NOW NEVER IN BLUE GENES
Script so familiar as Mackay laments loss of pivotal positions that once defined us
ASCOTLAND head coach bemoaning a lack of quality in central defence and at centre-forward. Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.
Whatever else may have surprised Malky Mackay about his new temporary post, the SFA performance director hardly needs to be reminded of the talent shortage in positions still — however you choose to play the game — considered key by even the most arch football hipsters.
The really serious problem is that, within the academy system charged with producing the next generation, the very notion of being an old-fashioned stopper or a Joe Jordan-style No9 has been akin to expressing a fondness for lace-up leather balls and an amnesty on tackling from behind.
‘Where are our problems?’ asked Mackay, before answering his own question. ‘Centre-forward and centre-back. Bizarrely enough, right-back right now.
‘But if we think where have we had problems in the last few years, it’s finding centre-backs and centre-forwards.
‘Looking at the academy structure, for a long period, was it fashionable to not be a centreback or centre-forward?
‘It was fashionable to be something else, to the point that it is a swear word to want to be an old-fashioned centre-back.
‘Centre-forward is slightly different — people wanted to be a No10, didn’t they? No one wanted to be the guy up the top running the channels. There is an issue there.
‘What we have got to do is target the ones who we think have got the chance to become international footballers.
‘What have they got in their locker? Do we think they have got what it takes to become international footballers? Then try to nurture them.
‘There is a dearth of them. We have got Leigh Griffiths, who we know is a given at centre-forward.
‘But, after that, it is down to our talent ID department going forward to actually sit down with the manager, coaches and scouts — and say: “Okay, who do we have?”
‘You can’t buy one. It is clubs who have them. Clubs have got to play them. We have got to look at what is the best that is out there at centre-forward, who is Scottish. It is the way it is.’
Mackay’s observations yesterday were prompted by an off-hand remark suggesting that, with the withdrawal of Griffiths leaving Jason Cummings as the only out-and-out striker available to face Holland at Pittodrie on Thursday night, Mackay shouldn’t face any difficulty in selecting his No 9.
‘Well, it’s proving difficult in this country, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Because there is a dearth of fresh blood coming through, guys who have either played at international level — or we think are capable of going up to international level.
‘That’s certainly something that, as a country, we’re going to have to look at. We have to see where the next generation is coming through. And that’s why I’ve brought Jason Cummings in.’
Cummings being brought into the senior squad is no indication that he will start; it is understood that he’s more likely to see time from the bench. That there are places up for grabs, with the likes of Steven Fletcher and Steven Naismith drifting out of the picture, should be obvious. In this transitional period, the now traditional yearlong turnaround between the end of a failed campaign and the 90-minute optimism of the next actual qualifier, it’s natural to cast around for potential saviours.
In a variety of positions, Mackay insists he sees players capable of not only breaking into the national team set-up but going on to complete a half century of caps.
‘For the next campaign, I’m talking about it to the guys now,’ he said.
‘This is their audition for the next three or four friendlies, going into the Euro 2020 qualifiers starting next September.
‘Between this one, maybe two in March and one in June, there are four friendlies for the younger ones to kick on and become future internationals for the next couple of campaigns.
‘That’s where the players are going. And that’s what I spoke to the players about last night.
‘They’ve got to grab their chance over the next period, to show they can do it. Why not go and become someone who wins 50 caps for your country?
‘There are some I’ve seen already where I believe that is going to happen.
‘We’ve got to keep pushing as many as we can towards that path. I could have been doing with Leigh and Darren Fletcher. We need as many experienced players as we can get.
‘Someone asked me the other day why Scott Brown and Darren Fletcher were in my original squad. We need our best players. Darren and Scott are of that quality. And Leigh has that quality.’
Mackay is already a fan of Aberdeen centre-half Scott McKenna, one who most definitely deserves the ‘rugged’ tag so often used to damn a proper defender with faint praise; at 20, he has all the attributes to make it to the top.
The same is true, says the man with an overview of all the Scotland youth teams, of Rangers stopper Ross McCrorie. He sees a bright future. Eventually.
Determined not to disrupt the Scotland Under-21s in a week when they face two crucial European qualifiers, Mackay remains confident that there are players — Swansea striker Oli McBurnie is another singled out — ready to make the step up. But not this week.
Not in a squad already overflowing with fresh blood, eight uncapped players included.
Explaining his decision to stick with a small group and not call in replacements for Griffiths and Fletcher, Mackay said: ‘I think this is a time when less is more — the less being some of the ones who are desperate to win caps. There are certain players here who are pushing to become international footballers. Some are going to get a chance. ‘But it is not just going to be that everybody gets a game and that’s that. ‘It is about making sure that we have guys who we think can be Scotland players for this next campaign.’ Ah, of course. The next tilt at ending our lengthy absence from a major finals starts here. Another old favourite that you might, perhaps, have heard once or twice over the past couple of decades.