Interview: Shaun Maloney, footballer

PERMANENT RESIDENCY of the treatment table at Celtic's Lennoxtown training facility these past eight months might have left Shaun Maloney feeling out of things, but the attacker has never felt unwanted.

That he had an unexpected visitor to the Campsie Fells complex in the form of Craig Levein has increased his longing to be an active contributor again for his club and the national side being remodelled under the new Scotland coach. Although now fit again, rarely have Maloney's limbs allowed him to do that since he claimed the PFA player of the year award in 2005-6.

"When Craig Levein came up to Lennoxtown to have a chat it was an effort that was really appreciated because the team were training down at the stadium," said Maloney, who returned to Celtic in August 2008 following 18 months at Aston Villa. "It makes me even more determined to get back in that team."

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Playing for his country is not something 17-time-capped Maloney takes lightly, although that is true of every aspect of the introspective Aberdonian's existence. "The national side has got a friendly coming up. I have missed games with them over the last season and that means a lot," he said. "These games slip by, you are never going to get them back. These are caps that mean the world to you and you just don't want to miss any more. I'm trying hard to get back to that level.

"There are big qualifiers coming up and it is another summer where we are watching football on the television. Can you imagine what the country would be like if we did make it to a major final? I would imagine every player is desperate to try and make that happen."

Maloney hasn't worked with Levein first-hand but has heard plenty of good things about him. "I know other players really rate him," he said. "(Former team-mate] Barry Robson worked with him (at Dundee United] and spoke very highly of him. He is the manager, though, and what matters is that I am working for him, not what I think of him. He looks like he is a fair man and a hard man. He has said the bare minimum is giving 100 per cent and that is what I look to do every day."

Maloney's problem has perhaps been that he seeks to push himself too much. His previous manager, Tony Mowbray, said he had never encountered so conscientious a player. Coaches are drawn to him not simply because of his talent but because he is dedicated to maximising it. It is the lot of small, tricky players who look to twist, turn, accelerate and decelerate constantly, that they put heavy strain on their bodies and often suffer. A notion has taken root, though, that Maloney's difficulties may have a psychological, as well as physiological, basis. That can be attributed to comments made by then Celtic manager Gordon Strachan towards the end of the 2008-09 season. Desperate to deploy Maloney after the forward missed the second half of the season with a double hamstring injury, Strachan claimed Maloney was fit but needed to get things straight in his head.

After one start in four months, Strachan then pitched Maloney into the derby at Ibrox four games from the end, dropping Aiden McGeady to accommodate him. The move backfired as Maloney struggled to cope with the intensity of the encounter, then failed to do himself justice in the remaining matches before missing much of the next season with a variety of ailments.

Picking his words carefully, Maloney said: "It wasn't a mental thing I strongly disagree with that. The problem was it was coming into the end of the season and there were only four games left. Ideally, you would build up to a comeback with reserve games and numerous training sessions but when there is a league on the line those kind of things go out the window. When the manager asks you to play, you do it. Ibrox is the one I always remember. We lost and personally I didn't feel physically fit enough to do what I wanted to do. It sticks out in my mind as a feeling I don't want to experience again if possible."

Shaun Maloney was speaking at the launch of Celtic's summer coaching courses for children. Further information on 0871-226 1888 and at www.celticfc.net