Scot Gemmill is convinced the future is bright for Scotland – but only if club bosses have faith in their kids.
The Under-21 manager reckons the national talent production line is producing the goods but too often it grinds to a halt when it comes to the first teams.
Gemmill has seen key members of his group move up to senior level with star turns like Nathan Patterson, Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson, Allan Campbell and Ross McCrorie all regulars at club level.
But the current crop are finding it harder to get game time in the Premiership and beyond and Gemmill admitted it’s harder to produce players for Steve Clarke’s top team unless they are getting the chance on a weekly basis at domestic level.
The Under-21 chief – who has called up Rangers hit kids Alex Lowry and Leon King for the double header against Belgium on Sunday and Denmark next week – said: “Nobody knows more than me that there are talented young players.
“What I’d stress is it has to be seen at club level too. The young players have to be given an opportunity to play.
“That is a crucial bit in the development that we all need to see.
“It needs to be more. You need more young players playing earlier but it’s easy for me to say that when I’m not managing a club side.
“I’ve got a different objective but you benchmark yourself against the best young players in Europe.
“They are playing and we need our players to play too.”
Dundee United are one of the clubs who have been willing to give youngsters a chance, with boss Tam Courts calling on Archie Meekison, Ross Graham and Kieran Freeman along with previous Scotland call up Chris Mochrie.
Gemmill said: “One hundred percent but I’d say it’s a little bit extra than that.
“It’s not just about the manager, it’s about the alignment of the club.
“It has to come from the very top and there has to be a strategy where they know they can develop players.
“It shouldn’t just be with the manager.
“There should be a club philosophy to develop players whether that’s strategic to sell players for profit or to win trophies.”
Gemmill reckons his squad’s development will be boosted by facing Belgium and Denmark – even if the away clashes will be very difficult.
Scotland’s kids are already out of the Euro qualifying with two games to go but the coach wants his youngsters to make the most of the chance to go up against top opposition.
He said: “Of course it’s going to be tough but that’s exactly what we want for the players. They’re here to get that experience playing against that calibre of player and to show they’ve got the intelligence to play tactically correct within the gameplan.
“We’ve been working on the gameplan yesterday and today and now it’s up to the players.
“We did that very well at Tannadice (in the 2-0 defeat). We didn’t just sit in.
“We played against them, face to face against the Belgian back three and there wasn’t a lot in the game.
“We conceded a penalty just before half-time. Then they scored again very late.
“We were playing against players at Champions League level, Europa League level. The nature and calibre of the performance was pretty good.
“It gives us confidence that we can prepare properly and do it again on Sunday.
“You’ve got to get something out of every game. There’s different objectives. If we’re facing pot 5 or pot 6 teams then there’s different objectives between the games, tactically, that we have to show.
“We want to win games, create chances and score goals but also not concede goals.
“Playing against pot 1 and pot 2 teams, of course there’s still that demand to create chances and score goals but you also have to be very defensively minded.
“It’s all right doing it in training, saying the right things in a team meeting but you need to be able to do it live in the moment during a game when it really matters.”
