Virgil Van Dijk

Elong · August 21, 2015

blue4eva77 said:
Yep.

Fuleco · August 22, 2015

https://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/...edved-was-the-best-player-in-the-world.54300/

dandydan · August 22, 2015

So we're all agreed that scottish football is crap?

Seanjd · August 22, 2015

Incredible highlights player

Zatara · August 22, 2015

Players have to come from somewhere...if we only signed players with prem experience then the league would only have youth team players inside.

Khalekan · August 22, 2015

Pabbers said:
I like him, he has a boss name.

His grandad is a good actor.....Diagnosis Murder is a good show.

Khalekan · August 22, 2015

Zatara said:
Players have to come from somewhere...if we only signed players with prem experience then the league would only have youth team players inside.

And you would never buy players from the English lower leagues whom have a forty million quid price tag on their heads two and a bit years later.

Not to mention kids plying their trade for a club in a western Irish backwater and available at sixty grand

PhilM · August 22, 2015

Does playing in the SPL automatically make him a poor defender? No. Maybe he is thriving in the SPL because he is a genuine talent.

From what I've seen (which to be fair is relatively limited) he is big, strong, comfortable on the ball and reads the game pretty well.

Nevertheless, it is also reasonably fair to question his ability because of the standard of the league and the opposition he is facing.

The talent he is facing is obviously much lower, so arguably it must be easier for him. Has he been truly tested? In Europe he has seemed shaky!

So to be fair everyone's opinions are purely speculation until he actually signs for a Prem team and is actually tested by quality players and teams.

Personally, I don't think he'll be as poor as some may make out, but he isn't going to be a top defender. Middle of the table standard more likely.

LouReedwalkonthewildside · August 22, 2015

Fearthainn said:
Would like to see how he fared in a better league first before he came here, I'm sure we could buy him and loan him out to a Championship side.

Might be too much of a jump after playing in Scotland mate, should loan him out to a conference team and see how he gets on.

Haston · August 22, 2015

It's one of those where you won't know until he signs for a big league club. No doubt he is good on the ball, passing out of defence and hits a peach of a free kick. Also, no doubt he would be facing a massive step up in quality of attacking play (understatement)!

You can't just say that a player is indefinitely gash because he plays in Scotland (erm.... James McCarthy?) also Wanyama and James McArthur have made the step up well. But on the other hand, you have Boumsong who was boss in Scotland, and gash in England.

We won't know until someone takes a chance on the lad, this could potentially be the only chance of getting him for a reasonable price, or not! Who knows? Those are the chances you have to take when you're not a mega rich superclub!

wandyr79 · August 22, 2015

To be fair, it is going to be hard to judge defenders that do play in poorer leagues as the quality that they are up against is obviously going to be of a lower level.

I can't comment on this player as I have not really watched enough but facing Hazard, Costa, Aguero, etc. is a massive jump in quality and even the lower level clubs have a massive jump in quality attacking players.

I don't hold the view 'if they have not been signed by a better team in a better league then they can't be any good' but you also can't judge effectively that they will definitley be a success at a higher level.