Gauld happy to wait to prove critics wrong

RYAN GAULD has heard all the whispers and he knows what people in Scotland are saying about him — the former Dundee United starlet is just the latest Scottish talent to fail to live up to his potential after making no impact in Portugal. But Gauld insists he is more determined than ever to prove his critics wrong.

The midfielder arrived at Sporting Lisbon two years ago with a price tag of £3million and a bag of potential that suggested he was certain to be Scotland’s brightest young talent for decades. Gauld and Sporting always stressed his development was a long-term project and he would take time to blend into their system.

Despite brief glimpses of firstteam action for the Portuguese giants, mostly in cup games, Gauld has not managed to break through into their first team and remained in their B team. Huddersfield Town were thwarted in an attempt to take the Scotland Under-21 player on loan earlier this year and Sporting decided in the summer to loan him to Vitoria Setubal instead to get him some top-flight football.

He is yet to make an appearance yet for Vitoria and operated in a deeper role for Scotland Under-21s in their double-header losses to Macedonia and in Ukraine this week, which is where he sees himself playing in future.

Gauld is far from stupid and knows how it looks to people in Scotland, but he has a message for those who think he has flopped.

He said: ‘I feel that people back home are maybe waiting for me to fail out here. Because I haven’t played too many games, that’s probably the way they’re thinking.

‘But I couldn’t really care less if they think I’m failing right now. Since I moved to Portugal, I’ve learnt 10 times more than I think I would have done if I’d stayed in Scotland or the UK. I’ve learnt 10 times more about football and 10 times more about life in general.

‘If that’s the way people think about me right now, it’s up to them. But I don’t care about their opinion. That drives me on to succeed. If anyone said that, the first thought in my head is: “Well, I’m going to prove you wrong”.

‘But when some people think like that, their opinions will never change. They’re stuck in that way. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and enjoy it.’