Former Arsenal player Ian Wright has launched a scathing attack on Scottish football bosses (Picture: ITV)
Ian Wright has been praised by football fans for accusing Scottish football bosses of ‘letting the country down’.
Steve Clarke’s side face an agonising wait to see whether they have enough points to make it through to the round of 32 following a bruising 3-0 defeat to Brazil last night.
Asked by Laura Woods what Scotland can do next, Wright said from the ITV studio: ‘When you look at Norway, a country the same size as Scotland, they’re averaging six or seven thousand in attendances on a weekly basis.
‘Scotland are averaging 16,000. But Norway have managed to secure a broadcast deal worth £25million more a year than Scotland’s.
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‘Obviously, they’ve got a better commercial operation than Scotland. But at the same time you look at Scotland and their raw materials.
‘You look at amazing attendances, talent, storylines, grassroots participation. Someone in Scotland is letting down this country on a massive scale.
“They are letting down this country on a massive scale”@IanWright0 looks at Scotland’s football vision and future moving forward… 🏴
‘People are very proud of them all over the world, but they’ve got to do more. There’s got to be a bolder, braver vision for Scottish football.’
Reacting to the former Arsenal player’s passionate speech, Scottish fans hailed the pundit for holding Scottish football chiefs to account.
Writing on X, one user called Callum claimed: ‘Ian Wright is spot on,’ while Steve similarly said: ‘Brilliant this by Ian Wright.’
Another user called Euan added: ‘Ian wright knows his business. One of my fav pundits. Not wrong. At. All.’
Meanwhile, Mick argued that ‘Scottish football fans deserve much more’.
Following last night’s loss, manager Clarke was visibly frustrated by his side’s performance as Vinícius Júnior scored twice and Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha added another.
Scotland’s World Cup chances hang in the balance after their 3-0 loss (Picture: Getty Images)
Steve Clarke’s side struggled against a far superior Brazil last night (Picture: Getty Images)
Speaking to an interviewer, the manager gave a series of brief answers before storming out saying he ‘doesn’t want to think’ about whether they can still qualify.
This came before former Scottish footballer and pundit Craig Burley claimed that World Cup progress for his country would only ‘continue the embarrassment’ as they ‘don’t really deserve’ to be there.
‘I have no problem with Scotland going out because, I’m sorry, I know this is the way the bracket works with the 48 teams but we’re just rewarding complete mediocrity here,’ Burley said on ESPN.
‘They don’t really deserve to go through, if we’re being honest, and I don’t think they will barring getting lucky.
‘If they do go through I just think it’s going to continue the sort of embarrassment of looking at what Scotland are and it’s kind of second rate, isn’t it?
‘They just don’t have the players. They’ve got a couple. But they just don’t have the players of yesteryear. World class players. Guys at the back like [Alan] Hansen and others who couldn’t even get a game at times. Who could pass the ball for fun, with anybody. They just don’t have that.’
