Harvey Barnes toying with the idea of accepting a call up to Scotland has been a huge focus in football media this week and talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan has voiced his opinion.
The controversial radio personality and former Crystal Palace owner, Simon Jordan has weighed in with his thoughts regarding players like Newcastle‘s Harvey Barnes switching their allegiance to another country as they feel they’ve got more chance of selection.
Speaking on talkSPORT (via The Chronicle) to former Ireland boss Martin O’Neill who said that Scotland should ‘take’ Barnes if he’s available, Jordon was quick to disagree.
Simon Jordan has strong views on switching allegiance
Given that Barnes has represented England, albeit in a friendly, Jordan believes he should stand by his decision. With Scotland on the verge of qualifying for Euro 2024 they’re a more attractive prospect but Jordan isn’t having it, saying: “That’s nice, but that’s nothing to do with him [Barnes]. I think once you’ve played for a country, you’ve picked your allegiance and that should be it.
“We’ve got a society where you get medals for participation if you go to school, kids can’t lose anymore. They have to have a medal for participation. You chose your country, be good enough to play for it.”
I absolutely get where Jordan is coming from. If you’ve represented a country at any level then surely you shouldn’t be allowed to switch at that point, but the fact of the matter is, they can and they do.
Maybe there is scope for a rule change in the future
So while I’d obviously prefer that Harvey Barnes plays for England and forces his way into that side, I’d have no real issue with him choosing Scotland if he thought it was a good move for him.
As things stand Steve Clarke has Barnes left the ball in Barnes’ court and hasn’t spoken to him in months anyway so in this case it’s almost moot point, but maybe there should be more rules around changing allegiance in the future.
Although let’s be honest, if there were a rule change, Simon Jordan would still find a problem with it.
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