Former Hoops captain Gary Caldwell was inspired to throw his hat into the ring for the vacant Scotland job following a visit to Brendan Rodgers’ office.

Caldwell spent two days at Lennoxtown in December when he oversaw Celtic’s training and spent a bit of time picking Rodgers’ brains.

The 35-year-old is keen to take over from Gordon Strachan and believes the manner in which the Parkhead side have supplied the nucleus of the Scotland squad can aid the process of qualification for the 2020 European Championships.

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Whoever gets the Scotland job will have something of a hotline to Celtic Park given the volume of players who routinely swap the green-and-white of their day job for the dark blue of their country.

“At the beginning of December I was up at Celtic for the game against Anderlecht in the Champions League and ended up spending a few days at Lennoxtown,” said Caldwell. “Brendan [Rodgers] was brilliant with me. There was just so much to take in from the way he trains and how professional he is and it was great for me to go in and see that.

“As I said to Brendan, I actually felt that you could see the performance levels of Scotland go up with the improvement at Celtic. With so many players coming from Parkhead and into the national team, you could feel the rise in standard at one point.

“Essentially, that is what you are looking to do as an international manager. You want to replicate club form with the national team and if you have players looking to compete in the Champions League very year then that experience, as I know full well myself, definitely helps to prepare you for international football.

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“It is no coincidence that Spain done so well with a core of Barcelona players, that Germany did so well with many coming from Bayern Munich. That helps to forge a club mentality. But, certainly, being back at Celtic and chatting with Brendan gave me real lift again.”

And Caldwell, an inductee to Scotland’s Hall of Fame with 55 caps, believes that he has the necessary attributes to manage his country.

“If I didn’t make a difference I wouldn’t be going for it,” he said. “I think I understand the psychology of modern football. I understand the pressure of the players when you have gone so long and haven’t made it to a major international tournament.

“I also know the make-up of modern football and modern players. I am going for it because I feel that I have an awful lot to offer. As a player I did my level best to help Scotland to qualify for a tournament and never quite got there so it would be nice to try and have a crack at it as a manger, not that I think it would be easy.

“I also feel that this is a crucial period of transition for the country. I am young, I am energetic, I have a lot of ideas and I think we need to have a new approach.

“The late Gary Speed went into the job at Wales when he was still young. Ryan Giggs now is still relatively young. I think the landscape is changing.”