Gordon Strachan says Celtic have been left to carry Scotland in Europe for ‘40 years’
Gordon Strachan has claimed Celtic have been left to “look after” Scotland’s UEFA coefficient for the past 40 years after another damaging season for the country’s clubs in Europe.
The former Hoops boss believes Celtic have received little help from their domestic rivals over the decades.
Scotland has been left with just two representatives in European competition this season.
Celtic dropped into the Europa League after surrendering a four-goal advantage against LASK in their Champions League play-off, while Hearts secured Conference League football after earlier exits from Champions League and Europa League qualifying.
Rangers, meanwhile, were eliminated by Jagiellonia Bialystok and Jablonec, while Motherwell and Hibs also failed to make it through Conference League qualifying.
Those results have further damaged Scotland’s coefficient, with the Premiership champions set to face three rounds of Champions League qualifying next season.
The league’s second and third-placed sides will enter the Conference League qualifiers, while the Scottish Cup winners will earn a place in Europa League qualifying.
Strachan believes the blame lies with Scotland’s clubs for failing to produce enough results on the continent.
“Basically, we’ve been asking Celtic to look after the co-efficient for the past 40 years!” He told Daily Record. “Nobody else has.
“If you look at the results previously, your Motherwell’s, Hearts, Hibs and St Johnstone’s, it’s been horrendous. Nobody is actually doing us a real good turn in Europe. That’s our fault for allowing Celtic to come down to this standard.
“It doesn’t help that sometimes, those teams get teams from Norway and Sweden who are in the middle of their seasons, and we’ve only played one game. It can be a problem for the Scottish teams at times.”
Strachan has also absolved the SPFL of blame, pointing to the decision to give Scottish clubs free weekends ahead of European qualifiers.
He added: “They have tried to help Scottish clubs, they even gave them a weekend off to prepare! It’s the Scottish Premiership that does that. They gave them an opportunity, so everyone took it. They have looked after them and are doing the right thing.
“The SFA can only charter the Scottish Cup and the national team, so they can’t even do too much about it. The Premiership is looking after everybody there. But for the co-efficient, it’s been a bad week, that’s for sure.”
