Out-of-touch Harry Redknapp believes that Scottish football is barely worth watching following the liquidation of Glasgow Rangers.
With QPR sitting second bottom of the Premier League but saddled with a wage bill among the top ten Redknapp is likely to be one of the busiest bosses when the transfer window opens in January.
Current Premier League goalkeepers Fraser Forster, Allan McGregor, Tim Krul and Kasper Schmeichel have all experienced Scottish football while the QPR boss might want to have a word with his scouts who missed out on Andy Robertson and Ryan Gauld who could have been bought for less than the fee QPR paid to Cardiff for Jordan Mutch who has played in five league games this season.
“Since Rangers went out the top league it’s been difficult,” Rdknapp said as he faces upto relegation for the third time in a decade. “Even coming up here to look at Scottish players isn’t so easy as the competition isn’t so great. It’s hard to judge players when you come up to watch them in the Scottish League as you can’t compare it to the EPL due the quality of opposition.
“Scottish football has dropped off the radar an awful lot for English managers. Players such as Steven Naismith who has come down and done really well at Everton there are lots of others who have come down and done very well but it’s a bigger gamble now.
“The centre-half at Celtic van Dijk has English clubs looking at him just now and he’s a player that someone will look to make a move on at some stage. Who knows? He could come down and be a massive hit in England, you just don’t know.
“I’d like to see him get into the Dutch side and start playing for them, then you’d get to see him at a higher level again.
“It’s like the Championship players, you ask whether they could do it in the Premiership when they’ve been in the Championship.
“There’s a big gap, that’s why the three sides at the bottom of the Premiership were the sides who came up last season so it’s tough, it’s a big step. It’s always a gamble when a player moves from Scotland to go to the Premier League.”
Redknapp revels in is role as one of football’s great ‘wheeler n dealers’ perhaps if he had shown more interest in Joe Ledley, Forster, Victor Wanyama and Robertson QPR wouldn’t be in their current mess.
