THE only real criticism which has come Gordon Strachan's way as manager of Scotland has been muffled and virtually unheard, even though it has come from close by.

Almost from on the doorstep, in fact. Those who have any issue with the way Strachan has been running the show tend to be supporters of Dundee United, Aberdeen, Motherwell or St Johnstone; in other words clubs who have recently done well in the SPFL Premiership without that being reflected in their players being picked for Scotland. To many of them, and they have voiced their complaints online and on radio phone-ins, Strachan has seemed blind to any player not employed by Celtic or a club in the Barclays Premier League or Sky Bet Championship.

Strachan is a former Celtic manager who lives in the Midlands, which further encourages sceptics to believe he goes with what he knows. The 27-man squad he named yesterday for the Georgia and Poland Euro 2016 qualifiers contained only three SPFL-based players, two of whom are at Celtic. Only Aberdeen defender Mark Reynolds bucked the trend. There were 10 English Premier League players on the sheets of A4 paper handed out to the media at the squad announcement, 13 from the English Championship and Ryan Gauld from the Portuguese Primeira Liga.

Gauld's inclusion only invited further grumbles on Tayside. They still love the impish Gauld around Tannadice but United supporters were last night asking each other "why now?" The 18-year-old was not picked as he amassed 50 United appearances yet he was in the squad yesterday after none at all for Sporting Lisbon. Similarly, heads were being scratched around Perth about what suddenly made Stevie May Scotland material after two months with Sheffield Wednesday. His 32 goals in 80 St Johnstone games had not led to a call-up.

Strachan went to watch May against Reading 11 days ago. May scored the winner, which Strachan missed. "I left after 72 minutes I think. I had made up my mind he was going to be in the squad. As I got to my car I heard a roar. It was obviously going to be him that had scored! So he was in the squad before he scored that goal, it made no difference. I know he can score goals. But his all-round game was good that day."

Strachan rejects any suggestion that he has reservations about non-Celtic players in the SPFL. But he does believe that the mass migration of talent to the English Championship - driven by the higher wages on offer there - shows how much talent there is in Scotland but also the game's place in the economic food chain. "The number of players who have gone from the Scottish Premiership to the Championship is phenomenal.

"It's just a pity we didn't have the finances to keep them all here. If most people are told they can quadruple their wages in the Championship they will go. If you are offered the chance to work for The Sun and quadruple your wages then you throw all your morals out of the window and go 'aye'.

"That's what you do, you look after your family. I'm sure those players would all like to hang about here and play football here and get a real good wage, but that's what you do. And they have been successful there."

What criticism there has been of Strachan from the provinces has been muffled and quiet because his overall results and progress have acted as effective silencers.

A winning manager, even one who is clearly delivering progress and improvement despite the occasional defeat, can deal with any questioning of his methods. The team which took the fight to world champions Germany in Dortmund last month, losing 2-1, had only one SPFL-based player on the pitch at kick-off and none at all once Charlie Mulgrew had been sent off near the end.

A very similar group will take on Georgia at Ibrox a week on Saturday, with Scott Brown replacing the suspended (and injured) Mulgrew as the only home-based player. The nature of a double-header, with the game in Poland tumbling straight on the back of the Georgia match, means a handful of changes can be expected between the group's second and third fixtures. "I've got plenty players so I don't really have to worry about that. I think we'll have to chop and change. Most players and coaches, after the game, need that day to switch off. But we've got to go right back into it again. That will be a challenge."

If Strachan tuned into Match of the Day on Saturday evening, he would have seen a sobering statistic: Steven Fletcher has not scored a goal in 2014. Did that trouble him? "You can play about with statistics like that. He's been injured for a long time. But Steven was very good in Germany [as a substitute].

"You have to remember, it's the whole squad. If Stevie May's scoring and Chris Martin's scoring, that's fine. It might be something else you need during a game, like link-up play or intelligence. It doesn't matter if everybody's scoring goals. It's 'can you fit into the team?'"

It's not where you come from to play for Scotland, in other words. It's what you bring.