His way or the high way works for McLeish
1. Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney partnership starting to click THE rain was lashing down last night, just as it was that fateful Saturday evening in November 2007 when Cristian Panucci benefited from a dodgy free-kick to extinguish Alex McLeish’s hopes of guiding Scotland to the European Championships.
Sporting a goatee beard, and perhaps a few more grey hairs, the illustrious former full-back took his place in the dug-out this time to see if his Albania side – clad in the same white jerseys Italy wore – could inflict further misery upon the Scotland manager.
This one isn’t done yet – there will be another helping of this Nations League match-up in Shkoder in November. But this was the night when big Eck started to wreak at least a little bit of revenge.
The weather might have been the same as 2007 but the vibe around Scotland right now was markedly different as Scotland prepared to make their UEFA Nations League debut.
Everything seemed possible back then, a heady mix of optimism and alcohol making Glasgow a febrile place as James McFadden and Barry Ferguson attempted to fire us back to a major finals.
While the intervening decade – none of which McLeish can be blamed for – has dampened the spirits of the Tartan Army, the early stages of the manager’s second coming hadn’t exactly set the heather alight either.
One win in five matches, with one goal scored, had set tongues wagging and McLeish duly got the victory in his first truly competitive game in order to nip this mood of despondency before it went any further. At one point in the second half, the Tartan Army appeared to be clearing their throats.
Having taken the brunt of the criticism after the 4-0 defeat to an admittedly world class Belgium side on Friday night, McLeish decided it would be his way or the high way.
Keeping Leigh Griffiths, Stuart Armstrong and James Forrest on his bench – there was no sign of Ryan Fraser on the bench either, presumably indicating an injury – this was a brave team selection, as he handed Kilmarnock’s Stephen O’Donnell a competitive debut at right wing back and went with Steven Naismith and Johnny Russell up front