Gordon Strachan may have had his faults as Scotland boss but he knew a player when he saw one.
The evidence for this came as I sat at the Scots’ training base at Mar Hall back in February 2014, listening to the then national coach reveal the moment he knew Andy Robertson would one day represent his country.
Strachan had called Robertson up for his squad for the first time ahead of the friendly against Poland in Warsaw on March 5.
The Dundee United left-back had enjoyed a terrific season thus far at Tannadice in Jackie McNamara’s free-flowing side and would go on to make his debut for his country as a substitute in the Polish capital.
Explaining the call-up, Strachan disclosed that he had been in the stand for United’s Friday night 0-0 draw against Partick Thistle at Firhill on August 2, 2013 and liked what he saw from Robertson in his first appearance for the Tangerines since joining from Queen’s Park.
Strachan said: “I saw him in the first game of the season against Partick Thistle.
“I thought: ‘You’ve got something. You are a bit raw and need to learn one or two things.’
“So we have kept an eye on him since then. He also joined us in training a couple of months back and we like him.”
The Scots have liked him ever since that first cap in Warsaw.
Robertson would go on to claim his first start for the national team in a 2–2 draw with Nigeria that May before earning big-money moves to first Hull City then Liverpool, where he has become a regular for manager Jurgen Klopp and a Kop favourite.
Now with 22 caps and goals against England and Lithuania to his name, Strachan and the rest of us will now watch with interest as Robertson completes the transformation from raw teenager in tangerine to proud captain in dark blue.
