John Collins believes that promising kids in England get too much too young and lose their desire to succeed.
The former Celtic assistant spent the best years of his career with Monaco and watched his old side hand out a Champions League lesson to Manchester City.
Last weeks success was mainly achieved by kids that have came through the ranks across France with Monaco signing up the best prospects around the age of 17.
‘We pamper young players too much. I keep hearing the word ‘great’ and ‘brilliant’. You shouldn’t use those words’ – John Collins pic.twitter.com/ZA3NHVwzlJ
— BBC 5 live Sport (@5liveSport) March 20, 2017
Speaking to BBC 5 Live Collins said: “The most important part of a football club is it’s academy and it starts with having the correct coaches at a young age.
“You have to have great coaches at a young age and you have to reward them to keep them there. In France the coaches are very well paid and that helps everyone’s development.
“They have good football players. Technically gifted and usually well mannered and disciplined.
“Here I think that we pamper the young players too much and build them up too much.
“I keep hearing the words great and brilliant, I don’t want to hear great or brilliant because their not great or brilliant, they are developing. There’s plenty room for improvement.
“There are certain words that we can not keep using with young players. You can say you are good, you are doing well and there’s plenty of room for improvement.
“What they don’t get (in France) and what the English kids get is big pay packets before they’ve achieved, before they’ve got anywhere near the first team. That takes their hunger away, your Arsenal’s, Chelsea’s your Manchester United’s are paying young players too much money.
“They’ll say that if we don’t pay them the money, someone else will, we’ll lose them. That’s what they’ll always tell you.”
Collins came through the ranks at Hibs and had already broken into the Scotland squad when he joined Celtic for £1m in 1990.
He was at Celtic through the grimmest times, signing a new contract but left for Monaco in 1996 with Fergus McCann unhappy that the club were able to benefit from the Bosman ruling.
In 1998 he returned to Everton then moved onto France.
As a manager he won the 2007 League Cup for Hibs but his management career has been chequered with his last job assisting Ronny Deila for two seasons at Celtic.