Douglas is following in famous footsteps
Leeds left-back’s career has echoes of Robertson as he closes in on big time
THE road map to glory is strikingly familiar. Rejection on account of his physique, rehabilitation at Queen’s Park, recognition at Dundee United, advanced development elsewhere before the challenge of restoring a veritable giant of the English game.
Unlike Andy Robertson, Barry Douglas is not in possession of a medal denoting his standing as a Champions League or Premier League winner.
Yet, by the close of play tomorrow, the 30-year-old’s own career story might well have its own golden denouement.
Top of the English Championship with three games to play, Leeds United need just four points to end their 16-year exile from the big time.
Were third-placed Brentford to slip up at home to Preston tonight, Marcelo Bielsa’s side could confirm promotion at home to Barnsley tomorrow.
If it comes to pass, the sense of relief and joy around Elland Road will be no less than that witnessed at Anfield last month when a 30-year wait for the title ended.
The sense of pride around Tannadice at the achievements of yet another old boy will be just as palpable.
For Paul Hegarty, one of the coaching staff during Douglas’ three seasons there from 2010, this latest tangerine-tinged story of triumph overcoming adversity should be retold and celebrated just as fervently as Robertson’s.
‘Barry left Livingston as a youngster because apparently they said he wasn’t tall enough to make it,’ Hegarty recalled.
‘He’s then got his career going at Queen’s Park (below) before signing for United. So the similarities with Andy Robertson’s story are just incredible.
‘Right away, we knew we had signed a lovely footballer who could defend, but also create and score goals with that left foot. He was terrific for three years with us. And looking at his career since, he has done excetionally well.
‘There were probably a few raised eyebrows when he decided to go to Lech Poznan.
‘He’d only have been 23 at the time which is fairly young, but it told you that he was a brave individual who believed in himself and enjoyed a challenge. ‘Every club he’s been at he’s had success. He won the (2015) league in Poland, the cup in Turkey (with Konyaspor in 2017) then got promotion with Wolves (in 2018). ‘He built himself a reputation in the English Championship which opened the door for him at Leeds. He’s now played for two of the biggest clubs in England.’ You can only assume that that early rejection emboldened Douglas in the same way that Robertson was made doubly determined to succeed after being released by Celtic. But while the latter alighted at Hull after Tannadice, Douglas embraced the chance of a left-field move to Poland. He had three years there and one in Turkey. His commitment to his footballing education was absolute. ‘To be honest, if you’d predicted he’d go on to do all that when he was at United, I wouldn’t have been so sure,’ Hegarty admitted. ‘But it all happened because he had the courage to test himself in environments that other players perhaps wouldn’t go to. He worked under different coaches and experienced different systems. It will certainly have opened his eyes.
‘Most players who are rejected as a teenager fade away. Like Robertson, he has had the gumption and the willpower to succeed.’ When Wolves won the Championship two years ago, Douglas’s five goals and 14 assists were the highest contribution for any left-back in the league.
If he would naturally have felt a little sore at the willingness of Nuno Espírito Santo to trade him after just one year, who could turn their nose up the chance to work with such an extraordinary figure like Bielsa?
Nicknamed ‘Loco Bielsa’ in Argentina, his quirky personality and often bizarre methods — including the infamous ‘murderball’ drill — have afforded him cult status throughout the world over three decades.
For a full-back, especially, to come under his spell, is something money cannot buy.
‘Demanding is a good word,’ Douglas recently said. ‘I’ve never experienced anything like it and I don’t think I ever will. He is unique in his own ways so it’s a learning curve for everyone.’
Hegarty’s estimation of the current Leeds manager is such that Douglas missing out on the Premiership to play under him was a price worth paying.
‘Defensively he has improved immensely,’ he offered. ‘As an attacking full-back there are probably two coaches in English football you would most like to play for — Jurgen Klopp and Marcelo Bielsa.’
The pain of missing out in the play-offs last year now fading, Leeds fans certainly wouldn’t swap the idiosyncratic Argentine for anyone.
Assuming this gilt-edged chance does not pass them by, it seems entirely fitting that Douglas and fellow Scot Liam Cooper are on board.
From the glory days of the 1960s and 1970s, through to the 1992 titlewinning side, Scots have been integral to the Yorkshire club’s proudest moments.
‘There’s always been a strong link,’ Hegarty recalled. ‘When I was a youngster at
Hamilton, we played them at Douglas Park because our manager Eric Smith had played with them. In those days they had Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Billy Bremner, Peter Lorimer, the Gray brothers (Frank and Eddie). There were maybe seven or eight Scottish players around that time.
‘There were loads of Scots at all the top clubs — Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal. It’s pleasing that we are beginning to see that pattern again.’
It’s certainly not inconceivable that Liverpool with Robertson (below left), Arsenal through Kieran Tierney, and Douglas could all be tearing up the leftflanks in the English Premier League next term. It would undoubtedly be a problem for Steve Clarke but one the Scotland manager would rather have than not.
‘It’s like waiting for ages on a bus and three coming along at once,’ Hegarty smiled. ‘They’re all top players. They’ve taken different roads to get to where they are now. But I take my hat off to them as they’ve all got there. It enhances Scotland’s strength and depth and should help Steve no end. ‘When you are playing against the best players in the country and in Europe, you are going to improve. If you don’t improve, you won’t play.’