If Stuart Findlay can become Scotland’s Giorgio Chiellini, it will expose Celtic’s mistake

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Stuart Findlay didn’t make a single Scottish Premiership apperance for Celtic before The Hoops released the Kilmarnock defender.

Sometimes a step back can prove to be a big step in the right direction. Just ask Stuart Findlay.

In the summer of 2016, and without a single first-team appearance under his belt, Celtic decided to release a player who had risen through the ranks at Parkhead and even captained their U17 side.

And like Aaron Hickey, Dylan McGeouch, Darnell Fisher and Jackson Irvine, Findlay didn’t look back. After a brief and rather uneventful spell at Newcastle United, the talented centre-back returned to Scotland with Kilmarnock and he continues to go from strength to strength.

These days, the 23-year-old is one of the most highly-rated defenders in the Premiership. He shone as Kilmarnock qualified for the Europa League last season and, with former Killie boss Steve Clarke now at the helm of the national team, a first ever Scotland cap seems closer than ever.

On Tuesday, Findlay was called up for the squad ahead of this month’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Russia and San Marino.

And Clarke’s replacement at Rugby Park, the charismatic Italian Angelo Alessio, is determined to shape Findlay’s future and take him to another level. Alessio has worked with some of the best defenders in world football during spells on the coaching staff of Juventus and Italy and there is one battle-scarred, uber-successful centre-back that he wants Findlay to take inspiration from.

Scotland’s Chiellini?

“(Findlay) is good but I want more. He is still young and he can improve,” Alessio told the Daily Record.

“The defender I am most proud of (working with) is Giorgio Chiellini. In training and in games he is always ready, he is tough and he is focused on the game every single second.

“He is a brilliant defender, a strong player who marks very tight. He doesn’t leave one centimetre for a striker to breathe. I don’t tell Stuart to watch videos of Chiellini. I just tell him to do it!”

35-year-old Chiellini has been one of the world’s greatest centre-backs for around a decade now, winning eight Serie A titles with Juventus while accumulating 103 caps for Italy.

In truth, Findlay will probably never reach the levels set by the 2006 World Cup winner but, with his strength in the air and excellent reading of the game, Scotland’s next best centre-back is starting to suggest that Celtic should have been a little more patient.