Sir Kenny Dalglish has slammed Scotland players who have decided not to play for their country.
Writing in his column for the Sunday Post this week, Dalglish said that the actions of players like Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths “leaves me feeling cold”.
“Last month, we had the saga of Leigh Griffiths and his decision to withdraw from the national squad,” Dalglish said.
“Personally, I don’t get why you should be allowed to pick and choose when you play for your country. It leaves me feeling cold.
“Would any player asked to be left out if we were heading to the Euro Finals right now?
“But it seems to be the modern way now, and it is happening all over the world… However, the Scottish lads run the risk of being left out for good.
“If the players in the squad do the business, then there could be no way back for those who have opted out. I actually don’t like talking about the guys who are NOT involved. At this stage, they are irrelevant.”
OPINION
Plenty has been said about Griffiths and his decision to withdraw from the Scotland squad for the games against Israel and Portugal. He’s not in the current squad for the games against Albania and Israel either. He said he wanted to concentrate on his fitness but his withdrawal came after he was dropped for the previous game against Albania, something he called a “kick in the teeth”. Dalglish is right that players like Griffiths wouldn’t be pulling out if they were set to play a major tournament. And you either have to commit yourself to playing for your country or not. You shouldn’t be able to pick and choose what games you play based on how important you feel the fixtures are. However, clubs take priority for the players these days, that’s just the modern way. It might not sit well with some people but you can find plenty of players and pundits who support the players who decide not to play for their country.