RITCHIE WENT FROM A TEACHER’S PET TO THE DOGHOUSE... BUT THE NEWCASTLE MAN IS READY FOR HIS SECOND COMING
Newcastle man ready for second coming
THE clean slate provided by a change of Scotland manager and a new campaign could herald a most welcome second international coming from Matt Ritchie. For the rot had rather set in to the hitherto solid foundations on which his national team career were built.
A favourite of Gordon Strachan in the early days, reliable Ritchie scored three goals in eight caps after the Hampshire-born ex-Bournemouth winger’s conversion. Towards the end of the Strachan reign, the wide man was dispensable and undependable. The picture is a little hazy as to what came first.
Either way, Strachan overlooked Ritchie for the vital 1-0 win over Slovenia a year ago then used him only sparingly in September for the Lithuania-Malta double-header that kept the bandwagon spluttering along.
Ritchie, for his part, opted out of the Auld Enemy clash at Hampden by undergoing groin surgery and removed himself from the reckoning of the October showdowns with Slovakia and Slovenia just hours after a man-of-the-match display for Newcastle against Liverpool.
There was a feeling Ritchie had gone from one of the teacher’s pets to the doghouse, from the beginning to the unfortunate end of World Cup qualifying.
As a £12million cast-iron English top-flight performer and one of the high achievers in Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle team, Ritchie is a must selection for Alex McLeish when fit.
He earned his 16th cap from the start against Costa Rica and McLeish hopes he will be able to shrug off the latest groin niggle picked up on Friday night to jet out to Hungary tomorrow. He will be given ‘every chance’, according to McLeish.
However, before addressing a hope that he can now bring the peak years of his career to both club and country over the next few seasons, Ritchie offers an admission.
The 28-year-old was ‘managing’ his own physical well-being while Newcastle’s player of their promotion season last term — and it came at a cost for his Scotland ambitions.
He took himself out of the international firing line for fear of causing greater damage to an injury that had plagued him for many months.
Ritchie explained: ‘I didn’t feel completely forgotten (by Strachan) because it was me pulling out. It wasn’t that I wasn’t being picked. I was playing week in, week out for my club and doing well. It was more that I played with injections towards the end of last season to get through the pain barrier.
‘At the time, it was about promotion to the Premier League and whether I come away and risk getting injured. So I had to make decisions. Decisions to get treatment back at Newcastle, use that time to be ready for the next game at Newcastle.
‘But that wasn’t me choosing Newcastle over Scotland. It was more managing my body and not wanting to break down, basically. I’d played and struggled for probably around three or four months. I tailored my training and things like that to get through it. ‘I guess it could have cost me in terms of moving down the Scotland pecking order. I knew there were lads coming for every meet-up. They’d been in the fold. I hadn’t come through injury. So that was more than fair enough. It’s the manager’s decision and I respect that.’ Ritchie admits he had to remove emotion from the equation, never more so than last spring with the cold, calculated call to undergo the surgery that ruled him out of facing England in that colossal Hampden contest. Ritchie was booked in for a hernia operation straight after Newcastle secured an immediate return to the Premier League with a 4-1 defeat of Preston on April 24.
When asked if that represented a difficult decision with England looming, he said: ‘Of course it was. You want to be involved, playing in big games. It was tough.
‘And it’s one of those decisions where you have to take your heart out of it and think with your head a little bit. I got banned for the last two games and, as soon as that was confirmed, I was in for the op. It’s all good now. It was sore but I’m fully fit now and flying. So that’s in the past and, hopefully, the future can be more successful. It’s a clean slate. It’s going to be exciting.’
Famously, Ritchie had never set foot in Scotland until three years ago when Strachan recruited him through his Edinburgh-born father Alex. He then barely put a foot wrong with winning friendly goals against Qatar and Denmark, and a stunning strike against Poland in Euro 2016 qualifying.
Fully fit and flying for Newcastle, Ritchie is confident of recapturing that form for the nation.
‘I felt like I started really well with Scotland, scored a few goals, had an impact on the team,’ he said. ‘I didn’t come for a trip because of my groin. I sort of slipped down from there. It was frustrating.
‘I wanted to play but the manager picks the team. I didn’t play as much as I’d hoped to at the back end of the campaign. But I do have to thank the manager for bringing me into the fold.
‘It’s given me experiences and I’m hoping I can use them to help this team. I’m 28, I should be at my peak. I feel like I’m playing well and really enjoying my football. Hopefully, this is a good time in my career and the international stage can only help that.’
Ritchie’s higher profile and first-ever top-flight season with Bournemouth alerted bigger clubs, including one that suffered relegation. The hazard of dropping back down to the Championship was one well worth hurdling as he proved an instant hit, was embraced wholeheartedly by the Toon Army and inspired Benitez’s squad to a second tier title.
‘It was a risk to leave Bournemouth because we had this fantastic group of players, a real family club and I only lived half an hour down the road,’ said Ritchie.
‘It was a tough decision but something I wanted to do. To test myself and play in front of a big crowd. Newcastle is a massive club, coming out and playing in front of 52,000 week in, week out.
‘The fans have been fantastic with me since day one. I started quite well. It always helps with a few goals. It’s been a really successful period in my career, so I have no regrets.
‘Playing for Rafa Benitez has been a real learning curve. The attention to detail that we’re given is so good. He’s helped me as a player. Given me different ways of finding space and making different runs to help the team. I feel I’ve developed under him. For the first time, the other day in our friendly against Antwerp, I played No10 for a spell. I really enjoyed it.’
Coming in off either flank is where Ritchie feels more at home, however, and he has recently rediscovered his scoring touch to help United draw four points clear of the relegation zone.
A fine winner against Scott McTominay’s Manchester United and the third in a 3-0 success over Southampton saw Ritchie add goals to the excellent assist stats and tireless teamwork that make him such a home favourite.
‘With this manager in place, the club is going in the right direction and, hopefully, we can improve year by year, start finishing in the top ten,’ said Ritchie. ‘For now, the priority is safety — then we can build on that.
‘The Premier League is what you dream about as a kid. Every game is a cup final because if you drop points, you’re looking over your shoulder. If you win, it’s a great feeling of relief.
‘It’s so tight and so close. No one has really pulled away in the bottom half. There are a few teams beginning to creep away and get into the 40-point mark. I hope we can get there as soon as possible. There are a few games coming up that we’re looking at to target to get points from and we can go from there.’