I had more of an anchor than a backside!
I had a nice wee chuckle to myself when I read John McGinn’s interview after the 3-0 win over Ukraine.
I was at Hampden last Wednesday and John, shall we say, used his backside to his advantage when scoring the opening goal.
He later said his dad, Stephen, had always encouraged him to do so, even though some coaches told him not to.
Listen, as someone who used his rear end every now and again during their career, I’m all for it.
In fact, I’d say that I never had a backside. It was more of an anchor!
So I’m absolutely fine with John using that part of his body as often as he wants if it helps Scotland to win games.
I’m delighted he was on the scoresheet. He was the captain, and would have felt the wee weight of that on his shoulders.
Hopefully, at club level, things are starting to turn for Aston Villa, and they had a good win against Southampton just
before the international break.
John is also the skipper there, and it would have been difficult for him when they were not winning.
But it was good to see that he remained calm, and never appeared anxious when leading Scotland against Ukraine.
The team deserved the win, and could have done so by a few more.
Steve Clarke must have been delighted with the clean sheet, and also Lyndon Dykes getting a double after coming on as a sub.
It was just a pity we didn’t get that result back in June in the World Cup play-off semi-final.
However, as long as there are players there with the ability, drive and commitment that John displays, we will be there or thereabouts.
He has been an integral part of the Scotland set-up for the past four or five years, and last night won his 50th cap against the Republic of Ireland.
John is also scoring on a regular basis in dark blue, and that is great to see.
Long may it continue.