Neil Lennon Scottish Premier League News April 2013

Scottish Premier League News April 2013: Neil Lennon Questions Scottish Internationals' Desire

Lisa Dillon

Celtic

Celtic boss Neil Lennon believes that the current generation of footballers has it too easy - something he believes is reflected in the "lack of hunger and soul" in the Scottish national team.

"I think in terms of the national team they have to leave their egos at the door and sacrifice a bit more for their country," was Lennon's scathing assessment of the Scotland squad.

The Celtic manager has called for a summit to address the problems of the national game and believes the first port of call ought to be those who are at the coal face of the game.

Said Lennon: "It's about time the SFA called a few managers in, called a few ex-players in and a few youth development people in and said: 'Is there a template here we can work from to make things better?' The national team is the end product. What we're seeing at the minute is disappointing."

Lennon, who said that he had not spoken to his former boss Gordon Strachan, since the defeats by Wales and Serbia, was scathing about the attitude of some of the players. He said: "They just seemed to lack a bit of soul and I don't know if it's the whole social thing. It used to be a privilege playing for your country. I'm not so sure it is now for some players. I look at the Scotland team - and I've said this for quite a while - I do worry about hunger.

"I'm not picking out individual players, but do they really want to play for Scotland? Or do they see it as a chore, coming away from the clubs where they've got a good lifestyle and they're comfortable."

Lennon, who was capped 40 times for Northern Ireland before retiring after receiving death threats, added: "You need to make a sacrifice to play for your country. I see it in other, smaller countries who are really proud and passionate. The sound bites are good coming from the players, but the evidence isn't there."

Lennon, whose under-19 side is leading the way in their own league, believes there is no problem over the amount of talent in the country but does not believe that it is being adequately reared: "Are we nourishing the talent the right way?" he asked. "Are we coaching the right way or what is perceived to be the right way? Are they hungry for it? Or do they think they just need to turn up and take it or do they earn it now? Do we make them out to be better than they really are? We are having a real dose of reality when it comes to the national game here."

Lennon also questioned the efficiency of academies and called for tougher regimes for young players. "They don't clean the boots any more, they don't clean the toilets," he said. Lennon, who served his apprenticeship with Manchester City added: "They're not here at 9am. We were on a YTS system. We got £28.50 and you had jobs to do during the day as well as training - getting kit ready, looking after the first-team players. That's where you learned respect for first team players and the game."

Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland. — Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland

Rangers

Rangers captain Lee McCulloch believes that the Ibrox side's Third Division triumph is the most significant of his career.

The veteran skipper has a trio of SPL winners' medals from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League but was insistent that the problems and controversies at the troubled club made this season all the more sweeter since it is the first step in the club progressing back into the top flight.

It is the completion of stage one in the rebuilding process after liquidation resulted in the Ibrox club losing their SPL status and being demoted to Scotland's basement division in the summer.

On the day that they could clinch the league with a victory, Rangers were held to a goal less draw at Montrose in the lunchtime kick off. It was a case of delayed gratification as Elgin City's win over second placed Queen's Park later in the day saw Rangers crowned champions, with their nearest challengers no longer able to catch the Light Blues.

It was a fitting way for the faltering Ibrox side to clinch the title since their recent form has been heavy-legged and impotent. McCulloch, though, was all about looking on the positives.

"To hear on the bus that we were champions was the best feeling in the world," he said.

"I've been lucky enough to win three titles before but I think this is my favourite one. I've been lucky enough to be captain for this one and it means the world to me and my family.

"We can only play against the teams we've been told to play against but, at the end of it, if you are giving me a winner's medal I am taking it.

"It really is a dream come true to captain the team and hopefully we can kick on now.

"This will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life - to captain a Rangers team to win a league means the world to me."

And 34-year-old McCulloch believes the experience can only be good for the youngsters who have been thrust into the top team this term.

He added: "I think it's a good thing that they take a bit of criticism. I think the low points this season, the hard times, have made the boys stronger for next season, that's the way I look at it anyway.

"We're just happy to be where we are with five games left and the number of points we are ahead. You could say it's been easy but it's been far from that. The boys are just a delight and the coaching staff are as well."

Ongoing debate over league reconstruction means a question mark still hangs over which division Rangers will be playing in next season.

If proposals for a 12-12-18 structure are pushed through for the start of next season, they would remain in the bottom tier, albeit the time-frame for a potential return to the top division would remain the same.

It is a scenario manager Ally McCoist is strongly opposed to.

"What I would like to happen would be promotion for our club having won the title," he said. "The players and the fans absolutely 100 per cent deserve that.

"It looks as though it will be SFL2 which is absolutely fine because the rules were made at the start of the season.

"In my opinion, you don't move the goalposts during the season in terms of promotion and relegation and things like that.

"We've won our championship and I would expect an actual progression which would be promotion into SFL2."

Scotland

He may have suspected it before, but Gordon Strachan knows it for sure now: his work is well and truly cut out for him when it comes to revitalising the fortunes of the Scotland national side.

The first European team to be dumped out of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Scotland were a pitiful sight in their March double header against Wales and Serbia.

This current squad could well become the first Scottish squad to go through an entire group stage without a victory.

When Walter Smith took over from Berti Vogts in 2004 he made defence his priority and supervised a revival of fortune that saw Scotland move 20 places up the Fifa rankings. Strachan, though, pointed to a significant contrast to the resources currently at his disposal.

"I would like more in-depth defenders, maybe more in-depth central midfield players," he said.

"I look back at the players that were in there in Walter's time and I had a couple of them at Celtic - Paul Hartley and Barry Robson and people like that. That is what Walter had to choose from but my squad our squad is more about the ball players that are there - Shaun Maloney, Chris Burke, James Forrest, George Boyd, Ross McCormack, Steven Naismith.

"I have got Steven Fletcher who is a top striker. They are my type of players at the moment and I have to pick a team from the squad I have got. Grant Hanley is playing in the Championship. "I thought he did well, but he is just a young, young boy and it is a quick lesson at international football.

"I would love to go out this weekend and say I am looking at eight centre halves who could possibly play for Scotland - then go and watch eight sitting midfielders, but I can't do that."

Given that Scotland's strike rate has been poor for some years - Kenny Miller was the top scorer in the squad for the World Cup double header against Wales and Serbia, with 17 goals from 68 appearances over 12 years - and Fletcher is out for the rest of the season because of the ankle injury he sustained against Wales, Strachan does not have much firepower at his disposal.

However, asked if he had been alarmed by the scale of the task confronting him, Strachan insisted that he was always in it for the long haul.

"No. If the whole squad is together and fit I can't wait for the next game," he said. "The problem is that, in certain areas, if we get one or two injuries it's very hard to deal with.

"We have about eight or nine players who could probably play against Croatia in our next qualifier but who were missing for various reasons against Wales and Serbia - probably six or seven of them would have played.

"Somebody's got to take this on. The thought of actually making people happy keeps me going, though it might take longer than we think. If our assets are further forward then we have to concentrate on that.

"You have to deal with the cards you have. I think if we are all fit then we will be alright - we'll not be world beaters but we'll be fine. That's when we are all fit.

"We have to develop players somewhere along the line but that's a different time, a different story. I can only deal with what we have now and I can't use the fact we have been going downhill for years. That's no good for anybody."