Brown Ferguson

@pieandbov Brilliant post 👏👏

The morning after. Thankfully it wasn't a dream. That really happened. Not much to say that's not been summed up brilliantly by thousands of tweets and posts I sat and read through for hours and hours after I got back from Hampden. The emotional commentary from Liam McLeod, the scenes from Thommo and Faddy, the incredible radio comms from Alasdair Lamont, they will all go down in folklore along with those four, and yes there was four, glorious goals on an unforgettable night at Hampden. A couple of random thoughts though...……….. THE FANS The supporters are rightly praised the world over for the backing they give the team, especially on the road, but last night I genuinely thought the home fans excelled themselves. There was a special feeling in the stadium, and the rendition of Flower of Scotland was absolutely unbelievable. Whether it helped inspire that utterly ridiculous first goal we will never know but it surely helped, as did the enduring patience and support of the crowd even when we were pegged back twice. I'm no Scotland super fan, I get to the odd away game, but I've stood shoulder to shoulder with the same group of boys at Hampden at every game for 30+ years now. We've trudged out that stadium thoroughly fucked off more times than I care to remember so sharing those moments at the end was very special and yeah, a wee bit emotional. Doesn't matter if you were in the stadium or not, we will all remember where we were when McTominay did that, when Tierney did that and when McLean just went, fuck it, and did THAT. LAWRENCE SHANKLAND The three worldies we scored will be remembered forever but a quick word about the 2nd goal because it was just as important and should not be forgotten. A proper poachers finish from a player who has probably had less time in the navy blue than he should have. He's as natural a finisher as we've got and hopefully that goal can really kick start his international career. CRAIG GORDON Mad to think he's our best option between the sticks at 42 but he absolutely is. His save low to his right in the first half with the score at 1-0 will be all but forgotten too given what transpired afterwards but it was a huge moment. It was magnificent to hear the emotion in his voice in his post match interview. A guy that just keeps bouncing back no matter what is thrown at him. KENNY MCLEAN I'm sure I wasn't the only one to start thinking about Stuart Armstrong against England when McLean got the ball at the death. Thankfully he ignored the thousands of shouts to "take it to the fucking corner" and just blootered it past Schmeichel from about 100 yards. He's a player that has had more than his fair share of pelters over the years, often been a whipping boy when things haven't been going well, so it was really magnificent to see him get his moment last night, was absolutely delighted for him. ANDY ROBERTSON I'm sure I wasn't the only one nearly in tears (again) listening to his emotional tribute to the mate he lost in the Summer. A guy maybe entering the twilight of his career, maybe not in the best form he's ever been in, but like I said on Saturday night, he never hides, never goes missing, always fronts up. For me he is an absolute diamond, and his leadership of this group should never be taken for granted. LADY LUCK Yeah let's be honest, we did absolutely ride our luck at times during this campaign but over the piece, over those very many years since 1998, surely we've more than deserved a wee rub of the green going our way? It was really quite mental how many things did go in our favour at times but I'm a firm believer too that you do make your own luck. These players might have their limitations, sure, but they NEVER give up, they always keep going and it was just fantastic to see them get the rewards for it last night, especially sealing it in front of our own fans. STEVE CLARKE And to the coach. An absolute marmite character for sure, I think he even quite likes that to be honest, never a guy who puts himself out there to be liked, to be popular, it genuinely doesn't seem to bother him, but what he's done during his time as Scotland coach marks him out as one of the very best. Qualifying for the Euros twice was magnificent, those achievements should never be downplayed, but with 24 nations making it to the Euros these days let's be honest we absolutely SHOULD be there or thereabouts. This is very different. Only 16 UEFA nations will be in the World Cup next Summer, only 12 have made it this far, and we are fucking one of them. It's a remarkable achievement. And yes, some of his team selections have been beyond stubborn, yes the display in both the Euros when we got there was by and large horrendous and we absolutely must do better in these Finals, but the time for focus on that will come, it's not for just now. This is the time to sit back and enjoy and yes, be thankful to the guy who got us back there. SORRY So, aye, apologies for a lot of birthday card pish on your timeline but I'm feeling a wee bit delicate and emotional this morning and that's all I have to say about that.

What a night 🌎 🏆 HERE WE COME! Superb @ScotlandNT 👏👏👏 #SCODEN

It’s been a quick 100 league matches! Been a great group to work with and hopefully many more games to come

@mcgov12 So sorry to read this news. Thoughts are with you and your family.

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I share the news of the passing of my amazing wife, Leanne. Our hearts are broken, but we are so grateful for the love and support we’ve received. Thank you ❤️

@imried7 There are no words Dougie, just know that you and your family are in everyone’s thoughts.

30.07.25-19.08.25 Our girl got tired in the early hours of Tuesday morning & decided it was time to rest ‘If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever’ 💔

Start of season 28 🧑‍🦲and 11th with @StenhousemuirFC! Best of luck to everyone involved across the leagues as we start the new campaign!

Great interview. Been a very very busy week but a lot of great work done by a lot of people at the club to get a team on the pitch today. A lot of positives to take forward. All the best to @MotherwellFC for the rest of the season

2nite is an example of where we are going Nationally. We are playing a GK, who has never played a 1st team league match IN HIS LIFE!! This should have been unthinkable for us, not reality We’re Lacking depth of quality and numbers and it’s only going one way unfortunately.

1/9 Thread The following is information on the number of Scottish players playing in the Scottish Premiership over the 2024/25 season. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @ScottishFA @pieandbov @PFAScotland @spfl @sportscotland @BBCSportScot

9/9 The trend of Scots playing in our top flight is declining each year and there doesn't appear to be any consideration or plan to alter this which should be a concern for Scottish football

8/9 OBSERVATIONS CONTINUED - 20 team selections over the season did not contain a single Scottish player Hibs x 3 Ross County x 11 Rangers x 5 Celtic x 1

7/9 SOME OBSERVATIONS - Hearts and Kilmarnock are the only teams playing over 50% of🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - Motherwell are the team most often to start 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿U21 players - 9 of the teams in the top flight started a🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿U21 player less than 2% of the time - Aberdeen and Celtic did not start a🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 U21

6/9 How does each team compare.....

4/9 7.8% of players starting games were part of the youth pathway at the club they play with. Just over 10 players out of 132! This includes the likes of Craig Gordon and Liam Kelly who both were youth players at their clubs (Hearts and Rangers) before returning

5/9 3.23% of players starting are Scottish and under the age of 21. This is just over 4 players out of 132 each game week across Scotland's top flight.

3/9 Players born outside Scotland but eligible to play for 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 are captured in this stat (i.e. Alex Lacovitti). Players born in Scotland, but representing other countries, have not been included (i.e. Martin Boyle)

2/9 The overall percentage of Scots starting games is now at 31.46%. This equates to roughly 41 Scottish players out of 132 who are starting in the top flight on a weekly basis. This has dropped from 45% in season 21/22 and is declining ....... fast!

Maybe, but this isn’t something that’s just happened, it’s been rumbling on for months. The guy is pursuing something else, which is also special. He’s given years of dedication to the club and success. Why does Xabi Alonso get a hero’s reception today? He’s expected to go to RM?

@brownaferguson If you have ever been rejected or dumped before, it makes total sense. The boos are a case study in human nature; if LFC chose to move on and not extend him, would have been no boos at all. Doesn’t make it right but certainly understandable no?

Can’t understand the boos for TAA at Liverpool. Guys been a brilliant servant to the club, won titles, represented the city and club, and has just decided to move on, like everyone else will at some point down the line.

As a 2013, Playing up a year in an A division team is no easy thing, so super proud parents 2d. Proud coach as well seeing this team grow. One more win to secure their own league title 🤞 so the season not finished yet!!  Brilliant to be involved with such a Great group of parents, players and coaches.

Also super proud of my own son who has been part of this amazing group for a number of years.  He helps with kit for the 1st team on match days, and today shot off to his own game after 30 mins. His efforts in his own match were recognised with a POTM which was lovely to see.

As our 1st season finished today, I then rushed off to the watch my other team that I help coach, @sfcwitc 2012’s, in the A Divisional cup final at Broadwood.  I’m pleased to say the day ended well with the group winning the game 3-1, and clinching a first title at 11’s.  Amazing to see their smiles at the end of the game