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Featured Sport News

Scottish stars head to England

Author: Sir David Smith
Date: 23/07/2009

There has been plenty of movement between England's Premier League and the SPL this summer with a lot of faith being placed in Scottish talent by the likes of Owen Coyle, Roberto Martinez and Alex McLeish.

How those players fare is still up for debate, but a majority of Scottish imports have failed to make a significant impact in England in recent seasons.

Burnley have placed their attacking hopes on their new number nine, Steven Fletcher, who arrives from Hibernian. He joins fellow Scots Kevin McDonald and Graham Alexander at Turf Moor.

Hamilton Academical youngster James McCarthy has opted to sign for Wigan Athletic rather than Wolves, while Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has brought compatriot Barry Ferguson back to the Premier League for a second time.

He joins the likes of compatriots James McFadden and Garry O'Connor at St Andrew's.

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But will these members of the Tartan Army help these sides climb the Premier League ladder? They'll have to punch better than the past Premier League flops that came from north of the border.

And where better to start than Ferguson himself. Blackburn paid £7.5million for the one-time Rangers and Scotland captain, and he even went on to skipper Rovers as well.

Graeme Souness handed him the armband seemingly as an act of desperation in an attempt to help him fulfil his potential, because he never did.

A quiet couple of years in Lancashire firmly weakened his reputation, before he was forced to rekindle himself as a player back at Ibrox when he timidly took the escape route offered to him by his former club.

McFadden is another hit-and-miss Scottish talent who will return to the Premier League this year with promoted Birmingham.

The scorer of Scotland's brilliant winning goal in the infamous Euro 2008 qualifying victory over France in Paris, it has been obvious for several years that the play-maker has been blessed with natural talent.

But in England's top-flight, McFadden struggled to show it on a regular basis. A bit-part player at Everton, McFadden never became Scotland's next big thing. Another 'must do better' player to emerge from the Scottish youth system.

Sadly for Scottish football fans, there has been very little in the way of memorable talent to hail from the SPL in recent years.

It's up to McCarthy and Fletcher to prove that Scotland are still providing good players which can compete in what is regarded as the strongest league in the world.

But for the clubs which are among the sportsbook favourites to suffer the drop to the Championship, it's certainly a big gamble as they seek Premier League stars.

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