SCOTTISH football has a bad habit of trying not to be Scottish.
We are the self-deprecating capital of the world where the achievements of others, no matter how big or small, sustained or short, are held aloft as shining beacons for us all to look longingly at as if the sporting genius of Andorra or Azerbaijan may hold the key to unlocking Scotia’s potential at a game we helped create.
The Spaniards, and in particular Barcelona, revolutionised the game with their tiki-taka, prompting a rethink on that well-practised philosophy of ‘Just lump it up to big Davie’, or the pioneering Icelanders at Euro 2016, a success story founded upon academies, training facilities and quite a jazzy fan clap thing.
Even on an international stage, a poor start to a World Cup qualifying campaign has the nation gazing at others, perhaps wondering if following the example set by the Icemen to bring in a foreigner as head coach may be right the wrongs of the last 18 years . I vote for Justin Bieber.
Away from the football pitch itself, the imitation game continues. Only in 2013 the SPFL – itself a move to a more English-inspired body away from the FA – decided to rename its lower league set-up to the same titles as our southern counterparts.
Where is this all going? Well, sometimes to find inspiration you just need to look on your own door step. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Although, it is at Celtic at the moment.
It is on the training pitches, in the sports science departments and gyms of Lennoxtown, sitting in the shadows of the Campsie hills, where Scott Brown, the club captain, promises the embers of insight and hope are burning. It is a flicker he argues is sparked by Brendan Rodgers, who has overhauled and driven forward the practices at the Ladbrokes Premiership champions since his arrival during the summer.
He may be Northern Irish, but it is the 43-year-old taking Scotland by storm that Brown has highlighted as the potential doyen to save our international ambitions from slipping into a pool of nothingness.
"I think if everyone could come along and watch our training it would be fantastic. They'd learn so much, not from the players but from the gaffer and how he sets our sessions up,” he said. "It's the same with Gordon who was so far ahead of his time when he was at Celtic.
"Back then he wanted to play 4-3-2-1 and people didn't even realise it, just saying the formation was a 4-5-1. So we've had some great managers here. We've been lucky enough to have the gaffer here at Celtic, with his coaching staff as well.
"Someone like John Kennedy will tell you he's learned so much from working with Brendan. His reputation will only be enhanced from working with our gaffer.
"But it would be great if everyone could go around the clubs and work all together rather than everyone being individuals.
"We have Tommy McIntyre with the Under-21's and he's trying to do exactly the same thing the gaffer is doing. Our younger players are learning the way Brendan wants us to play in the first-team. Tommy is putting that into different styles and different shapes, putting his own stamp on it too, as well as the gaffer's. But it's good for Tommy to learn from the gaffer too."
Brown has a better insight into our national sport than most.
Captain of the biggest club in the country, he has racked up more than 50 caps for his country – a question mark of course still hangs over whether or not that tally will continue rise in the new year as the 31-year-old ponders his future – while he has already spent time helping to coach in the Parkhead club’s academy.
He acknowledges that there is a need to look to others around for a quick fix, attempting to piggy-back on to the latest success story to somehow fast track ourselves to greatness.
Scotland have recently opened their £33million Orium complex in Edinburgh, dubbed by some as a ‘Scottish St George’s Park’, filled with indoor and outdoor training pitches, sport science technology and a medical department. It is another step forward in terms of facilities, following in the footsteps of the FA, but for Brown the money could be doing with being spent at, quite literally, grass roots level.
"That's what it's like, 'the Belgians are doing great, let's get him in.'
“I tell you what, if I was Brazilian,” he joked.
"I look at what we've done through in Edinburgh with the Orium and all the pitches. But maybe we should put some money into the SPFL as well and improve the pitches there as well.
"The better the pitches we have the better chance we have of playing better football. When you go into January and February the pitches have no mud and grass on them then it's hard to pass the ball.
"Don't get me wrong, you like a nice little 50/50 now and then.
"But nobody wants to see that for 90 minutes. I think the pitches in England are half-and-half hybrid pitches between grass and astro an d that's what keeps the pitches good. It's the way forward.
"Maybe we should be looking to do something like that."
Back to matters of a tactical nature, Brown believes a change of attitude is needed. Not copying the footprint of others, but altering our own path so Scotland can stand on its own on a firmer footing.
"Listen, I've been bad enough for 10 years so I can't exactly moan at anybody.
"But I think we need to give more youngsters a chance to come through. We're too quick to say they're not good enough if they're not 6ft 5" and built like tanks. It's all about quality and different people come through at different ages.
"Look at Robbo [Andy Robertson] going from Dundee United to Hull in the Premier League - he missed out with us a few years earlier and went to Queen's park before developing. Now people are looking at him as a £15m player.
"He's not tall but he's got unbelievable ability with his left foot as well as a great work-rate and a great attitude.
"I think that's what goes a long, long way."
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