The SFA’s mismanagement of Karamoko Dembele continued yesterday with the 13-year-old Celtic player an unused substitute as Scotland’s u-16 side beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in the Victory Shield.
The sight of Dembele lining up alongside team-mates a foot taller was too good to miss with that image helping to keep the story bubbling on.
Last week Dembele trained with the England u-15 squad and there wasn’t a word leaked out of the St George’s Training Complex. There was no pictures of Dembele wearing the three lions or of insiders talking up an incredible young talent.
With Scotland however it’s a different story with Stewart Regan doing what he is best at- being seen to do something over which he has no influence.
It could be another five years before Dembele gets to make his international decision but there are headlines to be grabbed before then.
Brian McLaughlin came through the youth ranks at Celtic in the early nineties and knows the dramas and risks involved in who makes it and who ends up on the scrapheap.
Rather than sidestep commenting on an unused substitute during an international he justified Dembele’s involvement when he could have been enjoying a game of football elsewhere.
“If we feel it’s beneficial to play him, he plays,” McLaughlin said. “He’ll become a better player just training with these boys.
“If we play someone or don’t play someone, we do it with the best interests of the young player – or the young boy because that’s all he is – in mind.
“You always think about dynamics – is it positive, not just for that young player but for everyone?
“I know the boy quite well so we made the decision it would be good for him, good for the other ones around him.
“We’ll have other ones who probably feel they should be here, but I know them as well and I know as we’re training here, they’ll be training just as hard to make sure they get in the next squad.”
How the 13-year-old compares his international experience between the two countries would make for interesting reading.