STEVEN Naismith’s re-emergence circa September 2018 as Scotland’s most pre-eminent striker has surprised many but his old manager David Moyes is not one of them. “I’m just surprised that people are surprised,” the former Everton and Manchester United manager muses over a cup of tea at Ayr racecourse yesterday.
FITTINGLY, considering one of his claims to fame is developing the GB relay programme which harvested one gold, two silvers and a bronze at last year’s World Championships in London, Stephen Maguire has picked up the baton as head of performance at scottishathletics and is running with it. The Northern Irishman is a week or so into his second stint at the organisation he served with distinction between 2012 and Glasgow 2014, seven days of travelling the country to re-introduce himself to elite or aspiring athletes and the coaches they work with to find out how best he can support them. But his focus isn’t just the very top end; Maguire is as interested in improving the totality of a young athlete’s existence from the first day they set foot in an athletics club.
CAMERON Norrie paid tribute to his team-mates and the Glaswegian crowd for helping him end his rollercoaster homecoming weekend on a high. Playing in the city of his dad David’s birth for the first time, his father having made the 30-hour flight from the family home in Auckland to see him in action, the 23-year-old’s home debut fell flat on Friday night as he was unable to capitalise on a match point before succumbing to Jurabek Karimov in five sets. But his misery was transformed to happiness yesterday when he held his nerve to secure the winning point in this World Group play-off tie against Uzbekistan with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 win against Sanjar Fayziev. His task, admittedly, became significantly easier in late morning with the news of Denis Istomin’s withdrawal with an ankle injury but Norrie successfully banished thoughts of his ordeal on Friday and the outcome of this tie was never in doubt. By the end, as he raced through that final set, he could almost enjoy it. “I am extremely proud,” Norrie said afterwards. “All in all, today was pretty different from Friday. I was expecting to play Istomin and I felt like I wanted to prove something to myself and everyone that I could turn it around. But then I found out they had changed the line-up at the last minute.
JUDGING by the jeers which rang around the Emirates Arena yesterday when master of ceremonies Dan Lobb happened to mention the topic, the Glasgow crowd aren’t buying into the idea of this revamped Davis Cup format just yet. But this brave new world is coming and Leon Smith is determined to be at the heart of it.
A new and supposedly improved version of the Davis Cup will be up and running from 2019 but the good news, so far as both Jamie Murray and Great Britain are concerned, is that doubles will remain at the heart of it. No sooner had the Scot and Dom Inglot recovered from a nervy start to clinch a 4-6, 7-6 (8), 6-2, 6-3 victory against Denis Istomin and Sanjar Fayziev which handed Leon Smith’s side a 2-1 final day advantage in this World Group play-off tie against Uzbekistan than an ITF representative was confirming further details of the reformed competition which will be drawn next week.
STEPHEN O’Donnell had his shorts pulled down by an irate Albanian player on Thursday night but otherwise he had absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about on his competitive debut for his country. The Kilmarnock full-back was hardly the most obvious choice when it came to the right-wing back role in Alex McLeish’s system but he earned pass marks and then some during the 2-0 win which got our Nations League campaign off and running and still got out the other end with his modesty intact. Asked if he felt like he now felt he was here to stay as an international player, it was refreshing to hear the 26-year-old say that he wouldn’t be counting any chickens until he was into double figures for caps. “I was told when I was younger 50 games for your club and you are a first team footballer,” he said, “so maybe if I can get to ten caps then I will definitely belong here.”
THE valedictory feel ahead of this weekend’s Davis Cup World Group play-off between Great Britain and Uzbekistan in Glasgow is unmistakeable. With significant changes to the format of this famous old competition limiting the amount of home and away ties from 2019 onwards, this could well be the last of these ties to be held at the Emirates Arena – the launching pad for Britain’s historic 2015 success – for quite some time. If not ever.
LEON Smith is convinced we haven’t seen the last of Andy Murray as a Davis Cup player. After much soul-searching, the former world No.1 decided to focus on his ongoing rehab work after hip surgery in January rather than play in this weekend’s World Group play-off at the Emirates Arena against Uzbekistan, a tie which – due to recent changes to this brand of team tennis – could be the last in Glasgow for quite some time.
THE biggest compliment you could pay John Souttar about his first two matches as a Scotland international player is that you would never have guessed they were his first two matches as a Scotland international player. Few of our players have had their credentials for a spot in the national team interrogated in such extensive fashion by the age of 21 but the manner in which the Hearts centre half acquitted himself has muted his critics.
THE rain was lashing down last night, just as it was that fateful Saturday evening in November 2007 when Cristian Panucci benefited from a dodgy free-kick to extinguish Alex McLeish’s hopes of guiding Scotland to the European Championships. Sporting a goatee beard, and perhaps a few more grey hairs, the illustrious former full back took his place in the dug-out this time to see if his Albania side - clad in the same white jerseys Italy wore – could inflict further misery upon the Scotland manager. This one isn’t done yet - there will be another helping of this Nations League match-up in Shkoder in November. But this was the night when big Eck started to wreaked at least a little bit of revenge.
