I find that the motto ‘criticise in haste, repent at leisure’ is one that can serve you well.
So, when then Scotland manager Gordon Strachan came away with his now infamous remarks about the genetics of Scottish players, I resisted the urge to dive in with a knee-jerk reaction, ignoring the fact my knee couldn’t have been jerking more had a doctor been battering away at it with a wee hammer.
Besides, the whole nation were lining up to have a go, so it seemed a rather fruitless pursuit to jump on a bandwagon that by this time resembled one of those impossibly crowded trains with passengers clinging to the roof. Or as users of Scotrail services call it, the 17.30 to Lanark.
Read more: Kieran Tierney is a special player who loves the club like Tommy Burns or Peter Grant
Then, the erstwhile Scotland boss named his top three picks for the FIFA ‘Best Player’ award. His line up couldn’t have been any more diminutive supposing he’d scrawled down the names ‘Frodo’, ‘Bilbo’ and ‘Sam’.
Still, there is no denying that his selections of Luka Modric, N’Golo Kante and Lionel Messi – in that order – are world class footballers far beyond the ability of anything within his Scotland squad, whatever their height.
Articles appeared elsewhere accusing him of trolling the nation by naming this specific three so soon after his haverings on heredity, with the tallest of those players, Modric, standing at just five foot nine in his stocking soles.
But weeks later, on Tuesday night of this week to be precise while soaking in the splendour of Celtic’s Champions League clash against Bayern Munich, the realisation hit that for all the column inches devoted to debunking Strachan’s theory, it will be the players themselves who will ultimately disprove the erroneous explanation for the failures of a side that lay more at the door of Strachan himself than anything passed down by Jock Tamson.
Read more: Bayern Munich legend Arjen Robben tips Celtic for Europa League success
The evidence was right there in front of the 60,000 pairs of transfixed eyes, as they watched Celtic go toe to toe with some of the best players on the planet. They may ultimately, if you pardon the pun, have fallen short, but they were every bit as good as their opponents on the night in both a technical and a competitive sense.
And the best of Celtic’s performers? All Scots. All thrillingly so. And all of them under six feet tall.
There is little left to be said about Kieran Tierney, who set the tone for the evening by clattering (fairly) through an early challenge to leave Arturo Vidal crumpled on the turf and set Celtic on their first attack. He was outstanding, at just five foot 10.
In midfield, Stuart Armstrong and Scott Brown competed ferociously with world-class talents like Javi Martinez. Neither of the Celts are threatening the six-foot mark.
Now, Tierney was in the Scotland side who drew in Slovenia, albeit playing out of position on the right. And there is no doubt that Armstrong and captain Brown would also have been there too but for injury.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Arjen Robben and Thiago were raving about my Celtic stars
But it was the star performers against the German giants, and who didn’t receive a minute of game-time between them as the Scots searched desperately for goals in Ljubljana, that really made a mockery of Strachan’s decision to favour height over ability.
Goalscorer Callum McGregor, who wasn’t even capped during Strachan’s reign, was the second-best man on the park. His close control and technical ability in tight central areas were superb, and his finish through the legs of Sven Ulrich was coolness personified. How Scotland may have benefitted from those qualities on that fateful evening in early October.
He was only upstaged by the scintillating showing of James Forrest on the right wing, who arguably had his best game in a Celtic jersey as he terrorised the Bayern defence.
He was electric, with his direct running, skill and in particular, his assist for McGregor’s goal, a joy to behold. What might he have offered a Scotland side, trailing and desperate for a spark, rather than the ineffective Matt Phillips.
I have nothing against Phillips, who I think is a decent player, but given his stale showing against Slovakia just days earlier and the comments which followed from the national coach, his cap against the Slovenians looks to have been awarded for simply being a bit tall.
Read more: Kieran Tierney is a special player who loves the club like Tommy Burns or Peter Grant
All of these shorter players mentioned are in Malky Mackay’s first, and perhaps only, Scotland squad for next week’s friendly against The Netherlands. Hopefully, technical ability rather than physical stature, will be the new yardstick for all Scotland players to stretch towards and be judged upon.
If you’re good enough, you’re tall enough.
AND ANOTHER THING
Malky Mackay’s Scotland squad for the friendly against The Netherlands does contain some promising inclusions, but some of the call-ups and exclusions make it difficult to figure out what the criteria was for selection.
If it was on form, then surely Barrie McKay would have been in there and team-mate Jason Cummings, as well as Ryan Jack, may have not. That’s not even going into the fact that Hull’s first-choice keeper has been overlooked for the man he is keeping on the bench at club level.
Paul Hanlon of Hibs has been given a chance, and he has been in great form, but the opportunity to have a closer look at the likes of Liam Lindsay of Barnsley has been missed. And that’s what the squad feels like, an opportunity missed.
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