100 NOT OUT: Scotland skipper Andy Robertson set to become centurion in Skopje… but feat will feel hollow without a win to celebrate
Over the course of the past 15 years or so, Andy Robertson’s career has demonstrated the value of commitment and hard work.
It has been a journey which has proven that talent alone is no guarantee of making it as a footballer. Those who reach the very top level also show persistence, humility and a relentless desire to improve.
Robertson could easily have chucked it when he was released by Celtic as a teenager, another youngster cast adrift by Scottish football’s academy system.
When he was working on the checkouts in Marks and Spencer whilst playing part-time for Queen’s Park, he could have settled for a journeyman existence in the lower leagues.
The fact that Robertson, who won every major honour in club football during his nine-year stint with Liverpool, will now reach 100 caps for Scotland this evening is a phenomenal achievement.
These milestones do not come along often. The only other player who can also boast a century of Scotland caps is Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish. Esteemed company, indeed.
Robertson will receive his 100th cap this weekend to cement his status as a Scotland legend
So long as he stays fit, Robertson is likely to surpass Dalglish’s caps record of 102 during the next international break in November.
When he eventually hangs up his boots, Robertson will be remembered as one of the best and most important Scotland players of his generation. Of that there is no question.
The 32-year-old left-back, who made his debut as a fresh-faced rookie under Gordon Strachan against Poland in Warsaw in March 2014, has been a near-constant ever since.
He has captained Scotland at three major tournaments. Along with the likes of John McGinn and Scott McTominay, as well as Steve Clarke, Robertson dragged Scotland out of the international wilderness.
He was the glue that held everything together, in good times and bad, during the Clarke years. He is also the leader who will set the tone for whatever this new chapter becomes under Sebastien Pocognoli.
McGinn will surely follow Robertson into the 100-cap club. The Aston Villa midfielder currently sits on 91. It is only a matter of time before he, too, reaches three figures.
Like Robertson, that landmark will be richly deserved for a player who has so often been Scotland’s talisman over the years. Both players should feel an immense sense of pride.
Yet, right now, pride without performances and wins feels empty. Make no mistake, Scotland need a victory against North Macedonia in Skopje tonight.
Pocognoli’s early results have been modest: a goalless draw in Slovenia, a 3-0 home thrashing by Switzerland after Jack Hendry’s early red card. One point from two games. No goals.
A first win is required this evening if the new head coach is to gain any early traction. If Pocognoli were to suffer a George Burley-style disaster, a lot of goodwill towards him would evaporate.
New boss Sebastien Pocognoli will rely on Robertson’s experience as he shapes his-look side
North Macedonia are there for the taking, coming off their own poor results over the past week, yet Scotland have made a habit of turning favourable fixtures into examinations of character.
If Pocognoli is to make a success of this job, he needs his big-game players to deliver. Robertson and McGinn sit right at the very top of that list.
Reaching a century of caps would feel incredibly hollow if the team leaves North Macedonia with nothing to show for it in this Nations League clash. Robertson will know that.
McGinn’s case is more pointed. Has he gone off the boil in a Scotland shirt? Certainly, it is a question that has been asked with more frequency over the past week or so.
For Aston Villa, he remains a driving force — goals, assists, the sort of midfield presence that makes Unai Emery’s side tick.
As club captain, McGinn lifted the Europa League with Villa last season. He scored five goals across the tournament, including two in the semi-final win over Nottingham Forest.
It has been a long time since Scotland fans saw that version of McGinn; the midfield dynamo who dominates games through his energy, his character and sheer will to win.
McGinn’s influence has dimmed for the national team in recent times, evidenced by the fact he has only scored one goal in almost two years.
That, of course, was the scrappy deflected winner in the 1-0 triumph over Haiti in Boston back in June. Yet, truth be told, McGinn had a poor World Cup.
In the games against Morocco and Brazil, he didn’t turn up. The same could be said of Robertson and McTominay.
Robertson made his international debut in a friendly victory over Poland in March 2014
McTominay isn’t part of the squad at the moment as he continues his recovery from a heart procedure, so it’s Robertson and McGinn upon whom Pocognoli will lean for experience.
They are Scotland’s two most senior players. If the new head coach is to move this whole thing forward, he needs his big-game players to step up and perform.
McGinn has scored 21 goals in 91 caps for Scotland. But, beyond the effort against Haiti in the summer, it has been a barren spell over the past couple of years.
He has not influenced games the way he does for Villa. That is the uncomfortable truth. The energy and commitment are still there. The willingness is never in doubt.
But the decisive contributions — the goals, the moments that drag Scotland over the line — have dried up.
In a team that has struggled for goals under the new regime, McGinn’s ability to arrive in the box, to force the issue, to create something from nothing, is precisely what is required.
Pocognoli cannot succeed if the senior players don’t perform to their maximum capabilities. If he can get more of a tune out of Robertson and McGinn, it would also take the pressure off some of the new faces in the squad.
The new coach has spoken about cohesion, about keeping the DNA of the side while evolving the style. All we have seen so far is 45 positive minutes against a poor Slovenian side.
The Switzerland game was impossible to gauge properly due to Hendry’s red card. None of this offers the basis for any definitive judgment to be passed on the 39-year-old Belgian.
For all the praise that Robertson will receive tonight, the reality is that sentiment will mean nothing unless Scotland win. They need a result or else this Nations League campaign could unravel into calamity.
Fans need to see talisman John McGinn rediscover his knack of scoring big goals in big games
Scotland’s recent history is littered with moments where individual excellence papered over collective limitations. McGinn was central to that with big goals in big games.
Their legacy is secure. They will, in all likelihood, finish their careers as Scotland’s two most capped players of all-time.
Both players should be celebrated. But both players should also be challenged. They are capable of delivering more — and Pocognoli needs them to do exactly that.
There is a reluctance among some Scotland supporters to ever be critical of Robertson and McGinn, almost like it’s an act of blasphemy.
Part of that stems from the outstanding service they have given the country in the past. But memories of the past don’t help a new head coach seeking to put his own stamp on things and take this team in a new direction.
With Slovenia to come at Hampden on Tuesday, Robertson and McGinn need to rediscover some of the old magic and help ignite this new era under Pocognoli. It must surely start in Skopje tonight.
