Back in the 1980s, the revolution at Rangers that saw Graeme Souness and co shake Scottish football to its core led to a number of England internationals plying their trade north of the border.
The likes of Terry Butcher, Trevor Steven and Gary Stevens may have been lured north by vast amounts of cash – this must feel like a lifetime ago to Rangers fans these days – but they were clearly confident that their transfers would not damage their respective international careers.
Back then Scottish football enjoyed a relatively decent reputation, with an international side that included renowned players, and which regularly qualified for the major tournaments. Nowadays, of course, the game in Scotland has diminished to such an extent that the notion of an English footballer with international aspirations moving to the Scottish Premiership is laughable.
This is understandable, although it leaves a problem for those who currently play in Scotland, but retain designs on attracting the attention of England boss Roy Hodgson.
The best such example here is that of Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster. For the past two seasons Forster has been an outstanding performer for Celtic, both domestically and within the higher echelons of the Champions League. On many occasions, boss Neil Lennon has acknowledged that his side punches above its weight on the European stage, and this has been aided in no small part by the brilliance of his goalkeeper.
Barcelona are among the sides who have found Forster’s goal to be almost impossible to breach, to the extent that the Catalan club has been credited with an interest in the Englishman as a potential replacement for the departing Victor Valdés next summer. Whether that particular transfer comes to fruition remains to be seen, but it is generally accepted that Forster will earn a big money move to another club sooner rather than later. (Benfica were touted as a possible suitor at the start of the season, although that deal has bitten the dust by all accounts).
Meanwhile, Forster has been called into recent England squads by Hodgson, although he has been unable to claim the gloves thus far from current number one Joe Hart.
By any stretch of the imagination, Hodgson’s preference for retaining Hart is a very questionable one. The Manchester City stopper has had a wretched season to date, and he wears the look of a man whose confidence is seriously low. Little wonder. Hart has made a number of errors already during this campaign, the most recent being his nonsensical dash outside his box which led to Chelsea’s late winner at Stamford Bridge at the weekend.
Hart cut a desolate figure as he trudged off the pitch after this, a man acutely aware that yet another mistake had cost his side dearly.
In the meantime, Forster’s imperious form was once again in evidence during Celtic’s 2-1 Champions League victory against Ajax last week. For all that Lennon would not wish to lose his goalkeeper, the Irishman has recently acknowledged that Celtic will not be able to resist the approach which appears increasingly inevitable.
What is not quite so certain, of course, is whether Forster can expect to get the nod from Hodgson any time soon. This begs the question – does Hart, by virtue of his playing in the English Premiership week after week (irrespective of the blunders) deserve to be ahead of Forster, who is not faced with the likes of Luiz Suárez, Robin Van Persie and co week in week out?
Any dispassionate observer would conclude that Forster is the best goalkeeper available to England right now by some distance, and therefore deserves to be selected for the next international match. That he produces his best form on the European stage should be more than enough to compensate for any reservations over the quality of opposition Forster faces in his domestic league.
For all that a negative opinion regarding the standard of striker operating in Scotland’s top division is understandable, this in itself does not detract from the fact Forster, not Hart, should be England’s number one right now.
When Forster does leave Celtic, we can be sure that his status will automatically rise in the eyes of many, perhaps including Hodgson. And for some of us at least, it will serve to remind how the Scottish game continues to suffer a prolonged malaise. The feeling persists that it will take more than the return of Rangers to their previous status to alter that situation.