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Fraser Aird


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47 minutes ago, jordan said:

A 21 year old who has played 109 games as a pro, is internationally capped and teams are interested in him. Not to mention still having a contract till June of next year? That is the type of player you see in CPL when it starts?

I hate to be that guy, and I really do love the CMNT despite all their faults, but I just had to point out that we basically give away a free cap when someone signs a pro contract.

We'll have to wait and see if/when the CPL starts up what kind of players they sign, but I'd like to think that a player that made under 60K last year isn't so far out of reach to not even be in the conversation for possible players.

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6 hours ago, jordan said:

A 21 year old who has played 109 games as a pro, is internationally capped and teams are interested in him. Not to mention still having a contract till June of next year? That is the type of player you see in CPL when it starts?

I will however bite from a less overly positive idealistic point of view.

A player apparently not wanted by Rangers or an MLS team in desperate need of RB'S.  Is apparently interesting second tier Scottish teams.  

If the CPL isn't aiming to be as good as the Scottish second tier the I am happy that it stays in potential limbo. If Airds fortunes don't improve by CPL start up I would argue he is exactly the type of player that not only should be looked at but he would jump at coming to it. 

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5 hours ago, shermanator said:

I would argue the gap in quality between lower SPFL sides like Partick or Dundee, and higher Championship side like Hibernian or Falkirk is not as big as one thinks.

I watched a couple of non-Rangers Champ. matches last year and the level of play was surprisingly good.

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Where are Falkirk in the table? If they promote and he settles with them in the SPL, I wouldn't be too disappointed. He's still a young player with plenty of time to move up the ladder, whether that be a Celtic/Rangers, or a club outside of Scotland.

Edited by Obinna
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10 hours ago, Obinna said:

Where are Falkirk in the table? If they promote and he settles with them in the SPL, I wouldn't be too disappointed. He's still a young player with plenty of time to move up the ladder, whether that be a Celtic/Rangers, or a club outside of Scotland.

4th at the moment, which is high enough to get them in the promotion playoffs.

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The level of play may not be starkly lower than bottom-half SPL - hence why Falkirk made a cup final a while back - but I'd say a third of the clubs in the second tier are part-time or full-time in name but not in pay.

For Gasparotto, Falkirk makes sense - he's been relatively untested, a few loan stints, so it's a chance to solidify his pro credentials.  For Aird, I was surprised to see he's the same age, but after time in the Rangers first team and with the Whitecaps, it feels like heading to Falkirk is a last chance saloon move.  I mean, if this doesn't work out where is next?  Livi?  QoS?  English Conference?  I didn't expect him to turn up at Aberdeen or Hearts but I'll admit this was a surprise.

To be fair, Falkirk has had it tough with Rangers, Hibs and Dundee United in the Champ over the last few years.  Maybe they'll squeak through the playoffs this year.  Heck, Caley Thistle signed a guy out of the amateur Irish league last month so maybe Aird will have another go in the SPL, or maybe he has something lined up and just needs somewhere to play for six months.

Edited by Marc
Edited to admit they're the same age, and that maybe I'm just full of it!
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1 hour ago, Marc said:

 

For Gasparotto Falkirk makes sense - its a chance to solidify his pro credentials.  For Aird at this age heading to Falkirk is a last chance saloon move.  I mean, if this doesn't work out where is next?  

Aird and Gasparotto are the same age. I am sure both will be fine.

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Aird didn't seem too interested in staying around at any point and he combined excellent attacking forays with fairly atrocious defending which put him in and out of the lineup. I would have like to see him stay but he didn't seem particularly interested, nor did the club. They've done a pretty good job filling the hole at RB this off-season and I don't think he'll be missed much in any case.

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New article on Aird (and Gasparotto), with an important quote about Aird's move from Rangers to Falkirk.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ex-rangers-duo-fraser-aird-9679945#ICID=sharebar_twitter

“I was training with the first team but it was clear I wasn’t going to get a proper chance and when that happens at 21 you have to do what is best for you.

“I need to be playing week in and week out to keep myself in the national team set-up and it was a decision I had to make.

...

For now, though, Aird is in the shop window at Falkirk over the next five months after terminating his Rangers contract for the good of his career.

He stressed: “My target is simple, to play matches again. I always felt this was a tough place for Rangers to come, the manager always had them well-organised.

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  • 1 month later...

So Aird now has 1 goal in 5 league games and Falkirk is second in the table. 

Before he joined Vancouver, he couldn't get a sniff at this level with Rangers. Now he is a regular starter and his team are knocking on the promotion door.

I think he owes a lot to the caps for his current success. Perhaps he wouldn't be this far along if it weren't for the MLS experience last year.

He could be starting SPL matches next season as a 22 year old.

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The hard thing is they will need to knock out Dundee, and then if they do that they will have to knock the second last place team from the SPL. If they do all this they will be playing till the end of May, couple weeks off then preseason begins. It kinda sucks the amount of teams that get promoted. Falkirk  has basically been in and around the playoff positions since 2010, 2014/2015 they finished 5th. 

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13 minutes ago, jordan said:

The hard thing is they will need to knock out Dundee, and then if they do that they will have to knock the second last place team from the SPL. If they do all this they will be playing till the end of May, couple weeks off then preseason begins. It kinda sucks the amount of teams that get promoted. Falkirk  has basically been in and around the playoff positions since 2010, 2014/2015 they finished 5th. 

The beauty of that is even if they don't promote, he'll be in match shape leading into the June friendly. From there it's just a matter of keeping his up his fitness/sharpness until GC starts in July.

Edited by Obinna
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Different article but similar sentiment from Aird.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/15166487.Fraser_Aird___A_heart_to_heart_with_Scotland_hero_Ian_Durrant_convinced_me_to_play_for_Canada/

"Colin Miller called me and said he was going to put me in Canada's Gold Cup squad in 2013 when I was only 17," recalled Aird. "I’d played with Canada at under-15 before I moved to Scotland as well but I was in two minds, I didn't know whether I wanted to go or stay and play with Scotland. I was playing at my age group here but getting a call-up to play first team internationally was something I really had to think about.

“At that time I said I would leave it because I wanted to concentrate on my club football but it was a tough decision for a 17-year-old to make," he added. "I spoke to my parents about it but it was hard to know what to do and I figured it was best to just stay away until I was 100 per cent certain about what I wanted to do.

“Ally McCoist was the Rangers manager at the time and I had a few conversations with him at the time. Obviously he played for Scotland so I think he was trying to lean me that way. But I was also close to Ian Durrant at the time and although he’d also played for Scotland and was a great servant, he was the one who said I had to make the right decision for myself, not for anyone else. He said I had to feel in my heart that I was happy to represent the country I was going to choose. That was one of the talks that swayed me towards Canada.

“I’m happy with my decision now. I feel Canadian, 100 per cent. I was born there, spent the first 16 years of my life there, and that’s where I felt I should be at the end of the day. I’m glad I took the time when I was younger to think about it and make my mind up."

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