How Dundee outscored Celtic in eyes of Steve Clarke and where rest of Premiership rank as one club handed a zero

Without further ado (while adopting James Alexander Gordon’s mellifluous tones as best as one can): Aberdeen 3 Rangers 2; Celtic 3 Dundee 6; Dundee United 3 Motherwell 3; Heart of Midlothian 6 Kilmarnock 6; Ross County 3 Hibernian 0. And last but not least, St Mirren 4 St Johnstone 5. These are of course the alternative results. It wasn’t the night when Scotland went goal crazy. It wasn’t the night when Dundee not only won at Parkhead for the first time in a generation, but also scored six times in the process.

Rather, these are the number of Scots who started for each team on an evening that lent itself to measuring these quantities. Unusually, all 12 Premiership teams were in action at the same time, with the only disparity being Aberdeen kicking off 15 minutes later than the rest when they hosted Rangers in front of the television cameras. 

Although there was much excitement afoot after Jimmy Thelin’s side reinforced their intent to stay level-pegging with Celtic at the top, such enthusiasm about a title race that doesn’t involve the same two teams perhaps helped conceal a less positive consideration.

It’s little wonder that Steve Clarke, the Scotland manager, was not present at any of the games. The match of the day - or indeed night - at Pittodrie, the one he might have been expected to attend, saw only five Scots playing from the start.

Dingwall would have proved an even less productive journey. Just three in total, all provided by the home side Ross County. On the face of it, Hibs are currently as poor at rearing players as they are in front of goal, drawing up big fat zeros on both counts in the Highlands (promising 18-year-old Rudi Molotnikov did come on in the second half). 

It is also incumbent to note that Australia international winger Martin Boyle, although not developed by the club, was most definitely born in Scotland. Still, that isn't much use to Clarke, since the player has since elected to play for Australia, understandably so. Boyle has flourished with the Socceroos.

The Scotland manager might argue that there's as much a case to be made for him heading to watch games in Italy. Serie A table toppers fielded two Scots from the start in Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour while recording a 2-0 win over AC Milan in the San Siro on Tuesday. There will likely be three Scots on the field when Napoli travel to face Torino on December 1, with Che Adams now leading the line for the hosts.

All of which brings us back to Scotland, the dearth of young talent and the fact Dundee manager Tony Docherty felt the need to make a point following the 2-0 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead. 

He noted that while the Dens Park side might have lost on the night, they are making headway in another, perhaps more profound and certainly more enduring department. Docherty had finished his press chores, or so it seemed, when he sat back down in his chair and asked if he might add something else. "I was really pleased to see three academy graduates playing in the middle of the pitch," he commented, with reference to Lyall Cameron, Josh Mulligan and Finlay Robertson. 

Cameron has just turned 22 while Mulligan and Robertson reach that age on the same day - 12 November - very shortly. Okay, it isn’t pushing the envelope to the extent of Barcelona, who last weekend thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 in the Bernabeu with six players aged 22 or younger. But it was, in terms of Scotland these days, still pretty impressive.

"For a football club like Dundee, that's what it's all about," stressed Docherty. "It's about developing young players and improving them."

It was a pertinent point. The trio had held their own in an area of the pitch where they were up against Arne Engels, the £11 million Belgian star, Paulo Bernardo and of course Luke McCowan, sold by Dundee to Celtic for just over £1 million on the last day of the most recent transfer window. That, too, is what a club like Dundee ought to be doing. Such successes will no doubt have been heavily emphasised within plans drawn up by the club’s community trust to create a new training hub on land near the River Tay. A Dundee City Council committee will consider the planning application in the coming days.

There is light. Motherwell fielded two Scottish teenagers in their win at Dundee United. One of them, Lennon Miller, also excelled against Celtic at the weekend. In total, though, just nine Scots aged 22 and under started six top-flight games in midweek, something SFA chief football officer Andy Gould and Chris Docherty, the SFA’s head of men’s elite strategy, no doubt noted. 

They authored a recent report which highlighted the lack of opportunity afforded players under the age of 21 in Scotland’s top-flight compared to other similar countries. It won’t improve overnight – as Wednesday evening has underlined – but Gould remarked that that he would like short-term steps in place by next season.

It will be fascinating to see what happens next. One top Scottish club has just posted losses of over £17 million in their recent accounts amid a dizzying churn of mostly moderate players. Hibs, meanwhile, will hardly be minded to hand youth a chance as they battle to lift themselves clear of the relegation zone. The same applies to Edinburgh rivals Hearts too, although they commendably turned to 17-year-old James Wilson in Sunday’s derby and reaped the benefit in the form of a late equaliser. New manager Neil Critchley also started 19-year-old full-back Adam Forrester against Kilmarnock in midweek.

As for Dundee, the test will be whether Docherty holds his nerve with regards his youngsters – six players aged 24 and under started against Celtic, four of them Scottish – as his side head the wrong way in the league table. Given the passion in his eyes on Wednesday night, one imagines he will.