SCOTS CAN RELY ON THIS PAIR OF ACES
Snodgrass and Bannan are the double act with the swagger and skills to delight Strachan and fuel Scottish dreams
SCOTLAND simply could not stay angry for long with Barry Bannan and Robert Snodgrass. When Lithuania visited Hampden five years ago, Darren Fletcher missed a penalty seconds after this little scamp Bannan caused a scene, pleading to take the kick in his first competitive international.
A standing ovation from the national stadium, a man-of-the-match award for a display bursting with swagger plus fulsome praise and a pardon from a smiling Scotland skipper followed the 1-0 victory.
In the case of Snodgrass, being sent off conceding a spot-kick in Gordon Strachan’s first qualifier in charge, while Scotland led 1-0, had grim consequences as Aaron Ramsey converted the kick and Wales prevailed 2-1.
A few weeks later, Snodgrass scored the only goal of the game against Croatia as resurgent Scotland stunned the nation ranked fourth best in the world at the time.
Mercifully, this irrepressible pair are impossible to keep down — or quiet.
Bannan kept pestering his national manager for answers when unsettled at club level and unable to secure that consistent mention for Scotland.
‘He asked me last year what he should do,’ explained Strachan. ‘And I told him: “Just go and play games of football”. He went and did that and got voted into the PFA Championship Team of the Year. That was terrific.’
And even when Snodgrass endured struggles on the long and painful stretch back from serious knee surgery, he would not leave them alone, paying regular visits to the Scotland camp.
‘There are small things a manager keeps in his mind,’ said Strachan. ‘Things that can make a difference when I’m picking a squad, actually. We saw (Snodgrass) a lot. He was always at the games, too, and we liked that.’
At the opening of a new World Cup campaign, this brace of motormouths, whose presence so perks up squad spirits when elements of international weeks might just begin to drag, are off to a rowdy start.
Snodgrass struck a hat-trick in the thrashing of Malta last month, which was, in part, powered by the efficiency of Bannan’s midfield show.
That was quite some way for the Hull City man to overcome his ‘upset’ at missing out to Fletcher for the honour of wearing the skipper’s armband for the campaign.
Formerly Leeds United captain, the ebullient Snodgrass wasted little time announcing he wanted to replace Scott Brown when the Celtic midfielder announced his international retirement.
‘Listen, I think we all know that he is tongue in cheek with a lot of things he does,’ said Strachan. ‘Yes, there’s a gallus streak. But there is a charm about it. There is a humorous side to it, which I like.
‘He is everything I like about a football player. He’s a big character and, just as importantly, he is a right good footballer, who can play in different positions. We like him about the place, as well.
‘He didn’t have an easy start in life and that’s character-building. He didn’t come through with everyone taking his hand and telling him he’s great and wonderful.
‘He wasn’t being driven by car here and there, mum and dad in their fourwheel drive taking him everywhere. It was real. His life and where he has got to has been a real experience.
‘And when he had his knee injury, because of the character-building thing he was able to deal with it. Now the knee injury has added to that character. He is playing the way he did before. ‘Not just for us but for Hull. He was sent off in my first international when we were 1-0 up and we got beat 2-1. That shows you how important he is. He’s been a big part of the squad.’
While the scoring feat of Snodgrass against the Maltese took him to six Scotland goals in 18 appearances, Bannan waits for his first international strike.
With Fletcher not on the premises, Bannan did eventually succeed in taking a penalty for Scotland at home to Croatia in October 2013. He admits failure to convert it was his most embarrassing moment in football.
Still, he remained just as loveable thanks to Scotland securing a 2-0 victory that night as Steven Naismith tucked home the rebound to add to a first-half hit from Snodgrass.
Bannan’s influential display in Malta was the first full match he had completed for Scotland since a debut against Faroe Islands in 2010 prompted Craig Levein to hail him as the future of his national team.
It hinted at many more starts to come now that, at Championship promotion hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday, Bannan appears to have found a happy home.
‘He’d been on the periphery at Aston Villa and Crystal Palace and, as manager, when they’re not getting a full game, you sometimes look at that,’ said Strachan. ‘Alan Hutton is maybe the only one to buck the trend and do well for us despite not getting a game at club level. The rest I’ve noticed tend to wilt after about 60 minutes. ‘Mentally, they’re maybe not at their best when not playing for their clubs. If you’re clever enough, you realise that to really get in the team you have to be playing more often. He went away and did that.’ Bannan kept James Morrison and John McGinn out of the line-up in Malta. His positive and incisive passing, often under pressure, set the tempo for Scotland kicking off Group F with emphatic success.
‘People used to think years ago crashing into tackles and stick people up in the air was bravery,’ Strachan. ‘It’s nothing like that.
‘It’s actually being on the receiv end, being able to take those tac and keep the ball. With Barry, 95 cent of the time he gives you a that you can then do something w
‘You don’t have to tidy up afte gives you the ball. If you’re a small you have to be really good at pass You can’t be small and ordinary. have to have a special talent.
‘There were managers who thought I was a wee boy even at 32 because of my stature and the way I used to mess about. So he’s like me in that regard.
‘I didn’t take myself seriously as a football player but I’ve always taken what I do seriously. And Barry is the same. He’s always laughing and joking around the place — and I love that.
‘But the serious side comes when he’s asked to do a job.’
Bannan’s killer ball or a Snodgrass set-piece could be the key weapon in picking the lock of a Lithuanian side that held Poland to a scoreless draw in Krakow in June.
However, on the evidence of that friendly stalemate, and the 2-2 draw against Slovenia in their qualifying opener at home, Strachan does not expect the visitors to be entirely stuffy.
‘Lithuania have the capacity to go and attack but they also gave up chances to Slovenia, so there should be chances for us as well,’ he added.
‘I saw Lithuania against Poland and it wasn’t as you’d expect. Teams of that stature used to come here 10 years ago and sit in. No, they’re out and they’re after you. They went after Poland and had a good chance after 15 seconds.
‘Lithuania will come for us here if they spot a weakness. So we have to be wary of that.’
‘IF YOU’RE A SMALL GUY YOU HAVE TO BE REALLY GOOD AT PASSING. YOU CAN’T BE SMALL AND ORDINARY. YOU HAVE TO BE A SPECIAL TALENT AND BARRY IS THAT’ ‘ROBERT DIDN’T HAVE AN EASY START IN LIFE AND THAT IS CHARACTER-BUILDING. HE DIDN’T COME THROUGH WITH EVERYONE TAKING HIS HAND AND TELLING HIM HOW WONDERFUL HE WAS’