I KNOW IT IS
Defoe, Weah, Davis, Burke, McCormack and Gauld? I don’t think our game is on way up...
STEVEN NAISMITH believes Scottish football is finally in a good place.
In fact, the Hearts striker insists it is the best shape our game has been in for a decade.
Now he only hopes the product presented is mirrored on the international stage.
The 32-year-old has watched the first 12 days of this transfer window with interest as bigname stars headed to Scotland.
Celtic have drafted in Timothy Weah from PSG plus Oliver Burke from West Brom while Steven Davis and Jermain Defoe have arrived at Rangers from Southampton and Bournemouth respectively.
Ross McCormack is back at Motherwell while Hibs have snapped up ex-Dundee United midfielder Ryan Gauld on loan from Sporting Lisbon.
And Naismith said: “I wouldn’t say it’s a perception
Scottish football is on the way back up. It’s a fact – 100 per cent.
“These type of players want to come to Scotland now. Davo (Steve Davis), Ross McCormack and Ryan Gauld are different because they have been here before and understand it.
“There are also players like Jermain Defoe, Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah coming to our game and they will make Scottish football a more exciting place to be.
“I don’t know Defoe so much, only from playing against him. He is a goalscorer and it’s a shrewd bit of business. It keeps everything entertaining.
“It’s not that Scottish football is doing good and every game is amazing. It’s not the case. It is certainly more entertaining. In the bigger leagues people see one game and think it’s amazing. Liverpool v Man City is a great spectacle but for every one of them there is a dud.
“Scottish football has them too. However, there is a genuine title race. No one team is sitting down the bottom and they’re gone. As much as that’s good, I feel much more can be done.
“The national team are struggling to get a sponsor and things like that. We need folk who will work as hard as they can to maximise the product.
“There has never been a better Scottish football product in the last 10 years. That’s the next part and hopefully everybody can move forward.”
Naismith reckons the Old Firm bolstering is not a backhanded compliment to how the likes of Kilmarnock, Hearts and Aberdeen have fared. Rather the ex-Ibrox striker believes the pair are on a signing spree simply because they can.
He said: “Rangers and Celtic signing players is just what Rangers and Celtic do. It’s what they have done over the years.
“Rangers have maybe struggled to do that in recent years but it’s just what they do.
“I never really thought of the other teams being involved in a title race. When you get to March and April, Celtic and Rangers’ resources usually kick in and you see them picking up points when it’s tight and they maybe have that little bit more to get them over the line.
“We just wanted to be in and around the pack and that’s why the victory in the last game against Hibs was so important.
“If we did not win that we are another three points behind. But now, as much as people say we have been on a bad run, we
are not all that far back from the top. It makes all the difference and the second half of the season is going to be very interesting.
“You have a title race going on but inevitably that will break up into a two-horse race between Celtic and Rangers and a fight for the European places involving the rest of the teams.”
While Scottish football sees a flurry of new faces, Naismith revealed boss Craig Levein is pulling out all the stops to make sure he sticks around.
His loan from Norwich expires in the summer and the striker said: “The manager has said he wants me to stay. Don’t get me wrong, at Hearts I’ve got it good. There are a few things the manager gives me that some of the younger boys don’t get, like travelling for instance.
“There can be a lot of travelling involved so sometimes the manager will tell me to do my recovery in the house. I have a
gym at home so he gives me wee perks like that. Inevitably it’s all about Saturday.”
Naismith is still undecided about his future as he admitted Hearts “are going above and beyond to offer me the best package” – with Levein even offering to help him turn his hand to coaching.
Naismith said: “He gave me a rough guide on what he wants. Not much has changed on my side. I’m not holding out for this or that.
“I just don’t want to make a mistake. It’s a decision me and my wife will come to. I’ve loved every minute of it here but I don’t want to look back with regret in 10 years’ time. I’m conscious of my kids going to school and I want them to be settled.”
There has never been a better Scottish product in last 10 years STEVEN NAISMITH ON POSITIVE LANDSCAPE