Really?!

Thats great, unusually soccer way didn't mention a shootout. I assumed they would have a replay.

Sorry he was 4th and de Silva missed.

soccerway didn't even have de silva as coming on. poor form from them.

Why Celtic may regret giving up on Jackson Irvine

CRAIG FOWLER
00:25Thursday 29 October 2015

Ross County’s summer signing from Parkhead has emerged as one of the better players in the Ladbrokes Premiership, writes Craig Fowler

AFTER the full-time whistle went on Ross County’s 2-1 League Cup quarter-finals victory over local rivals Inverness CT, the BBC director in charge of the broadcast called for a close up shot of County midfielder Jackson Irvine as he celebrated with his team-mates.


The Australian had not only headed County into the lead shortly before half-time, he’d played a starring role in the visitors’ victory, which sent them through to their first ever League Cup semi-final. Even though there wasn’t enough time for commentator Liam McLeod to eulogise such a dominant performance, the pictures told their own story: this was the hero, this was the man worth remembering above all others from an action packed 90 minutes.

Due to the insular nature of football - where fans are likely to recognise the face of a star player on their own team more than a distant cousin, but wouldn’t know anyone from another club unless they came equipped with a handy name badge – even die-hard Celtic fans would have been forgiven for failing to place the prominent cheekbones and signature ponytail of their former youth player.

The 22-year-old spent five years in Glasgow’s East End, making one solitary appearance as a half-time substitute in a 2-2 draw with Hibernian in 2012. After failing to break into the team again for the rest of the 2012/13 campaign, he moved onto Kilmarnock on loan the following season.

The first six months of his Ayrshire adventure were a disaster. Irvine started the season at centre back where he was hopelessly out of his depth as Killie made a tough start to the campaign under Allan Johnston. He would spend time at right-back, right-midfield and, bizarrely, left-midfield within that time, never looking like amounting to much more than big laddie who could shift a bit.

He’s turned into the complete midfielder. He’s up and down, he’s box to box, and he’s got skill to boot.
Craig Paterson

Then Irvine got a long-awaited run in his natural position and things began to click into place. His athleticism made up for a lack of nous and he was one of Kilmarnock’s stronger performers down the stretch as they narrowly avoided the relegation play-offs with a final day win over Hibernian.

Irvine returned to Celtic but was out on loan once more, this time to Ross County. The side built in the summer of 2014 by Derek Adams was a shambles and the team would only really recover in February, where they went on an almost inexplicable winning run and comfortably avoided relegation. In such a Jekyll & Hyde campaign, Irvine was perhaps the only first-team member who could claim positive consistency over the course of the season.

That took us to this summer. Celtic offered the player a new deal, but the player himself insisted it was merely to protect their asset as they sought a compensation fee from any club wishing to sign him. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the compensation laws regarding players under 23, so Celtic did offer me a new contract,” said Irvine back in June. “But it was essentially just as insurance so that, when I did leave, they were liable to claim their compensation money.”

Promising young players tend not to leave Celtic and join any other club in the Scottish leagues, so Irvine’s version of events seems likely. But were Celtic too quick to dismiss his talents? It’s not hyperbole to suggest that, come the end of the season, if he maintains his form from the opening three months, Irvine could be in contention for a player of the year nomination.

His development from those raw, early days at Kilmarnock has been astounding. Now he’s close to the complete midfielder. He’s bulked out with age, filling out his 6ft 3in frame without losing any of the athleticism, making him a complete nightmare for any opponent trying to get past him, or stop him, in close quarters.

His gallops up and down the park are a joy to watch, one of the best sights in the league at present, mainly because when he charges forward with the ball the spectator knows something good is going to come from it. That’s because the most impressive part of his development has been with the football. His touch, passing and awareness in possession have improved tenfold. There’s now a subtle element to his game to go along with the all-action style.

What’s particularly exciting for County supporters, and the player himself, is that Irvine is still only 22. He’s going to get better. Which, given Ronny Deila’s willingness to give young players a chance and his fondness for cherry picking the best of the rest in Scottish football, begs the question of why Celtic didn’t make a better case for him to stay.

That’s not to suggest he would be a first-team regular at Celtic Park, but his performances this season have indicated he would be more than good enough to back-up Scott Brown and Nir Bitton. While not having the ability of either of those two, he still shares some of that pair’s stronger attributes – the dynamism of Brown and the stature of Bitton. He would have been a comfortable fit in the current team if given a chance.

Perhaps it was a case of out of sight and, therefore, out of mind. Perhaps Deila just didn’t rate him. Whatever the reason, it may turn out better for the player to be able to start every week, keeping his confidence high and enabling him to develop his skills further.

Make no mistake about it, in the confines of the Scottish Premiership, Jackson Irvine is a star in the making, if not one already. And if his football abilities continue to increase at the rapid pace they have these past couple of years, he can be a star at a much higher level in the future.

What a fantastic article. Awesome to hear.

Any idea what formation Ross County play and what role Irvine has?

What a fantastic article. Awesome to hear.

Any idea what formation Ross County play and what role Irvine has?

From what I have seen they are usually a pretty defensive 442 with one striker normally dropping making 4411/451 pretty often. They are set up for the counter attack which has worked well but I think teams will be less likely to go all out attack on them if their form keeps up.

Irvine is the most defensive centre mid but is very box to box and quite often makes runs into the box especially if the ball is getting crossed in.

Excellent summary, thanks mate.



The future of our midfield is bright :)

And jedinak is the only midfielder that gives me any confidence in tackling, interceptions etc. Mooy lungo rogic don't track back and lack mobility

Gilligan is the only other 'grunt' mid we can rely on as well...

Irvine should have replaced McKay about 3 games back for the National team. Hit the bar with a header in one of those WCQ's and was only on for a short period..

Man if McKay gets minutes that is vital minutes Jackson is missing out on.. so I'm pretty pissed off cos I've been keeping an eye on him in the SPFL for a while now.. he's seriously the glue that holds Ross County together in the middle there.

Agreed. We know Ange relys on McKay, but he's very hit and miss. More miss than hit.

No point picking a 32 year old McKay now.

Dutch Cup:

Tomi Juric played 120 mins and Daniel De Silva was an unused sub while Rostyn Griffiths was rested for Roda's 1-1 away draw with 3rd div side Lienden.
Adam Sarota was not in the Utrecht squad that won 5-3 at home to Groningen in extra time.

German Cup:

Ben Halloran started and played 106 mins in Heidenheim's 4-3 win on penalties against fellow 2. Bundesliga side Sandhausen. The game finished 0-0 before going to penalties.
Kruse and Langerak remain out injured as Stuttgart won 2-0 away to 4th div Carl Zeiss Jena.

Serie A:

Ikon was not in the Lazio squad that lost 2-1 away to Atalanta.

Danish cup:

Midgettland lost 3-2 away to 2nd div Roskilde in extra time. No detailed info can be found on whether Mabil played.

English League Cup:

Mile Jedinak started and played 90 mins as Palace were thumped 5-1 away to Man city
Federici played 90 mins as Bornemouth lost 1-0 away to Liverpool

Greece cup:

PAOK won 2-0 against Panthrakikos. No detailed info can be found on whether Antonis was in the squad
Asteras Tripolis won 4-0 at home to Kalloni. Don't know whether Giannou played but he wasn't among the scorers.

Scottish League cup:

Tom Rogic came on in the 59th minute and scored what would be the winning goal in Celtic's 2-1 away win over Hearts.

Turkish Super Lig:

Aziz Behich was an unused sub in Bursaspor's 1-0 home win over Sivasspor. Its their 4th win in 5 games.

So more data has come through and pleasingly Mabil made his first start in that match and played 69 mins.

No complete data yet for greece cup matches.

Overnight, Brett holman played 83 mins and scored a goal as emirates beat al-wasl 4-2 at home in UAE league.

Andy Rose was back in the starting line-up and played 90 mins as Seattle sounders beat LA galaxy 3-2 at home in front on 40,000 fans.

Kenny Dougall again played 90 mins in the Dutch cup as Sparta Rotterdam were thumped 4-0 away to Eredivisie side NEC.

And complete data has come through for the Dutch cup match involving the Rodaroos. Juri played 120 mins and scored in the shootout and De Silva came on in the 83rd minute and played 37 mins and missed in the shootout that his team eventually won.

surely juric has earned a starting spot a striker ahead of cahill in the next roos match. 1 20min shows he is fully fit now ?

Yeah if leckie or burns starts as a 9 in next match ill tear my hair out

Yeah if leckie or burns starts as a 9 in next match ill tear my hair out