Maloney’s MAGIC moment
FORMER SCOTLAND FORWARD RECALLS THE ‘BRILLIANT’ GOAL THAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF A STELLAR INTERNATIONAL CAREER
GOOD things come to those who wait. Shaun Richard Maloney was 31 years and 10 months old on the night of November 14, 2014. He was ready and prepared to have his best moment in a Scotland shirt.
‘We practised short corners,’ says Maloney. ‘We practised these things diligently.’
He is remembering the 74th minute of a Euro 2016 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland at Celtic Park when Scotland were awarded a corner on the main stand side. There was tension, there was tumult as the game was locked at 0-0. Seconds later it released in a fury of celebration.
A short corner was played to Maloney who fed Scott Brown inside the box. The Celtic midfielder back-heeled the ball and Maloney, without breaking his stride, curled it into the far corner of the net.
This mixture of practice and technique would stand as the pillars on which Maloney built a fine career at Celtic, Aston Villa, Wigan and Scotland, among others.
Gently jogged to recall that goal, he remembers the slightest details. ‘Ireland changed the way they defended the short one, so we had to adapt. Scott Brown had to move his position so we were quite creative. We were given information on Ireland and then as players we made certain decisions. Stuart McCall did the majority of attacking set-plays.’
Waiting, too, had been part of Maloney’s Scotland career. He was in his early 20s
Scoring a big goal for the national side, it reaches and touches a lot more people through the country
before he earned the first of his 47 international caps.
‘I wasn’t selected for any of the under-age groups as a boy,’ he says. ‘The first time I was selected was for the Under-21s. I loved every minute. I had an amazing campaign for them with Rainer Bonhof and it just went on from there.’
Maloney’s time with Scotland and his subsequent spell as a coach with Roberto Martinez’s Belgium, at one time rated No 1 in the world, gives him a unique perspective on international football and what it takes to achieve at the elite level.
He is sober in his assessments. ‘Yes, it was a brilliant moment,’ he says of that goal. ‘It is with the national team, it reaches and touches a lot more people through the country.
‘It was a pressurised moment in such a pressurised game. We had Germany and Poland in that group so it felt that the two games against Ireland might be the decider for a play-off place. Unfortunately it wasn’t. But at the time it felt like an important match and an important goal.’
Maloney, of course, played in an era where Scotland could beat France home and away but failed with a weary regularity to qualify for the finals of tournaments. He is blunt about why. ‘This is football. It can be very simple. We were not good enough as a squad to get there. That’s why countries get there and countries don’t. That’s how I see that. We lost in Georgia, didn’t deserve anything from that match. It is about consistency of performance.’
He adds: ‘It was not through a lack of effort. One of the greatest things I take from my career is that I don’t have any regrets about it, I don’t wish I could have tried harder, I don’t wish I could have been a better professional. I gave it my all.’
He was on the line at Hampden in October 2015 as Robert Lewandowski squeezed home a goal to give Poland a draw and end Scotland’s hopes of qualification for Euro 2016.
‘We didn’t do enough,’ he admits. ‘There was very little between us and Ireland. We maybe played a bit safe in Dublin, maybe should have went for the win.’ Scotland drew 1-1.
As Scotland play the Republic of Ireland tonight, Maloney sees hope for a side that has already qualified under Steve Clarke for the finals of a major tournament.
‘I am a great admirer of Steve Clarke, have enormous respect for him,’ he says. ‘He has been an assistant with top coaches and a good manager, particularly at West Brom. Crucially at Scotland he has found a system that suits the players he has.
‘He started with a four at the back when he played us (Belgium won 4-0 in 2019) but they found that difficult. For him to switch to a three and produce a cohesive team is super impressive. It was not his normal style but he adapted.
‘He adapted too against Ukraine. He set out an aggressive system that worked so well. It was Scotland’s best performance since the play-off final against Serbia.’
As a player, Maloney found international football an education. ‘It gave me a real sense of motivation. I never took it for granted even as I got older,’ he says.
‘Sometimes you travel for ten days and don’t get a cap. I have been in almost every situation. I have been the young player who doesn’t get stripped, I have been a senior player at a club who doesn’t get minutes from the bench, I have been the sub who does get on, I have been sort of one of the main players. I have been in every single role and I never took it for granted.’
He spanned the era of Paul Lambert and then Darren Fletcher. ‘I was lucky at Celtic,’ he says. ‘I was breaking through into a side that had Lambert, Sutton, Larsson and Lennon. So I was being taught lessons.’
Fletcher in the national side gave a more subtle tuition. ‘He was playing under Sir Alex in a Manchester United team that had Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez up front and such as Scholes and Carrick — what a player — in midfield. And then there was that back line. I was at Villa then and he was simply playing at a higher level than the rest of us.’ He sees Scotland benefiting from that rarefied quality in the modern era. ‘You have a Champions League winner in Robertson, Tierney is a big player for Arsenal and McTominay is a regular Manchester United player. McGinn is captain at Aston Villa. At the top end of international football it is a step beyond even the Champions League. You need that sort of quality.’ He speaks from experience. Maloney, of course, was an assistant to Martinez in a Belgium set-up that included Romelu Lukaku, Eden and Thorgan Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Axel Witsel and the sublime Kevin De Bruyne. ‘We went into the Euros as one of the favourites,’ he says. ‘The difference between winning and going out is very, very small. We lost to Italy in the quarter-finals. They were brilliant in the first half but we had chances in the second half and didn’t take them. That’s the simple story.’
It was difficult at Hibs but I think it will be a big learning experience
He illustrates the cliche of ‘small margins’ with a simple sentence.
‘I thought Italy were very dominant in the final but England were one penalty away from winning. That’s the level.’
How did he react to coaching some of the greatest players on the planet? ‘It is motivating to give a level of work to the players as high as they are receiving at club level. Some of these guys are playing under the best managers of our generation so you have to give them work of a high standard.’
He left the Belgium job as a World Cup approached to join Hibernian. He took the job in December 2021. He lost it in April 2022.
‘It was a difficult experience. But I think it will be invaluable for me,’ he says. ‘I have a real fondness for the club, I love the history and the passion of the supporters. I will look back on it in a few years as a big learning experience. I hope the club can go and achieve what the supporters want.’
He embraced the expectation. ‘I was at big clubs that held extraordinary pressure so I was not disturbed by that at Hibs.’
Typically, he has conducted a ‘deep review’ of his time at Easter Road, using data and reviewing games under his tenure. The facts show that Hibs were good defensively but did not score enough goals, a less than surprising outcome given that Martin Boyle, the club’s best attacking player, was sold soon after Maloney joined. But the defensive aspect may have missed scrutiny. Maloney’s side were the third-best in the league.
‘I have taken this on board and travelled Europe, been down to Championship and League One games, to see how teams produce chances. I want to give my next team the best opportunities to score goals.’
He has been motivated rather than discouraged by his brief spell at Hibs. ‘I got knocked down. I get back up. I need to be better. I will be,’ he says.
Maloney anticipates another challenge. Good things may yet happen again to those who wait.