SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke has admitted that he would expect Lennon Miller to flourish if the Motherwell captain moves abroad this summer – but stressed that continuing to play regular first team football is the most important thing for the midfielder’s development.
Miller, who was yesterday named in the 25-man national squad for the friendly internationals against Iceland and Liechtenstein next month, is set to depart Fir Park in the coming weeks.
The 18-year-old, who was last week named SFWA Young Player of the Year, has been tipped to follow his compatriots Che Adams, Josh Doig, Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour, Max Johnston, Scott McKenna and Scott McTominay to a club in a foreign country.
Former St Mirren and Chelsea full-back Clarke is certain the youngster would, like so many of his players in the past few seasons, improve further if he moved to continental Europe.
However, he just wants to see the uncapped kid continue to feature regularly in the seasons ahead.
Read more:
- Alistair Johnston on his wedding day nerves and a Celtic marriage made in heaven
- Alistair Johnston issues 'sluggish' Celtic with stark Scottish Cup final warning
- St Mirren captain Mark O'Hara makes European pledge after final day heartache
“I’m not sure what Lennon’s plans at,” he said. “He spoke at the Scottish Football Writers’ Association dinner on Sunday night when he picked up his award, which was well deserved, and he wasn’t giving too much away.
“Listen, I’m sure they’ve got offers on the table. I hope that that he, his family and his agent make the right choice for the player, for Lennon.
“But I hope that he goes somewhere he’s going to play, where he’s going to get minutes and develop in a similar manner to someone like Lewis, for example, who went abroad at the right time and has developed into a really good player.”
Asked if he could see Miller prospering like Ferguson has at Bologna if he was to go abroad, he said, “Yeah, I could see that. But I can also see he’s had a really good season for Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership. He’s shown he can play at that level as well.
“So whether he goes abroad, or whether he stays in this country, the most important thing for any young player is minutes on the pitch. And if he can get minutes on the pitch then he will improve.
“Lennon will know if he’s ready to go abroad. And his family will know if they’re prepared to let him move abroad. Maybe they’ll think he’s not ready and that will be a factor in the decision. But I think he’s a pretty level-headed boy. He’s pretty sensible so I’m sure he’ll make the right decision.”
He feels playing abroad has improved his charges as both footballers and people and believes his foreign legion enhance the Scotland squad when they meet up on international duty.
“They just bring a freshness,” he said. “They learn different ideas and different tactics. Serie A is a very disciplined league. If you watch the games, and I’ve watched a lot of Serie A this year, it’s very tactical.
“It’s very demanding and there aren’t too many mistakes. You aren’t allowed to make big mistakes. Games tend not to be end to end. So the players work with different coaches with different mentalities and they come back with different ideas. Hopefully that will make us better in the future.”
Read more:
- Scotland's ultras aren't working class heroes - too many are 'still f****** peasants'
- Why Lewis Ferguson's historic Coppa Italia success could extend his stay at Bologna
- 'Depressed' coach hoping Lewis Ferguson convinces managers to give Scots kids games
Napoli are one point ahead of Champions League finalists Inter Milan going into their final Serie A game at home to 14th placed Cagliari at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium this Friday night.
Clarke would love to see Gilmour and McTominay become the first Scottish players to become Italian league winners and feels it will help the national team in future if they do.
“I don’t want to jinx them by talking about what might happen next weekend,” he said. “But Scottish people are all of a sudden taking a great interest in Italian football.
“Scott and Billy are fighting for the Scudetto and Lewis has already got a bit of silverware and a nice medal around his neck. Hopefully the boys can finish it off next weekend. They will come into the camp in a really good mood if they do.”
Clarke continued, “We were obviously really disappointed for Lewis last season when he got such a serious injury. I watched him in the final the other night - and he tried his best to get another serious injury! But he is a warrior. He stuck a couple of plugs up his nose and got on with it.
“He has gone to Italy, his game has improved a lot, when we played away to Greece in March he was excellent in midfield. He is going to be a big part of the Scotland team going forward.”
