Darren Fletcher has overcome a far more serious battle than a threat to his international place but this period has the look of a crucial one where the Manchester United midfielder and Scotland are concerned.
Fletcher has captained his country on 23 occasions and won 63 caps. Yet his failure to play more than a bit-part role under Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford, despite the position of vice-captaincy, has left the Scotland manager, Gordon Strachan, with plenty to ponder.
Fletcher showed wonderful tenacity to defeat ulcerative colitis, which at one stage looked like ending his professional career, but there is now a growing realisation that he may have to leave United -– with whom he has been signed since the age of 11 – in order to fulfil his playing ambitions. Strachan can only watch this scenario closely.
Fletcher has experienced just 25 minutes of first team football since Scotland’s 2-1 loss to Germany last month. He had been withdrawn after less than an hour in Dortmund, having struggled in an otherwise promising Scotland display.
During Fletcher’s earlier and enforced absence from the national team, Scott Brown routinely took the armband. Brown is a certainty to start when Georgia visit Ibrox on Saturday evening but the same cannot be said of Fletcher; Strachan will not inform his players of the Scotland team and their captain until the morning of the game.
“What you have done in the past definitely counts for how you are treated, how people look at you and how the manager deals with you – it has to,” said Strachan. “I’ve been all over the place where people with great reputations have been told: ‘This isn’t the game for you or somebody is playing better than you.’ But if you’ve got a reputation, you’ve built it up and worked at it. So that reputation must be respected.
“I don’t think you pick a team based on reputations because that wouldn’t be right – I would still be picking Kenny Miller if that was the case. I would still be picking people who played over the years. At this stage you pick the team which is best for this game.
“The team I was thinking of on Monday, I was worried that they’d turn up with a knock or a cold or something, but I know I have the same team in mind that I had on Monday when they all got here.”
When it was suggested Fletcher’s lack of action must be a problem, Strachan pointed immediately to the case of Alan Hutton, who maintained his Scotland place despite a period in the Aston Villa wilderness. “I think Alan kind of blew that theory away,” the manager said.
Brown was noncommittal when asked his thoughts on the captaincy issue. “That is up to the manager,” said the Celtic midfielder.
For his part, Strachan played down the significance of who will lead the team out. “Does it matter to the group? I don’t think so,” he said. “I think we have people in the group – James Morrison as well – who could captain the side. I don’t think it would make any difference to the rest of the group because they feel comfortable with these lads.
“I played for Scotland as captain and not as captain. I was more than happy. It was not a problem.”
Strachan has just cause to ponder his options carefully. The Republic of Ireland’s victory in Georgia to open Group D means his team must surely match that result before Tuesday evening’s tie in Poland. Recent Scotland qualifying campaigns have been beset by poor starts, although there is a clear momentum to Strachan’s work thus far.
“I feel no different ahead of this game than I did before we played Germany,” said Strachan. “I do feel we can win the game, definitely, and I do feel when the football Gods are against you, you can lose it.
“You have to accept that, whatever plan or dream you have going to your bed at night, it never manifests itself that way on the Saturday. I’m full on with Georgia. Afterwards we’ll quickly put it together for Tuesday. We have a couple of shapes we use and it’ll definitely be one of them against Poland.
“It’s not like we need to get back out on the training pitch and start again. We have default settings now for whatever systems we’re up against.”
Scotland (possible) Marshall; Hutton, Hanley, Martin, Robertson; Brown, Morrison; Bannan, Naismith, Anya; S Fletcher.
Georgia (possible) Loria; Kverkvelia, Grigalava, Khubutia; Lobzhanidze, Daushvili, Okriashvili, Kankava, Kvirkvelia; Ananidze, Gelashvili.
Referee M Zelinka (Cz)
