Boyd nominates Mcginn and Tierney as candidates for Scotland captaincy
Former Scotland striker Kris Boyd believes Alex Mcleish should follow the Rangers blueprint and select a younger player as the new Scotland captain, nominating John Mcginn is a leading candidate.
Dick Advocaat made Barry Ferguson skipper at Ibrox in 2000 at the age of 22 and he led the team in two spells for nearly a decade while also becoming captain of Scotland less than four years later.
The national team’s armband is up for grabs following Scott Brown’s retirement and Boyd feels it’s a great opportunity to build something fresh, with Mcginn and Celtic’s Kieran Tierney his preferred choices.
Kilmarnock captain Boyd said: “If it was me I would look at someone like John Mcginn who might be at Scotland for a number of years and you can build something round about him.
“I would prefer that to someone who is 30 or 31 and might get the armband for two years.
“Yes, it’s a great privilege but maybe it’s time to go back and start again and do what Rangers did with Barry Ferguson by making him captain at a young age.
“It was the same with Scotland. He got the captaincy early and led for four or five campaigns. So maybe copying that would be good as it gives continuity.
“John Mcginn is someone who could step up. He’s been in squads before and he’s shown he can perform against the bigger names in Scottish football. We all saw that in the Scottish Cup final against Rangers.
“He was in the Championship for a couple of years and that probably played on Gordon Strachan’s mind because he wasn’t getting tested week in week out. But I think this season he has stepped up and shown he is a quality player.
“Whether he is at Hibs beyond the summer I don’t know. But when you look at the impact he has in games and the driving force that he is with Hibs, it’s similar to a young Scott Brown.
“He is one, but there will be others who will be saying ‘what an opportunity I’ve got to get in the Scotland team now’.
“Every time Scott Brown was picked for a squad he played so there is a spot up for grabs.”
Boyd agrees with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers that Kieran Tierney also has captain potential.
He added: “He could be a good choice. He has captained Celtic and been in around the Scotland squad and he has performed in big games.
“He’s doing everything else just now to copy Broony by walking about the streets of St Petersburg with a T-shirt on
“So he would be as well trying the armband on, too.
“He is somebody you could say knows how to perform at the top level and he has his head screwed on,
“It doesn’t look as if much fazes him judging by the performances he puts n.
“So I would put him into that category and you would hope he would be in squads for years to come.” l Kris Boyd was speaking at the launch of William Hill’s sponsorship of the Scottish FA Mental Health & Wellbeing National League.