6 THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT SCOTLAND...
SCOTLAND ARE STILL BANG ON COURSE FOR EURO 2016
Make no mistake, collecting three points last night was immensely important. Despite Gordon Strachan’s rejection of it being a ‘must-win’ affair, it was pretty damn close. In the biggest game of Strachan’s reign to date, his players stood up to the pressure and delivered. Seven points from the opening four games is a very acceptable return and will surely become 10 from five when Gibraltar visit Glasgow in March. Then it’s off to Dublin in June. Now, that might be an interesting affair…
SHAUN MALONEY SURE KNOWS HOW TO SHOW GRATITUDE
A month ago, the little winger — one of the game’s deeper thinkers — was lost for the right words to express how much he owed Martin O’Neill. It was the Ireland boss who handed Maloney his Celtic debut aged just 18 and later gave him a chance of English Premier League football with Aston Villa. The influence on Maloney’s career had been profound. O’Neill was keenly aware, however, that his one-time protégé might just come back and haunt him. And so it proved. After a lovely bit of interplay involving Ikechi Anya and Scott Brown, Maloney curled an exquisite shot inside the far post to give Scotland the most vital of victories. One to tell the grandkids about.
IRISH EYES DON’T ALWAYS SMILE AT CELTIC PARK
At the Irish training camp in Malahide this week, you couldn’t move for players effusively explaining how much they were looking forward to playing in Glasgow’s east end. Every second member of Martin O’Neill’s squad seemed to have made a pilgrimage to Paradise to savour a Champions League or Old Firm occasion. Indeed, Shay Given made it clear they were far happier the game was here rather than Ibrox or Hampden. The fear for Scotland was that the surroundings would provide additional Irish inspiration. There were certainly far more of their fans inside Celtic Park than the official three-and-a-bit thousand allocation.
SCOTLAND PLAY PRETTIER FOOTBALL THAN IRELAND
After years of lamenting inferior technique against rival nations, it was slightly odd to see a Scotland side blessed with greater skill than their opponents. What fluid football there was — and there wasn’t a lot — came from the men in dark blue. Apart from the odd flash of individual footwork from Aiden McGeady, the Irish approach was both direct and very physical. So much so at times that you halfexpected to see Ronan O’Gara pop up to kick for touch.
ST NINIAN’S HIGH SCHOOL TURNS OUT QUALITY PLAYERS
Following the seemingly endless debate about McGeady’s roots, there was an unmistakeable irony in the winger lining up directly against a player who attended the very same school in East Renfrewshire. Whether or not Andrew Robertson was in Gordon Strachan’s original line-up is another matter. He was the only selection with a jersey numbered above 11, suggesting Charlie Mulgrew would have been at left-back had James Morrison not been ill. Concerns about the physical threat posed by Ireland (see above) may have counted against Robertson, but he has numerous attributes and moments when he electrified Celtic Park with surges down the left. Beyond a booking for clattering Steven Fletcher, McGeady had a quiet first-half sound-tracked by the rival boos and chants of support. He was far more of a threat in the second period, whipping in a terrific cross that Shane Long almost converted before angling a low drive that David Marshall tipped wide.
A STRIKER WHO SCORES MIGHT SEE US IN FRANCE
Steven Fletcher entered this game with just one goal — against Iceland in 2009 — in his previous 17 caps. While those are not all starting appearances, and despite the many other admirable aspects to the Sunderland forward’s game, that is an uncomfortable statistic. A couple of half-chances came his way in the first period last night. An early Maloney corner picked out Fletcher, who headed high. The same supplier then fizzed a low ball across the area that he couldn’t quite adjust to convert. Neither was a glaring miss and his link-up play was often excellent, but the Tartan Army are still waiting to see Fletcher hit the net post-exile. In mitigation, last night’s shift was truncated as he left the field, sporting a slight limp, to make way for Chris Martin ten minutes after the break. The Derby striker duly fired one very presentable opportunity fractionally wide.