After a year of highs and lows for every Scottish football fan . I look ahead to a year where we have so much to look forward to and make some bold shouts for the year ahead!
David Turnbull will make the scotland squad
its been a tough season so far for Celtic with very little positives to take however the excellent performances from there summer signing David Turnbull is definitely one of them. Having broke out with his boyhood club Motherwell in 2019 , Turnbull earned his big move to Celtic this summer for a 3 million pound fee. Turnbull struggled for game time for his first few months at park head but a man of the match performance against Lille in December seen him become a mainstay in the struggling Celtic squad. Since becoming a first team regular at Parkhead , Turnbull has scored 6 times and assisted 3 and is yet to have a poor game. Despite Turnbulls excellent performances , There is very little spots available in the scotland squad especially in midfield and other challengers like Billy Gilmour are in contention. however if he continues to impress like he is currently Steve Clarke will have a decision to make.
Rangers will Reach the Quarter Finals of the EL at the very least
Steven Gerrard's Rangers may have struggled in the league until this season of course but they always seem to defy expectations in continental competition. Some notable results include big wins against Galatasaray , Braga ,Porto , Feyenoord and many more. This season they topped there Europa League group getting results against regulars in the competition. They face Belgian side Royal Antwerp who currently sit third in the Belgian Pro League. Despite this rangers are strong favourites for the tie and are expected to progress through to the next round . If they do progress Steven Gerrard's men have a real opportunity to make this a campaign to remember. Being one of Europeans in form teams there's no telling how far rangers can go. I predict them to make the quarter finals at the very least and while its a lottery , my money is on the Ibrox side to get a shock result with one of the English sides remaining in the competition putting all the eyes of the UK media on Rangers and Scottish football as a whole which can only be a positive.
Manny Duku will be a premiership player
Raith Rovers have had a great start to there return to the championship and are in the race for the promotion play offs. Many players have contributed to this one of these being there new signing Manny Duku. Manny began his career in Amsterdam where he was born before taking the brave step to move to England which was a great success having spells at Cheltenham , Barnet and more noticeably Hayes and Yeading where he scored 33 goals in 39 games. Duku moved up north to Raith Rovers last summer and since then has been a massive success for the Kirkcaldy side. Manny is crucial for the way Raith want to play and has been a main reason for why they have defied expectations this season. We have seen many examples of talent breaking out in the lower leagues . the likes of Lyndon Dykes and Lawrence Shankland are the most Recent of examples and Duku could be the next to follow in there foot steps and tear it up in the top flight. There has already been rumoured interest rom some SPL clubs so it would come as no surprise to me or many people if we see Manny Duku in the premiership either with Raith if they achieve back to back promotions or even with a top flight side like a Dundee United, Hamilton or any other team in need of a top striker.
Two Championship sides will go up
The championship has arguably been the most exciting league this season. With Hearts relegation to the second tier many expected the Jambos to ease through the league but that hasn't exactly happened. They do still currently sit first but it has hardly been plain sailing with loses against Dunfermline, Dundee and Raith. Despite this there's no argument Hearts have a premiership standard team and many still expect them to finish top however it wont be as easy as many thought it would be for hearts. In terms of who finishes in the playoff places. There are many teams that are fighting for a chance of promotion to the top flight. Dunfermline are the close favourites behind hearts and out of all other teams that will be mentioned. The pars are arguably the most consistent and have been pushing for a spot in the top flight for many years now. Dundee after being relegated 2 years ago have made some exceptional signings for there push back into the top flight. The boy hood fan in Charlie Adam who still has the quality at 35 years old to be a top 6 player in the premiership. The recent signing in Jason Cummings is a striker that many premiership sides would love to have and the potential signing of Kyle Lafferty would show the team really mean business. The last competitors are Raith rovers and like I have said previously have defied expectations after there promotion from league one last season. They are the underdogs for the promotion spot but at the time of writing currently sit second with a game in hand and have a real chance of gaining double promotions. Whoever gets the other promotion spot will have a tough test against one of the premiership sides however with the quality on display in the championship this season, there could be a result on the cards for one of the teams mentioned.
Stephen Robinson will be back in Scottish Football
After resigning from his Motherwell post on new years eve , Stephen Robinson has already said he's ready to go straight back into management whenever the right opportunity arises. Throughout his time at Fir Park there was many rumours linking Robinson with other jobs. The likes of Hearts and Hibs were said to have been interested last season. The sacking of Eddie Howe at the end of last season also linked Robinson with his former team. However the only role Robinson was linked with and attended a job interview for was Northern Ireland. In the end Robinson remined at Motherwell but it shows there is a fair amount of interest across the UK for the manager. The Northern Irishmen could quite easily get a job at a championship or league one side in England but Robinson currently stays in Scotland and has previously stated how much he loves Scottish football so it may be that he stays in Scotland for his next job. There are many jobs that are currently vacant or could be in the next job so it is only a matter of if Robinson wants to throw his name into the hat. Robinson is currently the favourite for the Kilmarnock job however many could argue its a sideways move for him. The likes of Hearts,Hibs and Aberdeen could all be looking for a managerial change shortly so why not take Robinson who defied expectations with Motherwell. Apart from that the only other potential jobs which would be a great upgrade for Robinson is either of the Old Firm sides however this may be just a bit ambitious currently. This just shows many clubs across the UK will be interested in Robinson if they decide to look for a new manager.
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