Team Scotland are in need of a new manager. To go along with that, the national team must need a new captain as well; at least that’s what the Daily Record believes.
Scott Brown has been with Scotland since 2005 while notching an impressive 4,000 minutes over the duration of his international career. Celtic’s skipper has scored 4 goals and 2 assists in the process which isn’t that great, but that’s not really his game.
None of that really matters to Daily Record‘s writer Gordon Waddell, who wrote an informative piece as to why Broony cannot be Scotland’s captain anymore. The article starts off with the usual praise of what Brown has done with the national team, but then goes on to say that recent failures to qualify for the World Cup show that it’s time for change.
What’s even more interesting is that the writer goes says that a variety of football’s legends have achieved nothing on the international stage, regardless of their legacy, as mentioned in the article above.
"What you have to remember is that in the 50 caps he’d earned before retiring, he’d been part of five failed campaigns. Now he has a sixth on his CV.He’s not alone. Like it or not, we have an entire generation of players who have done nothing, achieved nothing, on the international stage."
It’s an interesting claim to say the least, but one that needs a bit more depth to really convince me that replacing Brown at captain would be the start for success in Scotland.
Waddell’s first statement is entirely true. It’s been a while since Scotland has even come close to sniffing the World Cup, but does that entirely fall on the captain’s shoulders, or rather the collective performance of the team?
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An argument can be made for both sides, but at the end of the day, it’s the overall performance of the 11 players on the pitch that dictate the flow of the game. The leader plays a big role in that performance, but arguing how effective of a leader Brown is can’t really be a solid claim as nobody really knows what he says on the field or in the locker room.
The writer’s second claim is also true, but again, it’s very broad and dull at a certain point. Waddell’s sentence should support his overall claim, yet it doesn’t find a way to do that without the reader asking questions.
Plenty of players haven’t gotten it done on the international stage. But, should that really be a big case when stripping the armband away from a player? Think about Lionel Messi. The best player in the game right now has achieved merely nothing with Argentina, but should the South American outfit take away Messi’s captaincy just because he hasn’t claimed trophies?
Waddell also says this very important sentence that seems to always be said whenever things are in need of change, according to his last piece for the Record.
"Every time we don’t get to a finals, we think we’ve reached our nadir. Every time we then find new ways to dig a little deeper into the hole."
Yes, if fans take their pride (having Brown as captain) over results (repeated failures), then supporters of the country are going to be in the same hole they were four years ago. That’s the way I took the statement, but others might have a different perspective.
Again, the claim revolves around the idea that if the SFA do not replace Brown as captain, then the results are most likely going to be the same thing. It was probably the most opinionated claims within the piece, and definitely one of the least supported with evidence.
To save time, potential replacements for Brown’s captaincy are Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson according to Waddell. They’re both solid defenders at their age, but does that really mean that they could lead Scotland into qualification?
There’s no way shape or form that I’m trying to say that Waddell is a bad writer. There’s a reason he contributes to such a company as the Record, and it’s almost guaranteed that he’s written some solid pieces over the course of his career.
But, you have to be careful when writing opinionated articles. You’re most likely going to hear what the other side has to say about that claim, and you better have the facts to back that up.
This article doesn’t go into that much detail. If I were to sit down with Waddell, I’m sure he could explain his claim with more depth. By the looks of this piece, it seems as if the writer prefers a complete rebuild (starting with a coach) so Scotland can plan for the future.
It’s always nice to think that way, but taking away a piece of fabric (or whatever the armband is made of) thinking that it’s going to be the start of a long-term process is kind of silly.
Brown is a proven leader both on and off the pitch. Fans have seen it before with both Scotland and especially with Celtic. The 32-year-old should be the captain of Scotland until the day he retires, and it will probably stay that way too.
Next: Celtic: Liam Henderson very close to Italy move
What are your thoughts on Brown’s captaincy with Scotland? Let us know in the comments section below.