Big Alex’s war cry to Scots: Embrace the trip
Alex Mcleish last night urged his Scotland squad to cherish the opportunity presented by the trip to Peru and Mexico.
The national manager has had to deal with a succession of call-offs, with Allan Mcgregor becoming the latest on Friday night when withdrawing due to personal reasons. With several top players ruled out through club commitments, it will be a depleted squad which jets out to South and Central America this week. However while Mcleish’s Northern Ireland counterpart Michael O’neill has described the situation as “sad”, the man himself is remaining positive. “With the boys that have dropped out, I’ve phoned most of them and said, ‘I want you to be passionate about playing for Scotland’. They said, ‘Gaffer, we really want to play’,” he said.
“To the boys who are going I have said, ‘You have to embrace the trip’ that’s my war cry to them. “Because they’re a couple of games they might cherish forever. “The fact they’ve maybe made their debut for Scotland, or have added a couple of caps beside their name should be self-empowering. “And you can see what it means to the ones we have called up, the likes of Chris Cadden.
“I certainly remember what my first cap meant to me. Jock Stein told me at an awards dinner.
“I’d just lost Young Player of the Year to John Mcdonald on a recount and Jock came up and said, ‘Never mind that – you’re playing for Scotland on Wednesday’. “I was stunned, shaking, but the game with Portugal went great. “We won 4-1 and I played in midfield with wee Archie Gemmill. “He chaperoned me and I’m sure some of the experienced guys we’ve got on this trip can do the same for our new faces.” One will be Celtic keeper Scott Bain, a late replacement for Allan Mcgregor and a player with the backing of the national coaching staff. “When I saw him playing in the Rangers gameafewweeksagohe looked very comfortable,” said Mcleish. Retaining t h e manager’s confidence and the armband, meanwhile, is former Celt Charlie Mulgrew.
“I don’t see any reason to change the captaincy if Charlie is on the pitch,” he said.
“What I love about him is he always says he wants to keep playing for Scotland. He wants as many caps as he can get. “He has an immense pride in playing for this country and that should rub off on the young guys – it should be infectious. “Some of the guys who have pulled out, I’ve reminded them that this has given them a platform to be even more recognised, playing for Scotland, and that they should never lose that passion playing for us.”