Having more Scottish players at the "very highest
level" of European club football would help the
national team, says ex-Scotland manager Craig
Brown.
BBC Sport has analysed the changing composition of
British football.
The number of minutes played by Scots in the English
top-flight has gone up slightly to 3.22% over the last
five years, while the same figure in Scotland is
marginally down at 57.19%.
"We want as many Scots playing at the highest level as
possible," said Brown.
"That would be in the Champions League at club level."
Scotland internationals Scott Brown, Kris Commons,
James Forrest and Charlie Mulgrew are part of Celtic's
current Champions League campaign but Manchester
United's Darren Fletcher, currently recovering from a
lengthy illness, is the only other prominent Scot likely
to feature in the elite competition this season.
English representation in the Scottish Premiership has
risen from 10.4% to 16.41% since the 2007-08 season,
the campaign which preceded a European
Championship for which none of the home nations
qualified.
Scotland have not reached the finals of a major
tournament since the 1998 World Cup in France,
during Brown's reign.
In order to boost the fortunes of the national side, the
Scottish Football Association in 2011 appointed its first
performance director, Dutchman Mark Wotte.
The former Southampton manager has established
performance schools.
"We're starting at the bottom of the pyramid. We're
creating 400-500 very well-educated football players
but then the clubs have to put them in first-team
football and have to tweak the final part of their elite
player development.
"I'll only be pleased in 2020 when we see the result of
this performance project," said Wotte last year.
If recent trends are to continue, the higher salaries on
offer in England are likely to attract Scotland's better
prospects, with Johnny Russell - who moved from
Dundee United to Derby County this summer - one of
the most recent exports.
Some youngsters, including Russell's former Tangerines
team-mate David Goodwillie - who struggled at
Blackburn and has since gone back to Tannadice Park
on loan - have found first-team football hard to come
by and returned to their homeland.
"A lot of players have gone from Scotland too early, too
young," said Brown.
"They don't give themselves the chance to hit the really
top-notch level and then go.
"We want as many as possible to be playing first of all
in Scotland, and hopefully with more Scottish teams
playing at a good level in Europe.
"But if not [in Scotland, we want them to be] at the top
level in England."
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