MARK McGHEE has vented his frustration and disappointment that Motherwell midfielder Chris Cadden has been snubbed from the Scotland Under-21 squad.
National head coach Ricky Sbragia named his 21-man group for the forthcoming Euro qualifiers against Macedonia and Ukraine earlier this week but failed to identify Cadden as a player to be part of the group.
Despite the 19-year-old playing 29 games for the Lanarkshire club's first team in the last year, along with captaining their u20s to the Youth Cup for the first time in the club's history, there was no place for him in a midfield pack containing Ryan Gauld, Liam Henderson, Lewis Macleod, Craig Slater and Craig Storie.
Read more: Ricky Sbragia names Scotland Under-21 squad to face Macedonia and Ukraine
Motherwell chief operating officer Alan Burrows took to Twitter earlier in the week to express his own feelings on the matter, and speaking ahead of tomorrow's Ladbrokes Premiership home meeting with Dundee, Fir Park manager and Scotland senior side assistant McGhee confessed he 'doesn't understand' the decision to leave out one of his star players.
“I am surprised Chris has been omitted and I’m really disappointed," he said. "He’s a boy who is now playing first team football every week. In the 30 or so games he has played, quite a few of them he’s been the man of the match.
Read more: Mark McGhee: Performance against Rangers gives Motherwell something to build on
“In the others he hasn’t let is down. In the one or two when he’s been poor, that’s usually when we have been poor as a team. He’s still only 19-years-old so I don’t really understand it as there must be some really, really good players out there.
“If that’s the case then we will accept that.
“We have announced a first team squad and there will be manager’s players and fans out there who ask why people are in it and the players themselves wondering why they’re not in it. We have a rational as to why we have picked a squad and I’m sure Ricky has as well but I’m not privy to that.
“Chris is desperate for that sort of recognition, he’d love the opportunity but he’s not dwelling on it. I have spoken to him and I believe it will make him more determined this time around so it works for me."
McGhee is in the unusual position of being stuck between both parties due to his dual role at Motherwell as well as working as part of Gordon Strachan's staff. It is a situation that he stressed does not present a conflict of interest to him as he refused to criticise Sbragia's decision, even though he openly disagreed with it.
“Gordon and I made a very conscious decision when we came into the job that we would deal with our squad and wouldn’t interfere," he said.
“It’s not a case of me making a big scene about it, I’m very disappointed as the Motherwell manager as I think he’s good enough to be in the squad and he’s not so I’m disappointed for him and disappointed for the club.
“It’s not tricky as I don’t get involved. I’m quite entitled as Motherwell manager to voice my opinion, I’m not making any judgement or comment with my Scotland hat on as that’s not by bag."
McGhee added: “I’m sure a lot of managers feel the same about not having players in the squad. We finished fourth in the league last season and we won the youth cup yet we have no players in the Scotland under-19 squad. I feel there are boys there as well who should be recognised.
“I don’t know why that is, I really don’t. I have no explanation other than they don’t think they are good enough which is something we don’t agree with but they are entitled to their opinion."
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