02 Jul 2025 11:21:45
Preseason bleacher report.
Nsiala, Cortes and Jefte all showing up exceptionally well - could be huge for us next season.
Homegrown youngsters really struggling to keep up with the physical demands.
The difference in leadership since the return of Raskin and Barron this week has been noticed by everyone.
Really impressed with Cameron as a personality around the squad.
02 Jul 2025 11:26:16
Ehl, cheers mate.
02 Jul 2025 11:26:48
Cheers EHL for the update ?.
02 Jul 2025 11:28:07
Excellent update mate, I hope RM can make a player out of Jefte, he's a great athlete but an awful footballer.
02 Jul 2025 11:30:43
Cheers EHL, I've said before but I've got really high hopes for Cortes and really hope he can kick in this season coming.
I felt Jefte would've looked better had he not been a starter if that makes sense. He was probably brought in to play 20 games and grab minutes here and there but due to injuries got chucked into the deep end. New country, language, league etc and still pretty young.
02 Jul 2025 11:32:07
Good to hear. Cortes suffering similar to lovenkrands did injury wise to begin with. He spoke about it in the open goal podcast. Takes time for young lads bodies to adapt sometimes.
02 Jul 2025 11:34:18
Id love raskin to be vice captain this season so he's got the armband when tav isn't playing. Think if he stays another season his value could go higher than currently. Plus if we sell igamane dio and dessers we could afford for him to stay.
02 Jul 2025 11:35:44
Only way is up for jefte and cortes tho let's be fair. Nsiala showed up well when he came in last season.
Jefte needs to improve a lot at both ends of the park. Defensively last season he was a massive issue for us.
02 Jul 2025 11:36:25
Great to hear, EHL. With the exception of the homegrown crop of course, but not sure many would be too surprised by that.
02 Jul 2025 11:37:27
Ehl you posted a while back a deal for Kasa was likely has that changed since the 49s came in.
02 Jul 2025 11:37:43
I noticed in the wee preseason clip from yesterday one of the coaches appeared to be having a bit of a joke at the expense of Danilo. Think he was saying "look at dani and laughing".
This suggests to me that there seems to already be a good harmony in the group which is important. But on Danilo he looks wiped out in every daily upload. I am choosing to be impressed by his application rather than being concerned by his lack of fitness.
Is that something that is mirrored by yourself EHL or is it he is really unfit and struggling? I ask because I am hoping to see the best of Danilo this season.
02 Jul 2025 11:38:20
Great Info EHL
What do you think can be down to support the Youngsters with acclimating Physically to the demands? Do you know if Paul Nsio is now 'Homegrown'.
Is it specifically Raskin being a great leader or is Barron also a big voice in the squad? Do you reckon RM will be making Tav/ Butland leadership group Nominal while Raskin/ (maybe Barron) become the on the park leaders?
Cheers EHL.
02 Jul 2025 11:39:40
Glad to hear Re Nsiala looks some player just needs the physicality, Was hoping for a decent season from Rice and Curtis but gutted to hear they are struggling. Big question on my mind is how is Danilo? He looks like he's leading the charge and putting some serious effort in? Everyone on X slaughtering him but from what I could see he was at the sharp end of runs etc!
02 Jul 2025 11:40:40
Watched our training sessions on YouTube EHL, Russell Martin's training and methods very hard and intense, the way it should be and we'll hopefully be the fittest team in scottish football full of constant running.
02 Jul 2025 11:41:21
Problem we have with home grown youngsters is our coaches really do not have the experience to train, coach and develop them.
02 Jul 2025 11:42:03
Really excited to see cortes this season, hopefully he has a bit more luck this year - must have been a really frustrating period for him.
02 Jul 2025 11:43:54
Thanks for the update, EHL. I noticed in one of the training clips that Nsiala looked pretty aggressive going into tackles to win the ball in one of the pressing excercises, which is really positive. Hopefully, he'll get more opportunities this season. All the players certainly looked like they were working hard and being pushed. Is there any update on additional coaches being added to RM's team?
02 Jul 2025 11:56:50
Great news EHL…unfortunate about the home grown. Hope they realise they are at a crossroads now and really try and improve fitness and physical ability.
Is it a Scottish problem? As a nation not the healthiest and maybe even our young professionals don't take things like nutrition and conditioning as seriously/ professionally as European youngsters etc? Or that these guys have been stuck in a rut in a non functioning system so far in young careers?
02 Jul 2025 11:59:34
Very good to hear, EHL.
From the minimal footage I have seen from pre season there were a few things that stood out for me.
First being how aggressive and physical Nsiala looked, technical ability was never in question.
Second thing was that Jefte looks an exceptional athlete, a remarkable ability to recover quickly and go again.
Cortes looks sharp, just glad to see him moving freely.
Have any of the homegrown youngsters been able to adapt?
young Aidan looked really sharp and unfazed.
02 Jul 2025 12:05:30
Great post EHL thanks.
02 Jul 2025 12:19:22
Forgot just how much our fan base hated on Jefte.
Good news is that defensively he's absolutely fine - the area he's focusing on is his final ball.
So that should keep a huge chunk of our fanbase happy, as they'll have something to moan about.
02 Jul 2025 12:47:15
Surely we will bring in coaches to help develop them then John
EHL is that a problem, that we don't have coaches able to coach the younger players and help bring them on.
2nd question EHl if you don't mind
What ms your thoughts on Barron do you think he will be a first team regular this season?
Along with Cameron?
I have high hopes for both players
How do you think we will line up now EHL
In our midfield it's looking the strongest it's been for a while Raskin Barron Rothwell Cameron diamande
How has Findlay Curtis been looking during preseason? Do you think he will get minutes this season?
02 Jul 2025 12:53:14
Jefte will come good, said it many times before they're plenty positives in his game now but many things he'll improve on, still signing a first choice though, Nsiala looks like he could go far in the game he was always going to make mistakes and he'll will only learn, I'm hoping all three kick on this season, Cortes having a good pre season behind him and he could surprise many next season.
02 Jul 2025 12:57:49
Stir in last ten years we have not had a decent coach below first team that can fully develop kids.
02 Jul 2025 12:58:05
Lot of responses to try and cover -
On Danilo, he's come back on peak condition, is pushing really hard and is an absolute gem of a character around the club.
Barron and Raskin are both natural leaders who push themselves and demand more from those around them.
Our youth players development typically stalls after under 18s as there is no competitive football and the step up in terms of physicality is massive. Hopefully something we'll address through a couple of partnership agreements.
One thing I'm would say without hesitation - bring back Billy Dodds.
02 Jul 2025 12:59:20
Ehl I have not seen Jefte hater I have see people who feel he is not the answer.
These people r entitled to their opinion.
02 Jul 2025 13:26:24
Jefte may have struggled at times defensively but to say he's an awful footballer is nonsense, his first touch and control of any ball fired at him is first class and he gets us up the field in a way nobody else does . We should be able to coach the defensive stuff and keep him improving.
Really looking forward to seeing Cameron play, always impressed me with his clever play when he played against us .
02 Jul 2025 13:48:48
Verdant, conor coady also most definitely captain material mate, if as expected we do go ahead and sign him.
02 Jul 2025 14:04:17
Our youth coaches don't have the experience to train coach and develop. that's quite a statement John! and one I don't agree with.
02 Jul 2025 14:08:18
Sorry for all the questions ehl i know you get asked more than most
i know you can't answer them all but i know from my point i'm only asking as excited too hear anything that you can tell us
long way to go but i'm more confident everyday that martin can turn us round roll on the new season ?⚪️?.
02 Jul 2025 14:28:16
Thanks John, I'm also perfectly entitled to my opinion.
Maybe stick to adding your own insight instead of trying to police others.
02 Jul 2025 15:08:56
Agree, no one hates any of the players! Constructive criticism is part of any profession especially one which is so public.
Personally don't rate Dessers, but when I go to I Rox he has my 100% support.
Same with Jefte, who I think has good potential but is not ready to be a 1st team player at Ibrox. I don't think he contributes enough offensively or defensively.
Same with Nsiala, think the lad is great on the ball, maybe one of the best we've had at Ibrox. But defensively is all over the place and as another poster mentioned is not physical enough.
No hate just constructive feedback.
02 Jul 2025 15:35:06
Good to hear EHL, from the training videos posted it's good to see the lads getting put through some graft and I agree that Dodds should be brought back in if we would come.
Raskin looked in good spirits too but could also see that Danilo and Jefte were giving it their all.