Faddy has high hopes for Lewis – from his on-field talents to his post-match interview nous
you really have to explain things to them.
“You have to tell them to mix it up and not be predictable but he’s unpredictable and knows what he’s doing.
“He’s 21 so he’s not a baby. He has learned the hard way at St Mirren and got a deserved move to Celtic.
“I sat with him on the Glasgow-London flight and the same on the way back. I got on really well with him.
“It was good to get close to him and see what he can do. Nothing fazed him, he embraced the whole thing. When I was a player with Scotland I always knew training would be tough because it’s the best players available.
“The tempo is high, everyone is out to impress. The training was good over there and Lewis, among others, was really bright.
“He has an intelligence on and off the pitch that is admirable. I was even impressed listening to postmatch interviews last season. “He really knew what he was speaking about and wasn’t like a rabbit in the headlights. “I saw him close-up last season when I played against him and he’s an exciting player. “He can go either way, right foot or left, and I still don’t know what his strongest foot is. “First of all he has to force his way into the Celtic set-up but he certainly made an impression on the Scotland manager.” McFadden reckons Morgan was just one plus from a trip which caused controversy and heaped pressure on Stewart Regan just before he quit as SFA chief executive. The Scotland coach said: “There was a lot of negativity surrounding the trip and people unhappy about the logistics and the timing but for me it was positive.
“I saw a clip on Twitter saying it was a year to the day that Leigh Griffiths scored his two free-kicks against England.
“I understand players need rest but if we have qualifiers or a major tournament you would expect them to be available.
“The games were tough in the conditions – especially Mexico with the heat, humidity and altitude factor – but the players’ attitude was excellent.
“There was improvement in terms of the shape and some good performances from players who up until then might have struggled to get into our squad.
“It allowed us to see players we wouldn’t have seen before.”
James McFadden was speaking at the McDonald’s & Scottish FA Community Day in Musselburgh. For more information go to mcdonalds. co.uk/community
footballdays.
“That game was June 10 but we’ve been back for a week. I know some players needed a rest and that’s fine but we were back by the start of June.