No better place for Hickey than Brentford
And so it appears Aaron Hickey's adventure in Italy is about to come to an end. For young players keen to progress their careers quickly and get themselves noticed there is a clear pathway presented by certain mid-tier European clubs that offer a shop window and the opportunity to develop while being offered playing time at the highest level. Bologna in Serie A is one such club. One only needs to look at the types of players the Italians have targeted in recent seasons to see that their scouting tentacles spread across the breadth of Europe – and beyond. They are certainly no strangers to Scottish football as their recent interest in bringing Calvin Ramsay to the club demonstrated. Having handed over £1.5m to Hearts in 2020, Bologna are likely to lodge a cheque in their account for £14m in the coming days should the Scotland full-back complete his transfer to Brentford.
Hickey has certainly accelerated his career as a result of his time in Italy and now he stands on the brink of a move to a club that has operated a similar policy to that of Bologna. Brentford's recruitment strategy and the role their owner Matthew Benham, has played in establishing a rigorous scouting department has been well documented. The fruits of his staff's work are evidenced by the club's rise to England's top flight. There have been some who have questioned Hickey's choice of clubs but it's fair to say that Brentford are no mere relegation fodder – they will continue to improve in the Premier League and the 20-year-old will be afforded the full opportunity to demonstrate that his fully equipped to make a name for himself at that level.
Should there be any doubt about it, one only needs to remember Kristoffer Ajer's words last year when recalling what persuaded him to join the Londoners. "They said that they had been to 123 games of Celtic's and provided feedback on which ones were green and approved, and which ones were red and unacceptable,” the Norwegian told media in his homeland. “They analyse everything. What I liked about this club compared to the others, was that they said that there was a lot of exciting things about me they were interested in, but also that I had to improve a lot."
When Hickey's ready, his time will come – the Big Six in England have a habit of getting their way when they decide they want something.
You cannot be serious, John
Some might say I have poor taste in tennis players. John McEnroe was a hero in the 1980s. He was far preferable to the equally irascible (but much better at hiding it) Jimmy Connors who seemed to delight the Wimbledon crowd despite playing with an almost permanent scowl on his face. Another favourite was Boris Becker – a strawberry blond buzzbomb around the court – who also had a temper and, it seems, a penchant for spending money that wasn't his. Pat Cash liked a joust with a line judge or umpire and while his rap sheet was less decorated, that mullet is not recalled favourably when watching reruns of his victory in 1987.
Andy Murray is an emotional guy on the court, too, even if he is several notches down the Richter scale from the aforementioned trio but he has sadly departed this year's tournament, all of which leaves me in a quandary – who to support in the second week?
Step forward perennial malcontent Nick Kyrgios. The Australian brought street tennis to the courts of SW19 last week – not least in his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday during which he chatted his way through their third-round tie with the Greek later accusing his opponent of 'bullying'. Tsitsipas lost it on court, smashing a ball into the crowd and aiming several body shots at Kyrgios all of which prompted McEnroe – on commentary – to suffer the biggest bout of amnesia since John Darwin went missing in his canoe by criticising Kyrgios for his disruptive behaviour.
Is it wrong to say 'more of the same, please'?
It's a big week for Irish and Welsh clubs in Europe
And by extension that means it's a big week for some familiar names. Take a look through the squad lists of those sides involved in this week's Champions League and Europa League qualifiers and you'll be reminded of some of those who have graced Scotland's top flight, and some of those who played further down the ladder. There's former Celtic prodigy John Herron who will play for Larne against St Joseph's of Gibraltar in Europa League qualification and then there's former St Johnstone goalkeeper Alan McManus who will likely keep goal for Shamrock Rovers against Hibernians in the Champions League, a competition that also features The New Saints against Linfield. The Welsh outfit's attack is led by former Morton and Dunfermline striker Declan McManus but the most notable contingent of former SPFL players can be found in Linfield's squad. Manager David Healy could field almost an entire starting line-up from this lot: Daniel Finlayson (on loan from St Mirren), Eetu Vertainen (on loan from St Johnstone), Chris McKee (ex-Rangers), Conor Pepper (ex-Morton and Inverness), Cammy Palmer (ex-Rangers), Kyle McClean (ex-St Johnstone), Ben Hall (formerly Falkirk and Motherwell) and Sam Roscoe (ex-Ayr and Aberdeen).
Speaking of familiar names . . .
You might have noticed something that rang a bell late last week if you'd been keeping an eye on the transfer business of English Championship clubs, then again perhaps not, because frankly who does that? Well, the Monday Kick-off actually and a good job, too, because how else would you know that Vakoun Issouf Bayo was back in Britain plying his trade?
You've got to hand it to the Ivory Coast striker's agent for managing to convince another manager on these shores to take a punt on him after his disastrous spell at Celtic from 2018 until 2020. The 6ft Bayo cut an awkward, ponderous figure at Parkhead and managed to score precisely two goals in his 16 games for the club. It was little surprise that he was allowed to go on loan to Toulouse in Ligue 2 where his record was significantly better before he was sold to Gent for a loss of half a million quid. He made just three appearances for the Belgian side before he was loaned out again and he proceeded to score a very healthy 11 goals in 19 games whereupon Watford have just spent £5m on his signature for next season.
Now just plain old Vakoun Bayo having dropped the 'Issouf' from his name let's hope the rebrand has done the trick.
Pumas will put more pressure on Townsend
The tour of Argentina was meant to present Gregor Townsend with the opportunity to survey some of the fringe members of his squad. Already, however, there is a sense that the remaining two Tests against the Pumas could become something of a Sisyphean task. Scotland were outplayed in Jujuy on Saturday evening and many of the old failings that have accompanied Townsend's team were exposed once again against an Argentina team that themselves had questions to answer in Michael Cheika's first game as head coach. All eyes were on Blair Kinghorn – brought in to the touring part for the rested Finn Russell – but the jury remains out on his ability to serve as an able deputy to the Racing 92 talisman.
Russell is not the only Scot who remained at home. Captain Stuart Hogg was absent as was centre Chris Harris. It was interesting to note that Scotland lacked any kind of spark in the absence of Russell and Hogg – a matter that again casts doubt on Townsend's tactical set-up. Should the remaining Tests – the second is in Salta on Saturday – go the way of this one, then the noise over whether Townsend is the right man for the job after a hugely disappointing Six Nations will only intensify.
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The number of times 'Trialist' appeared on the Albion Rovers team-sheet for yesterday's North Lanarkshire Cup match against Stirling Albion at Broadwood
