Reality bites for Scotland

Published on Saturday 27 February 2010 21:04

SCOTLAND fans expecting an instant resurrection of their team's fortunes against the Czech Republic must set their sights a little lower, writes Tom English

CALL IT part of the process of closure, but Kris Boyd and Lee McCulloch are surely in for an uncomfortable evening when the Czechs come to town on Wednesday. Boyd's name is going to be read out over the PA system and unless there's an army of Trappist monks in the house there's going to be audible discontent. McCulloch's name will follow and again the home crowd will have their say. The nation, we're certain, are about to let their feelings be known to Scotland's returning sons.

You put this to Craig Levein and he doesn't bat an eyelid, doesn't gesture in any way, doesn't appeal to the country to go easy on them. He gives a c'est la vie shrug and offers a comment. "If they get booed then they'll have to handle it," he says.

Simple as that. Look, football has changed, he points out. Some people have told him they don't agree with his decision to bring these guys back, but a manager's lot ain't what it used to be. There's less iron fist and more velvet glove than before. Lippy players are part of the deal. They don't toe the line as they once did. It's the new and uncomfortable reality. Just ask Walter Smith as he tries to get a grip on the train wreck that is Allan McGregor.

"It isn't like it was 20 or 30 years ago where players just kept their mouth shut and did what they were told," says the Scotland manager. "Everybody's got an opinion. Whether that opinion has been put in their head by family or agents, everybody's got something to say for themselves. And when you start dealing with international players, they've all got egos."

So let Hampden do its worst and let's see what the boys are made of.

Levein is the realist's realist. Short of taking a power hose to the press he couldn't have done a better job of dampening any wild expectations of his regime. Firstly, all he's trying to do is get the work ethic up and the team spirit going, trying to get some respectable results on the board and get chins off the floor, where they've been for a couple of years now. In this new, no-bullshit age, Levein lays it on the line. Travel to Hampden more in hope than expectation on Wednesday. Look on the European Championship qualifying campaign as an opportunity to restore pride rather than a glorious chance to make the finals. It's what we do in Scotland, he says. We reach the depths of despair one minute before shrugging it off and assuming that glory is nigh. He's here to tell us, glory ain't coming anytime soon.

"We're looking at a group of players who haven't done well recently," he stresses. "It's important we recognise that. They're better than their results suggest, but the evidence doesn't show it. You go back two years and they did very well, but we're not at that level now. There's an opportunity to improve, though."

Levein, much like Alex McLeish and Walter Smith before him, is a walking reality check. Recent friendly results? "Abysmal." And the last qualifying campaign? "An absolute disaster." The blind optimism – a type of naive, boyish glee – we constantly heard from George Burley has been replaced by something deeper, darker and, it has to be said, more substantial.

"I'm just saying this is going to require everybody to roll their sleeves up and work really hard. I'm not asking them to play nine-out-of-ten football every week, but I'm asking for ten-out-of-ten effort. It's a trait in the Scottish people. We love this idea that we've got where we are by working hard. We almost shun people who get there by being really talented. For us, it's more important we work hard. That's what we are. Inside every single one of us is a grit and determination and I want to see that come out on the field. After that, we'll take whatever we get."

Darren Fletcher will remain as captain. The pair had a half-hour chat since Levein took over as manager and it sounds like the boss did most of the talking. "I was just trying to reassure him that I'll be doing everything I can to guarantee that when he goes back to that dressing room at Manchester United after playing for Scotland that he walks back with his head held high. Football players are intensely proud. The last couple of years, Scotland's had three wins, two against Iceland and one against Macedonia. They're going back to their clubs and dressing rooms are merciless places."

You can imagine that Fletcher would have appreciated such sentiments, would have respected the fact that Levein understood how mortifying it must have been for him over the last while to return to United having just been humiliated by Macedonia or Norway or Wales. The manager's respect for his captain looks absolute. He calls him a fantastic lad and a grounded individual, a high-energy box-to-box player and a modern-day, all-round midfielder. "It's important that in our team he plays the role he plays at Manchester United."

For Levein, this is a process of discovery. This is his first squad, but the names could alter substantially for his second. Kris Commons would have been in this group had he not torn a hamstring last weekend. Ross McCormack will come into his thoughts when he starts playing regularly for Cardiff and the same applies to James Morrison, who has only just returned to the West Brom side after a ten-month lay-off. Stephen McManus needs to get his confidence back. Shaun Maloney needs to get himself fit. So does Kirk Broadfoot. Kevin McDonald, of Burnley, would have gone close had he not been required by the U21s.

"I look at the squad and I would love to have another two or three wingers," says Levein. "Maybe we could put Andrew Driver back to school for another couple of months."

Making Scotland harder to beat is something Levein can achieve, just as Smith and McLeish did before him. But the age-old head-wrecker is Scotland's lack of goals; none in their last three matches and a pitiful six in their last 12. The hope is that Boyd, with seven goals in 15 appearances, will nudge those numbers along a bit. Him and the three others selected for Wednesday – Kenny Miller, Steven Fletcher and Chris Iwelumo, whose inclusion was something of a surprise.

"We've got four different types of striker," says Levein. "Chris is the only one that with ten minutes to go or, if I think a particular team we are playing against can't defend balls into the box, then it makes complete sense to me to have a big type of striker. Kenny has done a fantastic job for Scotland. In the last year, and particularly this season, Kris has moved his game on to involve stuff that I need striker to do, which is working his backside off and dropping back into that deeper-lying position to stop the opposition playing.

"Miller has pace and will run the channels, Fletcher is in between Miller and Boyd and is coming on and I think is going to be a really good player. Iwelumo will do the powerhouse stuff if we need to throw the ball from back to front. There's not a hell of a lot else out there who you'd think should definitely be in this squad."

Barry Ferguson? The wait for an answer continues. Even without him, though, Wednesday evening has a huge fascination.