Facts don’t lie but some bitter English bosses can’t help it
SHOULD Scotland and England part ways after a Boris Brexit then we can only hope the English PM doesn’t dip in to the outof-work lower-league manager’s market for new faces in the diplomatic core.
What it is with these gaffers and Scotland? It’s like they can’t wait to put the boot in to us.
What did we ever do to them apart from fill their teams with feisty wee footballers who help get them up the divisions?
There’s a queue of them lining up to take a pop at our game. Rangers signing Joe Aribo has brought them out in the open again.
First it was Lee Bowyer, the Charlton boss. His rant was understandable given the midfielder snubbed a new deal at the Valley and headed to Jockland.
But now his predecessor Chris Powell is at it as well. He said: “He’s got the talent but I’m not too sure he should’ve gone.
“He should’ve stayed at Charlton or maybe looked at one or two other options.
“For a player like him to be playing at Championship level, I think he would’ve alerted a lot more teams.”
Aye, very good. We all know Scottish football has its faults but there’s no need to leave the studs in.
Especially when folk in glass houses shouldn’t be lobbing boulders.
Powell and the rest of the Mike Bassett Brigade reckon the Premiership isn’t much of a springboard to the EPL – but neither is the English Championship.
In nearly 200 moves this summer throughout the UK, how many players have gone directly from the second tier down south to the top level? Eight.
Meanwhile, one of the contenders for the Ballon d’Or spent a couple of seasons developing in the apparent wastelands of Scottish football.
Virgil van Dijk knows the score. He has constantly said it was massive for him going to Celtic. Playing in high pressure for a huge club with mega demands at home and in Europe.
The big man has nothing but good things to say about our game, so perhaps we should listen to the best defender on the planet rather than bitter bosses.
Van Dijk isn’t the only one to make the leap, even if his was greater than most.
His Liverpool pal Andy Robertson is the poster boy and there’s Victor Wanyama, Ki Sung-yueng, Fraser Forster, Stuart Armstrong, Nikica Jelavic, Craig Gordon, Alan Hutton, James McFadden, Steven Naismith, Mikel Arteta and David Weir. We’re only scratching the surface.
All guys who carved out careers at the top level in England after leaving Scotland. Sure, the road has dried up from Rangers but they have a decent excuse.
There are also guys who went the Championship
What did we ever do apart from fill their teams with feisty wee footballers?
route who can take the EPL by storm. Watch John McGinn and Kenny McLean go this season. Ryan Fraser went the long way but he provides more assists than a nurse in a care home.
There are probably about 10 players in Scotland who could realistically cut it in the Premier League.
Arsenal are desperate to get Keiran Tierney. Callum McGregor and James Forrest could hack it no bother. Wait and see where and for how much Odsonne Edouard goes for. Same goes for Kris Ajer.
Alfredo Morelos has admirers like Crystal Palace and James Tavernier won’t need an ad on Gumtree.
Don’t be fooled by Bowyer and Powell. If Celtic or Rangers offered them the manager’s gig they’d run up the M6 in their bare feet. OUR TOP WRITERS GIVE THEIR FEARLESS VERDICTS EVERY DAY IN RECORD SPORT