Darren Fletcher has paid an incredible compliment to Brendan Rodgers.
The West Brom midfielder captained Scotland against Slovenia on Sunday night with the absence of the Celtic connection proving fatal to Scotland’s World Cup hopes.
Figuring out the highs and lows within the latest qualifying campaign throws up the influence of Celtic on Scotland’s form.
With six Celts involved Scotland’s form picked up with Fletcher not afraid to make the obvious connection that Rodgers had as big an impact on Scotland as Gordon Strachan.
“To me Brendan has been amazing for Scottish football because he has been a massive help to the national team,” the West Brom midfielder told the Evening Times.
“The last Scotland squad we had six players in here for Celtic who are all used to playing with one another, who are all used to pressure games and having to win but more than just that – every one of them has improved since he arrived at Celtic.
“As a manager of an international team, you only have brief periods of time to work with players and get on the training ground. Having players that know one another and who have clearly been coached in such a way that they have kicked on, only helps us as a nation.
“It has been a big part of Scotland’s development. Stuart Armstrong has come on leaps and bounds, Scott Brown has always been a fantastic player but he is another whom I think took his game up another level under Brendan, and Craig [Gordon], Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney and especially Leigh [Griffiths] have all shown a massive difference in their game.
“The improvement has been there for everyone to see and while that has been great for Celtic it has also been great for Scotland and I think it is important that element is not overlooked.”
Strachan’s future as international manager is in doubt although Stewart Regan is in no rush to make a decision.
Some fantasists have suggested that Rodgers is a potential Scotland manager but as non-starters go that one can be dismissed for dozens of reasons.
The Celtic boss will be gathering his players back from international duty over the next couple of days and preparing for a highly intensive run of fixtures until the end of October.
A League Cup semi final, two matches against Bayern Munich and trip to Pittodrie will keep Rodgers more busy than any international manager although Scotland’s KO creates a welcome fortnight breather at the start of November.
