Why arent there many Americans playing in Scotland? Im sure we could make that league Top 10 in the world. Discuss
Scotland is part of the UK and the work permit requirements are the same in Scotland as they are in England, er go, very difficult for Americans to get. If the work permit rules ever loosened, I suspect you'd see far more US players in both Scotland and England.
Besides the huge difficulty of getting a work permit, then why would an American player with ambitions want to move to the Scottish league ?.. 1) unless your an experienced international moving to either Celtic or Rangers and are sure to be a regular, then the rest of the Scottish league teams are of rather poor quality that hardly ever reach further than a 1st or 2nd round in the Europa cups. The only reason the Scottish PL is in the top 10 on the UEFA ranking, is because the ranking very much favors leagues with only a few very good experienced teams that always qualify for the EC and collect points and therefore get the advantage of being seeded year after year, getting a better chance of collecting even more points against "small" opponents... 2) If your a young ambitious talent going to Europe to improve and benefit from youth development, then Scotland is probably one of the absolute worst places to go... The Scottish top club are known to buy foreign players rather than trying to develop own talents, so the chance of improving your skills and being scouted as a young talent and later signed by big club in Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Holland, is almost zerro... .
That's the problem, isn't it? You note we don't hear much about Scottish domination of the Ms. Universe now, do we?
I was just there a few months ago, and there was a bonnie lass everywhere you looked. Maybe I'm just not in the same league as those of you who date only the winner of the Ms. Universe contest. It all comes down to the work permit issues. Remember, the UK is afraid of competition from the Bobby Conveys of the world. Any of our regular national team players would only fit in at Rangers or Celtic, and that's only two teams. The developing players who would benefit from playing at say Hearts or Hibs, could not get the permit.
Of course, there are SOME beautiful woman everywhere. No doubt. However, the Scottish diet is one of the worst in the world, and in a country in which folks cover up so much (out of necessity)..well, the aggregate gets skewed down.. I'm a little prejudiced due to heavy Venezuelan exposure. Hard to beat it
But if I'm a 22 yr old College Grad that would go in the first round of MLS Draft, Scottish pay would probably be better than what I would get in MLS, especially if I was starting by the end of the season. Right?
Then you might make more money in scotland than MLS. But you would still have to live in Scotland. Thats a problem.
If your main ambition is $, then yes, you most likely get way more $ by playing in Scotland and ther will be scouts from the EPL to look for talents, but the chance of being picked up by big club in Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Holland, is almost zerro, since Scotland is known for their lack of youth development... .
But if I'm 20-22 then I'm not exactly a youth development player, I'm getting first team minutes because I have been developed through my club and college.
If your were European and only 20-22, you would surely still have very much to learn, and I bet it's even more so, if you are moving from college experience in America to top-flight soccer in Europe ... .
Bronckhorst is Dutch and played 5 or 6 years in the Dutch league before moving to Glasgow Rangers, then he moved to England before moving to Barcelona... Gattuso is Italian and came from Perugia only to make a very short stop at Glasgow Rangers, before moving back to Italy... Non of them were developed or discovered in Scotland... They were both well known before moving to Scotland in the first place. As I have written, then Scottish top club are known to buy foreign players rather than trying to develop own talents... .
Never knew. How do they utilize their reserve squads? Are they older players who just don't normally start?
True, but If I were to go play for Hearts in the SPL then I was impressive as a striker, then Celtic or Rangers would probably make an effort to buy me a la Nacho Novo. If I were a midfielder they would make an effort too a la Ian Murray. Or a defender, a la Marvin Andrews. PS. I know they didnt come from Hearts and I know that Rangers bought them all but I am too lazy to look up examples for Celtic and more for Rangers.