Given that the colour of the new Scotland away shirt is a garish pink, you can at least say the future is bright in one sense. After all the grousing and groaning about the national team’s failure to qualify for Euro 2016, there will probably be think tanks and task forces set up to nurture the next generation of football strips at this rate.
On the playing side of things, the downbeat aftermath of the doomed European Championship campaign has led to much pondering, pontificating and probing as all and sundry throw their tuppence worth into the pot and debate the state of the nation’s footballing fortunes.
Gordon Strachan, the Scotland manager, has already taken it upon himself to spearhead the drive to improve things. By all accounts, his dedication to the cause has been widely welcomed and Scott Brown, who played under Strachan during his stint in the Celtic hot seat, believes the next generation can flourish under his watch.
“When he was at Celtic he had every team at every age group playing in the same way and he wants to do that with Scotland as well,” said Brown. “He did that brilliantly at Celtic and everyone has faith in him to do it just as well with the national teams. He was away with the Under-21s the other week, looking to the future and seeing what was coming through.
“That’s what he needs to do. He has to look beyond the next two or three years – which is all some of the players in the senior squad may have left in them – and check out the young talent coming through. He’s fully committed to Scotland.”
As a product of the Hibernian youth set up, Brown is well aware of the good work that can can be done by clubs while the recent emergence of Aidan Nesbitt and Kieran Tierney at Celtic has given him more grounds for optimism.
“Hibs has always produced good young players throughout the years,” added Brown
“They had to sell them but that’s the way Scottish football has gone. It’s part and parcel of the game but Hibs have done it the right way.
“It’s good that they try to hold on to their players for as long as they can and that they keep the players grounded and try to make sure that they have 100 first-team appearances before they move on. That helps the players and it’s the proper way to do it.”
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