Naismith gives glimpse into superstar’s impact on national team camp
In the morning, it might be Andy Robertson, John McGinn and Kenny McLean. And then at lunch, Andy Irving, Josh Doig and Lennon Miller. No, not sports hacks on a typical day dreaming up players to link Rangers and Celtic with.
Instead, it’s Scott McTominay’s varied list of dining companions at Scotland training camps. All are welcome to sit and break bread with someone Diego Armando Maradona Junior recently said ought to be known as “Jesus,” given that his dad is revered as “God” by Napoli fans. It is quite a statement from the son of the Argentinian legend. One that could easily go to someone’s head if that someone wasn’t already used to seeing fifty-foot-high murals of himself adorning walls from Naples to Glasgow.
The most recent of these has been daubed on the gable end of a Glasgow tenement block near Hampden. It immortalises the moment McTominay connected with the ball to open the scoring with a spectacular overhead kick on the night Scotland ended their long World Cup exile against Denmark.
Scott McTominay's raw strength and power has wowed the Scotland coaching team.placeholder image
Scott McTominay's raw strength and power has wowed the Scotland coaching team. | SNS Group
This week will be the first time the 29-year-old midfielder has seen the artwork for himself as he reunites with his Scotland teammates for friendlies against Japan and Ivory Coast. Rest assured he is being ribbed mercilessly about it. When these same players are not bowing down before him to reflect his new status as the son of God.
The mickey-taking had already started before he had even set foot back in Glasgow. After McTominay posted a picture of himself on Instagram on a plane that looked suspiciously spacious and well fitted out, John McGinn commented: “That’s no easy jet”.
Private jets are now the norm for McTominay but according to Scotland assistant manager Steven Naismith, it’s not going to McTominay’s head. The former Hearts manager provided insight into the star's demeanour when he's back among the boys after all the adulation he encounters daily in Naples. One assumes it must be hard to come back down to earth. While McTominay shares the dressing room with some big names at Scotland, they don’t all live the life of a matinee idol on the Amalfi coast.
“The biggest thing I can say is that in the last camp, you will wake up in the morning and you’ll go to breakfast and he is sitting with Andy and John McGinn and Grant Hanley and John Souttar and Kenny McLean, and then at lunch he’ll be sitting with Lennon Miller and Josh Doig and Andy Irving,” reported Naismith. “That’s just him.
“I actually said to him that you don’t realise the power you are having when you are sitting for 10 minutes or 15 minutes talking to a young player who is hanging onto your every word. Just understand the power of that, because it is amazing. But he doesn’t care, whether it is a passing drill on the training pitch or whatever, he will go with whoever. It doesn’t matter, and that tells you what he is like.”
McTominay carries the Napoli torch
Maradona Junior made the eye-catching assertion that only McTominay has come close to replicating his father's influence at Napoli. Maradona inspired the club's first two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990.
McTominay drove Napoli to become champions last season and collected the Italian player of the year award in the process. Even though some feared he might be nudged sideways slightly after Kevin De Bruyne's arrival from Manchester City, the Scottish midfielder has carried the torch this season as well, scoring 11 goals to date.
His most recent strike was last week’s winner against Cagliari to keep his club in contention at the top. It seems a long time since he was the convenient fall guy for Manchester United’s lamest performances. Naismith, who played 11 minutes in a Scotland shirt with McTominay towards the end of his international career, remains bowled over by the player’s attributes,
“When he comes into the squad, he’s a beast of an athlete,” he said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s powerful. Even the pace he passes the ball at, you think, ‘He’s got some real strength here’.
“He just grows and grows. You go back to when he played centre half. He's played centre half, he's played centre mid, he's played as a forward, that tells you his knowledge and understanding of the game is top.
“But the biggest compliment I can pay him is that he has turned himself into the most professional athlete he can be. Everything else is secondary to him performing and being in peak condition.
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“Undoubtedly, when he has been at Man United, he will have fed off the best to see what it is that you need to do. His dedication (is second to none). When he was at Man United, he was a scapegoat at times. He was at a club that when they weren’t at their best, he got the brunt of it at times.
“Then he was brave enough to move to another country and become a star. That is what he is. The mural tells you everything. But the way he lives his life is incredible, and that is a credit to him.”