Tomorrow’s friendly fixture between Scotland and Denmark is the first time Leeds have provided the Scotland central defender in 40 years. You’d be excused for thinking that there’d be a sense of pride from an ex-player with a nod to former club but, according to an article in the Scotsman, this is not the case with Gordon McQueen’s assessment of Liam Cooper.
In speaking to the Scotsman, McQueen is brutal in his assessment of why he finds the inclusion of Liam Cooper, Leeds United’s young central defender, something of a sad sign of the state of not only Scottish football but also the demise of the once-might Whites.
The blunt nature of Gordon McQueen’s no-nonsense approach to dealing with opposition cenre-forwards seems to have segued over to his views to the media, the former Scotland and Leeds United centreback being both scathing about the ease with which players can earn the honour of an international call-up and also how a Leeds player can find himself named in the national side. McQueen simply states, “It feels as if anybody can get a try-out with the national side in certain areas. Let’s be honest about this, Scotland and Leeds are not in good shape.”
Leeds signed Cooper from League One side Chesterfield in mid-2013 after the former Hull City youngster had put in a fine performance against the Whites in a preseason friendly. A fee, believed to be in the region of £600,000, was agreed between the two clubs and Cooper found himself a Leeds United player and at the centre of what was an oft-creaking defensive line
McQueen is adamant that the only reason Cooper is lucky enough to find himself capped at international level is due to a combination of two elements, player scarcity and a dual-squad approach to the friendlies – the former driving the latter. For McQueen, it’s simple how these two elements are related with the fomer Scotland great saying, “When two squads were picked for these two friendlies, that meant resources were spread pretty thinly. I don’t think we produce players for many positions any more, but I know the situation is really desperate at centre-back. When I was coming through they used to say that if you passed a tree a centre-back would fall out, now you look around and ask yourself: where are they?”
Whilst criticising Scotland’s approach in picking two separate squads and how it dilutes the availability of players, there can be very little doubt that McQueen feels that Liam Cooper is simply not good enough to deserve to stand beneath the fluttering Saltire as he earns a first cap for his national side.
