A Horse called Juan Face wrote:I think some people need to go and look up the meaning of the word established. If Boyd is established in the Rangers team then why is he sitting on the bench nearly every week? Just because he HAS scored so many goals in the past doesn't make him established NOW. Burley was correct in his statement that Boyd is not playing regularly for Rangers, so why should he expect to be playing for Scotland? Players may have been playing for Scotland that weren't regulars at their club under Smith and McLeish but Burley wants to do things differently so what happened before has no real relevance. Boyd hasn't quit Rangers though, I wonder if that's because they pay him money to go on the piss? I also heard he's a bit of a fan of my Columbian mate Juan's secretions. I also reckon the vast majority of people getting on Iwelumo's back have seen him play about 30 minutes of football. OK, it was a shocking miss, but he didn't do it on purpose. As for Hitman's point about the leagues where Fletcher and Iwelumo are playing? I'm pretty sure Boyd only plays in the SPL too, unless I missed his big transfer to Harchester?
I agree entirely. Here's a good article from Sporting Life about Boyd:
BOYD DECISION SUMS UP ATTITUDE
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By Gareth Friel
George Burley has endured a torrid 10 months since taking over as Scotland boss from Alex McLeish in January.
Three friendly games without a win - against Croatia, Czech Republic and Northern Ireland - were followed by a 1-0 defeat to Macedonia in Scotland's opening World Cup qualifier.
And although that was followed four days later by a 2-1 win in Iceland, Saturday's 0-0 draw at home to Norway means it is extremely unlikely the Tartan Army will be making the long journey to South Africa in 2010.
The former Hearts and Southampton boss has been unlucky in many ways with injuries and suspensions - Stephen McManus, Alan Hutton, Barry Ferguson and Kenny Miller were all missing from the side which faced Norway.
And had Chris Iwelumo put away that chance on his international debut at Hampden we may have been hailing a masterstroke by Burley.
But such are the margins between success and failure at the top level that many are calling for his head after just three competitive games in charge.
And although the initial media reaction to Kris Boyd's refusal to play under him again will add to his woes in the short term, in the long run it won't unduly bother him.
Had I been in Burley's position on Saturday, I would have brought on Boyd before either Iwelumo or Steven Fletcher, in fact I'd have started with a 4-4-2 formation and would certainly not have played James McFadden as a lone striker, but that's another debate.
However, the reasons for Burley deciding to bring on Iwelumo and Fletcher ahead of the Rangers striker are easy to understand.
Both players can control, pass, hold the ball up and do all the basics better than Boyd, who is a fantastic goalscorer but has almost nothing else to his game.
Arguments rage on a weekly basis between Rangers fans - 'should Boyd play given that all he does is score goals?'...'Yes, goals are what win games'.
But when the goals dry up, as they have done recently, Boyd offers almost nothing.
He has scored only twice in open play in the SPL since the beginning of March and on that sort of form could possibly be regarded as lucky to have even made Burley's squad for Norway.
Iwelumo has eight goals this season for Wolves while Fletcher has impressed time and time again for the Under-21s so it's easy to see Burley's thinking.
So for Boyd to publically declare he will never play for Scotland under Burley again should mean he is never considered for the national team ever again regardless of who is boss.
After all Burley is only following every manager Boyd has had since leaving Kilmarnock. McLeish, Paul Le Guen and Walter Smith, whether at club or international level, have not trusted Boyd in the big games.
Under McLeish, the man who signed him for Rangers, Boyd netted seven goals in his first six games before being benched for home games against Celtic and Villarreal in the Champions League last-16 first leg.
And despite two goals in his next two league games he was again left out of the starting XI for the away leg in Spain.
Le Guen, despite the various media reports that he was unhappy with Boyd, actually started him in more 'big' games than not but did suggest on a number of occasions that the striker had to buck up his ideas if he was to star at the focal point of his 4-3-3 formation.
Under Smith, it has got worse for Boyd.
Last season, the 25-year-old was an unused substitue in 13 of Rangers' 17 European matches and didn't even take to the field in any of the four Old Firm meetings - a damning indictment.
But the argument goes that Rangers can afford to start with Boyd in SPL games against anyone but Celtic as he is almost guaranteed to get goals.
Even that's not quite true - Boyd has started just five away SPL games in over a year and Smith seems to be of the view that Boyd is a luxury he can only afford at Ibrox as long as the oppostion are not European or Celtic. The frustrating thing is Boyd still has an amazing goalscoring record.
He has seven goals in 15 caps for Scotland - James McFadden has 13 in 41 - and his average at club level of around one in two means he is the second-highest scorer since the SPL began in 1998-99, only behind Henrik Larsson.
That is why Rangers and Scotland fans become so infuriated over the issue.
Boyd is blessed with an incredible ability to be in the right place in the right time and has a natural prowess to put the ball in the back of the net that many top strikers in European football would be envious of.
But he appears to have shown almost no desire to improve his all-round game which could potentially turn him into a superstar.
Not one part of his game has developed since moving to Ibrox. His link-up play is still poor, he tends to give free-kicks away in any aerial challenge outside the box, he continually gifts the ball back to the opposition and more often than not looks unfit.
What a hard-working, intelligent forward like Kenny Miller or Dirk Kuyt would give for a fraction of Boyd's ability in front of goal.
At the age of 25, Boyd looks like he will waste what could be an outstanding career. It's no exaggerration to say if he really wanted to he could become one of the best strikers Scotland has ever produced.
Hard work and a willingness to learn could see him become a record scorer for both club and country and he doesn't even need to look far for inspiration.
His club team-mate Kirk Broadfoot was brought to Rangers from St Mirren in the summer of 2007 as a back-up centre-half but due to the sale of Alan Hutton was pitched in at right-back for much of the second half of last season.
Despite a shaky start, Broadfoot has gone on to start a UEFA Cup final, won two caps for Scotland and has become almost a cult-hero to fans who doubted him, much of it down to extra training sessions at Murray Park.
If Broadfoot can make the most of his ability in an unnatural position, surely Boyd can improve himself and become a decent all-round striker?
It seems he's not interested in doing so. It may have only been a fun interview on Soccer AM but it was telling to see Darren Fletcher describe Boyd as Scotland's worst trainer.
Since moving to Rangers, Boyd's game has not improved in any significant way and now instead of responding to being snubbed by Burley by knuckling down, scoring goals week in, week out and ensuring he cannot be overlooked next time, he's taken the easy, lazy way out.
When the much-ridiculed Filip Sebo started at Celtic Park in front of him or when Lee McCulloch, a midfielder, was preferred for the central striking role in last season's CIS Cup semi-final against Hearts, did Boyd throw the toys out of the pram and question Smith's judgement in public?
Of course he didn't because he knows he would be chased all way back to Ayrshire by the Rangers fans, not to mention Smith himself.
Sadly this decision just about sums up a player who will surely go down in history as another in the long line of Scottish players who failed to make the mostof his ability.
And he will only have himself to blame.
Every day of the week he trains alongside a man he has often been compared to in Ally McCoist. If Rangers' all-time goalscorer can't convince Boyd to get his act together, no-one will.
So while the media attention surrounding the 'retirement' may lead to a few uncomfortable days for Burley, Boyd's absence from the rest of the World Cup qualifying campaign will have no bearing on Scotland's fate.