T HE state of the nation address was delivered more in sadness than in anger.

Neil Lennon has become so much a part of Scottish life that yesterday the Northern Irishman once referred to "we'' when addressing the malaise that has gripped the national game.

The Celtic manager posed uncomfortable questions about Scotland's international players, queried the efficiency of academies and also inquired whether young players had it too easy. Lennon, nurtured on the hard world of boot cleaning and menial chores at Manchester City, was blunt when facing up to the aftermath of an international break where Scotland dropped out of the World Cup at an embarrassingly early stage.

Lennon needs little prompting to give his views. He was on expansive form yesterday.

On academies, he was stark. "I'm not convinced the academies are working and we're not producing the kids – certainly in this country – that we did 20, 25 years ago," he said. "And I'm not convinced they're working in England either. Everyone will tell you they are, but I don't see much evidence for it. They certainly need to look deeper than the international first team to see what the problems are in the game.''

Lennon, who stressed his club's academy was performing well in producing such as Aiden McGeady and James Forrest, was concerned that there was no evidence of a substantial flow of talent to the top level. "Where are the good young players coming through? I'm worried that the hunger's not there any more. That's my main concern,'' he said. "We're more affluent as a society. Kids get more. The street football's gone, the boys' club football seems to be in demise. Are they getting enough football at a younger age? Or are they getting over-coached at a younger age?''

He became more specific. "Is the natural talent being exhausted out of them by badge-holding coaches? Because they hold badges doesn't make them good coaches. I'm sure there are a lot of good coaches out there. I don't know.''

He added: "But I think it's about time the SFA called a few managers in, called a few ex-players in and a few youth development people in and said: 'Is there a template here we can work from to make things better?' The international team is the end product. What we're seeing at the minute is disappointing.''

He was also sceptical about the hunger of young players, who seem to have much given to them without having to work too hard for it. "They don't clean the boots any more, they don't clean the toilets. They're not here at 9am. We were on a YTS system. We got £28.50 and you had jobs to do during the day as well as training – getting kit ready, looking after first-team players. That's where you learned respect,'' he said.

"Maybe that sounds really antiquated, but it seemed to work 20-25 years ago. Radical change was bringing the academies – based, I assume, on Clairefontaine in France – but that's the problem. We always look elsewhere to see if we could get better when we should be concentrating on what's here and what works. We're not producing the McAllisters, the Collins or the McStays at the minute.''

He was available for comment, too, on more domestic matters. His captain, Scott Brown, will miss four to six weeks because of surgery, but Lennon is hopeful that Forrest can make a substantial impact before the end of the season. "He had a bulge in a disc in his back. He's had an injection and we are waiting for it to settle and then we are praying we can get a run of games for him. He's had a really stop-start season, but when he's playing, he's a joy to watch,'' he said. "We might need to look at giving him a complete overhaul in the summer and try to find the root of all his problems and nip it in the bud.''

Thomas Rogne, though, will miss the next two or three weeks with a hamstring strain, but Lennon hopes to have Charlie Mulgrew and Mikael Lustig fit to face St Mirren tomorrow after they suffered injuries on international duty.

The Celtic manager confirmed that his players would form a guard of honour for St Mirren after the Paisley side won the Scottish Communities League Cup final this month. "I think it's the right thing to do,'' said Lennon of the tribute. "I've had it done myself over the years and I think it's a sign of professional respect."

It is a respect that does not extend to some members of the national team.