IT has taken John Fleck rather a long time to live up to the high hopes that so many in the Scottish game had for him when he broke through into the Rangers first team at the tender age of just 16 back in 2008.
So the circumstances that he could have to make his international bow in here against Kazakhstan tomorrow afternoon on an artificial pitch in the Astana Arena are of little concern to him.
“We just have to be professional about it and work as hard as we can on it,” he said. “I certainly won’t be complaining. I would play in the car park if I could get that chance.
“It is a great occasion for myself and my family for me to be called up again. I always hoped my opportunity would come along. It has obviously taken quite a bit of time, but now I feel as if I’m playing consistently well at club level with Sheffield United and I have got that.
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“It is something I have always wanted to do, to be involved in the national set-up. I have had to work hard for a few years to finally get there, but I am thankful for it.”
Anybody who saw Fleck play at Ibrox at the outset of his career has been surprised at his subsequent failure to force his way into the Scotland side. He performed with remarkable maturity for one so young in the run-outs that Walter Smith gave him. Most observers fully expected him to have a raft of caps to his name by the time he was 27.
So what exactly has happened in the last decade? The diminutive midfielder is adamant that the great things he was tipped to achieve in the game with both club and country didn’t have an adverse affect on him. Nor does he feel he has failed to realise his potential by taking so long to reach this level.
That said, he does believe that leaving the Glasgow goldfish bowl and moving to England, where he has played with distinction for both Coventry City and Sheffield United for the past seven years, has been helpful.
“It was fine,” he said. “I didn’t feel any different pressures on me from the outside. It was what it was. Obviously, a lot of people had their own views on it. People might say I didn’t do as well as I should have done. It’s opinions, isn’t it? Everyone has got their own view on the game. But I knew myself that I worked hard. The people around about me are always happy for me. I felt as if gave it my best shot.”
Was his uncle Robert - who, of course, played up front for Rangers, Chelsea, Norwich and Scotland – a help when he was starting out? “No, I haven’t spoken to him for years,” said Fleck. “I can’t actually remember the last time I spoke to him. So not really, in terms of my career, no.”
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However, when it was put to Fleck that going down south back in 2012, after he was one of the Rangers players who refused to have his contract transferred to the new company, had been beneficial for him he concurred wholeheartedly.
“Now, when I look back, I think so,” he said. “At the time, I wasn’t sure about that. As I have grown up and I look back, I think going away has helped me massively, just being in totally different surroundings, in a different country. It has helped me in the long run.
“It was my choice. Obviously, I was in and around the (Rangers) squad. But I was not a first team regular if you like, and I just thought I had to go out and find myself as a player if you like.
“It was a big call. It was through all that stuff. I think now looking back it was the right call. I could have stayed there. But would I have played? I am not so sure. I had to go out and get regular first team football and I have played quite a few games since I have done that.
“Even when I went to Coventry it took me some time to get over moving away and that. I just thought of kicked on from there and kept working hard. Thankfully it’s got me here.
“I haven’t had many people around about me and have had to work hard and focus on myself. I think it has. I moved away by myself when I was about 19 or 20. I have had to fend for myself since then. It has helped me. At that time, I grew up quite a lot.
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“Obviously, being away from my family, I had to go and do it all myself. I didn’t know what to expect. I couldn’t cook or anything. I was eating takeaways every night. It is all good. My missus eventually moved down. I am settled now. It definitely makes you grow up. When you are at home your mum does everything. It helped me to start doing things for myself a bit.”
His football abilities as well as his culinary skills have blossomed. Fleck has certainly been one of the standout performers in the Championship in the 2018/19 campaign. He has helped Sheffield United move to second place in the second tier table and within touching distance of automatic promotion to the Premier League.
“With eight games to go we are in a great position,” he said. “At the start of the season we wanted to try and improve on what we done last year. We have done that to this point. Hopefully we can go a bit further. But you never know what is going to happen.
“The Premier League is where everyone wants to play. It is the biggest league in the world. We are not really expected to be there. We are punching above our weight in terms of budget. We have a great manager (Chris Wilder) and a hard working team, that’s helped us.
“We could push on if we get up. It’s a very well-run club with great supporters and a great group of players and the manager’s incredible as well. If we keep working hard you never know what might happen.”
Doing just that has certainly helped John Fleck move, at long last, to the brink of that elusive Scotland appearance.
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