A Concerning Look at Scotland’s Celtic Contingent

Four Scotland games.

Four games where not a single Celtic player actually stepped onto the pitch.

That should probably concern us a little bit.

When Sébastien Pocognoli announced his first Scotland squad, Celtic had two representatives in the senior group in Kieran Tierney and Colby Donovan. Donovan was rewarded with his first call-up after a strong start to the season, while Tierney remained one of the more experienced names in the squad.

Then Tierney withdrew through injury.

And Donovan?

He didn’t get on.

Not once.

Scotland went through Slovenia, Switzerland, North Macedonia and Slovenia again without a single Celtic player making an appearance. Donovan remained on the bench for the matches he was available for, while Tierney’s withdrawal meant our other senior international was never involved.

Now, before anyone starts screaming that this is some sort of anti-Celtic conspiracy, that’s obviously not the point.

Players have to earn their place.

Managers pick the team they believe gives them the best chance of winning.

But from a Celtic perspective, it’s still a pretty strange situation.

We are the biggest club in the country.

We have players who have been regular Scotland internationals for years.

We have a young defender who was considered good enough to receive his first senior call-up after breaking into our team.

And yet across an entire four-game international window, Celtic contributed absolutely nothing on the pitch.

That’s not something we should simply shrug our shoulders at.

Donovan’s situation is particularly interesting.

The 20-year-old had made enough of an impression during the opening weeks of the season to earn his first senior Scotland call-up. Celtic themselves highlighted the achievement, with Donovan saying how much he wanted the opportunity to represent his country.

Instead, he watched on.

And that isn’t necessarily a criticism of Donovan.

Far from it.

He’s still incredibly young and this was his first senior camp. There is plenty of time for him to establish himself internationally.

But it does raise a question about where Celtic’s Scottish contingent currently sits in the national-team picture.

For years, Celtic have supplied Scotland with players.

McStay.

McNamara.

McManus.

Brown.

Forrest.

McGregor.

Tierney.

The list goes on.

There has always been something satisfying about seeing Celtic players form a significant part of the Scotland team.

Now we’re looking at a Scotland squad where the Celtic representation is becoming increasingly thin.

And the four-game window has made that impossible to ignore.

It also comes at an interesting time for Celtic’s own squad.

We’re supposed to be developing Scottish players.

We’re supposed to be giving young players a pathway.

We’re supposed to be producing players capable of stepping up for club and country.

So when a 20-year-old Celtic defender receives his first Scotland call-up but can’t get onto the pitch during four matches, it should at least make us stop and think about the quality and depth of Scottish players currently coming through the club.

Again, this isn’t about demanding that Donovan should have played.

It’s about the bigger picture.

Because if Celtic are going to continue to be Scotland’s biggest club, we should want our players to be impossible for Scotland to ignore.

Not just included in squads.

Playing.

Starting.

Making themselves central to the national team.

And right now, the Celtic contingent doesn’t look particularly healthy.

There is still plenty of time for that to change.

Tierney can return.

Donovan can continue developing.

Other Scottish players can emerge.

But four Scotland games have just passed and Celtic didn’t have a single player on the pitch.

For a club of our size, that is a statistic worth paying attention to.

Because Celtic should be producing Scotland internationals.

We should be producing players Scotland can’t afford to leave on the bench.