Hearts captain Steven Naismith has slaughtered the self-interest in Scottish football that he believes has English punters cringing.
The attacker, capped 51 times for Scotland, saw his side relegated from the Scottish Premiership due to the early curtailment of the league in the coronavirus pandemic.
The Jambos are now in an ongoing arbitration battle alongside Partick Thistle with the SPFL over the matter after league members rejected league reconstruction to save the two sides.
Before coming to Hearts Naismith played for Everton and Norwich City - and he reckons decisions like that render the Scottish game a "laughing stock" down south.
Naismith told The Scottish Sun : “It’s been the darkest time since I’ve taken an interest in football. It’s shown up a lot of bad practice.
“The whole thing is ludicrous and a scandal. The mentality of a lot of clubs in Scotland is self-interest.
"For the last ten years Scottish football has been getting lower and lower in quality.
“Scottish football is a laughing stock down there. Trying to explain what’s happening is like a comedy strip.
“It’s embarrassing and the way things are set up is ridiculous. You’ve got a structure that doesn’t work.
"It’s for the sake of people going to a board meeting, saying they’ve made changes and how good it is for the Scottish game. No it’s not."
Having played at the top level in both countries, Naismith is adamant that the Scottish and English leagues are incomparable.
And he echoed comments made by his former boss at international level, Gordon Strachan, by saying that the SPFL structure has too many clubs.
Naismith said: “We’ve got too many professional teams. There’s always this comparison between England and Scotland.
“There’s no comparison.
"We’re never going to be the same as the English leagues and have the same backing, so stop trying to compare.
“We need to build something that’s different, generates good quality young players coming through academies, which will give players’ better income and is competitive year on year."
