Youth/Development Team Thread

Why?

Winning at this age means fuckall.

 

Can anyone post some info about Mickey Johnston, stuff like age, position, what type of player he is?

 

The club have today completed the signing of Connor McManus on an emergency loan from Celtic until the end of the season.

The central midfielder who has just turned 21 joined Celtic Academy in 2005, during which time he has won the Scottish Youth Cup and scored a stunning 40 yard goal for the Parkhead side against AC Milan in the UEFA Youth league. He has also gained experience of the senior game having spent a season on loan at Alloa Athletic.

On completing the deal, Queens boss Gary Naysmith said "Connor likes to get the ball down and pass. As he's a different kind of player to Joe Thomson, John Rankin and Ky Jacobs, he will give us other options in midfield. We are grateful to Celtic for letting Connor join us for the run in and I'm looking forward to working with the talented youngster".

Connor goes straight into the squad for tomorrow's trip to Kirkcaldy.

 

Perhaps, but usually good performances bring good results. Doesn't seem like the youth team are having a particularly great season.

 

He's 17. From what I've seen he's a good dribbler, tricky and has goals in him. Tends to play somewhere in the 3 in a 4231.

 

McGregor came through with a youth team that won everything and were tearing European teams apart. He was the only one to make it at us.

We focus far too much on making a team to win than making a player good enough for the first team.

Would far rather players like Aitchison, Johnstone, Ralston, McInroy, Church playing at an age group above than doing what we done in the past and having players floating around the club in their 20's without ever making their debut just so we could see won a reserve league by so many points.

 

CELTIC’S Development Squad cruised to a comfortable 4-1 win over Inverness Caley Thistle at Lennoxtown today (Thursday), a victory that puts them just four points off the top spot in the SPFL Development league, with two games in hand.

A brace from PJ Crossan and goals from debutant Kerr McInroy and Fiacre Kelleher means that Tommy McIntyre’s team are now unbeaten in five matches as the young Hoops enter the closing stages of their season.

Seventeen-year-old Ewan Henderson was also handed his first start along with McInroy, who has just returned from international duty with a sparkling display for Scotland under-17s. Henderson, the younger brother of Hoops midfielder Liam Henderson, has featured as a substitute on two previous occasions for the young Hoops, most recently grabbing an assist in the recent 6-0 win over Dundee United.

Tommy McIntyre made four changes to the team from that game. Connor McManus and Regan Hendry dropped out while Milkey Johnston and Anthony Ralston started on the bench. Aidan McIlduff came in, as did Theo Archibald who started along with Henderson and McInroy.

The visitors got the game underway but it was Celtic who immediately piled on the pressure. Archibald looked menacing on the right-hand side, his pace coupled with his precision looking to be the biggest threat in the opening 10 minutes.

However, it was Calvin Miller out on the left who was the provider for the opening goal Crossan won the ball in the middle of the six-yard box and slammed the header home to make it 1-0 to the young Hoops.

Archibald came close to doubling the hosts lead a few minutes later with a low, hard shot from 20 yards but the Inverness keeper got down to keep the score at 1-0. Although he didn’t get on the scoresheet, Archibald was on hand with an assist for Crossan to score an almost identical goal to the first in the 22nd minute, floating the ball in from the right for Crossan to head home.

Celtic got the second-half underway and within 30 seconds of the restart, debut Bhoy McInroy grabbed his first goal to make it 3-0 to the Hoops. There was an immediate reaction from the Highland side, however, as Liam MacDonald broke through the Hoops back line to make it 3-1.

Fiacre Kelleher had a goal disallowed just before the hour mark, but he didn’t have to wait long for another opportunity as he rounded off proceedings with a fourth for the home side. Mark Hill swung a corner in from the right, and the Irish defender rose high above the Caley defence to make it 4-1, a resounding and comfortable victory for the Hoops.

 

AIDAN Nesbitt’s goal on the stroke of half-time was enough for Celtic to see off Motherwell at Cappielow and seal their spot in the SFA Youth Cup final.

The attacking midfielder reacted quickest in the box to fire home after goalkeeper Ollie Pain had parried a shot.

And despite the determined efforts of the Steelmen to fashion a leveller, the Bhoys held firm in the second half to book their place in the Hampden showpiece, where they will face Rangers.

Tommy McIntyre had made four changes from the team that won 4-1 against Inverness Caley in the league last week, with Anthony Ralston, Joe Thomson, Nesbitt and Mikey Johnston coming in for Fiacre Kelleher, Kerr McInroy, Ewan Henderson and Theo Archibald.

In torrential conditions, the young Hoops carved out their first opening in the fifth minute, when Johnston forced Pain into action after his trickery took him into the box.

The Lanarkshire replied with a free-kick from David Turnbull which flew over, before Ralston wasn’t far away from connecting with Nesbitt’s cross at the other end.

The home side were continuing to boss possession, while Johnston was causing problems with his surging runs forward, but it took until the 39th minute until they seriously threatened the Motherwell goal again. Nesbitt’s delivery from the right was knocked down by Josh Kerr for Thomson, whose attempt was inches away from finding the target.

Just before the break, however, the Bhoys made the crucial breakthrough. After good work by Ralston down the right, the ball was swung into the box and Nesbitt was on hand to bury the loose ball.

The Fir Park side came close to an equaliser early in the second half when Jack McMillan drove into the area and shot narrowly wide.

Back came the Bhoys, though, and the lively Johnston lashed over from 20 yards after being teed-up by Nesbitt.

And it was Johnston who almost secured the comfort of a two-goal cushion 13 minutes from time when, having countered quickly from a Motherwell corner, he saw a cross-shot blocked by Pain.

That meant the Celts only held a slender advantage as the game entered its closing stages, underlined when Motherwell substitute Shea Gordon looped a header over.

It was increasingly frantic stuff, and it was then the turn of the Hoops youngsters to go on the offensive, with Johnston seeing a shot blocked in the box, before Nesbitt was crowded out as he attempted to pull the trigger.

As the clock ticked down, Nesbitt almost wrapped up the victory as he came agonisingly close to connecting with Miller’s powerful low cross.

But it didn’t matter in the end as McIntyre’s side saw out the five minutes of stoppage time to deservedly secure their passage to the final.

 

Playing against Hibs just now, kicked off at 7.

1-0 to us after 5 minutes.

 

Liam Henderson's wee brother Ewan opening the scoring

 

2-0. Calvin Miller with a belter.

 

Good stuff, we really need to be winning both of these back to back games against Hibs if we want to try and close the gap at the top.

 

3-0, Miller again.

 

Miller left wing or full back?

 

Think he is playing in a front three with Johnston & Hendry tonight

 

Interesting..

Cheers mate..

 

Left wing.

Think we've given up the left back experiment since he kept getting tore apart because he can't defend

 

CALVIN Miller’s deadly double helped Celtic’s Development Side earn a dominant 3-0 league victory over Hibernian tonight at Lennoxtown.

The forward, operating in a central attacking role, scored either side of half-time, the first of which was a sublime strike into the top corner, after Ewan Henderson had opened the scoring for the Bhoys.

It was an excellent performance from Tommy McIntyre’s team, with some outstanding individual displays, and the well-deserved three points keeps them hot on the heels of their rivals in the title race.

McIntyre had made five changes to the side that beat Motherwell on Monday night to seal their spot in the Youth Cup final.

Goalkeeper Ross Doohan returned between the sticks, while Fiacre Kelleher, Ewan Henderson, Kerr McInroy and Regan Hendry also came into the team. Conor Hazard, Anthony Ralston, Joe Thomson, Aidan Nesbitt and PJ Crossan dropped out.

The home side made a brisk start and it only took them five minutes to open the scoring with an impressive team goal. Mikey Johnston evaded several challenges as he surged through the middle, before picking out Miller, whose cutback was expertly finished by Henderson.

Moving the ball around with pace, pressing aggressively and attacking with purpose, the young Celts were playing some sparkling football as they threatened to inflict further punishment.

Mark Hill lashed over from the edge of the box following a free-kick, and Hibs defender Ben Stirling had to make a last-ditch clearance after Johnston had fizzed a ball in from the byline.

As the pressure continued on the visitors’ goal, Johnston was next to come close was as his low strike whizzed past the post after he had been teed-up by Miller.

Just beyond the half-hour mark, Kelleher wasn’t far away with a towering header from Johnston’s corner – but number two soon arrived, and it was a goal fit to grace any occasion.

Miller darted into the box and collected a return pass from Johnston before curling an exquisite first-time shot with the outside of his foot into the top corner. Hibs goalkeeper Maciej Dabrowski didn’t move. It was a simply stunning strike.

It had been a tremendous first-half performance from the young Hoops and they showed their intent to maintain the momentum by increasing their advantage less than 30 seconds after the restart.

The Edinburgh side took the kick-off but Celtic quickly stole back possession. Johnston raced to the byline and spotted Miller lurking in the middle, and he made no mistake from close range.

A speculative lob from distance from Hendry, which forced a back-peddling Dabrowski to make a save, underlined the confidence running through McIntyre’s side.

After Miller had been felled near the angle of the box, Kelleher was unable to convert another headed chance from Johnston’s free-kick as the one-way traffic showed no signs of abating.

It took until the 69th minute until the away side had a sight of goal but Olly Shaw was unable to keep his shot down, while Doohan was in commanding form between the sticks when crosses were flung into the box.

The best chances were still falling to the young Cets. Johnston, a menace all evening, with his pace, trickery and direct running, created another opportunity for substitute Thomas Caffrey, whose shot was charged down.

As the game entered its final 10 minutes, Hill, another to excel in the heart of midfield, burst forward into the box but he couldn’t force the ball home from an acute angle.

And Johnston almost put the icing on the cake with a sensational solo goal, weaving his way through the Hibernian backline to bear down on Dabrowski, who came to his team’s rescue with a low save.

 

Goals from the Hibs game
https://mobile.twitter.com/undefined/status/850414169195241472/video/1