All conquering ruler Craig Fowler is back again to run through the heroes and villains from the past Scottish football weekend.
WINNERS
Ali Crawford (Hamilton)
It’s terrific to see a player coming of age in front of your eyes and there’s little doubt the 2015/16 campaign is a defining one in the career of the midfielder. Having enjoyed a surprisingly good season last term, the onus was now on him to be the team’s talisman in the post-Neil/Andreu era. With Hamilton having managed to pull themselves out of the tailspin which saw them plummet into the bottom six, Crawford now has the platform to deliver on such promise. And he’s been excellent during the three game winning streak which has Accies happily sitting among the league’s elite once more.
In the latest victory, the 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Hearts on Saturday, Crawford showed excellence even beyond the thunderous strike which drew the home side level. He’s always had the enthusiasm to run at opponents and shoot with both feet in and around the penalty area, but against Hearts he demonstrated the heightened intelligence and awareness that’s turned him from a bit-part player in a struggling second tier side, to the talismanic Scottish Premiership figure we all see before us now. He continually finds areas between the midfield and defence to hurt his opponents and he used such nous to devastating effect.
Barrie McKay (Rangers)
Guff. Rotten. Mince. Erse. A charlatan. These were some of the nicer descriptions Raith Rovers fans had for Barrie McKay during his loan spell at Stark’s Park last year. Morton fans said similar things about his time in Greenock the year before. He just didn’t appear to be any good at football and if Ally McCoist didn’t think he was a good player, then surely Mark Warburton was going to take one look at him and send him straight down to part-time football. That’s what any reasonable human being would have presumed, and yet it couldn’t have turned out any different in reality.
McKay continually tore through the Queen of the South rearguard on Sunday en route to a man of the match performance, and it was far from an aberration when compared with the rest of his early season form. He’s been consistently excellent and rather than just filling a jersey while Warburton scouts for a full-time left midfielder, it seems that he now has the job on a permanent basis.
Andrew Davies (Ross County)
County seem to have signed themselves a cracking defender in the former Bradford City centre back. Questions will remain over his fitness – as according to the Bradford fans, it was the only reason for his leaving Valley Parade – but while he remains fit and able he’ll continually be there in the County penalty area, heading away the hopes and dreams of all opponents as they try to launch crosses into the danger zone.
He even managed to get himself a goal in Saturday’s win over Dundee United with a nicely finished half-volley following a corner. Although, he could scarcely have been more alone if he was Jackie McNamara at a Dundee United supporters’ club meeting.
LOSERS
Danny Devine (Inverness CT)
You have to feel sorry for the guy. Gary Warren and Josh Meekings may have blocked his route to the Inverness CT first team, but one of the pair always played the role of mentor whenever Devine found himself in the starting XI. Now they’re both gone he’s expected to be the man, the one natural centre half Inverness have while they’ve tried midfielder Ross Draper and now left-back Carl Tremarco alongside him. He’s like a 17-year-old being handed the keys to the house while his parents go away on holiday. He’ll love the responsibility and learn a lot, but still fuck things up on a spectacular scale.
Against Dundee he inexplicably handed the hosts a lifeline with eight minutes to go by punching the ball out of the air (presumably he’s been watching DVDs of James McPake in action). Then, after Greg Stewart failed to capitalise from the penalty spot, he misread the flight of the ball after Tremarco failed to win his header, allowing it to bounce through for Kane Hemmings to equalise in stoppage time. When are the grown-ups back, Danny?
Robbie Neilson (Hearts)
Following his side’s loss to Hamilton, the Jambos boss channelled his inner bampot and deflected attention away from his side snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by pointing the finger of blame solely at Willie Collum. As a Hearts fan, I’d hoped Robbie, who always seems measured with his comments, would be above piling pressure on referees who, in my opinion, already get far too much of rough a time in football. Furthermore, he could have reflected better on himself by phrasing his dig in a different manner. It bordered on nonsensical to admit to training the Hearts team to deal with the inevitable red card he claimed was coming their way because of the identity of the official, having just watched them chuck away two goals in five minutes during such a scenario.
In fairness to Neilson, in Jose Mourinho style, it certainly got the Hearts fans to direct their ire at the referee rather than the team, and nobody seemed to point out the fact that Partick Thistle, having been reduced to 10 men after 20 minutes, did much better in similar circumstances on opening day.
Dedryck Boyata (Celtic)
At the tail end of his first season with Celtic, Efe Ambrose had a dreadful run of form where he looked like the biggest bombscare in Scottish football. This was enough to have him labelled as a calamitous figure despite his stellar form for the six months prior to that run and his overall solid play the following season.
Now, this may not be the best example, because Ambrose is a complete bombscare, as we’ve since found out for certain, but it just shows how easily a player can be labelled off the back of a few games. Well, Boyata is not far away from getting the same accusations indelibly written into his reputation with Celtic.
Saturday’s own goal was unfortunate, but it still had all the Bambi-on-ice characteristics of a defender who still doesn’t look wholly comfortable on a football park. The departure of Virgil van Dijk isn’t going to make the transition any easier. Like Devine, he’s now elevated to the status of being The Man in the Celtic back four. Ironically, if they partner him with Ambrose it may be beneficial for his long-term relationship with the Parkhead support. Like a girl who seeks out an ugly best-friend, he’ll appear better by association.
Written by Craig Fowler (@craigfowler86)
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