Conference League compromise is needed if Scotland are to thrive

But Scotland manager Steve Clarke has still been wrestling with some serious problems this week ahead of the Group A encounter with Norway in the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo tonight.

Who does he select to play alongside Kieran Tierney in his defence out of Liam Cooper, Jack Hendry, Dom Hyam, Ryan Porteous and John Souttar?

Does he stick with the three man rearguard which worked so well in their previous double header? Or does he revert to the four man backline that helped secure promotion to the top tier of the Nations League last year?

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Further forward, Callum McGregor, Scott McTominay and John McGinn should get the nod to play in midfield given how well they acquitted themselves last time out. But how does he leave out Stuart Armstrong, Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour and Ryan Jack given their past displays for their country and form of late?

Aaron Hickey and Andy Robertson will be selected to perform the wing back, or full back, roles and Ryan Christie should be deployed just off lone striker Lyndon Dykes in attack. But if Nathan Patterson, Greg Taylor, Kevin Nisbet or Lawrence Shankland were to feature they would all contribute significantly.

The selection headaches which Clarke has, even with Craig Gordon, Che Adams, Grant Hanley and Scott McKenna all out injured, underline what a good place Scotland are in at the present moment in time and why there is such optimism about their future prospects.

He may not, like his opposite number Stale Solbakken, be able to call on superstars of the global game like Haaland of Manchester City or Martin Odegaard of Arsenal. But he certainly has a lot of very good professionals who ply their trade at a very high level in their homeland, down south and further afield at his disposal.

Those who care about the health of Scottish football have long bemoaned the lack of home-grown talent which this country produces. But somebody somewhere seems to be doing something right. No fewer than 21 of the 26 members of the current national squad came through the youth ranks here.

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We must not, however, become complacent after one rousing result against a football superpower. Everything possible must be done to ensure the progress which has been made in recent years continues and is built upon.

The SFA plan to create a Conference League that would comprise four B Teams – Celtic, Hearts, Rangers and A N Other - and would slot into the pyramid structure above the Highland League and Lowland League and below League Two was opposed by so many it was taken off the agenda at their AGM last week.

Fair enough. The game here is a democracy not a dictatorship. If there were concerns, and Premiership clubs Aberdeen, Livingston and St Mirren had, along with many others in the lower leagues, misgivings, they deserved to be listened to. 

But it is to be hoped that an agreeable compromise can be reached going forward because, as we have seen in far larger and more successful nations around Europe, there are myriad benefits to giving our best starlets regular game time with their parent clubs in the senior set-up.

As Rangers pointed out as they announced they were withdrawing from the Lowland League this week, the 10 countries which developed the most players for the Qatar 2022 finals last year all have B teams operating in the national leagues. 

Ian Maxwell, the SFA chief executive, stressed last week that the Conference League idea has not been abandoned, simply shelved for the time being. He can see the advantages of playing in a challenging and competitive environment, for kids between the ages of 18 and 21 especially.

Maxwell and his colleagues will attempt to address the issues which chairmen, fans and managers had with the proposal in the coming months. With a bit of luck, they will be successful.

READ MORE: Hearts make B team decision after Rangers withdraw from Lowland League

It has been suggested by cynics that Celtic, Hearts and Rangers youngsters learned precious little from squaring up to Broomhill, Civil Service Strollers, Dalbeattie Star, Gala Fairydean Rovers and Tranent Juniors in the 2022/23 campaign and would have been far better off going out on loan.

Their coaches disagree. They are adamant that being able to oversee their progress on a daily basis and utilise them in the same system that is used by the first team increases their chances of making a breakthrough. It has certainly not done France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain any harm has it?

Would Everton right back Nathan Patterson have made such an immediate impact in the Rangers first team back in the 2019/20 season if he had not faced Berwick, Stranraer, Ballymena, Solihull Moors, Wrexham and Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Challenge Cup previously that term? Or have gone from strength to strength thereafter?

Scotland are reaping the rewards of his exposure to a higher level of opposition as a teenager just now - and they can flourish in the future if a revised Conference League is given the green light.