WONDER WOMEN CAN INSPIRE US!
McLeish says Kerr’s trailblazers have set a benchmark
ALEX McLEISH returned to the Scotland job with the goal of leading the national team to the Holy Grail of a major finals. On Tuesday, he was beaten to the punch by Shelley Kerr.
When her Scottish women sealed their place in the World Cup finals — courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Albania — it was hardly Amundsen pipping Scott in the race to the South Pole.
Yet as McLeish prepares to begin a long, complex Nations League campaign against the same opponents on Monday, the jubilation and optimism of our females remains absent from their male counterparts.
Watching the scenes from the Loro Borici Stadium, McLeish and his players felt inspired — and possibly even a little envious.
‘The ladies team have done the nation proud and it’s up to us to pick that up now,’ admitted Big Eck ahead of tonight’s Hampden warm-up with World Cup semi-finalists Belgium.
‘There were great scenes at the end in a stadium where I think we’ll be playing soon ourselves.
‘The boys know all about what they achieved and, inside, they are probably saying to themselves: “It would be great if we could do that...”
‘I think they all want to be part of something where we can finally get to a major finals.
‘We want to get to that point ourselves.
‘But we are really proud of what the ladies have done this week.
‘Shelley Kerr, all her staff and the girls have qualified for the World Cup and I know Shelley well.
‘I have seen her on a few occasions at Oriam and Hampden and I know how hard she works. I’m really chuffed for her.’
Despite women’s football being a fast-growing participation sport in Scotland, crowds remain sparse and cash thin on the ground.
McLeish took in the women’s 3-0 qualification victory against Poland in Paisley in April and enjoyed the experience.
‘It was good to see the organisation and to see (former Scotland rugby international) John Beattie’s daughter (Jennifer) heading the ball 50 yards up the pitch.
‘I thought: “That’s brilliant...” Watching it live was terrific. Sometimes when it’s on telly, you look and say: “The women are on. I’m not going to watch it...”.
‘I don’t mean Scotland’s women — if they’re on I always watch it.
‘But if there is another game on Sky or wherever, I’m less inclined to watch.
‘Watching it live was more like being a punter.
‘I admire what they do and I admire what Shelley has done with the team.
‘We have to give her fantastic credit for that and to the girls in the squad for doing it.’
A sexist attitude towards the women’s game remains rife in Scotland, but it is the air of defeatism around the men’s national team which is more concerning to McLeish.
As a warm-up for playing Albania on Monday, Belgium at Hampden tonight is a bold and risky choice. A team who were a whisker away from reaching the World Cup final just a couple of months ago, there is a case for Scotland playing a stronger starting XI against the Red Devils than in next week’s competitive action.
The Belgians, who Mark Wotte was keen to copy during his time as SFA performance director, are now second in the FIFA rankings behind world champions France. Their rise from the deeply unsatisfactory experience of hosting Euro 2000 with Holland has been masterminded by former technical director Michel Sablon.
As part of Sablon’s blueprint, players were told that winning at all costs was overrated. The Belgian FA urged five-against-five games at youth levels, seven-against-seven for older kids and a delayed introduction to full-size pitches.
Young players with potential were moved up to the next level as quickly as possible, even when it meant weakening the nation’s chances of qualifying for major tournaments.
McLeish saw the system at close hand during a spell managing Genk and admires what the Belgians achieved.
‘Genk’s training academy is fantastic, they have got loads of pitches — enough to host all the teams,’ he said.
‘A coach came over from England and asked if he could get access as he was doing his badges or something.
‘He asked if he could see the training academy, so we invited him to the first team and the academy.
‘We watched different teams, from the under-nines to Under-11s, all the way through.
‘I asked him what he thought of it compared to the English academies, not so much the
organisation but looking at the style of play and the level of play. ‘He said it was much better than England — tremendous.’ Better, certainly, than anything the SFA can afford to establish. With that in mind, McLeish believes the Scots have to find their own way. ‘I still believe in that. I think it’s a mix of silky football and also the determination aspect,’ he said. ‘The never-say-die Andy Robertson scenario where he finally made the grade.’ Robertson and Celtic’s Kieran Tierney will form the basis of a new national team after the departure of old stagers like Scott Brown. Steven Naismith and Robert Snodgrass provide continuity but McLeish can hear a new group of senior players finding their voice. ‘Yes, Tierney is there,’ said the Scotland boss. ‘Callum McGregor... I don’t know what he’s like with the banter with his team-mates, he seems quite a quiet lad, but I will tell you what, he is a very intelligent guy in terms of his positioning on the pitch and I know he has learned a lot from Brendan Rodgers.
‘He has a very intelligent brain. There are others in the team — Ryan Jack has just come in and he has fitted in like a glove. Everyone looks well in training. There are boys coming through definitely that we can look to in the future.’
Robertson and Tierney — arguably the two best players — share the same position at club level and that requires some improvisation.
McLeish plans to play 3-5-2 with the Celtic player on the left of a back three and the Liverpool full-back playing left wing-back.
‘But we’re not averse to changing it to four at any given moment,’ he said.
‘We’ll be looking at different players for the two games. In general, there will be players playing in both games.
‘We want to show a good performance level against Belgium, to show we have the legs to match them and the skills to hurt them going into the Nations League match which is competition time.’