RICKY Sbragia, the newly appointed Scotland Under-21 coach, spoke last night of the hurt he felt over the Jack Harper row and revealed how the support of his friends and colleagues in the game helped him through it. The 59-year-old, a former youth coach at Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United who had a brief spell as Sunderland manager, was at the centre of a media storm back in March when he omitted Harper, then of Real Madrid, from his Scotland Under-19 squad for an elite round in Austria.
The Malaga-born 19-year-old has since been released by Madrid and snapped up by Brighton and Hove Albion, although he is currently nursing a minor injury which kept him out of contention for Sbragia’s maiden squad as Under-21 manager, for next month’s qualifying opener against Northern Ireland in Lurgan. Sbragia, who back then called Harper a “luxury player” that his side couldn’t “carry”, admitted he could have chosen his words better, but stood by his track record in developing players in a career in the sport which stretches back 40 years.
“I was at fault with the Jack Harper situation,” said Sbragia. “My choice of words wasn’t exactly brilliant. What I said was completely different from what I am and what I do on the training pitch and how I want them to develop.
“I did say Jack was a good player and I still believe that,” he added. “I also said the door was always open to him. But I suppose I was hurt by the criticism. It’s the first time it has ever happened, with people saying that maybe I’m a dinosaur!
“I’m not on social media - I can just about send a text message now - but my wife had a hell of a time and my family were sending me messages. That’s football and it’s not bad that in 43 years I’ve only been criticised once.
“We spoke about it but my friends in general know exactly what I’m like and the one thing that surprised me was how good the players were. A lot came out and spoke in my support, even Darren Fletcher who I worked with. A lot of people sent me cuttings and that cheered me up.”
As for this squad, while Sbragia has no shortage of other options for the creative roles in the form of Ryan Gauld of Sporting Lisbon, Ryan Christie of Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ryan Fraser of Ipswich Town, he will make a point of personally checking on Harper’s form once he is fit again and has found a place in the Brighton first team.
“I know Jack is injured but I’m glad he’s gone to Brighton and we’ll definitely take in their games,” said Sbragia. “It’s sad when any player gets released but he’s managed to go to Brighton which is pleasing. We’ve always said that anyone who is performing at their best will come into the Under-21 squad. I’ll have to chat to Jack but I speak to them all. There’s about 44 players and I have to pick 22 and it’s difficult. The door is always open. We’ve got two games in October and it could completely change.”
Sbragia’s promotion from Under-19 coach was one of the first acts of Brian McClair as SFA performance director, and flew in the face of reported comments in the immediate aftermath of his predecessor Billy Stark’s departure that he wasn’t interested in the job. While developing players for the main side is a huge part of the job description, Scotland have failed to qualify for the finals at this age group since 1996. While the Under-21 finals will expand from eight teams to 12 for the finals in Poland in 2017, it is no easy feat with France and Ukraine also in Scotland’s group
“At the time I was originally asked the seat wasn’t even cold and it was something I hadn’t even thought about,” said Sbragia. “The other thing was that who comes in as performance director could have swayed it as well, so I thought at the time it was best to say no. Then obviously I had a chat with Brian, and we spoke about a few things. I didn’t really think twice when he asked me, because deep down I knew it was a natural progression for me.”
Scotland Under-21 squad to face Northern Ireland: R Fulton (Liverpool), J Hamilton (Heart of Midlothian), J Henly (Unattached), S Findlay (Celtic, on loan to Kilmarnock), S Hendrie (West Ham)
Donald Love (Man Utd), Callum McFadzean (Sheff Utd), Jordan McGhee (Hearts), Callum Paterson (Hearts), Jay Fulton (Swansea), Cameron King (Norwich), John McGinn (Hibernian), John Souttar (Dundee United), Charlie Telfer (Dundee United), Ryan Christie (Inverness Caledonian Thistle), Sam Nicholson (Heart of Midlothian), Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth, on loan to Ipswich Town), Ryan Gauld (Sporting Clube de Portugal), Billy King (Heart of Midlothian), Declan McManus (Fleetwood Town), Jason Cummings (Hibernian), Sam Nicholson (Heart of Midlothian), Lawrence Shankland (Aberdeen)
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