Knox hails Scottish progress

"There is a feel-good factor about Scottish football." That is the view of Archie Knox, the man charged with matching their run to the UEFA European Under-19 Championship final of last season.

Countless honours
Knox has won countless honours as right-hand man to Sir Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen FC and Manchester United FC and Walter Smith at Rangers FC. As well as assisting Smith as Scottish national coach - having held a similar role under Craig Brown - Knox took over in charge of the U21 and youth teams in July 2006, after Tommy Wilson and Archie Gemmill had led Scotland to second place in Poland, their best performance for more than two decades. Coupled with the senior team's defeat of Italy and the European progress of Celtic FC and Rangers, Knox knows 2006 was a great year.

Happy times
"There is a decent feel-good factor about Scottish football at the minute," Knox told uefa.com. "Rangers through in the UEFA Cup, Celtic in the [UEFA] Champions League for the first time, there are good signs, and a bit of optimism there. Hopefully the U19s and U17s in the Elite round can keep that going."

Attractive draw
Scotland's U17s meet Germany, the Republic of Ireland and Greece while the new U19 generation - who had the best record across all the qualifying round groups this autumn - are at home against two of the nations the Scots met in the finals group stage in Poland last summer, Portugal and Turkey, plus Georgia. Knox said: "It's a very attractive round for us. You have Portugal, and Turkey who won the U17s in 2005 and will have that team together for the U19 tournament. So it's a very tough group, but we have the opportunity of playing at home and there will be interest after what the team did last year."

Polish success
Knox was in Poland to watch Gemmill and Wilson's side in the final last year, and of that run he reflects: "I don't think they thought it was possible. I don't think they were looking along those lines, they were just delighted to have qualified [for the finals] ahead of France. But there was a belief in that team that took them all the way to the final."

World Cup
Gemmill and Wilson will be reunited with that squad when they coach them in this summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. "They're looking forward to it," Knox said. "[For the players to meet the likes of Brazil and Argentina] can only stand them in good stead for their future international careers." That team's success has inspired the new U19 selection. "There is a keenness for all the boys because they saw these guys last year and now going to the U20 championships, that's a bit of inspiration for them."

Chances
Another factor has helped young Scottish players, Knox believes - ironically the harsher financial climate faced recently by local clubs. "They don't have the money to spend like they do in England and to bring in foreign players," Knox said. "So young kids are getting an opportunity at an earlier age than they may have done ten years ago. If they're given the platform, it's up to them to improve their game and perform well. Hopefully we can keep a steady improvement."