The incredible Celtic and Rangers blast from the past…

The incredible Celtic and Rangers blast from the past that proves predictions are a mug's game

Predictions, eh? Sometimes best laid plans don't always work out.

Lovers of the beautiful game loving nothing more than delving deep into the archives and discovering prophecies from yesteryear.

And a panel of Four Four Two writers are back on the hotseat with their list of the 100 best young players from 2001 being unearthed.

Supporters have been going over the list with a fine-tooth comb with many noticing the amount of players who turned out to be Championship Manager legends.

John Welsh, anyone?

But there's a significant contingent from Scottish football with then Celtic pair Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham cracking the top 100.

Maloney would live up to the hype but Fotheringham would fail to make the Parkhead grade before forging a solid career that included sojourns in Germany, Switzerland and Cyprus.

But the list, in hindsight, shows how many burgeoning talents passed through our game over the years.

And ceaseless Jermain Defoe , Rangers' top scorer in the Premiership this season, made the cut at No.30.

But there are 12 stars with Scottish connections who earned a place on the list with former Celtic and Germany international Andreas Hinkel (68) also in the mix.

Former Milan standout Massimo Donati (50) and brief Arsenal loan recruit Jeremie Aliadiere (52) are also on there too.

Defoe is still making it happen 18 years later (PA)

Rangers were well represented with Bojan Djordic (69), Niko Kranjcar (45) and now Ibrox women's coach Gregory Vignal (29) all listed.

But the inclusions aren't limited to Glasgow's big two. The highest rated pair include former Inverness striker Marius Niculae (22) and ex-Dundee United forward Florent Sinama Pongolle (7)

Fernando Torres comes in at No.4 but he missed out on a top-three finish to Leandro Bonfim, Andres D'Allesandro and Djibril Cisse.

Brazilian legend Kaka had to settle for a 95th-placed finish but the mercurial midfielder didn't let the setback derail his illustrious career.

But one prediction the experts were miles off on was Michael Chopra - the former Newcastle man who never lived up to the hype had a one-year stay with Alloa back in 2015.