PETER Grant played in 470 games for his beloved Celtic and given the chance would happily have worn the jersey many more times.
So when he describes playing for Scotland more than once as “the ultimate” for any player including himself, this is not a throwaway line from the now national team coach.
Indeed, his statement will come as a surprise to those who watched this terrier of a midfielder spill blood, occasionally his own, for the club he loved.
Grant won just two Scotland caps because in his own words “I wasn’t good enough” and this is a regret for the 53-year-old – who incidentally looks about 10 years younger – and it’s why he cannot fathom why any present day player would turn down the opportunity to have that red lion on their chest.
Alex McLeish’s right-hand man stayed just on the right side of being diplomatic when he spoke yesterday about these deserters but it was clear what the 53-year-old thinks of them – which is to say not very much.
Grant understands the pressures heaped on modern footballers in terms of the number of games they play today and he also realises, and gets, why managers are never keen to see their best paid players disappear for 10 days whenever their country calls.
But only up to a point.
“You had a dream to play for the club you supported,” said Grant who did just that. “And hopefully if you do well for them, you can play for your national team. I don’t care how much money you’ve got: that’s the ultimate, representing your country at any level. If you can do that, it means you’re doing well at your day job. That should never change. For me, that was the ultimate.
“Celtic, as a player, was my dream but the ultimate for me was to play for the national team. Unfortunately, I never got that opportunity many times. I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t see myself as an international player.
“But I would love to have been in that hall of fame with something like 100 caps alongside some of the greats. I would have loved three caps, never mind 100.”
Modern football, eh. It’s all about making obscene amounts of money. Keeping the sponsors happy. Taking the family to Dubai when international breaks come around.
Of course, the top players will always answer their country’s call because that’s in their best interests – but nations such as Scotland are finding less are keen to travel all over the world for a cap and risk injury.
It makes you wonder: do players truly care about international football anymore?
“For the modern-day player, it must be different, it must be,” said Grant. “When we went to the national team, if you wore a certain type of boots, your money was doubled.
“If you went to the national team, the money you got sponsored for was better than the wages you would get for a month. Did that make a difference for us? No. People talk about that but, for me, it meant you were playing well for your club side.
“To get picked for your national team was the ultimate. Now it’s a little bit different. Clubs put players under a lot more pressure now. I genuinely believe that because of the quick turnover of games, they want them available for them. They maybe get back on the Thursday before the Premier League game on the Saturday. Is that enough time? The players are in the team, they want to stay in the team. We understand all these things, but for us the most important thing is still Scotland.
“We can’t tell managers about the pressure they are maybe putting on their players. I’m not saying all are like that but there’s such a quick turnaround of managers now so they want their best players available.
“The managers could lose their job so they want their best players available. It’s just a vicious circle.”
Back in Grant’s day, you reported for Scotland on a Sunday night, played on Wednesday and were back at the club by Thursday morning.
Now, it’s double headers, games on a Thursday night. Is it any wonder club managers would rather their £50,000-a-week playmakers weren’t facing a tricky tie in Albania?
“That is the big problem,” admitted Grant. “A lot of us forget that. I was involved at Fulham last year and a lot of them were not getting back till the Thursday.
“You have to manage players who want two-day recoveries. Are you kidding? We’ve got a game in two days. How can you get a two-day recovery? You’ve got all the data that goes along with it. But for us it’s about playing games of football.”
We shall end with this.
Kenny Dalglish, the greatest of them all, played 102 times for Scotland while operating at the highest level for Scotland and Liverpool. He never pulled out of a squad and if that was good enough for the King, it should be good enough for anyone.
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