With Scotland absent yet again, Brown passes major tournament experience to near neighbours

The former Scotland manager has had his brain picked by staff from both Northern Ireland and more extensively, Wales, as those two home nations prepare to re-enter the world of major tournament football after their own prolonged absences.

Read more: Craig Brown dismayed as experience overlooked in bid to revamp Scottish football

“I sat down with Osian Roberts the assistant manager of Wales, and I’m friendly with Chris Coleman because I worked with him at Fulham,” Brown revealed.

“I had a long talk with Osian when we were at a course together at Russia, and we had a brainstorm about all the things that I thought were relevant going into a major tournament. Things like dealing with the media, and all the small things that might not seem of much consequence, but can have an effect.

“One of the main things you have to do is make sure that the player’s ticket requests are catered for, because if the other country have got more tickets it’s a psychological disadvantage.

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“For example, when we played England in Euro ’96, I said to Colin Hendry to find out how many comps England were getting. I got him to phone his Blackburn teammate Alan Shearer and when I found out the number, I added two onto it and told Jim Farry.

“An interesting one is numbering the players. I said to Osian, try to give someone else the number eleven shirt and see how Gareth Bale likes that.

“I had a full page of recommendations. Do you put them in single rooms or do you pair them? If you pair them, how do you pair them? And it’s the same at mealtimes.

“I remember Guus Hiddink had this issue. The Dutch are a hard team to handle, and when Guus took over there were factions. He would put place names down to help the players mix.”

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has recently been lamenting the lack of a world-class talent within his squad, such as Wales’s Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale. Managing such a talent, particularly when he is so far ahead of his teammates, can have its own problems according to Brown, although he doesn’t foresee the down-to-earth ‘Galactico’ causing Chris Coleman too many issues providing he is handled correctly.

He said: “When I was involved with Scotland early on we had Kenny Dalglish, and he was in that category, a real megastar in football. But there was no one more co-operative.

“On the other side of that though we played the Netherlands in a friendly before the World Cup in America over in Utrecht, they were going and we weren’t so it was a wee bit like it is for Gordon now. We pulled guys from the beaches and Celtic were touring Canada, but we scraped a team together.

“They were a goal up in no time, and it was 2-0 at half-time. It was two going on ten and they eventually won 3-1. They had taken off Ruud Gullit at half-time, and after the game Bert van Lingen, who was assistant to Dick Advocaat, called us into their dressing room. There was the number nine peg with an orange tie hanging from it. Wee Dick had given Gullit a bit of stick, and Gullit had just left the camp at half-time!

“He didn’t go to the World Cup in America and he never played for them again. I joke with big Brian Irvine that he finished Ruud Gullit’s international career.

“The impression I get from the Welsh though is that Bale isn’t a problem, but if they give him number seven instead of number 11 then he might be!”

If Bale can hit the heights he is capable of for his country during the tournament, then Brown can foresee the largely unfancied outfit having a major impact.

“I think Wales could be a dark horse, I really do,” he said. “They’ve got a very efficient team, and they have a superstar, and that’s the recipe. If you have an organised team, then one superstar can make all the difference.

“The problem with Gordon Strachan’s team is that there is a level they aren’t playing at. His players are playing at club level, and then they jump from that to international level. There’s a level in-between and that is European level, and none of the Scottish players are playing at that level.

“Derby County, Norwich City, Bournemouth – they aren’t in Europe. Celtic aren’t even lasting in Europe, Rangers aren’t in Europe.

“The standard in Scotland isn’t even good enough to provide players for the national team, even accounting for the fact that Gordon left most of the Celtic players and the Aberdeen boys out.

“The players he is picking are all in teams in England that are nowhere near Europe, so the Scottish international team at the moment is comprised of players who are playing at a lower level than the players I had.

“I picked three players from the champions of England – Colin Hendry, Billy McKinlay and Kevin Gallacher, as well as a Champions League winner in Paul Lambert. The players playing for Celtic and Rangers could compete in Europe then too. I have every sympathy for Gordon Strachan, because he hasn’t got a capable squad.”