WE CAN KO BIG-TIME CHARLIES
SCOTLAND Under-21s boss Scot Gemmill last night sounded a semi-final battle cry as his young Toulon terrors prepare to take on England.
Gemmill, left, admits he couldn’t care less that the English have brought more backroom staff than players – 23 in total, including their own chef – to the south of France as they leave no stone unturned in their attempts to win the
title. Manager Aidy Boothroyd has the biggest entourage at the tournament, with two goalie coaches, two specialist coaches, a people and performance coach, as well as chef Sean Kyle.
Gemmill knows that, in terms of budget, we are eclipsed by the Auld Enemy.
He even revealed that the FA recently paid for Brazil to play their Under 17’s side because they didn’t have a game.
But the Scots U21 boss is adamant that the only thing that matters is what you cook up on the pitch.
When the two sides meet in their semi-final tonight, Gemmill says it’ll boil down to who performs best.
He said: “It’s the same for all the countries with big budgets, in terms of the depth of staff they have.
“The Germans are the same, they also have their own chef at U17 level. It doesn’t concern us greatly.
“But it’s a real insight into the level England are operating at.
“Someone told me the FA recently paid for Brazil U17’s to play their U17’s in Spain because they didn’t have an opponent.
“Again, that shows the resources they’ve got. But it doesn’t mean we should feel inferior to them or concede this game.
“You could say the same about the French, Brazilians or Dutch – and we’ve beaten all of them.
“It’s nice to have it but it’s all down to what happens in the game.
“I haven’t paid a lot of attention to England so far but we know they’re one of the best teams out here.
“It’s going to be a very difficult game. We need to prepare well and we’ll do everything in our power to find a way to win.”
The Scots have already beaten France at this year’s tournament to reach the last four and 12 months ago shocked everyone with a victory over Brazil.
Gemmill accepts that it’ll take a performance of that magnitude to see off the English and make the final.
He said: “It’s going to take absolutely everything from us to win. We need to be correct tactically, physically and our keeper will have to make saves.
“But hopefully we’ve done enough over here to be optimistic.
“You don’t win the games we have by fluke. If you list the teams we’ve beaten at youth level over the past 18 months, we’ve shown we can do it.
“We’ll make sure the boys are ready and try to produce another big win.”
Gemmill faces an injury sweat over Hibs centreback Ryan Porteous who has a knee problem.
But his biggest dilemma could be who he picks in goal. He’s alternated his keepers so far, with Ross Doohan playing twice and Robby McCrorie excelling against the French.
But Gemmill insists he has total faith in either youngster to do a job.
He said: Ross has done well for us, while Robbie was out at Berwick on loan and played well so we’re delighted to have them.
“It’s good to know we can trust them and we’re trying to use the tournament to give them experience.
“You try to pick someone you think can make saves at the right time. The two boys have put themselves in a great position.”