CRAIG BROWN, the former Scotland manager, is dismayed that the opinions of experienced home-bred coaches such as himself and Walter Smith are being overlooked as the Scottish Football Association seek to address the dearth of talent emerging for the national side.
Brown, who led his country to two major championships during his eight-year managerial reign, has held an informal conversation with SFA performance director Brian McClair ahead of the release of his blueprint to revitalise youth development at the end of this month, but has not been involved in any kind of formal meeting.
He also remains puzzled as to why the opinions of some of his most notable contemporaries have not been sought out at all when past reports have been compiled, such as Henry McLeish’s Review of Scottish Football in 2010.
He is adamant that there is a wealth of knowledge that is going untapped as the SFA seek to address the alarming lack of talent being produced by the Club Academy Scotland system.
“Gordon Strachan called me Yoda the other day, but I didn’t know who he was so I asked my grandson," remarked Brown. "He said he’s an ugly wee bandit from Star Wars, but when he read the quotes out to me, it didn’t sound so bad.
"I think he meant there was a bit of wisdom there, but I don’t want to put myself up as having that. I like to go along quietly, but you love the game, you feel strongly, you love Scotland, and you want things to go well.
“There was a nice chap called Alistair Gray doing a report and Henry McLeish did a report, but neither of them spoke to me, and I don’t think they spoke to Walter Smith, Alex Smith or Jim McLean for example.
“I’m a great admirer of the two Smiths. Jim McLean isn’t well, but his two brothers Tommy and Willie are fantastic in terms of their knowledge of football development in Scotland. I know Willie quite well, but nobody has asked him his opinion. I think these guys that have come right through the game in Scotland and are steeped in it are certainly worth talking to.
“I’m not saying I should be the one, but I’m not sure who they were speaking to. I think they spoke to some chairmen or directors, I don’t know. I get quite rattled when I think of what could be happening.”
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Brown has sympathy for Strachan. the current custodian of the national manager’s position, as he feels the players that are available to him are simply not good enough, even when compared to his own time in charge of the national side between 1993 and 2001.
As each opportunity to qualify for a major tournament passes by, the more Brown’s tenure looks like a golden period for the Scottish game, but it is his experiences within the youth set-up that he feels may be of most benefit if he is ever asked to share them.
“We’re waiting to see what Brian McClair comes up with,” Brown continued. “I think it is his job to address it, it’s not Gordon’s job. Gordon’s job is to get the senior team going, Brian’s job is to produce the coach education and the player pathway.
“I’ve spoken to Brian informally. We’ve not sat down and had a formal meeting. I don’t want to make it about me, but I do have good experience. I’ve been to a World Cup final with Scotland in the Under-16s, and I’ve been to a European semi-final with the Under-21s.
“I was with the Under-20s at the World Cup in Chile too, where we did brilliantly and were beaten in the quarter-finals on penalty-kicks by West Germany, so I’ve got successful experience at the lower age groups as well as with the senior national team.
“These teams haven’t been near those levels for years. The Under-21s can’t qualify for tournaments either right now. Tommy Craig had the Under-21s in the last four in Europe after me as well, and to do that with Scotland is a pretty good achievement, so you would think that we would have something to contribute.
“I’m not complaining, but when you talk about the state of the Scottish game and you care for it, there are things you have in your head that you feel strongly about.”
Brown, 75, now a director at Aberdeen, also revealed that he had been frustrated during his time at the SFA by Rangers and Celtic as he tried to push through ideas to aid youth development.
He said: “We had a football development group, and it was comprised of managers from the top division. I made a suggestion that the same as the French did, no teams should have more than 20 players over the age of 21 in their squad. It was to encourage youth development, I stole it from France after John Collins told me that’s what they did at Monaco.
“I put it forward and Celtic and Rangers bombed it. The man from Rangers was Bert van Lingen, and he said that it would leave them without a level playing field in Europe. I told him that Auxerre work to that rule, and they had just beaten Rangers home and away.
“These are the types of rules as well as a return to a proper reserve league that should come in."
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