MARK McGhee believes the current transfer window is providing evidence that Scottish footballers have regained credibility in the eyes of English clubs.
The Motherwell manager was a first-hand witness to the widespread disdain of the SPL which existed among his colleagues when he worked in England before taking charge at Fir Park in 2007. According to McGhee, the dramatic decline of the international
team under Berti Vogts, alongside the scarcity of native talent in the first teams at Celtic and Rangers, provoked many English managers to write off Scotland as a potential source of new players.
But a clutch of scouts from English clubs will be in attendance at Fir Park for the rescheduled SPL fixture between Motherwell and Hearts tonight, lending weight to McGhee's view that an improved standard of players in Scotland's top flight is being recognised.
"There was a time when people didn't take the SPL seriously enough to really consider looking at players here," said McGhee. "They looked at the national team, who were performing poorly, and saw Celtic and Rangers full of foreign players. Therefore they didn't take Scottish players seriously enough.
"When I was in England, I think there was a bit of a bias against Scottish players. That has definitely changed, though, and people there are starting to think there are maybe one or two players up here worthy of attention."
The Hearts duo of Christophe Berra and Andrew Driver are among several SPL players who have been linked with a move south this month. While it remains to be seen how much of the window shopping sees transactions being completed, McGhee believes the Tynecastle pair would thrive in English football.
"Berra and Driver are very good players, that's why they are getting the attention they are getting at the moment," said McGhee. "They are among a number of players in Scotland who could realistically go and play at a good level in England."
Of McGhee's own squad, Chris Porter is attracting most speculation but the Fir Park manager is bemused his strike partner David Clarkson appears to be off the radar of other clubs.
"I'm not surprised there is interest in Porter," he said, "but it worries me a bit about Clarkson. He is a really good player, a Scotland international, and there are a few like that in Scotland who people maybe aren't looking at closely enough."
McGhee has confirmed his interest in signing the Inverness Caledonian Thistle midfielder Don Cowie, who is out of contract at the end of the season, but efforts to engineer a swap deal were rebuffed by the Highland club's manager Craig Brewster. "At the moment, it appears Craig is not interested in letting him go," said McGhee. "I'm surprised he has mentioned it, maybe he is trying to generate a market for Cowie by declaring we are interested. But he said to me on Monday that he wasn't particularly interested in swapping him. A pre-contract move is possible."
Motherwell hope to continue their recent mini-revival tonight against a Hearts side 11 points above them in the table. McGhee still believes European qualification is within his team's reach, but admits a victory is imperative to their hopes of overhauling Csaba Laszlo's men.
"If we want to catch Hearts, we need to beat them," he said.
