Scottish players in the EPL get a boost
BEING a Scottish blog, I don’t have much time for anything to do with football outside of Scotland’s fair shores, but it didn’t completely escape my notice that last Saturdays rip-roaring Championship play-off final between Cardiff City and Blackpool included a fairly healthy Scottish contingent…
Over the past few months on these pages I’ve bemoaned the fact that our players are being sold off to teams in the mid-to-low end of the English leagues.
With the exception of Darren Fletcher at Manchester United (who never played for a Scottish team) there are no Scottish players to be found running up the park at Old Trafford, Anfield, Stamford Bridge or The Emirates, the current “Big Four”.
That’s not to say that Scottish football has not been represented in England’s top flight. This season we’ve seen Barry Ferguson, James McFadden and Garry O’Connor turn out for Birmingam, while Alan Hutton (Spurs, but on loan to Sunderland), Gary Caldwell (Wigan) and Christophe Berra (Wolves) continue to fly the Scottish flag.
But now with the addition of Blackpool into the English Premier League, the number of Scottish players has suddenly hit a new high. Stephen Crainey, Charlie Adam, Scott Dobie and Barry Bannan (on loan from Aston Villa) all turned out for the Seasiders in their 3-2 victory over Cardiff City at the weekend, a win that pushes the Lancashire team into the top flight for the first time since 1971 and which could net them a cool £90m.
Neither Stephen McPhee nor former Cowdenbeath midfielder Stephen Husband played in that game, but who knows: we may well be seeing them on Match of the Day soon.
Their opponents on the day, Cardiff, where not shy of a few Scots themselves. Former Celtic and Norwich shotstopper David Marshall failed to, ehm, stop the shots, while Kevin McNaughton (Aberdeen), Chris Burke (Rangers), Paul Quinn and Ross McCormack (both Motherwell) and the injured Gavin Rae (Rangers) should all be familiar names to fans of the game north of the border.
Six more Scottish players to make their debut in the EPL next season
A small team (in terms of playing staff, supporter base and finances) in a big league, already Blackpool are already everyone tip for relegation. Like Steven Fletcher’s Burnley, whose place they take in the EPL, the Seasiders may well find the going tough in one of Europe’s top leagues. But the exposure to a much higher level of football, even when compared to the Championship, can only make our players better, which for Craig Levein – the coach of our national side – can only be a good thing.
Could the future be as bright as the Blackpool shirts? Only time will tell.
The EPL Scottish XI (4-4-2)
In the meantime, here is our Scottish EPL Select XI, based entirely on the Scots playing in the English Premier League this season (and where they came from)
1 Craig Gordon (Sunderland/Hearts)
2 Stephen Crainey (Blackpool/Celtic)
3 Christophe Berra (Wolves/Hearts)
4 Gary Caldwell (Wigan/Celtic)
5 Alan Hutton (Spurs/Rangers)
6 Charlie Adam (Blackpool/Rangers)
7 Barry Ferguson (Birmingham/Rangers)
8 Darren Fletcher (Manchester United)
9 James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion)
10 James McFadden (Birmingham/Motherwell)
11 Graham Dorrans (West Bromwich Albion/Partick Thistle)
Substitutes
Garry O’Connor (Birmingham/Hibernian)
Stephen McPhee (Blackpool)
Stephen Husband (Blackpool/Cowdenbeath)
Scott Dobie (Blackpool)
Barry Bannan (Aston Villa)