Seven up for Karamoko but it could fall flat
Wee Karamoko Dembele is the kid who could do 100 keepy-uppies from age five.
But something in the gut left an uneasy feeling when asked to digest the news a 13-year-old was being thrown into an Under-20s match.
Scot land’s chi ldren’s commissioner Tam Baillie has had his say on the health and safety side of the debate.
But there’s a more basic point to make to anyone who believes a third year pupil playing against men should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The Development League doesn’t have a special rule for making sure prodigies are allowed to strut their talents without being given the usual f u l l - b looded introduction to pro football.
Talking to a youth coa ch this week about the hullabaloo conf irmed my f ea rs about Dembele’s debut.
Except iona l kids should get the chance to f lourish but performing seven age groups above yourself is a step too far.
It’s all well and good being able to drift by your peers as if they aren’t there but youth football is a million miles removed from confronting boys who are performing for a working wage.
Every dressing room I’ve been in had a tactic reserved for opponents labelled special talents – and it was letting them know as soon as possible that they were in a game.
That nobody opted to do it to wee Karamoko on Monday night is down to good fortune rather than the third year pupil’s fleetness of foot.
But if Celtic continue to parade Dembele at this level then you can be sure it’s coming his way.
Celtic said Dembele was chosen on merit. Sorry but it’s disingenuous at best, a cheap publicity stunt at worst.
Isn’t their Under-15 or 17 side a more considered step up rather than a somewhat stagemanaged outing as a second-half sub?
YouTube clips of Karamoko’s outrageous skills have made this kid the talk of the steamie but we have all seen this movie before.
Michael McGlinchey was paraded at Celtic Park aged 15 after knocking back Manchester United but he played one first-team game.
Martin O’Neill and the late Tommy Burns turned up at his house with flowers for his mum to win him over.
But when I spoke to Michael about it four years ago, he said: “From my experience it’s hard to maintain the hype.”
Those nine minutes in Greenock propelled Dembele into a different ball game – the odds are stacked against him keeping it up.