Forgotten duo are making up for lost time
Macleod and Fraser back on right path
FOR Lewis Macleod, the dizzying decline in his footballing fortunes has proven to be a depressing one. When the jewel in the Ibrox crown moved from Rangers to Brentford in December 2014, he was on the cusp of full Scotland recognition under Gordon Strachan.
However, a miserable, injuryplagued spell in London rendered him the forgotten man as he managed just eight minutes of first-team football in the 18 months that followed.
In his prolonged absence, other young men such as John McGinn, Kieran Tierney and Oliver Burke have all forced their way into Strachan’s plans for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.
After starting four matches for Brentford so far this season, fit-again Macleod is on the comeback trail. It continued yesterday as Ricky Sbragia recalled him to the Scotland Under-21 squad for Euro qualifiers against Macedonia at Tynecastle on September 2 and in Ukraine four days later.
Head coach Sbragia admitted he had to try to keep Macleod’s spirits up during his long return from injury, but he has backed the mentally-tough 22-year-old to be even stronger for his ordeal.
‘I’m pleased that Lewis Macleod is back after 18 months out,’ said Sbragia. ‘I’ve been keeping in touch with him once a month and he’s had low times.
‘I think, 18 months ago, he could have been knocking on the door of the Scotland ‘A’ squad.
‘As a manager, sometimes your thoughts aren’t with injured players because you have to focus on the fit guys when you have a game coming up.
‘But I kept in touch with Lewis and there were times I spoke to him and he was training well. Then, there were times when I spoke to him and he’d had a little injury.
‘Sometimes, going through that makes you strong mentally.
‘Lewis is bubbly, enthusiastic and he’s back playing extremely well for Brentford and looking fit.
‘He’s done extremely well to come through some harsh times. I just hope he comes through this weekend’s game okay (at home to Sheffield Wednesday).’
Another of Sbragia’s players who has endured a tough time in England is Ryan Fraser.
Just over 590 miles separate Pittodrie and Bournemouth, but the reaction to Fraser’s move from Aberdeen to England’s south coast in January 2013 was akin to him moving to another planet.
Nobody in their right mind, surely, would swap the club of the Gothenburg Greats for an outfit in sleepy Dorset, a county without a single motorway.
Fraser, it was said at the time, was a promising player now on the road to nowhere.
But, in fact, he had identified a club going places under its prodigious manager Eddie Howe, who had a long-term plan for the winger.
And although injuries beset a loan spell at Ipswich last term, Fraser took his bow in the Premier League for Bournemouth against West Ham United last weekend. It was a moment he proudly declared to be ‘the happiest of my life’. Sbragia is delighted the 22-year-old has been vindicated and tips him for the very top, even if he claims Fraser had no idea where exactly he was heading before he made his big move. ‘I think Ryan Fraser can go all the way in the game,’ said Sbragia, whose Under-21 side are, unfortunately, out of the running for the Euro finals in Poland next summer. ‘He made the big decision to leave Aberdeen a few years ago and he’s done well. ‘I don’t think he actually knew how far away Bournemouth was. I think he thought it was around London.
‘He did well at Ipswich last season and now he’s playing first-team football for Bournemouth. Hopefully, his injury problems are over and he can have a good season. It’s important Scotland has players in the English Premier League.’
Sbragia has also backed another leading name in his team to come through adversity. Ryan Gauld has cut an increasingly frustrated figure in Portugal since his £3million move to Sporting Lisbon from Dundee United in 2014. Last month, he was loaned to Vitoria Setubal, but has been occupying the bench at the Portuguese Primeira Liga side.
‘I’ve spoken to Ryan, but not too much,’ smiled Sbragia. ‘A lot of the young players don’t know how to use a phone.
‘They are always on social media, but they don’t want to phone you back when you leave a message.
‘I had a good talk with him and he felt it was the time to go on loan. And I think he was right.
‘It is a good chance for Ryan and I think he will eventually start games. They maybe want to introduce him slowly to a different style of football than he is used to at Sporting.’