A MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Mulgrew all set for Scots after getting lost on the road to his new club Wigan
IT was, ostensibly, a straightforward assignment. For Charlie Mulgrew to ensure he remained active on match day at club level and in the international reckoning, successfully navigating the road between Blackburn and Wigan was all that was required.
By the end of an unnecessarily fraught deadline day, the Scotland man’s paperwork had landed where it had to by the appointed hour. Just.
Rarely, though, have the 22 miles which separate two towns in northwest England felt like such an arduous journey.
‘It came as a shock,’ said the 33-year-old of the loan move. ‘I was sitting in Starbucks at three o’clock with Paul Caddis and I got a phone call about it.
‘It all just happened so quickly. Funnily enough, my battery ran out on the way to the training ground. So I never had a phone and I never had the postcode.
‘It was old school. I ended up asking a few people where the Wigan training ground is.
‘One sent me the wrong way but eventually three wee boys put me back on track. It was down a wee dirt road and it’s hard to find. The secretary was out on the road and flagged me in.
‘I ended up signing with a minute to go and it still wasn’t cleared until the next morning. It was a bit mental.’
It’s a good job, from Steve Clarke’s perspective, that those young boys who assisted Mulgrew happened to possess a greater
sense of direction than the veteran centre-half.
With Scott McKenna, Grant Hanley and John Souttar injured, those capable of playing in the position are something of an endangered species.
Deemed surplus to requirements by Tony Mowbray at Ewood Park, Mulgrew was perhaps just one more wrong turn away from collecting the kind of ring-rust which comes through inactivity.
Despite joining a side which is struggling at the wrong end of the Championship, his inclusion in Clarke’s squad for Russia and Belgium offered vindication of his decision.
‘I spoke to the manager (Tony Mowbray), we had a discussion and then that afternoon Wigan came in,’ he added.
‘It was accepted. I didn’t need to move house and there was no big upheaval. It’s a chance for me to go and play some football and help Wigan if I can.
‘Scotland is always on your mind but it happened that quick I never really had time to think about anything.
‘I’m good. I played the other day. I’ve still had three or four 90 minutes under my belt. In the space of a month, that’s all right. I feel fit and I feel ready.’
Despite the first two games of Clarke’s tenure going the way most anticipated — a win over Cyprus and a defeat to Belgium — Mulgrew was struck by the incoming manager’s forensic approach. Quite why Kilmarnock were able to punch so far above their weight for two years under him is no longer such a mystery.
‘It’s brilliant,’ he said. ‘It’s very organised — right from day one. It’s about everyone knowing their jobs. You’d be amazed in football how much that doesn’t happen and it’s off the cuff — but not here. It’s a proper game plan. That’s all we can ask. Then it’s up to us.’
This attention to every last defensive detail sounds reminiscent of Craig Brown and Walter Smith. Managers whose strong suits were delivering unlikely results largely through doggedness and diligence.
‘I never worked under those managers,’ said Mulgrew. ‘But they did get great results, so I assume that’s what they did well.
‘Every team has to be organised and then you let the flair players do their stuff.’
If Belgium seem to be eminently capable of picking just about any lock, then Russia at least appear to be the kind of nation Scotland have traditionally fared well against on home soil. Despite making the quarter-finals of the World Cup they hosted last year, the consensus was that Stanislav Cherchesov’s side overachieved.
What is beyond all debate is that the opening night catastrophe in Kazakhstan under Alex McLeish has left Scotland playing catch-up.
With just six games remaining, the only feasible way of making up the ground is by defeating at least one of Group I’s big beasts.
‘The games are massive,’ said Mulgrew. ‘It would be great to get results. I hope the fans turn out because we need all the help we can get.’
He will not need the help of satellite navigation to locate Russia’s biggest threat. Artem Dzyuba, their hulk-like skipper from Zenit, is likely to become reacquainted with Mulgrew on Friday.
Recalling home and away wins for Celtic against the then Spartak Moscow player in the 2012-13 Champions League, he would relish another physical battle.
‘‘A lot of international football is played along the ground and from the back but if that’s the way they play, we’ll have to deal with that,’ said Mulgrew.
‘He is a big tall striker and probably somebody who needs dealt with but I’m happy to do it if called upon.’