Dylan Ruiz-Diaz has finally escaped the wilderness and scored twice off the bench in the Uruguayan second tier

Why he decided to play third and fifth(?) tier Polish football I have no idea but it’s good that he’s finally playing at a half decent level.

Ryan starting vs Lazio on Conference League. 

Bilokapic, Watts bench. Burgess and Luongo starting. 

Crucial away win for Alkmaar in Rome and Ryan with some good stops. Spilled it once for ensuing shot to fly over bar. 

Ryan Edwards has signed for Spanish third tier side SD Amorbieta which has to be the most random move of the year so far.

They are in second place so promotion to the Segunda is a real possibility.

Watching the highlight Ryan seems very nervous.  C'mon Ryan you got your chance to be the club number 1  don't screw it again.

I'm not really across it but is this the first or second leg for that match?

Marlee Francois was on the bench for Bristol as well. Good to see him making match day squads in the championship now. 

Was just the first leg. Sucks that the away goal rule doesn't apply here because it's some feat for Alkmaar to win it. 

Big games in SPL. Jeggo starting vs Rangers with Miller bench. Birighitti and Behich starting in a crucial game to try and get something to stay up.

The big clash is Celtic vs Hearts and the great news is Kuol is the only Aussie on the bench for this one. Apart from Ange of course. 

Behich goal. 1:1

Mooy with an assist for Celtics second to take the lead. 

Kuol has also been brought on at 65'

kuol was great in pressing but, unsurprisingly, had limited touches as celtic had most of the possession

Hearts had 4 Aussies playing Rowles, Devlin, Kuol & Atkinson.
Celtic had Mooy running the show, Ange as manager & Harry as coach.

Amazing game for the Aussies.

I hate to rain on this parade but the standard of the SPL is not that impressive if you take Celtic and Rangers out of it, im just hoping this entry level moves the boys have made over there are capable of going into higher standards in the future from that.

Just seeing someone like Atkinson who did so well back here and in the olympics and now doesnt look like the same player at Hearts is quite underwhelming and questions me if players actually improve from playing over there.

Come to think of it, how many aussie players went to europe and their performances noticeably improved for the roos

leckie and kruse before the latter did his acl

I reckon rogic was better before he left, as was even mooy. 

Did Atkinson do that well for Melb City & then at the Olympics? Certainly didn't excite me like Jordan Bos does.
Hence probably why Bos tipped to go to top team in Turkey & not to Scotland.

Most people forget these are new generation boys, confidence is much more important these days. Atkinson probably just hasn't had the confidence, when your in the a-league and its rosey and you cant lose your spot or get relegated you can get very comfortable. Atkinson basically played at RW here so of course he looked better. Many of these boys haven't had extended stints on the sidelines.

In my opinion Mooy is the fittest ive ever seen him, he all of sudden has gained pace... Devlin is another one who has gone to diff level since going overseas. But consistency has been an issue for all of them bar Rowles.

Its a very good lesson for Kuol he will learn alot in this season. Take your chances and work hard.

SPL is not better (outside of Rangers and Celtic) , but different to the A league. Games are much faster paced and crunching tackles, little time , room or care to showcase your technical abilities. A flyweight like Atkinson with average speed has no chance, it's not so much that the A league is his level rather his style; time on the ball, less cutthroat, less competition for places etc. He was easily exposed at the WC as someone with very limited upside and out of this depth on the national stage.

No shame in being exposed by Mbappe -he is too good for most fullbacks he faces -but that Atkinson is not cutting it in the SPL is worrying.He would be better off playing in the Netherlands,Denmark or Belgium but probably back to the A-league would be the best option

The one important thing the Scottish Premiership has that we don’t, is a huge amount of games. These Aussie boys are literally playing more than double the amount of matches per season than they were in the A-League. 

Most fullbacks in the world would struggle against Mbappe though, I remember watching Atkinson in the Olympics against Argentina and Spain and he looked our best player as a right back even as a wing back.

I don’t think he’s technical style suits Scotland at all anyway, the style of play is different to Australia where he played with the best team in the aleague with Melbourne City who would dominate possession but in Scotland and watching Hearts they play a different style of football to what he’s used to back in the aleague.

But comparing standard of play is pointless where it’s hard to tell.

Overall it’s not easy trying to make it into Europe, the first move is always risky especially when the reputation for Australian players is not that high compared to the mid 2000s so you can’t pick and choose especially when you don’t have a euro passport as well.

He won the man of the match in the grand final which they won, Bos will go through similar challenges when he goes to a Europe as well.
The thing with Bos is he has a euro passport through he’s Dutch heritage that’s a big advantage when working in Europe. (Unless Atkinson had euro interest outside of Scotland so I’m not sure anyway)
I also think the rules to work in Scotland is easier after brexit? But having a euro passport will open more doors to get into the euro market I think.

There's a lot going for the SPL. The extra games is huge for development. It's also incredibly well supported. The top teams are better than the A-League and get European opportunities. It's a better shop window for bigger European leagues. I don't really get the criticism of it. 

Apart from when they lose to Sydney FC 😉 

Agreed. Hearts had European competition last year as did Dundee and possibly Hibs or Aberdeen in qualifiers. Those teams also come up against each of Rangers and Celtic at least 3 and likely 4 times each season in the league as well as possible cup ties so they are getting regular exposure to much higher quality competition as well.

And they are in a much better shop window for Europe too., Championship, Holland, Belgium, B2 etc. Significantly better than playing less that 30 games a year in the A-league.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91FL7_9qk4U

Celtic Hearts highlights. Atkinson still struggling for confidence and is off the pace but he'll get there. First Celtic goal was avoidable as all Hearts had pushed up except the left back. Rowles smartly trying to trap Kyogo offside but his left back didn't help. Atkinson asleep and needs a few feet head start to ever get to Maeda. Second Celtic goal a nice assist by Mooy but a shame Rowles didn't get across that bit more.

I'm glad Rowles is in good stead because scenes like the two goals conceded see a lot of tinpot managers point to the person in Rowles' position and drop him. Conceded goals are inevitable as are mistakes.

Haha. I was waiting for someone to say that. I don't read much into that result. I'm not meaning to disparage the A-League either. It's standard gets underrated too, but the SPL has things it can't offer. 

Couple of strikers are out for Stuttgart. Annoyingly, Alou's iron was much much hotter a year ago. Shite timing all this because he's wedged between the two squads.

Hell yeah! Deng starting for Alberex Niigata in J1