THERE’S PLENTY TO SHOUT ABOUT
McLeish wants Scots to win consistently in order to excite fans
THE last time Alex McLeish managed the national team at Hampden, a nation held its breath. In the ten years since a controversial 2-1 loss to Italy in a Euro 2008 qualifier, Scotland have been hemmed into the international wilderness. An object of growing indifference among a generation of supporters yet to see them compete at a major international tournament and those who doubt they ever will.
For McLeish, a second crack at managing Scotland begins with a home friendly against Costa Rica tonight. A crowd of just over 20,000 won’t match the drama or atmosphere of his last game against the Azzurri.
Yet for McLeish, it’s a means to an end. The beginning of a long two-year quest to take the national team to the Euro 2020 finals and make people care again.
‘I can only go on the people I’ve been in contact with,’ said McLeish. ‘I’ve done some charity things and met the Tartan Army in London.
‘They are still passionate about Scotland and we have to change the perception people don’t care.
‘We are the ones who can change things. It’s about getting people excited. And it’s about winning, as well.
‘We had a good unbeaten run under Gordon (Strachan). He just missed out on the play-offs and we have to find a way now to win consistently.
‘It’s not just good performances — it’s a winning mentality.’
McLeish credits his friend and predecessor with bringing the thunder back in the last qualifying campaign. Yet, despite brief flurries of excitement, qualification for this summer’s World Cup was never really on the cards after a poor start to the qualifying process.
The last time Scotland flirted with the idea of competing at a major finals, McLeish was about to end his first spell in charge. After beating world champions France home and away and reducing Ukraine to the status of group outsiders, a home win over Italy would have guaranteed a minimum of a play-off place.
‘It was a massive game,’ recalled McLeish. ‘And in the week leading up to it, you guys in the Press built it up superbly. You knew it was one of the biggest games of your life.
‘At 1-1, my career flashed before my eyes as James McFadden came in at the back stick for a ball across the face of the goal from Kenny (Miller) and just could not connect with it.
‘We bombarded the Italians in the second half and Barry Ferguson pounded Andrea Pirlo.
‘I thought: “That Pirlo guy must be ready to retire” — I didn’t know what age he was at the time.
‘I think he actually played for about another ten years to an even better level!
‘But that’s the type of team we were at the time. Not just a swashbuckling, happy-go-lucky side. We were organised at the back, with big David Weir marshalling the troops — much as we expect Charlie (Mulgrew) to now.’
Two stunning Leigh Griffiths free-kicks against England reminded everyone how much the national team still matters to people.
With Albania and Israel the group opponents in the Nations League, it may be some time before the mayhem of the second goal is witnessed again. Yet McLeish feels a duty to try. Hampden plays host to four Euro 2020 games and there might never be a better opportunity to bring the thunder back.
‘We are aware it is our duty to try and restore that fervour,’ admitted McLeish. ‘It is about winning. We had a good unbeaten run with Gordon and we just missed out on the play-offs.
‘We have to find a way to win consistently. Not just good performances — it is about getting a winning mentality. I kind of felt it when Gordon was on that roll towards the end of the campaign. I really thought after the England game we would at least make the play-offs.
‘It was the most exciting period for me since, just witnessing it and coming to some of the games.’
Costa Rica on a Friday night is unlikely to pack them in. A name ingrained in the Scottish psyche, the central Americans condemned Scotland to a disastrous 1-0 defeat in the opening game of the 1990 World Cup finals.
McLeish played in that match, recalling a newspaper headline which read: ‘Stop The World We Want To Get Off’.
‘At the time I didn’t think it was funny,’ he admitted. ‘But I can see the humour in it now. It was tough.
‘We were a bit anxious, uptight. It’s that old one, when Scotland are expected to win the game...
‘The psyche with the players is
that: “We’re meant to win here, we should be giving a big display and the goalie is meant to be hopeless, bombard him with crosses”. I think he took 17 out of 20.
‘It was a typical day. The Costa Rica coach at the time used our Press, that we were hot favourites, against us. And we were usurped unfortunately.’
Given Scotland’s inability to reach a major tournament since 1998, that result has begun to feel, now, like the Good Old Days. Something to aspire to.
‘That is our goal, to get to a finals,’ said McLeish. ‘It’s not just about law of averages, we have to work hard to do it. We are leaving no stone unturned in terms of the support we give the players and make it as much of a club-feel as possible.’