He would probably have won more caps had the Rangers team between 1979 - 85 been more successful. We struggled during those years and don't forget that at various points our own manager (John Greig) would not give Davie an automatic starting berth.
Pretty much. A lot of the stuff with JG was said to be personal. When at the bankies a young Coop pretty much ripped JG a new one and he didn't like it.
During John Greigs reign Cooper wasnt always a first pick in the Rangers side, never mind Scotland.
I think the reason Cooper was not always an automatic starter under John Greig was obvious.
He had nowhere near the consistency levels we had come to expect of the wingers we had been used to during Greig's career, such as Henderson, Wilson, Johnston, McLean.
As brilliant as Cooper could be, it was a rarity.
Despite this,
Cooper still made more appearances under John Greig than any other Rangers player.
In 4 of the 5 full seasons that Greig was in charge, Cooper started in at least 40 games.
Only Bobby Russell (221) got more starts under Greig, but Cooper got 209 Starts, and 39 as a Sub.
As good as Cooper was late 70's/early 80's, he had little chance of displacing the consistent John Robertson in the Scotland side, who won two European Cups at Nottingham Forest, with Robertson scoring the winner in one Final, and laying on the winner in the other Final.
As decent as Scotland was 85-90, Davie Cooper was only twice on the winning side
(2-0 v Australia, 3-0 v Luxembourg) in the 15 Caps he won during that period.