PLASTIC NO PROBLEM FOR FLECK AS HE DREAMS OF FIRST SCOTLAND CAP
I’ve worked hard for a few years to get there but I’m thankful for it
JOHN Fleck never closed his eyes and imagined his Scotland debut finally arriving on a plastic pitch in kazakhstan.
eight years since he last pulled a dark blue shirt over his head, however, the Sheffield United midfielder is blunt.
If tomorrow finally brings the opportunity to play for his country, he would play the match in a car park.
‘It is what it is,’ he shrugged. ‘We just have to be professional about it and work as hard as we can on it. I certainly won’t be complaining. I would play in the car park if I could get that chance.
‘I always hoped it would come along. It has obviously taken quite a bit of time, but now I feel as if I’m playing consistently well at club level and now I have got that chance.
‘It is just one of those things. It is something I have always wanted to do, to be involved in the national set-up.
‘I have had to work hard for a few years to finally get there but I am thankful for it.’
Fleck’s route to senior international honours has been an unexpected chore.
Handed his Rangers debut in a pre-season friendly at the age of 15 in 2007, the Glaswegian was named in the first-team squad for a competitive game for the first time the day after his 16th birthday.
Hailed as Scotland’s answer to Wayne Rooney, Steven Davis described him as a potential Rangers great. For connoisseurs of the Football Manager computer game, his numbers made him a must-have accessory.
like Freddy Adu or Islam Feruz, living up to the sky-high expectation became an impossible goal.
‘I didn’t feel any different pressures on me from the outside,’ he claims now. ‘It was what it was. Obviously, a lot of people had their own views on it.
‘People might say I didn’t do as well as I should have done.
‘But for me, the people around about me are always happy for me. I felt I gave it my best shot.’
Fleck never managed more than 15 league appearances for Rangers in one season and asked to be released from his contract in 2012 rather than TUPe over to the newco established by charles Green.
He left to join coventry in england’s league One and, looking back now, feels it was a move he had to make to find himself.
‘Now, when I look back, I think so. At the time, I wasn’t sure about that,’ he admitted.
‘I moved away by myself when I was about 19 or 20. I have had to fend for myself since then. It has helped me. At that time, I grew up quite a lot. Obviously, being away from my family, I had to go and do it all myself.
‘I didn’t know what to expect. I couldn’t cook or anything. I was eating takeaways every night. It is all good. My missus eventually moved down. I am settled now.
‘It definitely makes you grow up. When you are at home your mum does everything. It helped me to start doing things for myself a bit.
‘As I have grown up and I look back, I think going away has helped me massively, just being in totally different surroundings, in a different country.
‘It was my choice (to leave). Obviously I was in and around the squad. I was not a first-team regular if you like, and I just thought I had to go out and find myself as a player if you like. even when I went to coventry, it took me some time to get over moving away.
‘It was a big call. I think now looking back it was the right call as well. I could have stayed there but would I have played? I am not so sure.
‘I had to go out and get regular first-team football and I have played quite a few games since I have done that. It has helped me in the long run.’
The nephew of former Rangers and Scotland striker Robert Fleck, John admitted he hasn’t spoken to his uncle in years.
His father remains his guiding light and mentor, while moving to Sheffield — ‘a smaller version of Glasgow’ — has galvanised his career.
currently second in the english championship, Fleck’s United are pushing for promotion to the Premier league. city rivals Wednesday, meanwhile, are unbeaten in ten games under Steve Bruce.
‘Since I have gone there I have won the league in my first season, played consistently well and am doing well this season,’ he said.
‘The rivalry is like Rangers and celtic, although it’s more of a football hatred, that’s the only thing. They are two very big clubs and good clubs.
‘With eight games to go we are in a great position. The Premier league is where everyone wants to play. It is the biggest league in the world.
‘It’s a very well-run club with great supporters and a great group of players and the manager’s incredible as well. If we keep working hard you never know what might happen...’