Kris Boyd the pundit is outspoken and a man that likes to ruffle a few feathers. I don’t mind honesty when people voice their opinions but I do have one issue with Boyd being so vocal in the Scottish media.

The fact is that Kris is still a full time player with Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership. His views on other Scottish top flight sides and their players can be viewed as biased and some might say that he may have ulterior motives.

The Killie striker was on BBC radio last night and during a discussion about the Scottish national squad, Boyd picked out a few players and stated that they weren’t good enough for the senior set-up.

The players he decided to mention were all players that star in opposition sides in Scotland’s top flight. He basically ran down the league in which he plays in, receives a wage to perform in and which he’s now being paid by media outlets to cover.

To slate fellow pros like Graeme Shinnie, Ryan Jack and Kenny McLean the way he did was totally disrespectful to fellow players and to the Premiership as a whole.

Instead of these homegrown players playing in our domestic top flight, Boyd wanted to see players plying there trade in the English Championship. I’m not sure why people in our country seem to favour anyone and everyone who plays in England’s top two leagues instead of giving domestically based stars a chance at international level, especially in friendlies.

Plus wasn’t Kris a bit of a flop in the English Championship? If we decided to forget the Scottish top flight then we forget Boyd’s career or we would call him a failure?

Boyd made the point that these players might have been picked because the game’s venue is up at Pittodrie in Aberdeen. That might be true, as football is now a business and it would make sense to have players in which the local supporters (especially kids) can identify with, as it could lead to extra ticket sales.

Boyd was highly critical of Shinnie and McLean because they couldn’t contain the Celtic midfield in a recent fixture. Come on now Celtic have a great team and we can’t just judge players on one game against a team that’s full of confidence like the Hoops are at the moment. Plus it should be noted that veteran forward Boyd has won eighteen international caps, yet I can only recall him scoring once against Celtic. I also remember him being dropped repeatedly for the bigger club games.

Shinnie, McLean and Jack have played consistently well in the last few seasons as they’ve helped Aberdeen to successive runners-up finishes in last few seasons. They are very decent players. They might not be of international quality but you won’t know until they get their chance, they’ve deserved the chance to at least make a squad and to have a manager look at them. To say otherwise is foolish, in my opinion.

I also don’t think it was right for the BBC to get the view on our national team from a man who decided he wouldn’t play for them because he wasn’t keen on the manager. His thoughts on international football are very questionable.

Kris Boyd is a footballer who is thinking ahead. The thirty-four year old is clearly seeing a future as a pundit but at the moment he’s doing his club and his fellow professionals a disservice with this Chris Sutton tribute act.

The striker needs to concentrate on his own game, try and hit the net regularly and get Kilmarnock as far away from the relegation zone as possible.

Then when he decides to retire from playing, he can get on air and flap his gums again.

I don’t necessarily think that Boyd’s opinions are wrong, I just don’t think he should be spouting them while he still a player.

 

Posted on November 7th, 2017 by scott
Filed under: Article