Alex McLeish’s presence in The Dog and Fox on the High Street in leafy Wimbledon Village caused a ripple of excitement during an otherwise uneventful Tuesday lunchtime earlier this week.
The regulars who were propping up the bar in the plush watering hole in the heart of the affluent London suburb looked up from their pints momentarily and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the famous local resident as he tucked into a bacon croissant and a pot of tea.
The waiter who was serving the former Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest manager, meanwhile, was eager to hear his expert opinion on why Spurs had endured such a horrendous season and had only narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League.
McLeish was happy to spend a little time chatting. He is, it transpired, not averse to a little bit of star spotting himself. “This used to be Ant McPartlin’s local pub when he lived in the area,” he said. “I saw him in here a few times.”
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But he has not popped in to talk I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! There are far weightier matters to address. With the World Cup looming, the topic of conversation is very much I’m a Scotland Footballer . . . Get Me Out of the Group Stages!
The 77-times capped former Aberdeen centre-half is one of just five men – Sir Kenny Dalglish, Joe Jordan, Jim Leighton and Graeme Souness are the only others – to play for this country in three finals. He donned a dark blue jersey at Spain ’82, Mexico ’86 and Italia ’90.
He also spent two spells as manager of the national team and either handed international debuts to or helped to bring through current mainstays like Ryan Christie, Jack Hendry, John McGinn, Scott McKenna, Kenny McLean, Scott McTominay and John Souttar during his last stint at the helm.
McLeish might not have made it through to the knockout rounds at any of the tournaments he was involved in. He is, though, pretty well placed to offer an opinion on what will be required in the United States for Andy Robertson, who he made captain back in 2018, and his compatriots to achieve a feat that proved beyond their predecessors.
He was denied a place in the history books by the narrowest of margins on every occasion that he went to the World Cup and appreciates the difference between success and failure in the coming days will be infinitesimal.
So what does he think Steve Clarke’s boys have to do to end 72 years of hurt? He believes the opening Group C match against Haiti in the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough next Saturday will be absolutely vital.
With a record 48 nations competing in Canada, Mexico and the United States this summer, the eight best third placed teams in the 12 sections will advance to the last 32. The new format would appear to give Scotland a great chance to progress.
Beat opponents who are 83rd in the current FIFA World Rankings by a comfortable margin and they should go through. Simples! Right? McLeish knows from bitter personal experience that it will not be as straightforward an outing as many Tartan Army footsoldiers are hoping and has urged extreme caution.
His first trip to the World Cup ended in heartbreak when Scotland failed to go through to the second stage on goal difference. The two second half goals they conceded in their opening Group 6 match against debutants New Zealand in Malaga, an encounter they won by an emphatic 5-2 scoreline, cost them dear.
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McLeish, who had just recovered from an injury, was overlooked for that outing. Manager Jock Stein selected Allan Evans, who had lifted the European Cup with Aston Villa that term, and Alan Hansen of Liverpool ahead of him. Having started in all eight of the qualifiers, he was bitterly disappointed. But he was never going to complain.
“I was in awe of big Jock,” he said. “He was a big, powerful figure and definitely had an aura about him. I just missed out being named PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year to John McDonald in 1980. But Jock came up to me that night and gave me some comforting words.
“He said, ‘Unlucky son, but you’ve had a good season, you're playing on Wednesday night’. I played in midfield next to Archie Gemmill in a friendly against Portugal and we won 4-1. So that was the start of it for me.
“We went to Portugal to acclimatise before those ‘82 finals and we were out on the golf course enjoying the weather like typical daft Scots abroad. Jock came to me and said, ‘You’re like my boy, he’s got ginger hair as well. Stay out of the sun’.
“When Jock spoke you listened. I took what he said literally. I stayed in my hotel room, looking out of the window at the other players going down chutes into the swimming pool and enjoying themselves.
“That World Cup was absolutely an incredible experience for me. I was determined to show I was good enough to play. But I was young and there were other players ahead of me.”
McLeish got on in the second half of the second game against Brazil in Seville to make his debut in the competition. But by the time he took to the field Scotland were 3-1 down to their celebrated South American rivals and had no hope of salvaging a result.
“Davie Narey put us in front that night,” he said. “But I think that just made them angry. Zico pulled one back for them with a stunning free-kick before half-time. I remember big Alan Rough shouting, ‘Away!’ He thought it was going over the bar. Bang! It went in the top corner. Roughie was an experienced goalkeeper too. Mentally he was so, so strong.
“I came on in the Seville heat for the last 20 minutes or so. At the end of that game I ended up marking about five Brazilians. The rest of our defenders and midfielders had gathered around Zico with a couple of minutes to go to try and get his jersey. I think Graeme got it in the end. It was quite amusing.
“But it was just a different level. Those guys, Socrates, Zico, Falcao, were born with ability. The way they moved, the way they turned their bodies, it was incredible to watch.”
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The final game against the USSR didn’t make for such pleasant viewing. Scotland needed a win to proceed. But with six minutes remaining Alan Hansen and Willie Miller collided with each other wide on the right touchline and that allowed Ramaz Shengelia to nip in put his side 2-1 ahead.
Souness pulled one back immediately when play restarted but his strike made no difference. The two goals they had let in against New Zealand came back to haunt them and their opponents progressed on goal difference. Would the mix-up have taken place if McLeish had been preferred to Hansen? He had, after all, a telepathic understanding with Miller.
“You can’t say it wouldn't have happened if I was there,” he said. “Playing Willie and Alan was a very different concept. It was two really top drawer, sweeper-type centre-backs. Charlie Nicholas used to call Willie the head waiter. But the two goals we let in against New Zealand was what ultimately killed us.”
Scottish football trivia time. Miller and McLeish played together for the national team on no fewer than 44 occasions, more than any other centre-half partnership before or since. But how many times did they both start a game at the World Cup? The answer, amazingly, is just once.
They were in the side for their opening Mexico ’86 match against Denmark. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side lost their Group E opener 1-0 in Nezahualcoyotl after having a second half Roy Aitken goal wrongly disallowed for offside. The Celtic man was being played onside by two opposition players when Miller chipped the ball to him. If only FIFA had used VAR at that time.
McLeish suffered food poisoning, which was caused by the ice in a cold drink, after that narrow reverse and sat out the 2-1 loss to West Germany. He recovered from his bout of Montezuma’s Revenge and was hopeful he would get restored for the Uruguay match. But Narey retained his spot.
“I thought I would get back in for the last game,” he said. “ Alex and I had a head-to-head about it. He said, ‘Davie’s not done anything wrong’. I was obviously selfish, I wanted to play and I was annoyed. I suppose I did kind of go in the huff after that.
“I expected Alex to pick me because he was my manager at Aberdeen. But wee Jim [Dundee United manager McLean] was his assistant and he was in the room at the time. I am sure he was in his ear saying, ‘Davie would be a hard one to drop’.
“I got on well with Jim. There was always a good back and forth between us whenever Aberdeen played Dundee United. Everybody who played under him said he was a bit of a tyrant, but I thought he was a really nice bloke. Maybe that was part of his game plan!
“We drew that game against Uruguay 0-0 and went out. But I could understand where Alex was coming from. Davie was a superb player, elegant and technically gifted. He would be a superstar if he played today. Plus, we needed to win the game and I wasn’t going to win us the game, just stop them winning. I have had to do the same thing to players in my managerial career.”
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McLeish had played under Ferguson and Stein, two of the greatest managers of all-time, for both club and country up until that stage. So what did he think when the SFA stunned the Tartan Army and brought in Andy Roxburgh after those finals? One tabloid newspaper headline asked, “Andy Who?”
“It’s a Scottish thing isn’t it?” he said. “I prefer to look at things positively. Andy was great. He took the job on in a very difficult situation, after Jock Stein and then Alex Ferguson had been in charge.
“He came in with Craig Brown as his assistant. They were head of the set-up at Largs and were seen as the guys who helped players get their coaching diplomas. It was certainly a change, a new era, because before that it was legendary managers who always got the job.
“But Andy and Craig’s knowledge of the game was brilliant. They had both been schoolteachers and were very educated guys. I also saw the dark side of both of them when they had to bare their teeth.”
Roxburgh justified his leftfield appointment by leading Scotland through to their fifth successive World Cup finals. But their opening game curse struck again at Italia ’90 when they crashed to an excruciating 1-0 loss to Central American newcomers Costa Rica in Genoa. The memory of that infamous reverse still rankles.
“What happened to us that afternoon?” said McLeish. “I don’t know to this day. It was just a pure freeze. We were scared to express ourselves for some reason. The players, myself included, were all missing what we were capable of showing.”
The backlash from supporters and the Scottish media was vicious. At their next Group C match against Sweden, members of the Tartan Army held up banners in the stands which read, “P45 for Roxburgh”. But there was a positive response on the pitch and an early goal from Stuart McCall and a late Mo Johnston penalty secured a 2-1 win.
“We were made aware of what was being said in the papers back home after the Costa Rica loss,” said McLeish. “I remember one headline was ‘Stop The World We Want To Get Off!” It was brutal and hurtful.
“The players all knew the press boys and got on well with them. Whenever you asked Fergie about them he was never so complimentary right enough! They were pretty savage after Costa Rica. Sometimes, though, they could give you great inspiration. It was motivating as well.
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“We went into that Sweden game with our sleeves rolled up as a result of the criticism we received. You would say, ‘F****** c****! We’ll show you!’ That is exactly what we did. I don’t think I have ever been as worked up going into a game as I was that night.”
The optimism that wildly-celebrated result generated proved short-lived. A crushing 1-0 loss to Brazil at the Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin in front of a crowd of 62,502 followed and Scotland were once again going home early with the boos of their fans ringing in their ears.
“That game was a tragedy,” he said. “Losing it was so easily preventable. The goal that Muller scored late on was an absolute shambles. Big Jim [goalkeeper Leighton] parried the initial shot and none of us followed through. That was a crime.
“Mo had a great chance towards the end, but Taffarel [Brazil keeper Claudio] saved from point blank range. He would have buried it 99 times out of 100. He was a supreme finisher. But that one just evaded him and a place in the knockout rounds evaded us.”
It has been the same sorry tale at every World Cup that Scotland have been at. Can Steve Clarke’s men do better? Having suffered as a result of the goals which were conceded against New Zealand in 1982 and the defeats against Denmark in 1986 and Costa Rica in 1990, McLeish knows that getting off to a positive start will be critical.
“Haiti is definitely the key game for us,” he said. “If we can win that and then take something out of the Morocco and Brazil games then great. But nothing can be taken for granted at a World Cup. It is always wonderful being there, but it is never easy.”
