Scottish football has come under fire following the nation’s early exit from the World Cup.
Celtic duo Kieran Tierney and Anthony Ralston were involved in the heartbreak in the United States, as Steve Clarke has now resigned from his post, and Scotland will now be looking for a new coach.
There has been a lot of debate around the state of Scottish football right now, with Roy Keane pointing towards the financial side of the game.
In 2012, the English FA went down the road of building a new training facility for the national side – St George’s Park – which cost over £100 million, as Keane stated that nations like Scotland can’t go down that road because they don’t have the ability to do so.
The legendary midfielder also stated that people outside of Scotland don’t want the game up north, and the big guns inside the league, like Celtic, are only ‘interested in Celtic’, as he told The Overlap.
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Roy Keane uses Celtic example when discussing the state of Scottish football after World Cup exit
Keane: “Everyone worries about Scottish football, but nobody watches Scottish football, Aberdeen or.
“We shouldn’t just be concerned about the team when they are being beaten in the tournament. Whether that’s money, infrastructure, the same with Ireland. I mean the Scottish league, whole structure of it (people from the outside don’t watch it).”
Ian Wright: “The Scottish Federation need to do more to build that league. They don’t play football there. They (young kids) have nowhere to play football. They have to look back on those things.”
Keane: “That’s the SFA. But there will be politics. Celtic and Rangers. Of course, Celtic are only interested in Celtic. Salford (points to Garry Neville) are only interested in Salford. There is a selfish side to sport.
“We haven’t brought up Ireland’s problems. Wales haven’t qualified. Northern Ireland. All these, like smaller countries, these battles are constant. A lot of it will come down to the dollar.
“St George’s (England’s national training base). How much was St George’s then? Where do you think these countries are going to find, when they all have real issues going on, £100-200 million?”
Ben Gannon-Doak an example of players not developing
The talent pool is there, as former Celtic youngster Ben Gannon-Doak has proven.
The real dilemma is the path these young players take.
Even though Celtic dwarf most English teams in sheer size and prestige, the champions of Scotland just can’t compete with the money on the table down south.
That was proven when Gannon-Doak moved to Liverpool as a teenager in 2021.
Since then, he has played 43 senior games. Had he stayed at Celtic, he would have, at the very least, played double that amount.
You can’t blame these young players for choosing the more lucrative route.
But Scotland’s inability to match the financial demands of teams in England is hurting their progress, and that is playing a part in a lack of talent coming through.
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