It’s NOT the end of the world, no matter how bad it feels right now
SAYS ANDY ROBERTSON
ANDY ROBERTSON sensed despondency laced with an unhealthy dollop of fear as he entered the breakfast room at Scotland’s base in Riccione on Saturday morning.
The Scotland captain had flown to Italy the night before to reclaim possession of the captain’s armband he was forced to relinquish due to the dental surgery that forced him out of the horror show in Kazakhstan.
The Liverpool full-back couldn’t even clench his teeth as he watched the nightmare unfold on the television screen at his parents’ home on the outskirts of Glasgow, — but the lingering symptoms of his mouth abscess did not prevent him pitching up for the second leg of the opening Euro 2020 double-header in San Marino.
A hooded Robertson undertook his Friday night budget flight from Edinburgh to Bologna and the 25-year-old knew he would shoulder some responsibility for lifting morale after a 3-0 defeat that already has made qualification from Group I look the tallest of orders.
‘To be honest, the mood was low when I got here,’ admitted Robertson, who will win his 29th cap at the Serravalle Stadium this afternoon. ‘Walking in to breakfast, there were a few lads who were scared to smile. ‘But it’s not the end of the world,
no matter how bad it feels right now. You guys will write about it and fans will have their say — and that’s fair because it wasn’t nearly good enough.
‘But it’s up to us to pick ourselves up for this game, for the run-in to our club seasons and then two crucial internationals in the summer.
‘If there’s a positive, it’s that the bad result has come at the start of the campaign because if it happens at the nitty-gritty, there’s nothing you can do to put it right.
‘That doesn’t mean we can’t afford a result like this but at least we have time.’
After dragging himself through Liverpool’s win at Fulham last Sunday, Robertson had flown to Glasgow hopeful of seeing a dentist who could drain his mouth abscess and allow him to undertake the six-hour flight to the former Soviet state. Even after being forced to remain in Glasgow for a tooth extraction, he volunteered to travel independently until his club employers stepped in. He’s now glad of their stance.
He explained: ‘In a way, the pain I was in on the flight here was a good thing because it told me how bad it would have been had I not had the op. The stitches would have been in danger with the pressure.
‘I’d been feeling it in our game at Fulham and hadn’t got much sleep on the Friday or the Saturday. I got through the match with painkillers and two cans of Red Bull but, luckily, we had travelled down by train rather than air.
‘Had we flown down I probably wouldn’t have played. On the flight up to join the squad, it really got sore.
‘I watched the game at my mum and dad’s house, with my old man
and one of my mates and it was a hard watch. Of course it was.
‘It was a double whammy, sitting there with a sore face and watching that defeat. It wasn’t fun.
‘I’m a terrible watcher at the best of times, I hate it, so at the end of the game I was straight on the phone, saying how much I’d wanted to be there with them.
‘I’m not going to sit here and say we were unlucky — because we never showed up. To not have a shot at goal in the first half wasn’t good enough.
‘It felt like the boys were maybe a bit shell-shocked at losing a goal so early. Watching it, you were adding up the caps in your head and wondering if this was maybe one of the least-experienced Scotland teams ever at a time when you needed your experienced men to put a foot on the ball and relax.’
A Champions League finalist and proven high-end Premier League performer, Robertson hopes to bring that kind of influence to bear on tonight’s performance.
With Celtic’s Kieran Tierney also ruled out after taking the long flight to Kazakhstan, it fell to Aberdeen’s Graeme Shinnie to fill the void at left-back, a position he has not been deployed in regularly since his days with Inverness.
Shinnie endured a torturous evening and remarked afterwards that his performance might even sound the death knell for his Scotland career.
Robertson disagrees, saying: ‘Graeme was really harsh on himself after the game. With me and KT unavailable, he stepped up to his country’s call.
It was a double whammy, sitting there with a sore face, watching that defeat. No fun.
Walking in to breakfast at the hotel, there were a few lads who were scared to smile
‘After two or three years waiting for the chance, he deserved his opportunity. Although he’ll be disappointed with the goals that came down his side, you’ve got to remember that he’s pretty much a centre midfielder now and he was thrown in at the deep end.
‘Reading his comments, he was obviously devastated and it’s our job to pick him up again, to remind him that he’s had a fantastic season and that he’ll probably be right in there when the awards are handed out.
‘It’s only one game and he can bounce back, no doubt about that. We’ll get an arm round him and rebuild his confidence. I hope he gets a chance in his true position to show the Scotland fans what he can do.’
Robertson admits he may also need to console McLeish after a devastating result that may well come to define his second stint in charge of the national team.
‘He probably feels it worse than anyone and we need to lift him as well as each other,’ said Robertson of his manager.
‘The only way we can do that is to put in a good performance here, put on a show. We need to win comfortably, get the three points, but more than that we need to get the country back on board, with huge games coming up.
‘Hard as Thursday was, we need to forget about it. We’ve lost 3-0 and we can’t do anything about it now. If lads suffer in terms of confidence from that, it’s no good to anyone.
‘I’m guessing there will be changes, because no one cemented their place with that performance, but whatever team he picks needs to look forward, not back.
‘Every jersey’s up for grabs and the 11 who get handed them have to produce 90 minutes that keeps them in the team next time.’
Just under 3,000 Scotland fans are expected in San Marino, a few of whom joined Robertson on the Ryanair flight on Friday.
‘There were about 150 Tartan Army on the plane and, to be fair, they were brilliant,’ added the full-back. ‘They gave me their views, I didn’t give them mine, but there was no grief, even though that would have been easy for them.
‘Listen, I can’t question the fans. They go everywhere with us and they’re different class. They were having a drink and a laugh all the way over and, to be honest, I wish I could have joined in!
‘I just got my hood up and tried to keep my head down.’
Today it’s Robertson’s job to keep everyone else’s head up.