An English Man doing a Scotts Mans Job!!

[truegaffer]

My name is Stuart Green, I have been retired from professional football for the past 3 years, but my retirement from playing was cut short, I was only 29.

My injury was cut short by a nasty tackle by myself which caused me to break my ankle for the 3rd time!!! I dont know how i did it, i won the ball then made contact with the player, and i ended up getting injured. Maybe because i would tend to put my body on the line for the team.

I was playing for Fiorentina in Serie A at the time and i was lucky enough to play in the 3 best leagues in the world. The Premiership with Portsmouth and Deportivo in La Liga.

I was also lucky to represent England 40 times and banging 2 goals bringing my career total my career total to 8!!!!

As you can tell, I wasnt a striker (unless you thought i was Emile Heskey in disguise)

I was a centre midfielder, nothing special, I would just simply go and win the ball back for the team and give the ball to players like the Rooneys and Mutus. I had no problem with them taking all the glory when they banged in the goals, as long as the team won!!!!!!

I was a team player, I would do anything for the team, whether that was putting my body on the line or buy the whole squad a round on me.

In training i would always encourage the youngsters but also get on the youngsters aswell as the expierenced players back if i didnt think they were performing to the standard that they should be.

Opposition fans and players hated me when i was on the pitch but they all say they would love to have me in their team. I would always try to wind up the opposition especially the likes of Robbie Savage and the Roy Keane's. They were real battles and I loved it.

Whenever there was a chance to wind up the opposition fans, i took it. Whenever we scored away and i would always scream at their fans "GET IN!!!!"

You could say I was a nasty player but as soon as the final whistle blew, i would be the 1st to shake the oppositions hands and then say "Meet you in the bar....what do you want?"

Due to the way i played, i sometimes ended up being on the physio bench. I broke my ankle when i was 18 and since then it has always held me back. Unfortunatly breaking it for the 3rd time, i was advised to retire or face a real struggle when im am a lot older.

I had made a good living, money was not a problem. I also had property in Spain and Italy as well as a spanish sports bar.

While i was injured i still watched most of the training sessions. Standing next to the coaches, you get to see things you dont see while you are training. I loved the way coaches spot things going wrong and then coach how to solve the problem. This got me thinking that i would love to be a coach. As i was injured, i decided to do my coaching badges.

When i retired i immediatly wanted to go into coaching, i hated that i had no reason to wake up in the mornings.

I did a few coaching jobs at a few lower level clubs, but nothing permanent due to financial reasons, which was annoying.

When i wasnt coaching i was always at my sports bar...not getting drunk though, just trying to help out around the bar, but i tended to get in the way, so i ended up watching the football on the t.v!!!!

but on the 28 March 2009 my coaching career would take off!!

[truegaffer]

On that day a group of Scottish lads were on their holiday and had come in to watch Holland vs Scotland in a world cup qualifer.

They had had a few drinks and were very optimistic before the game.

They needed to get a result as they had dropped points against Norway at home and had lost to Macedonia away. They also struggled against Iceland but got a win.

There was good banter among us. I had even mentioned that they would need Kenny Dalgliesh and Graeme Sounnes to get out of the Sky Studio and get onto the pitch to have half a chance.

As i had predicted Holland walked all over Scotland 3-0. Holland hadnt even got out of 2nd gear, it was far too easy for them. Scotland just crumbled, they gave the ball away for too cheaply and they never tried to get physical with them.

The fans were dissapointed and i gave them a free round as long they promised to return for the next match on the 1st April as i needed a good laugh!!!!

To my surprise they had turned up this time with their ginger wigs on and tarten kilts!!!

They were very confident, and so they should be as they were up against Iceland. Their man player was Gudjohnson of Barcelona who was class but he was injured.

The atmosphere again was excellent but after 15 mins it got very quiet as Iceland took the lead, even i was getting frustrated watching it. This time they had control of the ball but didnt keep it simple and over passed it!!!

the 2nd half didnt pick up too well, but Scotland managed to turn it around with 2 goals from corners.

The fans in the bar were chuffed they got the win, but even with that win they would need to win all 3 of their remaining fixtures which involved Norway away and Holland at home as well as Macedonia at home who they had already lost to.

As the night went on, i carried on a having a few drinks with the lads and we discussed what would be the best line uo for the current Scotland squad etc etc

Then one of the lads started shouting "Greeny for Scotland, Greeny for Scotland!!!" His mates started shouting "Shut up...he is English!!!"

I laughed then said...."What would you do if an English man was manager of Scotland?"

One of the lads said "I would hate it......but if he got us to a major championship i wouldnt mind, we did have a German once!!!"

Scotland had been to a major championship since the 1998 world cup!!

A couple of days had passed and he had got me thinking more about the Scotland team. I don't know why...it just did. They had some decent players like McFadden, Fletcher, Gordon, Scott Brown, Kris Boyd, but they just didnt seem to play the Scottish tough way.

On Sky Sport News it was announced that George Burley had been sacked.

There was only a small chance of reaching the Play Off as Holland had virtually qualified.

For some reason I wanted that Job, it was a golden opportunity for me. I knew i was English but everyone knew me as i was a bit of a nutter!!! After all they did have a German manager once....at least im British!!!!!

I wrote up my CV and sent it to the Scottish F.A.

[truegaffer]

A week had passed and i had no response.

Sky Sports news would regulary mention managers name into the hat for the vacant job.

The bookies favourites were Jimmy Calderwood and John Collins.

Jimmy had done a decent job at Aberdeen but left as he felt he could not take the club any further.

Collins had done a decent job at Hibs, bringing up a young squad but had not achieved anything and had had a couple of jobs in Europe but with no real success.

The likes of Souness and Strachan had already declared that they were not interested.

The fans wanted Walter Smith, even though he walked out on them when they were close to qualifying as he went back to Rangers.

I assumed my CV had been thrown in the bin as soon as they read 'Nationalality: English'

A couple of more days had passed, when i then recieved a phone call

"Hello"

"Hello is that Stuart Green?"

"Yes, who's calling"

"Hello Mr Green, my name is Gordon Smith, Chief Executive of the Scottish FA"

"Oh hello there, how can i help"

"Thank you for your CV, it was very interesting to read, but obvious this is for the Scotland National Football and you are an Englishman, it could potentially cause an uproar"

"I totally understand Mr Smith, I felt I had nothing to lose"

"Well Mr Green, i am glad you did send your CV, it was very interesting and as of European Laws we are unable discriminate different Nationallities, we would be delighted to offer you an interview for the role"

"Really, thats fantastic, Thank You"

"I will email you the details of the interview and we will arrange transport for you"

"Thank You Mr Smith"

"Mr Green, as for security reason, we would be most greatfull if you keep this quiet"

"Of course i understand"

"Good, I will see you at the home of Scottish football next week"

I put the phone down, i couldnt believe it, surely this was a wind up. I pressed redial and it rang through to the Scottish FA phone line!

I opened up my email and organised the final details for the trip.

I then got my self orgainsed. I cracked open the lap top and started doing my research and set my plans for the Scottish National Job!

[truegaffer]

I had flown to Prestwich Airport, just outside Glasgow and it was bloody freezing!!!

On the flight it gave me a chance to catch up with what was going on in the media.

There was a picture of John Collins arriving and leaving Hampden Park in his suit, looking quite pleased with himself.

A car was awaiting out for me.

The driver looked shocked, but said no further more.

We drove uo to Hampden Park, it was a brilliant stadium and i felt like i was about to play a footy match.

Outside there was a small gathering of photographers.

As we stopped the driver spoke

"Are you mad?"

"Yes, thanks for the lift"

I stepped out of the car. There was a huge silence for a couple of seconds which felt an eternity. It then hit them, and Englishman was being interview for the Scottish jobs. The camera's went mad...click, click, flash flash click flash!

I kept smiling as i walked to the enterance where i was greeted by Mr Smith.

"I see you have met the paparazzi then!"

"I laughed, well I can't blame them, I do look amazing in this suit!!!!"

Mr Smith gave me a tour of the Stadium, and it was fantastic, everything was modern but you could sense the history. I could even feel the atmosphere in the stadium even though it was empty.

We went into the boardroom where there was 4 other members of the Scottish Association.

They fired in questions, which i answered honestly. I explained i was gobsmacked by how poor they were. They were mean to playing huge match to help get their nation to the world cup and there was no passion, no fight, no determination. It was a disgraceful performance, they gave up.

I was pleased with how the interview had gone as i walking through the offices a tv screen was on with a picture of me on it walking into hampden park.

Outside there was a huge crowd of photographers, tv crews and fans.

As i opened the door there was a few boo's, reporters tried to get an interview, i was honet and said i had an interview and nothing else.

I jumped in the car where the papparazzin followed me to the airport.

When i arrived back in Spain there was a couple of photgraphers waiting outside.

My phone hadnt stopped recieveing txt msgs from old team mates

"Are you mad!!!!!" was the main txt i got!!!!

A couple of days had passed, there was a major debate going on...."Should an Englishman be manager of Scotland?"

It was 60% to 40% in that Scotland did not want and Englishman.

I was quite pleased that i got 40% maybe the Scots are desperate to get to a championship!

[tenthreeleader]

Welcome .... glad to have you here!

Just a couple of observations on your start:

One punctuation mark per end of sentence.

You've got some abbreviations ('txt' being one) that you might wish to edit.

Be sure you run a spell-checker on your posts. You want your posts to be easy to read and that helps.

Love your enthusiasm! Enjoy your writing!

[Peacemaker7]

I I I I I

Write that out a 100 times until you learn it.

Capitals at the start of a sentence.

Plus what 10-3 says.

You do these things sometimes, then other times you just don't. You probably think it's being overly pedantic, but as 10-3 also says, you do, I presume, want people to actually read what you are writing!

Other than than, it's fine but one other thing I would say is that sometimes your paragraph structure is non existant. Try to condense the sentences so that it's not like one sentence in a paragraph, gives it a very staccato feel. Unless that's what you're trying to achieve.

[Welwyn]

Really interesting idea for a story, will definitely be following this.

[truegaffer]

Thanks for all the comments

I'l be honest, I did rush it, but will improve!!!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the story.

[truegaffer]

The next day there was an interview on Sky Sports News with Gordon Smith.

He had stated that the SFA had found the right man for the job and are to prepare to finalise the deal.

I felt it was to go to John Collins as he was a Scottish hero anyway.

Later on that day my phone rang. It was Gordon Smith.

"Mr Green, good afternoon, thank you for coming up to Scotland last week, I wanted to personally call you."

"Ok" I was starting to thinking that this was to be a disspointing ending.

"We have had a hard, long thought, with plenty of positives and negatives. We have had some excellent discussions, but we have made a final decision"

I felt like I was on X Factor

"We the Scottish FA would like you to be the manager of our National Team"

I almost dropped the phone.

"Really, wow, I am in shock"

"Mr Green, all of us had been so impressed with your interview, and the way you showed more passion than Mr Collins, we feel that you are the man to take us to a major championship. Now I know this is going to be huge news across the whole of Britain, and we understand that there might be a few people not happy with this decision, but we feel you will thrive on this type of pressure. Are you in Mr Green?"

"Yeah of course"

"Good I assume that you are happy with the terms that we offered"

"Yes, I will get the next flight to Scotland to sign the contract."

"Excellent I look forward to seeing you. Oh we will also organise a couple of body guards for you, just to help you ride through the storm!!"

"Of course, Thank You."

The phone cut out....Oh S**T, my life would be completly different.

I arranged my flight and began organising my backroom staff.

The SFA had said that i could have whoever i wanted as my backroom staff.

My assistant would be an Italian. Valero Di Savi. He was a coach at Fiorentina. He was brilliant, he could easily stand and predict what mistakes were going to happen in training. He was also a bit of joker, but made sure who was in charge. I kept in contact with him while i had been retired as he had helped me with my coaching badges. He had also applied for the Fiorentina job but was declined so he decided to walk.

I also called the physio from Deportivo, who had handled my many injuries. Pablo De Fevre. He was excellent and again he had this authority feel about him. When he was in charge whether you walked into his physio room or out on the pitch working on fitness, he made sure everyone knew he was in charge.

I also decided to keep the current physio with Scotland as he knew the player injury history.

I also kept the goalkeeper coach, Jim Leighton. In all squads that i have played for, the goalkeepers all stick together known as "Keeper's Union". Even though they were all fighting for 1 spot in the starting line up, they all worked together so well and hard, so I didn't want to upset the atmosphere too much.

I wanted to get a couple of Scottish coaches, but I wanted them to be hungry for the job. I decided I would visit every SPL club and watch them train a couple of times. In that way I would be able to see the players as well as the coaches that were working.

I booked my flight for that night, the press were awaiting outside, I knew if I was to walk out of my apartment with a suitcase the alarm bells would ring in Scotland, so I decided I wouldn't take anything with me apart from my laptop and my suit. I can just by some stuff when i get to the airport.

My taxi had been followed by the press, all they way to the airport, I dashed into the airport thinking I might aswell have packed a bag!!! I checked in and then got a couple of essentials for my stay in Scotland.

[truegaffer]

I arrived in Scotland, the press were going mad outside waiting to get my picture.

I was being treated like a celeb. The airport had organised a secret exit for me. I dived in the car. It was the same driver from last week.

"You are a nutter mate!, but i wish you all the best though. I can't stand watching that English s**te in the summer!!!!!!"

As we were travelling to Hampden Park, we were escorted by the police.

We had to slow down because there were so many fans and press standing in the way.

There was plenty of banging on the windows, I think a couple of fans had jumped on top of the car!!!.

I was rushed into the Stadium, where I was greeted by Mr Smith and the rest of the board members.

"Are you sure, you want to do this?"

"Yes, I can't wait to start."

"Good, we understand that it is virtually impossible for us to qualify for the 2010 world cup so we will give you a chance to get things right, in order for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign."

"Thank you, I will give you 110%, I won't let you down."

"I'm looking forward to this new era of Scottish Football".

I signed the contract and I then had to do a press conference.

The Press Confrence room was jammed.

The table that I was sitting at seemed to be covered with microphones. The photographers were fighting with each other to get a decent shot of me.

Mr Smith opened up the Press Conference with a small introduction into why they had chosen me.

There were a few more boo's

I was then given the chance to explain why I wanted the job and how I was desperate to win over the Scottish fans.

There was plenty of questions about my tactics and players, but I refused to answer fully as I had only been in charge for 15 minutes!

I stated that I have a difficult start, with Norway away before the domestic season had even began.

Barry Ferguson and Allan Mcgregor were both mentioned by the media. They had both retired from International Football due to an off-the-pitch incident away in Holland, with then George Burley dropping them for the Iceland game. Ferguson was the former captain and was playing for Birmingham in the Premiership. He was a natural leader and would always work hard. McGregor was a quality keeper, he was Rangers No.1 and was playing champions league football. I had the most expensive british goalkeeper in Craig Gordon, but he was not playing champions league football.

I stated that I would like both to be part of my plans and the door was open for them to return to International Football.

I finished with stating that; "I had watched the last two games for Scotland and they were both disgrace full performances, an embarresment to Scotland. I promise you that you will see a new Scotland, a team that you will all be proud of."

[truegaffer]

The next day the papers, radio and TV were all banging on about an Englishman being the Scotland Manager.

I wasnt bothered. Most old men were the one that were most annoyed, but the younger generation who had only witness the 98 world cup were more optimistic. They were angered that there was no Scottish manager doing the job but wanted to give me a chance. Most knew me as a player and knew I would give it 110% and they are so desperate to reach a championship.

My first plans was to find a place to stay in Scotland, I decided to get a small apartment in Glasgow as this was near the Hampden Offices as well as Celtic and Rangers who I hoped would both be playing Champions League football.

My next task was to get around all the SPL clubs, meet the managers, coaches and players.

I introduced myself and told them of my aims. I made it clear to all the players, if I see good consistancy in your performances then you have a chance of getting into the squad.

I also decided to go back to England to Sunderland, Manchester United and Birmingham as players like Craig Gordon was at Sunderland, Darren Fletcher at Man Utd and Barry Ferguson, James McFadden and Garry O'Connor at Birmingham.

It also gave me the chance to speak to Sir Alex Ferguson and Alex Mcleish.

Sir Alex is probably the greatest manager in British History. He wished me luck, but warned there will be some good highs, but very very low points. "You've got to make them play as if there life depended on it!"

Alex McLeish was a former Scotland Manager who got Scotland back to winning ways, but could'nt resist the temptation of Premiership football. "Make Hampden Park, like the lions den, get the opposition to fear Scotland!"

While on my trip to Manchester and after a discussion with my assistant, I had decided to have a new captain, it was a new era in Scottish Football and it needed a new leader. Stephen McManus was the current captain, a good solid centre back for Celtic, he didn't have much expierence and was going to miss the Norway match to injury, I felt this was the perfect time to change captaincy. I wanted a centre midfielder to lead my team and decided Darren Fletcher would be the perfect choice. He plays for 1 of the greatest teams in the world and had he not been suspended against Barcelona in the Champions League then Man Utd may have got a better result.

Fletcher has become one of the key players at Old Trafford. He is the ball winner, nothing fancy, he just simply got stuck into the opponents. He has also rided through the storm, only 4 seasons ago United fans had had enough of Fletcher and wanted him out, but he proved them wrong, by working hard and is now a key player.

I liked his attitude and he was a gentleman off the pitch. He was desperate for Scotland to get to a championship. He was delighted that he had been made captain but I wanted to keep this quiet until I had spoken to McManus.

[truegaffer]

When I visited Celtic my first job was to speak to McManus.

He was recovering from surgery that he had had in the summer and was ruled out for the Norway match.

I explained the reasons why I had chosen Darren Fletcher to be captain. He understood and explained that he wanted to concentrate on getting back to full fitness to work back into the Celtic and Scotland line ups.

I was pleased with his attitude and will be looking forward to seeing his partnership alongside Gary Caldwell at Celtic as they had both been the main 2 centre backs for Scotland.

With weeks of watching pre-season friendlies the day that I would have to chose my 1st squad was approaching and fast.

I had already sorted out my backroom staff.

I had hired John Robertson from Aston Villa. He had been Martin O'Neill's assistant at celtic park, so he knew the players in the SPL very well.

I also hired Emmanual Petit. The former Arsenal and Barca player was looking to get his first coaching job. I liked the way he played and with his expierence across Europe and as a World Cup Winner i felt it would benefit the team.

When thinking about my squad and I had certain players that I really wanted in my squad:

Goalkeepers:

Craig Gordon would be my number 1. He was the most expensive british goalkeeper and was playing for Sunderland in the Premiership, he was an excellent all round goalkeeper.

I wanted Allan McGregor but he had retired from International football, he sadly declined my offer. I felt he still had a chip on his shoulder with the SFA. I thought I will keep pestering him whenver I saw him play, hopefully he will change his mind.

The reason why I was pestering McGregor was because Scotland has a low number of quality goalkeepers.

My next best choice was Neil Alexander. He was 2nd choice at Rangers (behind McGregor) he would walk into any of the English Championship sides as well as most SPL sides. I was worried that he would lack match practice and if he ever wanted to push for the No.1 Scotland spot, he would need to play regular football.

Mr third choice goalkeeper was between Jamie Langfield and David Marshall.

both were 1st choice at Aberdeen and Cardiff City. Langfield had more expierence than Marshall and was going to play European football for Aberdeen. Marshall's last season had finished poorley with Norwich City as they were relegated.

I went with Langfield as he was more settled at his club as Marshall had only just joined Cardiff. I will keep my eye on Marshall.

Defence:

I wanted to have two right backs and two left backs in my squad. I already wanted Hutton at spurs to be my main right back as he was playing for Spurs and had a good cross on him, at left back I was impressed by Danny Fox. Fox was signed by Celtic in the summer having spent the last season at Coventry. He had a sweet left foot and was dangerous at set pieces.

I had chosen Whittaker at Rangers as my 2nd choice right back. He loved to bomb forward and I was surprised how tall he was!

The 2nd choice left back that I went for was Lee Wallace, he was a young lad but again had a sweet left foot and loved to get the ball in the box.

The centre backs that I chose was Christophe Berra, Gary Caldwell, Zander Diamond and Andy Webster.

Out of those 4 defenders, Zander Diamond stood out for me. He had yet to make his debut for Scotland, but he had everything, he was strong, quick, comfortable on the ball and loved a tackle. Christophe Berra also stood out and again I was surprised that he had only a couple of caps to his name.

Gary Caldwell and Andy Webster were my two most expierence defenders but they lacked the pace of Berra and Diamond. I had watched Caldwell a few times, he was a typical old fashoned centre back, no-nonsense with the way he played, but he tended to struggle against quick opponents.

McManus would have been called up instead of Webster, but he was injured and Webster was the next best thing.

Midfield:

Darren Fletcher was set to be made captain, so that was an easy choice. Kevin Thomson was an excellent box to box player and he was signed by Sunderland which I was pleased with as he would be playing Premiership football.

I also went for Richard Hughes as he was again a no-nonsense player and again he was playing Premiership football.

Scott Brown was an excellent talent, and he had Premiership clubs looking at him, he was more of an attacking midfielder who could also play right wing.

Kevin Macdonald was also called up from Burnley, he had been part of the team that had got promoted to the premiership and was only 20, I liked the way he played short simple balls and his work rate.

I wanted to call up Barry Robson, but he was injured but was in my plans for the future.

I was also very close to calling up Jame McArthur, Ross Forbes and Scot Arfield. These 3 were young lads who all 3 had an excellent work rate. I felt that they wern't quite ready.

On the wings, i was surprised with the amount of players I could chose from.

James McFadden has been Scotland's talisman over the past few years, whenever Scotland needed some magic, who would be the player to do it.

Shaun Maloney could play on both wings, he was an excellent dribbler and good at set pieces. He hasnt been so consistant for Scotland, but that perhaps was because he wasnt a regular in the starting 11.

Stuart Naismith had really impressed me, I liked the way he was direct when running with the ball.

Ross McCormack would also be called up. He had been Cardiff's best player last season. He could play on either wing and up front, he again was a very good dribbler was a fox in the box type of striker.

James Morrison, Kris Commons and George Boyd were a couple of players that I could have called up, so I would be keeping an eye out on them.

Strikers:

One of the main problems for Scotland was not scoring enough goals.

2 strikers stood out for me. Kris Boyd was a complete striker, strong, quick, aggresive and good in the air.

Steve Fletcher had just joined Burnley in the premiership, but he again was quick and aggresive, he was also tall like Boyd, but needed to work on his strength.

Lee Miller had also impressed me. He was Aberdeen's main striker and I liked the way he held up the ball.

Garry O'Conner. I liked he physical presence, he had a good amount of pace and power.

I decided I would not call up Kenny Miller. I didn't like the way he had played in pre-season, i was very frustrated in watching him. I would wait to see how he performed in the SPL and Champions League.

So far my squad consisted of:

Gordon

Alexander

Langfield

Hutton

Whittaker

Fox

L.Wallace

Diamond

Berra

G.Caldwell

Webster

Hughes

D.Fletcher

Brown

Thomson

MacDonald

McFadden

Maloney

Naismith

McCormack

Boyd

S.Fletcher

L.Miller

O'Connor

I also decided to call up Ross Wallace. He could player left back and left wing and had also been snapped up by Birmingham.

I also decided to pick Derek Riordan. He was mainly a forward but could play on the wing. He wasnt a target man but a good fox in the box type of player. I liked his attitude, he has just re-joined his old club Hibs from Celtic as he wasnt getting a look in.

So that was my first 26 man squad. I was pleased with this squad as this would be my nucleus, Barry Robson and McManus when they are back fit, will most likley be called up to replace MacDonald and Webster.

Even though this would be my nucleus, I was prepared to give anyone a chance if they deserved it, but also anyone not performing could find themself out of the squad.

The players that didnt make the 1st squad, but I will have my eye on would be:

David Marshall, Mark Wilson, Chris Armstrong James Morrison, Kris Commons, Scot Arfield, Ross Forbes, Kenny Miller and David Clarkson

I also planned to keep Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor in my sight.

[truegaffer]

The day after I had announced the squad, the press went mad that I had not called up Kenny Miller and David Weir.

1st I hadnt even considered picking Weir, he was 39 and would be 40 if we made it to the world cup. For me he was past it and in a way was probably stopping the likes of Diamond and Berra for earning for caps for Scotland.

Kenny Miller has been a regular for Scotland, but I felt he needed to re-start and earn his spot, I hadnt been impressed with him in the friendlies that I had seen him play in, but he would be playing champions league football so there was time for him to shine.

Other names were mentioned like Christian Dailly and Nigel Quashie, again I felt that these players had been given a chance to play for Scotland and failed, what was the point in calling them up, this was a new era, a new chance for new players like Fox, Diamond, Whittaker, the Wallace's, MaCormack.

It was also announced that Darren Fletcher was to be the new captain and the press agreed that this was an excellent choice, but then tried to stir it up saying MacManus had no future. That was not the case, 1st I couldnt pick him as he was injured and 2nd he had only captained once, at short notice due to Barry Ferguson's retirement. I added that I would be keen to watch MacManus play when back from injury and he knew that because I told that to his face.

With the media press circus finished I had arranged a meeting with Gordon Smith.

I had arranged for the SFA to get all players at the hotel where we were staying for the night before the training camp started.

We all had dinner together, where myself and my coaches were able to chat to the players. I wanted to make sure there was a good atmosphere before the training had started.

While at dinner, I was also able to set the new rules.

I made it clear that all mobiles, I-pods etc were to be turned off and out of sight while team meetings were taking place.

No agents/family/friends were allowed to turn up freely. Special permission would be required in writing. Any messages that the players needed to get to friends and family must also be requested in writing.

There would also be a set of fines for example being late would cost you £20 per minute that you were late plus a round of "PIG"

"PIG" is a game where the player must stand in the middle of the goal turn his back to the players, bend over and from 12 yards out each player would get 1 shot to hit him. If the player that was getting pigged was to dodge a ball, the game would re start but shots would be 8 yards away!

There would also be a players comittee that would be set up for any dodgy fines. If a player felt he was not in the wrong he would then be allowed to plead his case infront of the squad and the 3 comittee members would then decide if the fine should happen, if the player was to be found guilty, the punishment would be doubled.

This seemed to get the atmosphere buzzing amongst the squad.

I chose the 3 members which would be vice-captain Thomson, goalkeeper Gordon and Fox

As the night finished and players were about to go to bed I reminded that all the training kit had been placed in your rooms and that a new era in Scottish Football would start from tommorow.

5.30 AM, myself and the rest of the coaching team were all standing in the corridor, with the keys to all the bedrooms, with buckets of water at the ready.

I had told them that at 5.30 am we would wake up all the players and that i wanted them all on the pitch at 5.45

the doors open and bang the water was everywhere, I had never heard of so many men screaming, all the coaches were shouting at the players "15 mins to get on the pitch GO GO GO!!!"

It was brilliant, this was a major shock to the players.

I was pleased that all the players had made it on to the pitch in time, many of them not too happy.

I made sure that this was not gonna be a short holiday to Norway. I meant business right from the start.

A small warm up was completed, then I put them through their paces, as it was still pre-season they needed more fitness work.

we only did an hour, but it was pure fitness, the fellas had worked hard, they were still yet to see a football though.

I sent them back into the hotel for breakfast.

After breakfast, I had set up my laptop and the projector screen to show the squad what I was planning to do in terms of formation and tactics.

While scouting and watching old tapes of Scotland games, it was clear that we didnt score many, but we had plenty of players that were capable of creating chances.

the formation I wanted to use would be a 4-5-1:

GK

RB CB CB LB

DMC

CM CM

RW LW

CF

I felt keeping 4 at the back would help us keep it simple.

I wanted a player to play just infront of the back 4 to protect them. Across Europe there were quality attacking midfielders or strikers that liked to drop into that hole.

i then wanted 2 hard working centre midfielders to win the ball for the team.

We had plenty of attacking midfielders who could all play out on the wing

I then decided to have 1 centre forward, most of our centre forwards had a good physical presence who were all capable of holding up the ball and were also good in the air.

With this in mind, our main tactic was to not mess about with the ball, our first aim was to get the ball forward and out wide to our creative players to get crosses in.

I demanded that every single player should be playing as if it was there last ever game of their career given it 100%, I hate lazy players, and made sure that If I saw a player giving up then don't expect a call up.

During the training sessions our main aspect was getting the "work hard" mentatlity into the player minds and our tactics.

Training would be at high tempo, and some of the players were starting to take a shine.

Zander Diamond again was superb, he attitude was 1st class as well as Kevin Thomson.

When we didnt train we relaxed in the hotel. We had set up a 'Pool' tournament to keep the players entertained. We also watched tapes of Norway's recent matches, including the Scotland vs Norway match last year. Watching that Iwelumo miss was atrocious, some of the players that played that game, still don't know how he missed!!!!

The night before the match the coaches were all very confident that we could get a result.

Norway had four key players. Hanngeland, Riise, Pederson and Carew. The rest of the squad was average. If we can dominate the midfield and be organised at set pieces we can get something out of this game.

We had one slight problem. Goalkeeper Craig Gordon was still recovering from an injury, he was training hard, but he didnt look as sharp as Alexander.

I went and spoke to Craig Gordon.

"Hows the injury?"

"Its getting better, Im feeling stronger, but would love to have played a couple of friendlies before this match"

That settled it for me, there was doubt in himself, Craig had a ran out of time, the game had come too quickly, I explained that I will play Alexander. He totally understood and said he'l be ready for Macedonia and Holland.

The lads had been sent to their rooms. The training had gone perfectly, there was a good atmosphere amongst the players and the coaches and there was a confident mood in the camp.

Sitting with the coaches I picked what would be my starting 11.