The boys who bleed blue
Naismith is glad Scots are now in it together
ON reflection, it would be wrong to describe intersquad relations back then as frosty. Cordial might be more appropriate. Yet the warmth was distinctly a few degrees south of what Steven Naismith is currently enjoying each time the Scotland squad gathers on the banks of Loch Lomond.
The reasons for the dawning of an age of bonhomie are not too hard to fathom. In little over two years, Gordon Strachan has transformed the national team from a laughing stock into a source of genuine pride and hope. One that people naturally want to be part of.
Awkward conversations between players who would rather be elsewhere are conspicuous by their absence. A sense of togetherness — which can only truly be fostered by a string of positive results and performances — is palpable.
The old cliché about a club- like atmosphere surrounding Team Scotland — for so long just empty rhetoric — now has a solid basis in reality.
‘From when I joined the national team to now, it’s a totally different dynamic in that every single player is chatting away to anybody,’ said Naismith.
‘It’s just normal. We’re a bunch of guys who are at similar points in life — starting families, getting married, but all driven. Seeing what we have here and what we can do is what’s driving everyone. It’s great that we’re all of similar mindsets and it works.
‘(Previously) I wouldn’t say it was as tight as it is now. Everyone wasn’t as open as they are now.
‘I wouldn’t say there were cliques and people not talking to each other. But the Rangers boys and the Celtic boys did tend to stay together. It’s just who you are familiar with.
‘Now everybody is just a bit more open. So many more of us get on and will be texting each other outwith football. It just brings people closer.’
For much of Naismith’s Scotland career, a call-up brought mixed emotions for many. At times, the pride of being selected to pull on a dark blue jersey was diminished by a realisation that the team was going nowhere fast.
Frequent numerous call-offs just became the way of things. Many of those who did assemble for duty wore the look of men who wish they hadn’t bothered. Not now.
‘Most folk will hang about in the communal areas and chill and enjoy banter,’ he added. ‘In the past, people maybe went to their own room or someone else’s room in twos or threes.
‘Now you could walk through the hotel and see eight or nine guys mixing — and it’s always a different mix. The manager has not directly encouraged it but the way he operates being so open and honest rubs off on the way we behave and work together.’
It says much that only Ross McCormack has withdrawn from Strachan’s original party to face Northern Ireland tonight and Gibraltar on Sunday.
Hardly fixtures that necessitate a dose of tranquillisers to calm the pulse of the Tartan Army, but tellingly viewed by the entire squad as matters of the utmost importance.
‘It’s a very good game as we’ve both started our campaigns very well,’ Naismith said of tonight’s Hampden friendly.
‘It’s a game with a little more to it, like the Republic of Ireland and England, because they are close to home and the players are all familiar with each other. It’ll be a very good test.
‘It’s an opportunity to try a few things and refresh the minds of what we’ve been doing because we’ve not been together for a period or four or five months.’
For Naismith, tonight is also a case of Friends Reunited. Both Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty shared a dressing room with him at Rangers for four years, with three Scottish titles gleaned in that period.
Norwich striker Lafferty didn’t have his troubles to seek at Ibrox initially but his latter contributions — allied to his current displays for club and country — have long since convinced Naismith of his value to
Everyone wasn’t as open before. The players have similar mindsets
any side. ‘ Ever since he was at Rangers he was been a big player for Northern Ireland,’ he said.
‘He has scored a few goals for them and he has been their main striker since David Healy. He has always been a threat and has matured more as he has got older.
‘ He probably lacked a bit of maturity back then, definitely. Around the changing room he was a great laugh and when times were tough he was always there to keep the boys up, even if he was the brunt of the jokes. When he was younger, he probably didn’t know when to stop. He has matured more now and speaking to the boys at Norwich they say he is different now to how he was back then.
‘The way he finished seasons (at Rangers) was remarkable. At specific times in a season you need players who are going to drag you through games and Laff would always pop up at the end of a season.’
If defeat to England last time out for Scotland was a natural disappointment, there was no shortage of understanding given the toil in putting the Republic of Ireland to the sword four days previously.
‘The last trip was quite tricky,’ Naismith recalled. ‘There was so much build-up on the Ireland game, the main event, and to get such a good result took such a lot out of the boys.
‘ In hindsight, everyone was desperate to play against England. The manager was speaking to a few players to see if they would sit it out, but everyone was dying to play and that probably went against us.
‘England caught us off guard, were on the front foot and pressed us well and took their chances. It was difficult for us to take but we are a much more solid unit now with so much confidence for places.’