Hanley inspired by going back to the future
THE Scotland squad was shown a video montage of the national team’s finest moments over the years after they gathered at their base just outside Edinburgh on Sunday evening.
Watching Joe Jordan’s diving header against Czechoslovakia in 1973, Ally McCoist’s piledriver against Switzerland in 1996 and James McFadden’s wonder goal against France in 2007 proved to be uplifting for the assembled players.
“I think that kind of motivational stuff works,” said Grant Hanley yesterday. “It does inspire you. For me personally, that type of thing is always good. Stuff like that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Everyone has to take it their own way, but I think the boys will take inspiration from it.”
Some highlights of the national team’s more recent exploits were included in the footage by new manager Alex McLeish, but they were, for obvious reasons, outnumbered by the grainy images of yesteryear.
Yet, Hanley, playing for Norwich City in the English Championship and back in the Scotland squad after putting a difficult season at Newcastle United firmly behind him, intends to change that in the months ahead.
“Hopefully I can get something on to the next one that’s put together,” he said.
There is a sense of optimism around the squad at the moment and hopes are high the bid to reach the Euro 2020 finals will end differently.
For Hanley, who lost his place during an unsuccessful Russia 2018 qualifying campaign after failing to hold down a first team place at St James’s Park, it is certainly a new beginning.
“This is definitely a chance for me to get back into the side,” he said. “Personally, I feel good at the moment because I’m back playing regularly again at club level. If you are playing for your club, you are obviously going to have a better chance of playing at international level.
“I was left out of the last squad, which I was gutted about. But I could totally understand why. Now I’m just glad to be back and it’s up to me to train well and show the manager what I can do.
“There are a lot of new faces. The squad is different with a new manager. It’s the start of the build up to a new campaign and we have to take it that way.
“We have these first couple of friendly games for everyone to get to know each other and for the new manager to put his ideas across. The boys are just excited to get started now.”
For Hanley, who has been involved in some capacity in the last four unsuccessful campaigns, the secret to halting Scotland’s slide is simple.
“Winning more games would be a good start,” he said. “We need to get that winning mentality, that’s important. You always know what you are going to get from Scotland, the boys are always going to try their hardest and show fight.
“It’s it’s a new campaign. It’s a great chance for us to try and get it right this time. There’s no magic spell, it’s not about just changing one thing which will suddenly make us start winning games. It’s up to the players.”