Former Rangers academy coach Peter Lovenkrands has taken up his first senior managerial post and with his country embarrassing Scotland at the European Championships in terms of achievement, he has explained why he thinks, with a smaller player pool, that Denmark continues to thrive on the international stage.
Speaking to The Daily Record, the Dane reckons that not enough Scottish youngsters experience football out with these shores and that time spent abroad would better serve their development, if more made moves like the one ex-Auchenhowie kid Aaron Hickey took when he joined Serie A side Bologna:
“Going back all the good players at my age group from the age of 14 got snapped up by clubs in Holland, Germany, Belgium, France .. clubs come and get our top young players.
“That benefits us as a nation. Our players aren’t scared. They want to move on and they are very versatile.
“But for me Scottish players, knowing that for myself having been at Rangers, none of them want to go. They want to stay at home.
“Rangers and Celtic are big clubs, I understand that. I spoke to a few boys and asked them about going abroad but they aren’t interested. Only a few players will do it.
“A lot of players from a younger age should go and get that experience, get a different mentality, another type of football and grow as a person.
“I think Scottish players should look to do it.”
Rangers do have connections abroad and have sent players from the academy to Orange County in the States already, the next step might be to consider sending them to European teams on loan rather than to clubs in Scotland or England’s lower tiers.
Lovenkrands is right, but personally, I think it is more to do with the cultural element of seeing how other players from abroad prepare and recover, Scotland is not exactly known for it’s healthy attitude towards food and drink and seeing how the likes of Hickey and Ryan Gauld have adapted to life oversees should encourage others to take the step for their own and Rangers benefit.