THIN BLUE LINE
His club side have just been relegated to England’s third tier, but Mulgrew is being backed to steady the Scotland ship
BLACKBURN may have been relegated to the third tier of English football but Kevin Gallacher has no fears that Charlie Mulgrew can rise above his club woes to put up a fight against the country’s best attacking talent.
Scotland’s lack of centre-back options is no secret and Mulgrew is arguably the best available to Gordon Strachan going into next weekend’s World Cup qualifier at Hampden.
The former Celtic player will likely be asked to stymie the likes of Harry Kane, a task that has proved beyond many of the defenders in the English Premier League.
A former title-winning Blackburn player and still Lancashire-based, Gallacher sees a lot of Rovers and admits he has been forced to bin his initial scepticism regarding Mulgrew’s defensive abilities.
Indeed, he believes the 31-year-old was too good for the Championship, never mind the League One slog which awaits his favourites next term.
‘What’s happened at Blackburn doesn’t matter — Charlie has the talent,’ says Gallacher. ‘I was a bit sceptical about Charlie when he played in Scotland but I’ve seen him first-hand now — and he’s head and shoulders above a lot of players in the Championship.
‘He’s got qualities in terms of reading the game that I didn’t think he had. For me, he’s been outstanding since he came to Blackburn and if I was Gordon I wouldn’t have any qualms getting him into the side.
‘He’s played centre-mid for Blackburn, he’s played centre-half, he’s played in a back three, and he has never looked out of place. He’s also got the odd free-kick up his sleeve.
‘A lot of people were surprised when they saw him coming up to take corners for Blackburn from centre-half, but the quality is there.
‘You’d expect to see him in the middle because of his height, but they use him to put it into areas to good effect. Charlie wasn’t the problem. It’s other areas of the park where Blackburn let themselves down.’
Much of the damage to Blackburn’s campaign was done even before Mulgrew had got himself fit following his arrival at Ewood Park as a free agent.
He was missing from Scotland’s opening four qualifiers, including the 3-0 defeat to Gareth Southgate’s men at Wembley, but returned to help shore up the backline in a 1-0 win over Slovenia in March.
Putting a stop to Kane and Co will be another challenge altogether.
‘England will probably use the same set-up as last time — 4-3-3 with one up through the middle and two wide,’ predicts Gallacher. ‘They will all interchange, they are all lightning quick and they can all play in each of those positions.
‘Gordon will be looking at that and thinking about what he can do to combat it. Will he play three at the back? I don’t think so. Not against three strikers. But he might go five at the back, looking to draw them in and hit on the counter-attack.
‘We played four at Wembley and caused England massive problems — we just couldn’t get that first goal.
‘I don’t see why we should change to anything else and I think Charlie would be quite comfortable in there as he knows the English game.’
At Wembley, Strachan went with a pairing of Christophe Berra and Grant Hanley, the latter having not long transferred from Blackburn to Newcastle. Hanley struggled for game time as Rafa Benitez’s team won the Championship title and Gallacher believes that, even with 27 full caps to his name, the 25-year-old still has plenty to learn.
He continued: ‘The timing of losing Grant was a blow for Blackburn, but there were also a lot of people there who were quite happy to sell him. He was a young lad who came through the system and probably took himself as far as he could at the club.
‘I think Grant still has a lot to learn about the defensive side of the game. It’s about decision-making.
‘He’s still young. He’ll probably be about 26 or 27 before the penny drops about how good he is.
‘People think he’s a slow player, but when he turns and gets his legs open he’s rapid quick. So turning with a striker is maybe part of his game he still needs to work on.
‘But at international level now there are very few strikers who will run beyond you. It’s all about marking in front.’
Listening to Gallacher’s perceptive analysis it’s not hard to see why he has enjoyed such a varied media career since hanging up his boots.
Now 50, he has worked in radio, television and newspapers and even authored a semi-autobiographical book, in which he examined the drop-off in standards of Scottish football since the days when he played in a UEFA Cup Final for Jim McLean’s Dundee United.
Gallacher went on to enjoy a successful career in England, that 1991 title win with Blackburn the highlight of a journey that also saw him amass 53 Scotland caps, scoring nine times in the process.
He played twice against England himself, once while still a United player in 1988 and then again 11 years later when he was involved in the first leg of the Euro 2000 playoff tie, a game that still stirs regret.
‘We had one major mishap in the game at Hampden — our defending of corner kicks. England tricked us by leaving Paul Scholes back. We got done twice by the same set-piece and that hurt us.’
Gallacher missed the return as a Don Hutchison goal secured a Scottish win that was ultimately insufficient to qualify.
‘We knew we had an opportunity going down to Wembley but I was suspended,’ he recalled.
‘Michael Owen had a wee dive. Unfortunately, the ref thought I’d
‘I WOULDN’T HAVE ANY QUALMS ABOUT PUTTING HIM IN THE TEAM’
caught him and gave me a yellow card.’
Although the scoreline was comprehensive, Gallacher has a strikingly upbeat take on the game at Wembley last November.
‘To be fair, I thought we battered them, we just didn’t have the edge,’ he added. ‘The game in England is now very European — sit back, counter-attack — and while they don’t have talented players they have electric pace.
‘That’s what they did to us at Wembley. I wouldn’t say there was much difference between the teams apart from that.
‘I know for a fact that (former England boss) Glenn Hoddle was very surprised by the way Scotland played. He thought it was going to be a heavier scoreline. I think 3-0 to England flattered them.’
Gallacher won’t deny that there is a certain disregard for Scottish football south of the border but he does not believe it will lead to complacency next weekend.
‘England will want to rub salt in the wounds,’ he added. ‘They won’t come up here to lie back and let Scotland finish second. There’s no chance of that.
‘They don’t think of Scotland as the Auld Enemy, they just want to qualify with the best record possible.
‘They don’t care who’s in front of them, whether it’s Scotland, Lithuania, or whoever — they just want to steamroller you with a tank. Simple as that.
‘Having watched England for a few years now, that’s the philosophy, but I don’t think we have to fear them.
‘European teams are getting better but I don’t think England are masterful. We showed at Wembley what we can do — we just have to be careful with the back door.’
No pressure, Charlie.