THE irony that Scottish football’s development is being held back by an obsession with winning at all costs will surely not be lost on anyone who has followed the game with increasing levels of dismay over the decades. By the time the next major championships rolls around in 2018 it will be 20 years since the national team last qualified for one. It is probably not too early to venture the opinion that perhaps it is time to take a different path.

When Gordon Strachan laments he can’t pick more young players for his two Scotland squads because there aren’t any good enough, he finds in Ronny Deila a sympathetic ear. Many of the Celtic manager’s younger players have been bought in from elsewhere rather than developed in the club’s academy but he believes fostering and cultivating youth development is the only way in which the game in this country may eventually thrive.

Instead, he sees clubs and managers debilitated by a fear of losing. A glance at how few under-21 players make the starting line-ups of most Scottish Premiership sides on any given weekend is further proof of that. In contrast, in his native Norway, greater opportunity is given to emerging players to showcase their talent, with most top-flight clubs also fielding reserve teams in the lower tiers of the hierarchy.

The obsession with winning in this country, Deila believes, is “killing creativity and development”. He knows only the bravest of managers, however, can afford to throw in a coterie of kids at the one go without fear of the consequences of failure. It is why he feels any emphasis on promoting youth players can only happen with the full support of the board of directors.

“I think the pressure for results here is unbelievable,” said Deila. “As a manager you just get judged by results so it's hard to give a youngster a chance because if you do, it increases your chances of losing. But to think more long term is important - and that has to start with the board at every club. That's a huge thing.

“But when everything is about this game, everything becomes harder. Here you maybe see one under-21 player in a team. That’s a big difference to Norway. We have a lot of players who are under 20. And this season we have sold five players from the league already to clubs like Celtic, Hannover, and Gent. The environment here, though, makes it hard for young players to get a chance.

“This is a Scottish issue. If nobody gets a chance and can’t make mistakes, how can you [develop them]? There’s no chance. I can play a young team. There are a lot of players who hadn’t played a lot before—like Tom Rogic, Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven. Put them in and maybe I get the sack in the end but the next manager would hopefully get something positive out of these guys getting the experience.

“If you know you need to have certain results then you play the safe team. You play the game to win rather than thinking, 'I will be taking some chances because we have to learn' and in the end you will get feedback. But you don’t learn from that. It’s not how you develop.

“If you play against a team in Spain or Holland, they play the same way no matter who they play. They would rather lose 10-0 than go away from their principles at a young age. They want to develop but here everything is about winning. It is killing creativity and development.”

Deila believes having a Celtic second string playing further down the divisions would be one step in the right direction. “I think when you see in Spain and in Norway, they have second teams within the league system and it’s unbelievably good,” he added. “Then they get competitive games, they play in the environment which offers the same style of play and you get regular feedback from the coaches. You also train with the first team a lot, so that’s a very positive thing. Now, though, we have to loan players out and a lot of clubs get players from us. But they are not their players and it’s not ideal. So a second team would be very good. They could play in the Championship - that’s already been very good for some of our talents.”

One such talent is Liam Henderson who – alongwith Anthony Stokes – will line up for Hibernian versus Ross County in this afternoon’s League Cup final. Deila has been impressed with the midfielder’s development over two loan spells in the past year.

“I love the way Liam has handled things. He went to Rosenborg and just loved playing football. We got positive feedback afterwards from the people at Rosenborg and now he’s at Hibs because wants to play. That’s how we’re going to develop and I can see improvements in his play."