Strachan: All is not lost for us
By Graeme McGarry
SCOTLAND manager Gordon Strachan says that the prospect of playing at a half-empty Hampden won’t dent hopes of keeping their fading World Cup dream alive, insisting he can still inspire the country to get behind his team.
It is estimated that there will only be between 25,000 and 30,000 Tartan Army supporters inside the national stadium for the must-win enconter against Slovenia tonight, with the crowd set to be the lowest for a qualifier at Hampden since Craig Brown’s last match in charge in 2001, 36 qualifiers ago, when 23,228 turned up to see the Scots narrowly triumph over Latvia.
That comes hot on the heels of a paltry 9,150 fans turning out for Wednesday night’s dismal draw with Canada at Easter Road. But Strachan is positive that fan apathy won’t be an issue for his men as they walk out into the famous old stadium, and he has put the onus on to his players to motivate themselves for what is a critical encounter for their slim hopes of making it to Russia.
“Whether they’re fans in the stadium, players on the pitch, people watching at home, or people who can’t see the game, we’ll have five and a half million Scots wanting us to win tomorrow,” Strachan said. “That will inspire us. It doesn’t change how we play, whether people are in the stadium or out of it. You have to generate the atmosphere between you.
“You have to generate that winning spirit, that camaraderie between whoever’s there, whether it’s 50 supporters, no supporters, and it’s just you as a team. You get on with it.” Issue No. 2123
SCOTLAND sit secondbottom of their World Cup qualifying group with only minnows Malta beneath them. Swathes of the Tartan Army seem to have given up on their side reaching the finals in Russia in 2018, and the national team’s last match, the midweek friendly against Canada, attracted fewer than 10,000 punters as Scotland drew with a side ranked 117th in the world.
Manager Gordon Strachan insists he still feels privileged to be in charge of his country as he prepares for his 35th – and possibly last – match in charge. But the manager’s body language after the dour display against Canada on a miserable night in Edinburgh screamed out that there were many places he would rather have been, and his oft-used golfing analogies over this last week suggest he is already picturing himself out on the course. If the Scots can’t produce a victory at home to Slovenia this evening, that might very well be his next stop, but Strachan, while philosophical about that possibility, does not intend go without putting up a fight.
He said of a potential exit: “I’d still be the person I am but at this moment in time I’m the lucky one who gets to lead out a team. And I’m not just lucky to be in football. I’m 60 years old, fit and healthy. Training today was marvellous at Mar Hall. The sun was out, there were kids watching us. You think, ‘Wow! What a wonderful life’.
“I’m the one who’s got to make decisions. I’m good with that. The only thing that scares me is not getting three points. The only thing that matters to me is that three points. Everything else is not there for me. You might think that’s strange but it’s not.
“I’ve enjoyed myself working with these players but we’re going for these three points. I’m oblivious to anything after that. I love [the job]. Absolutely. If anyone comes to our training ground they’ll know that.”
Strachan has been unusually
The only thing that scares me is not getting three points. The only thing that matters is that three points
candid this week when addressing the must-win nature of tonight’s fixture, and there is a feeling that he knows anything other than a victory will spell not only the end of Scotland’s qualification hopes, but also the end of his tenure in the dugout.
He has been trying not to let the stark nature of the situation affect him though, as he explained when it was put to him that he could be picking his final Scotland team today. “I never really thought about that when I was picking my team now that you bring it up thanks,” he said dryly. “Am I going to be living next week? I hope so! I know what you’re saying, but I’ve never actually thought while I was picking it ‘aye, this could be the last one of these, so stuff it, I’ll put anybody in.”
In saying that, however, there was a suggestion from Strachan that the make-or-break nature of the fixture has freed him up in his thinking towards his team selection, with a more attacking bent and potentially a more youthful feel to his line-up than he has traditionally favoured. You might see something different in this game, he said: “Who’s feeling good about themselves, who’s enjoying every game? Sometimes people come along to internationals struggling with their game. It’s very hard to then go and play a big game.
“It’s like a golfer who’s qualified for the Masters but is struggling when he gets there and he’s playing the hardest course in the world. It’s not a great feeling. You have to be fit, because it’ll be a high-tempo game. They have to be adaptable because there’s a couple of ways they play – but you have to hope they change their way to deal with you.
“And that all comes down to who jumps the highest, who wants to run the quickest, who wants to control the game and who wants to be bravest on the ball. Whatever shape we’re playing, these four factors determine how the game will be decided.”
With that in mind, the prospect of a debut cap for Celtic’s Stuart Armstrong, who has embodied those qualities throughout a stellar season, may be a foregone conclusion.
“There’s two lads who have come in like that, they have both come in from and played central in a three now, with Tom Cairney and Stuart doing the very same thing, and their careers changed completely,” he said.
“It’s all very well moving their position, but then you have to take that opportunity. Is it good luck? It’s when preparation meets opportunity, and that’s what’s happened with Stuart.
“He was prepared and ready and fit for that move into midfield and he’s taken that,” Strachan said. “That’s not good luck, he’s taken that opportunity. I have no qualms about him, or anyone else I might play.”
Whateverhappenstonight, weshould know by the end of proceedings where Strachan’s future lies, and he is hoping to wake up on Monday morning not only with a future as the Scotland manager, but to witness the mood around the national side changed completely.
“Sometimes there’s a clarity to it when you face something like this,” he said. “There’s no, ‘if we get a draw, there’s this’ and it ends up a good draw. It has to be a win now and it changes everything completely. Whatever comes after that looks after itself, but a win changes the landscape.
“If you ask me what I’m concerned about, it’s not that it could be the last game or anything like that, it’s how you feel after a victory. That’s the magic of football, that glow you get from winning a game.”