Lewis Ferguson and Aaron Hickey used their moves to Bologna to open the gates wide open. Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour have now blown them completely apart.
When it comes to the brightest talents coming through the ranks in Scottish football, admiring the journeys travelled by these guys, the peak of the mountain need no longer be a move to the Old Firm or a shot at tapping into the exorbitant wages available down in England.
Those targets seem so restrictive now. Almost unambitious. When witnessing what Ferguson has achieved in captaining Bologna to the Coppa Italia and their first trophy win in 51 years and the dreamland McTominay and Gilmour now find themselves in after powering Napoli to just their fourth Scudetto, it’s clear that real riches, real career-defining experiences, lie further afield.
And in Italy’s Serie A, the ground has never been more fertile for growth and development. Motherwell’s Lennon Miller, a captain at 18 years old and a bona-fide talent, is now in the process of settling on his next career move and really ought to allow the fantastic successes of his Scotland team-mates in recent weeks influence his thoughts.
When he gathers with them shortly for international duty and next month’s friendlies with Iceland and Liechtenstein, he should take time to sit down with the lot of them for coffee and listen, take advice, and realise what’s good for him.
There is interest in Miller from many fields. English teams are following his situation. Celtic were sniffing around in January and will surely be sniffing around again. Young men need adventure, though, and Miller would surely benefit from broadening his horizons.
Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour celebrate Napoli’s fourth Serie A title
McTominay celebrates with the Scudetto after Napoli’s last-day win over Cagliari
Celtic offer domestic dominance and the opportunity to play in Europe, of course. However, there’s always the danger of ending up the next David Turnbull. Over and above that, is winning a largely uncompetitive Scottish Premiership really up there with the glamour and importance of what Ferguson, McTominay and Gilmour have added to their CVs of late?
Make no mistake, the Scottish scene is now very much on the radar of scouts in Italy. That has been abundantly clear for some time now.
Udinese and Bologna have already been credited with an interest with Miller and, in the differing stories of the fellow Scots who have prospered there, he must surely see what endless possibilities exist.
McTominay, of course, arrived at Napoli as an established figure with a £26million price tag, but his rise to almost God-like status – scoring 12 goals throughout the season, including the Friday night special that set up the title-clinching 2-0 win over Cagliari – has been nothing short of inspirational.
He was pretty much hounded out of Manchester United. To be replaced by what? The absolute dross floundering around in the bottom half of the English Premier League and responsible for one of the worst European finals in living memory when losing to Spurs in Bilbao during the week.
Jose Mourinho told everyone at United years ago just what McTominay could bring to the party. Few appeared to listen. Leaving there was the best thing he ever did – and the move he finally did choose could not have been better.
The adulation reserved for him within a truly fanatical support base might not quite be at Maradona levels, but he can’t be far behind.
Voted Serie A’s Player of the Season and the absolute driving force behind a rare success for the Partenopei, the shrines, pizzas and many nicknames in his honour are only the start.
Napoli players celebrate their Serie A triumph on Friday night
Motherwell captain Lennon Miller could be sold this summer
They exist in the now. What he has delivered, though, will live forever. His place in that club’s history is now assured. It has given him the platform to prove, beyond all question, that he really is a top-level, world-class talent. No amount of money can buy that.
For midfield partner Gilmour, the gifts given by Naples have been different, but equally special. He left Scotland for England early, trading Rangers for Chelsea. Yet, they never really trusted him.
Never let him build up a head of steam despite some hugely impressive first-team performances in cup competitions, primarily.
When a move to Norwich City didn’t work out, it looked like he might be drifting. It was heartbreaking for those of us who regarded – and still regard – him as the most technically competent Scottish player in recent history.
Brighton got him back on the right track, mercifully, but it is now at Napoli that he is finally ready, aged 23, to become the player everyone knew he could be.
McTominay took the headlines again thanks to his goal against Cagliari, of course, but Gilmour, who needed an injury to Stanislav Lobotka to really get into Antonio Conte’s side on a regular basis, was an absolute joy to watch in controlling the midfield.
His ability to take the ball in tight areas, dictate the play, rotate possession, has always made him a stand-out talent. Guys with the talent of McTominay and Gilmour couldn’t fulfil their potential in England. For whatever reason, they weren’t really allowed. Weren’t seen as the kind of player Premier League teams should be constructing themselves around.
God, how stupid that looks now. And what lessons it should deliver to young players considering moving there when other openings exist in overseas leagues where they will play regularly, will be valued, will be given the freedom to carve their own futures.
Young defender Aaron Hickey moved from Hearts to Bologna in 2020
Italian football suits Gilmour. Just like it would suit Miller. It also provides an education that will stand any young player in good stead no matter where their career takes them afterwards.
McTominay and Gilmour have often spoken about the intense tactical learning they have had to undertake since going to Italy. Ferguson too. National coach Steve Clarke also spoke recently about the prospect of young Miller going to Italy and emphasised that too.
The guys playing there bring ‘a freshness’ to the Scotland squad, he pointed out. It is a massively disciplined league. It asks at least as many questions of you mentally as physically.
The progress Ferguson has made there since leaving Aberdeen for Bologna – despite suffering a knee injury towards the end of last season – has been incredible and should give Miller and others every confidence they can make that jump too.
Unlike McTominay and Gilmour, he went there straight from the SPFL. As did Hickey when trading in Hearts for Bologna in 2020.
Hickey did spectacularly well, but never quite seemed to absorb the Italian lifestyle and used that move as a route to England and a £14million switch to Brentford.
Ferguson, though, is the perfect example of a guy who has thrown himself headfirst into his new life, conducting interviews in the language, living the life, regarding his latest daughter, born earlier this year, as ‘a wee Italian girl’.
In addition to turning his career upside down, Ferguson’s time in Emilia Romagna has changed him indelibly as a person too. Given his entire family an entirely new outlook on this wonderful journey called life. These are precious times for him, which, if he so desires, will soon deliver a transfer to one of Serie A’s real superpowers.
Lewis Ferguson won the Coppa Italia with Bologna this season
Miller has lots to think about in addressing his own movements, but what sounding boards he has to consult with during his time away with the national side. If he needs any more information, ex-Hibs full-back Josh Doig, about to return to Serie A with Sassuolo, will be on hand too – along with Che Adams of Torino.
Moving abroad, specifically to Italy, would make him a better, more-rounded individual as well as an infinitely better player. If he believes in himself, and there’s nothing to suggest he doesn’t, he’ll know he can go there, play and progress. He definitely has the talent and ability.
Miller should look at these shining examples set by his contemporaries and eschew more traditional pathways to enjoy his own little slice of La Dolce Vita with one of these outfits on his trail. What’s more, he shouldn’t be the last.
The world has suddenly become a much, much bigger place for young Scottish footballers looking at the stars. Recent evidence should compel them to grab the many opportunities it now offers.
England used to be the dream destination. Now, it’s old hat.
Critchley debacle shows it could be time for Budge and McKinlay to step aside
The consultation period with supporters over Brighton owner Tony Bloom’s offer to buy 29 per cent of Hearts for just under £10million ends tomorrow. By now, it should be pretty clear that going ahead with this is an absolute no-brainer.
Where the minds of Tynecastle punters really ought to be at the end of a week of astonishing, unfathomable revelations is on the question of whether those at the top of the club right now are fit to take it into this bright, new era galloping over the horizon.
Having listened to CEO Andrew McKinlay talk through the chain of events that led to Derek McInnes becoming the latest guy to walk through the revolving door of the manager’s office, it is hard to reach any other conclusion than they are most definitely not.
McKinlay admits he did not meet Critchley face to face before appointing him as manager
Even now, several days on, it remains utterly impossible to get the head round McKinlay’s admission that they gave the head coach’s role to the wholly unsuitable Neil Critchley last October without actually meeting him face to face.
It’s bonkers. A farce made infinitely worse by McKinlay’s accompanying concession that he was never convinced the former Blackpool manager ever had a handle on what he’d taken on – a ludicrous situation finally brought to a head during the nine-man chaos of a Scottish Cup semi-final loss to Aberdeen last month.
Look, we all know professional football is a law unto itself. However, McKinlay’s revelation that the board were willing to give the manager’s job to a guy they’d never been in the same room as is just staggering.
It is, arguably, the most important role in the entire multi-million pound business. You simply cannot give it to a guy based on a Zoom call or Facetime or whatever medium was used.
The idea you can be 100 per cent confident in your selection based on 20 minutes of stilted chatter over a laptop is completely insane.
McKinlay put forward the absurd argument that a sitdown couldn’t be arranged because he was over in Azerbaijan for a Conference League match.
That trip only lasted a matter of days. It wasn’t like he was off on some kind of desert odyssey. Couldn’t the appointment have waited until the start of the following week?
With all facts now on the table, it just makes zero sense. It’s a decision right up there with director of football Craig Levein sounding out candidates for the manager’s role and giving it to himself.
Ann Budge described Critchley as ‘yesterday’s news’ the day after his sacking
Or McKinlay and co handing Steven Naismith a new deal two months before bulleting him.
While transparency is welcome, it seems now that, every time McKinlay makes a public appearance, he’s apologising for something. That eventually creates the need to ask whether he and his colleagues understand what Hearts need, never mind Critchley.
Ending the season in the bottom half of the table was a disaster. Attempting to shift the blame for a howler of a campaign onto referees and officials was shameful.
Chairman Ann Budge being caught on camera the day after Critchley’s removal and writing him off as ‘yesterday’s news’ was, simply, an awful look.
It’s now 11 years since Budge saved the day at Tynecastle and her legacy will live on.
Everything, and everybody, has their time, though. And that’s the way it’s looking for her and McKinlay as Bloom and his Jamestown Analytics firm get ready to shake things up.
