Of Bhoys and Men - The anti-Arsenal Argument?

There isn’t much Dennis Law isn’t annoyed about, but a recent story by BBC Sport reports Law’s opinions on the growing number of non-Scots on the pitch for the two Glasgow giants. His argument, perhaps fair enough, is that with so many of his beloved Scotland International side coming from the Old Firm, and with the two sides in turn having so many international players, Scotland National ultimately suffers.

So let’s look at the numbers. Of the current 25 players listed as members, courtesy of Wikipedia, 12 play for Scottish clubs [Celtic and Hearts with 3 each; Aberdeen, Hibs and Rangers with 2 apiece]. The other 13 all play for Premier and Championship squads.

So really, only 5 players come from the Old Firm sides.

As for the Old Firms numbers: Rangers employ only 9 on its first squad; 12 for Celtic, and neither of these numbers including the reserves or youth players able to be called up for play.

Scotland’s National squad has qualified for 8 of the 14 World Cups they’ve entered since 1954, never advancing past Round 1, their latest appearance in France in 1998. Even worse, Scotland has only qualified for Euro Cup twice, and not since 1996 - losing to the Dutch on goal differential.

So Scotland International isn’t the ominous force, making the Dutch or even the English quake in their boots. Well, damn.

In truth, there is no answer to this question. Wait- Is this a question? Because if it is a question, I bet Arsene Wenger has all the answers. Just look at his North London squad.

We are Celtic. This is the Celtic Offside Report.

Category: Celtic

Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Celtic, Championship, Euro Cup, Premiership, Scotland, World Cup

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