Hasselbaink tried to make me like Henry
SAYS MATT PHILLIPS
THE last guy who pushed Matt Phillips into a striker’s role was a famous Dutchman with a penchant for off-the-cuff brilliance and spectacular feats of scoring.
Should the West Brom winger make the most of being handed the Scotland No9 jersey at Pittodrie tomorrow night, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink may have cause to regret the trainingground time invested in trying to ‘do a Thierry Henry’ on a young and gifted Phillips.
There isn’t a manager in the world who hasn’t at some point imagined themselves carrying out the kind of transformation effected by Arsene Wenger on that young French wide man (below), who hadn’t quite made the grade at Juventus.
So it could hardly have come as a huge surprise to Phillips when Scotland interim head coach Malky Mackay cornered him to discuss a cunning plan for this friendly against Holland.
‘We had a brief chat,’ confirmed the 26-year-old former England youth international, who is in line to start in his ninth appearance for Scotland.
‘I’ve played there on a few occasions before but never regularly. I’ve always been a wide man. But I’m delighted to play anywhere along the frontline.
‘It’s nice to be in the reckoning to start the game. That’s massive. Anywhere up front I’m happy and I’ll give my all.
‘I played a few games up front for QPR under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and also Neil Warnock. Jimmy definitely still had the ability in training, I can tell you that much!
‘He taught me to be a bit more off the cuff. He didn’t tell me so much what I had to do.
‘He liked the fact I naturally liked to run in behind and I was quick. That meant a ball over the top was always an option.
‘Even when I’m out wide I can be good with my back towards the goal. I’m still learning and improving, so this would be another chance for me to do that.
‘Playing up front would be another learning experience. If I can add it to my armoury it would be something extra and nice to have. I’ve got the size and like to run in behind — like I say, I do that from wide positions anyway.
‘I’d just need to learn from the manager what he’d like me to do in that position. I’m delighted to be in his thoughts for Holland.’
Phillips laughed when the Henry example was raised, although he conceded the point about coaches and their desire to find potential strikers looking to shake the chalk from their boots.
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ he said, adding: ‘If I can add things to my game, it gives you all sorts of advantages.
‘I’ve not scored yet for Scotland — and it’s something I’m looking to do.’ Although he picked up his first couple of caps under Craig Levein way back in 2012, Phillips spent five years on the sidelines before re-emerging as a Gordon Strachan favourite during the failed World Cup qualifying campaign just completed. An instant hit among fans quickly won over by his pace and strength, the athletic forward — one of those guys whose combined transfer fees have already smashed through the £10million mark with something to spare — could have been forgiven for taking a breather from the international scene. Yet Phillips, who qualifies for Scotland through his grandparents, didn’t even think about skipping an almost meaningless friendly. ‘I definitely didn’t want to be left out,’ he said. ‘There has been a change of manager, but this is a chance to start building for the new campaign. ‘There will be more friendlies and, whoever the manager is at the time, we all want to be involved. I want to stake my claim for the qualifiers. It was a huge blow not to get the result in Slovenia in the final qualifier. We all believed we could do it and win that last game. It was a huge disappointment. But now we have a chance to prepare for the Euros.
‘I thoroughly enjoyed being in it towards the end of the campaign.
‘Everyone responded really well to Gordon and gave of their best. We all gave 100 per cent for him.
‘There was definitely a bond (between Strachan and the players) and I feel it’s important for any team.
‘It’s not for us to decide who is going to be the manager. But everyone at the time I’ve been around the squad was pushing in the right direction and giving his all for that manager.’
Phillips hasn’t started a game for his Premier League club since the end of September, being forced to make do with the role of impact sub in the meantime.
If that’s bound to put him in something of a foul — but determined — humour, listening to a number of club-mates excitedly chatting about their part in this week’s World Cup play-offs hasn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs, either.
‘A few of the Northern Irish boys are involved, as well as James McClean with the Republic, so I wish them all the best,’ added Phillips.
‘It’s hard to watch them go. But it’s something for us to aim for. We came close in the World Cup and it shows that we made some positive strides to qualifying for the next tournament.’