While Scotland go into these Nations League play-offs against Greece in a buoyant mood, there’s always space for a bit of dour Calvinism to be cast around if a young player is seen to be getting above himself.
Poor Lennon Miller, committing the heinous crime of saying he dreams one day of being the best player in the squad, felt the mild Sunday School slap of John Carver on his cheek for being so uppity and loose-tongued.
What was Carver on about, referring to Miller’s “mistake”? Scotland’s Geordie no.2 to Steve Clarke even went on: “He’ll learn.” What a shame that this Scotland squad cannot accommodate a tall poppy. Clarke, mercifully, himself put Carver back in his box yesterday by defending Miller’s attitude.
Miller is the exciting player he is, in part because of his chutzpah and self-belief. His dad, Lee, a lesser player, had some of the very same about him. So this seemed a total failure in psychology – never mind encouragement – on Carver’s part. Had the Scotland no.2 never heard of his adopted footballing country’s liking for swagger and “a wee bitty conceit” among its players?
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A mere sideshow. Scotland take on Greece – a country that 20 years ago had the temerity to become European champions – and have a squad of both familiar and unfamiliar with which to see off their opponents over 180 minutes. The Tartan Army – and the media jackals – have stayed with Clarke over these past five years - despite that grisly showing at last summer’s Euros - and Hampden will be well populated on Sunday to watch Scotland attempt to secure their League A status.
But there are anxieties afoot. Scotland has a goalkeeper that is just about old enough to be a grandfather. At right-back, there is a chance that Anthony Ralston, ever unused at Celtic, will once more fill the void. Our midfield, as usual, is stuffed with ability – John McGinn, Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay and more – while upfront it is the usual Scotland bingo of names known and others – George Hirst – less so.
It remains a weird existence being the Scotland manager. Clarke has been indolent for four months – inactive at least in terms of games – and in that time has traipsed about Scottish and English football, checking up on form and fresh names that have been put to him. He is a resourceful Scotland manager who, in the time-honoured fashion, has had to look for things to do.
“You sometimes felt you had too much downtime,” Alex McLeish famously said of his own time – twice – in the job. Walter Smith once confessed to footering about his Hampden office, “looking for something to pick up and fix.” And this is just in recent times. What was it like amid far less international fixtures for the Tommy Dochertys and Willie Ormonds of this world back in the 1970s?
The Scotland players trust Clarke – you could almost argue too much so, in the way they took their coach’s extreme caution onto the pitch over these three games in Germany last summer. Yet that trust is a key element to the success Clarke has enjoyed with the national team. Footballers can spot a phoney in a manager or a coach a mile off, yet Clarke has consistently won the respect of all the players that have come under his command. Across British football you cannot find a bad word about Steve Clarke.
As for those who still cannot get their minds around the Nations League – and in the main this is the generation who used to read Alex “Candid” Cameron – it can suffice to say that staying in League A will do nothing but boost Scotland’s chances, even in reaching the 2026 World Cup finals. It is convoluted but the Nations League could remain a World Cup side-door for Scotland to sneak through should they make a mess of their looming qualifying campaign.
I’m looking forward to both these clashes against Greece and I’m reminded of the late Craig Brown’s famous declaration: “International football is it. People go on about the club game, the Champions League and the rest. But international football is the crème. It’s the very best. This is the elite.”
If this might not be completely true – a club side of composite brilliant players from different countries may be the ultimate team – you still feel an anticipation about watching Scotland on the international stage. And Clarke has restored to our country that taste of being at football’s high table, an experience sorely missing for over two decades.
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It feels remarkable that, over the course of the next four days, we could be watching a Scotland side with three players all starring in Serie A. In the old days it felt refreshing for Hampden to watch a Joe Jordan of AC Milan or a Graeme Souness of Sampdoria, but for the trio of Adams, McTominay and Gilmour, this week could be pretty special, given their arrival from Italian football. McTominay, in particular, has become a giant of a player.
Kieran Tierney’s return to the colours will also give the Tartan Army a confidence boost. The Celtic-bound defender has regained full fitness and is even re-appearing for Arsenal, which most had believed was a closed door. A fit Tierney beyond dispute remains one of Scotland’s best players and it is uplifting to see him back.
Clarke has his sights on next year’s World Cup in North America – it may well be his bowing out as the Scotland boss - and these two games against Greece are not wholly divorced from next year’s proceedings. Scotland might need its Nations League status in the World Cup qualifying process. It would be good to witness more gallusness and goals, starting this evening in Piraeus.
∎ If things go badly for the Scots tonight in Greece then this will at least be one international fixture in which the Tartan Army can cast around for excuses and shout: “The referee’s a Homer.”
