When Ireland played Scotland in last November’s European Championship Qualifier at Celtic Park, much of the pre-match build-up was dominated by the potential presence of two Scottish-born players, James McCarthy and Aiden McGeady, in Martin O’Neill’s side.

Injury ultimately ruled McCarthy of contention for that clash, but both players are expected to feature against the country of their birth in a must-win encounter at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Speaking yesterday at a McDonald’s FAI Future Football Programme event, former Scottish manager Craig Brown felt that it was the duty of an international coach to explore every avenue available in terms of player recruitment, and for this reason he was envious of Jack Charlton when he was in charge of the Republic of Ireland.

“Big Jack Charlton used to use the rule to the best of his advantage. I used to envy him because he had a good network of contacts to find eligible players. If the player is eligible and good enough, then you have to pick him,” the Glasgow native remarked.

“We had players and people were asking, ‘Why is Matt Elliott playing forScotland’? ‘Why is Stuart McCall playing for Scotland’? If they are eligible, you are not doing your job if you don’t pick them, and Big Jack did that to perfection.”

However, Brown also stated that he was in favour of limiting the criteria by which players can qualify to play at international level, and would extend this particular rule to the backroom staff as well.

“I personally think the rule should be you are either born in Scotland or your parents are, not your grandparents. The other thing I think too, the staff should all be on the same criteria. England had [Fabio] Capello, Ireland had [Giovanni] Trapattoni.

“If I was making the Fifa laws, I would say ‘the manager’s eligibility has got to be the same as the players’. So is the doctor, so is the physio. Nobody should be allowed on the staff of a team unless they’re of the same eligibility as a player.”

In relation to McCarthy and McGeady (who qualify for Ireland through their grandparents), Brown would have preferred to see the Everton duo declaring for Scotland. Yet, he accepts that the ‘granny rule’ is the one available to teams, and citing the case of former West Ham footballer Don Hutchison, he knows that there are ways for these players to gain the approval of the fans.

“I would have wanted them to play for Scotland but the rules are the rules. Don Hutchison headed a winning goal against England for us, so he’s a Scotland hero. It certainly wasn’t Don himself born in Scotland, but that didn’t matter to theTartan Army boys.”

Although Brown, the last Scottish manager to qualify for a major international tournament — the 1998 World Cup in France, didn’t wish to pre-empt Martin O’Neill’s selection, he still offered his thoughts on the role that Robbie Keane might play in the game.

“I trust Martin O’Neill. The one thing if you were Scotland, the goals Keane’s scored and the games he played, you know you’ve got a problem.”

“Equally, if he comes off the bench, he is what I would call a ‘cheer’ substitution. I used to call [Ally] McCoist that. There were other guys who were boo substitutions. McCoist was a great guy to get the team lifted. I would imagine Robbie Keane is like that.”