Seriously though at it’s height the TV money even the old firm got amounted to no more than 2 or 3 million a season and more recently it was the short-sighted chairmen in the teams outside of the old-firm that meant we are left with Setanta and the piddling amounts they put back into the game.

For me the biggest problem has been the boards of Hearts, Hibs, Motherwell, both Dundee teams, Aberdeen and the rest who have not put there money where their mouth is and taken their clubs forward. We now are seeing it with Hearts but how are they doing it? by bringing in on loan nearly 20 players not even buying the players…and what are the Hearts fans saying, with them being some of the most vocal detractors of the old-firm? They are saying “bring it on we want more of the same.”

Critical positions like left midfield, right back and goalkeeper have been problems for England for years because of it. Who comes in if Neville is unfit? Luke Young? Who slots in for Robinson? Green? They must have capped every left sided player they possibly could in the last few years and look like they will plum for either Richardson or Downing - both good but certainly not great players.

A nation the size of England should have 2 or 3 for every position but instead they have half a team of real quality and another half of glamorised journeymen, in international terms at least.

The problem is the Premiership is so awash with cash, managers can virtually afford to assemble fantasy league sides because the players are desperate to come and earn the big money. Would you knock back Ballack on a free? Of course not, but if even the likes of Portsmouth can afford to bid ?9m for a player like Muntiari what chance does a youngster have?

At least a couple of decent prospects have landed up at Rangers in the form of Bardsley and Martin, and that might be something you see a lot more of ? young English players at big clubs moving North to get a game.

The money that’s floating around the English Premiership means that they won’t have to pursue youth policies like their Scottish counterparts for a few years yet but if the Sky TV bubble finally does burst or guys like Roman Abramovich get bored then they’ll have to find some way to compensate and maybe then we’ll see young British players getting a chance in the first teams at a higher level again.

You can really blame anything from games consoles to the fact that the streets aren?t as safe as they were for kids to play in but the point I was trying to make was that Scottish clubs used to bring through their own players then stopped as it became cheaper to bring in guys from overseas.

It also became necessary to have cheap, decent quality sooner rather than later in order to compete with an Old Firm who were spending massively beyond their means. As such, many clubs scrapped youth teams altogether.

I?m not having a go at foreigners ? it just simply became the norm in Scotland to bring a cheap, experienced player in rather than give a youngster a chance.

That?s changed now that clubs can?t even afford the cheap foreigners.

Most clubs are well in the process of reviving their youth policies with Hibs particularly noted for having brought through the likes of Derek Riordan, Gary O?Connor, Scott Brown, Kevin Thompson, Steven Whittaker and Gary Caldwell all at the same time. Most of these lads have been capped already and will go on to have big futures.

Alan made the point to me that fewer players going to England or abroad hasn?t helped either and that?s obviously a factor as well, but I still think the influx of foreign players in the 90?s was the main problem, coupled with a lull in the quality of Scottish players who were around at the time generally.

Rangers and Celtic brought them in to try and compete in Europe while everyone else brought them in as part of a desperate attempt to compete with the Old Firm

In Scotland since ‘81 or ‘82 you had local government refusing to pay teachers for there time. You have a football association who has resoundingly failed the youth football system in Scotland for over 30 years and is unaswerable to the fans. As long as we blame the influx of players as the sole reason for the games demise we will not be able to rebuild in my opinion.

Last season we saw a Rangers team which at times had as many as 6, 7 and even 8 Scottish players on the field I am as happy as anyone about that but they still have to be good enough to pull on the jersey. It will take time to get a youth system that works but at times I doubt if the interest is really there anymore….