The signing of Liam Kelly brings up a question as to whether Scottish players can adapt to life in England, and if the potential, almost inevitable, homesickness will lead to poor performances on the pitch. In such a small land mass like Great Britain and with the advent of high speed inter-connecting travel between major centres you would think it would no longer be an issue. Yet these problems continue to plaque the sport of football throughout the leagues, and if you take a look at the underlying issues with players from further afield I wonder why teams continue to bring them to our shores. Climate is generally a problem for players from sunnier climes and it makes me wonder why on earth would they desire to play in the damp and cold of England? Obviously Scottish players have no problem adjusting to the heat of England (lol) and yet so many have problems with the different lifestyle. In the last few years we have encountered homesickness problems with some players such as Paul Hartley and now Pearson (regrettably for a very personal reason and I know we all wish him well) but with our team in a very difficult situation we need full commitment from everybody involved with Bristol City. Please don't get me wrong because I welcome anyone who comes to City to help us maintain our current league status and certainly don't have a downer on players from north of the border. Our history tells us that we have been priviliged to watch Scottish players at Ashton gate and some of us remember those names with pride and admiration. Good luck Liam and all Bristol City supporters wish you well in your new adventure.
Liam Kelly is from Milton Keynes so I don't think we will be having a problem with him being homesick. I believe he wanted to come south just to be nearer to his family.
Our record in bringing players from north of the border has been patchy at best, and there maybe another one coming in if Murray Davidson signs as well, hell of a gamble by DM given his last signing from the SPL was a certain Jody Morris...
And yet some like Scotty Murray and Jamie McAllister recently, Tom Ritchie, Gerry Sweeney, Joe Jordan, Gerry Gow have all settled in or near Bristol. If there is a pattern there, the majority settle in the West Country.
Thanks for the info ROD and the word "wanted" is always a positive in his decision. CiderRed brought up some classic names in our history with Scottish players who did us proud in the City shirt. Hope Derek can find a few more with that kind of attitude to help us out of our current plight and take us back to a better place.
Lets hope Liam Kelly will be on that list in years to come! Cant wait to see him play today, Lately watching city is like a chore. You don't want to do it but you have to. Now with a new signing it fills you with a bit of optimism that he could be a great player. As for players settling, When Paul Hartley left wasn't it because he got overlooked and ignored to be our next manager, I know he was missing Scotland but I thought not being in the line for the job when GJ left was the main reason he went back up north?
We all thought that Mcghee would fill us full of great scottish gems similar to your Manager McInnes, alas we were sadly duped as usual, we picked up Clarkson remember him View attachment 20470 ,then Riordan a striker who managed not to score 1 goal,thankfully he has gone back to Scotland,Calamity Kenneth a central defender on a 3 yr contract,now out for 9mths injured ,absolute rubbish causes chaos in defence,Paterson,my mum can run faster than him. So out of that lot Clarkson who is also injured is the best of the bunch,so a 75% failure to perform on the tarten side for us dissapointing but true. A really positive one for you Stuart Campbell (ex Rovers Captain) though English-born, he picked up 15 caps for Scotland at under-21 level, qualifying through his parents so he has Scottish blood Campbell signed for Bristol Rovers in 2004 leaving in 2011 Campbell led us to the final of the Football League Trophy and promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season.Campbell then led the team to the quarter finals of the FA Cup in the 2007–08 season and became one of the most popular skippers at our club. So it can work but its down to the manager we struck out with Mcghees signings you may be lucky and pick up a Campbell who will get you out of the mire. COR
Well done Cidered - glad someone listed our successful Scottish players. This doesn't really make sense as about 85% of players in the premier league are foreign! Some players will get homesick - but some will feel like that even if moved from Hull to London. Del knows the Scottish league/players better and can get them a lot cheaper than players from English clubs. Personally, I don't give a **** what country they are from as long as they improve the first team.
Well said truerobin because it's the size of your heart that counts and not where you were born. Good luck to Liam on what is hopefully his City debut.
