SCOTLAND U19 COACH Ricky Sbragia has come under fire after dropping Real Madrid youngster Jack Harper from the squad.
The 17-year-old player, who is part of Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid B team, was born in Spain, but has a Scottish background.
Speaking to reporters, former Sunderland boss Sbragia said:
“We’ve deliberately got more height in our squad. That’s one of the reasons why Jack isn’t in,” he said.
“I’ve gone for a physical side and runners. Hopefully I’m right.
“Unfortunately, I don’t see enough of him in action. The last time he was with us, he did okay, but I wanted a little more impact. At Real Madrid he can float all over the place, which he does, but with us, he has to be more disciplined.”
However, some people are not happy, with several fans criticising the decision, while Scottish-born Spanish football expert Graham Hunter was also among those to criticise the decision, saying:
“Personally, having seen how Jack plays, understanding his will to play for Scotland, and having suffered too long without Scotland having sufficient high quality players in our playing pool I think this is a retrograde step, almost impossible to understand and extremely disappointing.”
Reports that Spain are keen on persuading the player to switch allegiances has added to the levels of concern, though former Scotland coach Craig Brown has defended Sbragia’s controversial decision in an interview with Sky Sports News.
“He might never play for Real Madrid or he might be a world star but the point I’m trying to make is that the name of the club tends to hypnotise people and think that if you’re a Real Madrid signing you must be a better player than the Scottish players who are playing for Scottish clubs. Now, that is not necessarily the case.
“We hope in years to come it will be and he’ll turn out to be a very good Scotland player, but we’ve got to respect the coach’s decision to leave him out of the team at the moment.”
