U21s boss praises Bates for swapping Gers for Germany
SCOTLAND Under21 boss Scot Gemmill has praised David Bates for having the guts to move to Germany.
The big defender took a chance when he knocked back an offer to stay at Rangers in favour of joining fallen Bundesliga giants Hamburg.
But the switch has paid off so far, with Bates starting all three of the Die Rothosen’s secondtier league matches to date.
He has now been rewarded with his first Scotland Under21 call-up ahead of Thursday’s Euro qualifier with Andorra and the showdown with Holland next Tuesday.
And Gemmill has been impressed with the way the former Raith Rovers youngster has adapted to life on the continent.
He said: “It’s been really interesting. David was a player we tried to involve while he was still a Rangers player but towards the end of his time at Ibrox he was unavailable through injury.
“But it’s great to be able to give our best young players like David the chance now to play international football.
“Our job is to help guys like him get to the full squad and we can only do that by giving them an opportunity to play.
“He’s gone to Germany and has moved out of his comfort zone and that is the sort of thing we talk about a lot.
“It’s not just on the pitch that has to be correct, how you grow off the pitch is vital too and taking on such a big responsibility will make David much more mature both on and off the pitch.
“If you also factor in the size of the club that he has joined, the expectancy of playing in front of 50,000 people every home game will add to that.
“He’s obviously experienced that at Rangers too but there is no doubt, in terms of his development, there is no place to hide at Hamburg.”
Bates did have to deal with a sticky start on his Hamburg debut, however.
He was booked after less than an hour as his side fell to a shock 3-0 home defeat against minnows Holstein Kiel on their campaign curtain-raiser.
But head coach Christian Titz has kept faith with the young Scot and Gemmill believes the centre-back will continue to improve as he gets to grips with life in Germany.
“You can already see his game intelligence has developed,” he said. “He is capable and good enough to do what his coaches are asking of him.
“David, the same as all young players in that situation, has to show that understanding.”