredibly short sighted coaching, and if it is still the case at clubs like Rangers and the Bheasts, then Scotland will never improve.

[Ger for life 199]

John Greig told the story on Days of Our Lives recently that he was considered too

small for Hearts to consider signing him and that the Rangers' scout secretly located

members of John's family to see how big they were before taking a chance and signing

him.

What a signing that turned out to be! I also agree with other posters that skill is

preferrable to sheer muscle although I would argue that most good teams have a balance

of good ball players and guys who do the dirty work.

[papaguy51 912]

You look at the likes of Broadfoot over McMillan and wonder if it's still prevalent in our own coaching.

It'll take 15 years to fix it.

[Guest KarlG45]

I always laugh when people say we don't 'produce' enough great players anymore.

That would seem to suggest that sometime in the distant past the Baxter's, Law's etc were products of a successful coaching system.

I would suggest they were products of basically having fuck all else to do but play football in the street and improve their skills. Nowadays with the internet, video consoles etc there's much more for kids to do, without playing outside in the freezing cold and the pishing rain.

Would be interesting to hear how many great players received the proper coaching, diet advice etc when they were younger. I would suggest very few (if any).

Fact is, we have been (and sadly probably always will be) total pish at identifying and nurturing young talent.

[papaguy51 912]

I always laugh when people say we don't 'produce' enough great players anymore.

That would seem to suggest that sometime in the distant past the Baxter's, Law's etc were products of a successful coaching system.

I would suggest they were products of basically having fuck all else to do but play football in the street and improve their skills. Nowadays with the internet, video consoles etc there's much more for kids to do, without playing outside in the freezing cold and the pishing rain.

Would be interesting to hear how many great players received the proper coaching, diet advice etc when they were younger. I would suggest very few (if any).

Fact is, we have been (and sadly probably always will be) total pish at identifying and nurturing young talent.

Good points well made.

It's not even like there's a lack of people playing. I'll sometimes go down to the local pitch on a Sunday morning to see what's happening - sometimes it's a pub game/kicking match, sometimes it's an Under-13 Scottish Cup match.

There are some cracking wee players in those Unders games, they see passes that I can't even see from the sidelines, yet you know he won't make it unless he bulks up in the next two years. I was 6'0 by the time I was 14 so it wasn't something I ever had to put up with, but one of my family members (PE teacher at Blantyre Academy now) was released by Aberdeen because he was only 5'9.

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

If that was the case I feel that Ally would be digging his own grave. I know it all about opinions but anyone who thinks we are a better team with McCulloch in there know jack sheite about football

Aye - Walter and Ally know"jack sheite" all about football ! If he is good enough for them then thats good enough for me! And if he is chossen over one of your prefered choices that is still good enough for me!

[stuart1994 4,379]

It's the reason Scotland won't produce any world class players again. they concentrate too much on being physical rather than the technical sides of the game

[Guest KarlG45]

Good points well made.

It's not even like there's a lack of people playing. I'll sometimes go down to the local pitch on a Sunday morning to see what's happening - sometimes it's a pub game/kicking match, sometimes it's an Under-13 Scottish Cup match.

There are some cracking wee players in those Unders games, they see passes that I can't even see from the sidelines, yet you know he won't make it unless he bulks up in the next two years. I was 6'0 by the time I was 14 so it wasn't something I ever had to put up with, but one of my family members (PE teacher at Blantyre Academy now) was released by Aberdeen because he was only 5'9.

I'm 6'2", but total pish (and don't even have the stamina to be able to run about and kick people)

Otherwise I'd have been a great player...

[Ferdasyn 431]

Salim Kerkar scoring two goals is the height of nonsense.

[Adoniram 1,919]

2 stories can back up what i am saying. Firstly my brother in law being rejected by Rangers and Hearts for being too small. All the skill and talent in the world but became disillusioned and chucked it after that.

Second one was from way back in the early 80's when our boys club played a team with links to Bayern Munich i think it was. Friendly game and one of our players ran the show. I kid you not when i say he had the talent of Messi he was that good with a ball. Sadly he stood at just over 5ft tall but this didn't stop the German team from insisting he go over to Germany and play for them but only being 14 or 15 at the time the family said no.

NO club in Scotland wanted to sign him because of his height but one of the leading clubs in Europe wanted him after one game.

He too chucked it shortly after this due to the mentality of those running Scottish Football.

[gunslinger 270]

he will need to learn to go down instead of just losing the physical battles but their is no reason he can't do very well for us.