Gordon: I could not be part of Ally’s army
GORDON SMITH bagged 27 goals for Rangers in his debut season which ended with Scotland going to the World Cup in Argentina – but he didn’t get a sniff of an international cap.
And he’s convinced it was due to a fallout with Scotland boss Ally MacLeod on the night he won his only Under-21 cap.
The bust-up arose because he claims the gaffer didn’t even know what position he played.
Smith said: “I was a midfielder and I scored 27 goals that season.
“The midfield was strong at that time. We had Archie Gemmill, Bruce Rioch, Don Masson, Graeme Souness and the likes.
“I was a different type of midfield player, though. I was scoring goals and there was a lot of talk about me going to Argentina but I knew it wasn’t going to happen.
“I had fallen out with Ally MacLeod after getting called into an Under-21 squad to play Wales in the February and I was never chosen after that.
“Even before the fall-out, we got off on the wrong foot. He picked the team and told me I was up front.
“I asked him if he was sure he wanted me to play striker and he said, ‘of course I do, that’s where you play. You’ve scored 20 goals’.
“I said, ‘no, I’m a midfield player but okay, I’ll play striker’.
“We lost the game and had another fallout on the bus on the way home, so that was that.”
Smith revealed that later in his career he was playing so well for Brighton that he could have earned an ENGLAND cap if he’d been born south of the border.
He said: “Not playing for Scotland was a real regret for me at the time but I actually came to terms with it a few years later when I was at Brighton.
“I was at a dinner in London and was walking past a table when Ron Greenwood, the England manager, called me over.
“He said, “Gordon, just to let you know, I’m sorry you’re not English. If you were English, you’d be in my team’.”