By STEVEN DONN

Published: 14:02 GMT, 19 March 2025 | Updated: 14:03 GMT, 19 March 2025

Well, the feel-good factor didn’t last very long, did it?

Last week, we had Steve Clarke’s squad announcement for this Thursday’s Nations League play-off with Greece and, to much surprise, the usually cautious Scotland head coach named two of our game’s brightest prospects in his group.

Two 18-year-olds, in fact, in Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller and James Wilson, the Hearts striker. It was a timely fillip for the Tartan Army and a sign that the boss of the national team was giving youth a chance to shine.

Yet, that positivity was punctured somewhat following the first round of media access this week. And it all felt rather unnecessary.

In the wake of his call-up, an excited Miller had proclaimed: ‘I’m obviously not going to go in and be the best player there, but I believe I could maybe, in a couple of months, be the best player there.’

It was a breath of fresh air to hear a young Scot speak in such a confident and upbeat manner. He was being ambitious — and there was not a hint of disrespect to his international colleagues. 

But before we could look forward to Clarke unleashing him at some stage against the Greeks, Miller was put firmly in his place.

Lennon Miller has caught the eye with his performances and he's still only 18 years old

Lennon Miller has caught the eye with his performances and he’s still only 18 years old

John Carver said Miller must 'learn' from his comments and that he needed 'guidance'

John Carver said Miller must ‘learn’ from his comments and that he needed ‘guidance’

First by John Carver, the assistant coach, who told the teenager he needed ‘a little bit of guidance’ and that he has ‘got to learn’ from such a ‘mistake’.

Just to ensure he got the message, midfielder John McGinn added: ‘He’s probably thinking — why did I say that? But I said plenty of stupid things when I was coming through at St Mirren.’

Of course, their words of caution were sugarcoated with praise and stories of their own follies of youth. But the headlines had already been written. 

Whether such a public put-down had been discussed beforehand remains to be seen. It seems heavy-handed to even suggest criticism of such a young player.

It would have been easy to speak about Miller without suggesting he had dared commit such a faux pas.

If he’d turned up at training in prima-donna mode, Clarke would have had a quiet word. There would have been no drama. 

Instead, there’s been a bit of a PR bungle, and the question remains: why did the Scotland camp let it become an issue at all?

:
It was a breath of fresh air to hear Lennon Miller speak so confidently about Scotland… so was it really necessary to call him out on it?



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