Scotland: A guide to the men behind the heroes at Euro 2020
- Published
One bakes cakes, one is addicted to chocolate, while another is the worst Call of Duty player the European Championship may ever see.
Scotland fans may know all about the footballing attributes of their heroes going to Euro 2020, but what about the personalities in the squad?
BBC Scotland asked Declan Gallagher and a collection of his fellow Scots to lift the lid on their team-mates. They didn't disappoint...
DG: Big Craigie. A serious guy. Great posture. You always know he's fully focused on the job, but he's one on the bus who is still up for a laugh. Keeps himself to himself in the hotel, but is never short of a story.
DG: Great with the banter. Top lad, he's always been good with me since I came into the squad. Fills you in with what's going on down in Derby. I think it's a goalkeeper thing, he's another one who keeps himself to himself.
He was the man of the moment in Serbia, although I think he loved the David Marshall song in the hotel for all of two minutes. It started off with the conga and he was buzzing, but by the 10th time I think he was fed up.
DG: Another great guy. He's part of the card school with me, Ryan Jack and Dyksey [Lyndon Dykes]. He loves a game of cards on the plane. He's a bit of a hustler. To be fair, nae wonder, he's sitting there on his 19th coffee of the day. Any time you see him he'll have a cup of coffee in his hand. Fact.
Liam Cooper: Big Jon, loves a coffee. Every time you see him he's got an espresso in his hand. He drinks about 15 or 16 a day and his first question on camp was: "Is the coffee machine in use?" Says all you need to know.
DG: Coops is another one who is in the school, but this time it's a Call of Duty school. It's me, him, Jacko [Ryan Jack] and Dyksey. He's terrible. The first one doon, first one to die. Never revives the full time because he's first out the game all the time. At least he's a nice lad.
Andrew Robertson: I've got a lot of time for Coops. I think when he tries to play Bielsa-ball in training we struggle sometimes when he's up front and defending.
DG: Have only ever been in the one squad with him. A top professional. You'd always see him, Oli McBurnie and Kenny McLean cutting about together.
LC: Granty, a man of few words but a great lad nonetheless. Loves a beer.
DG: Only had one camp with him. Lovely boy. Always down for a laugh with the boys, he's right in about it.
DG: Him and SOD [Stephen O'Donnell] are best pals. You see them creeping in and out of each other's rooms constantly. Full of energy, full of stories. Loves talking about SOD like I do and about how much of a pest he is.
DG: Pest of the camp. Loudest in the camp. Honestly, he's a gem, you want him there because he'd do anything for you, but an absolute pest. Doesnae shut up. Even when it's talking about something nothing to do with him, he'll end up in it. He's in your face, but he's harmless.
A lot of us have experienced SOD's cake baking, too. Steve Clarke as well. He even brought some in for his birthday. To be fair it's good, but it's a bit embarrassing when he produces this stuff.
AR: Steps up on the big occasions and when he's in a Scotland shirt. I wish he had a wee bit more confidence in his own ability, he always talks himself down, which I suppose is his character but he's a really good footballer, you just need to inject a bit of belief into him.
Scott McKenna: A confident boy and an excellent player. I learned that in the first training session in Spain when he nutmegged me and got the ball on the other side! He's certainly not lacking in confidence. He's another with a big future.
Nathan Patterson: I'm quite a positive person. Up for a laugh and wanting to be around my team-mates. I'm buzzing to be here. Been enjoying the driving range!
DG: He'll tell you, me and him have an off-field battle of table tennis, pool, whatever sport we can play. We spent a lot of time playing table tennis, which I'm better at. He'll openly admit that himself, or maybe he wilnae. He's a lefty, which can throw you off, but to be fair he's terrible. No good enough.
Despite that, a great guy and an inspiration. Great for banter. Every time he sees me he always says: "What's happenin' stupppiiit?". In Belgrade he was next to me. Never mentions he used to play for Queen's Park. Too busy beating him at table tennis.
AR: Clown. I'm just lucky to be here.
DG: Joker. Probably played the biggest prank on me and Ryan Jack in one of the camps. We were trying to get icons for Fifa Ultimate Team. Greg gave me a boy's number who could help sort that out at EA Sports.
So I'm sitting asking this guy and he's giving it: "Aye just fill out this questionnaire." Later that night I found it was actually Dom Thomas at Dunfermline I'd been texting. He bammed me right up.
DG: He was part of that wee mastermind, too. He's full of energy. On the pitch he's full of it, but off it he's running aboot playing pranks as well. He did one to me where he left a bucket of water against my door at the hotel. Chapped the door, ran away, I opened it, and the bucket of water came all over ma room. He's some boy.
Terrible DJ. In fact, to be fair to him he's no too bad. He's got some no bad songs, but it can be a wee bit too much. Loves hardcore and clubland classics. Some are good, but some are just in your heid bouncing, you know? Also the sweet tooth of the group. He basically said he was addicted to chocolate. The nutritionist at Arsenal told him to try and substitute it for bananas and apples. "Aye, nae bother."
Greg Taylor: Bonkers.
DG: Good guy. Have a private battle with my COD [Call of Duty] squad against his because they seem to think they're better than us. It's him, Ryan Christie, Greg Taylor and Kieran Tierney. I've jumped into a few games with Stu and that… nah… no for me. He's a very bright guy, very well spoken as well.
GT: Posh, witty and intelligent.
DG: Likes his COD. Likes a laugh, mainly at the expense of them trying to steal folk from my team like big Dyksey. He loves friction in our COD squad.
GT: Hopeless golfer.
DG: Best COD player.
GT: Loud and confident.
DG: Likes to hang about with Kenny and Oli, but keeps himself to himself. Can have a laugh, but realistically he's right quiet. He'll just sit there, smile, laugh, then go back to his room. Probably the quietest one of the group.
AR: The silent assassin. Flecky just sits there and smiles at everyone and brings everything in but he's a good laugh on a night out, that's for sure. Flecky is a very important person in this squad and a fantastic person with very little words.
DG: Known Jamesy probably the longest out of them all because I was at the youth team with him at Celtic. Great guy. He was there for my first camp and took me under his wing a wee bit. Like most of the Celtic boys, likes to keep himself quiet. Enjoys his wee coffee school.
A few of them love a coffee but I think it's more out of boredom...
GT: Stiff but genius. That's how I'd describe Jimmy.
DG: His arms move so quickly in proportion to his body when he's running. Another one who plays Call of Duty. He's been in and out of camps, but what I've seen of him he's a great guy.
AR: Wee man, incredible player, incredible person to have around the place, luckily he's fit, which is the most important thing.
SM: Excellent. Only way to describe him. Two Champions League winners in the squad is incredible. You can see the talent he is, he'll have a big, big future for Scotland.
NP: He likes his time to himself as well. I first met him when I was around eight or nine when I joined Rangers. He's a good mate, played Fifa with him a few times, but I'm better. He'll be raging I said that.
DG: The joker of the camp. He's got the best one liners of anyone I've ever heard. You say a name, he comes up with a wee rhyme. You're going to ask me for an example now, eh? Don't. It's just instant. The fact he gets called Meatball tells you about what you can expect. You just want to be about him, the life and soul of the party. He does brilliant impressions. I don't want to say who his best impression is in case I throw him under the bus. His Neil Lennon one is quite good though.
He's across the WhatsApp chat, too. Put in there after the last camp that he was away into town for a pizza crunch because he's no had one for months.
DG: The model professional. Known him going back to Celtic. Trains so well, his attitude towards everything is spot on. Wouldn't say he's the first one to bed every night, but he does enjoy the comfort of his own room. Normally downstairs having a coffee.
Maybe it's me that goes to the room to early to play COD?
DG: So laid back. I think it was just before the last game at Hampden me, him and Greg Taylor were just playing two touch for about an hour before kick-off in the wee indoor astro. Knows what he has to do. Has the hardest side foot in football; as soon as he hits it, the ball is like a rocket off his foot.
Longest to get ready? I'll give it to Scott. He used to have that slicked-back hair, a lot of shampoo and conditioner needed for that.
DG: Spent time with Davie at Motherwell. Great character given he was out with a knee injury that scuppered his move to Celtic, only to fight back and earn it.
As a person, always up for a joke. He's been texting me asking what he needs to bring with him and if I'm lifting my PlayStation. I've been telling him anything he wants to do he needs to report it to me as the Scotland squad's mine and I run it. He's no bothered me yet…
DG: The big Aussie/Scotsman. Claims he's more Scottish, but the accent would tell you different, although he knows how to belt out Flower of Scotland. Dyksey's brilliant. Best thing I can say about him is that he's so laid back. He just doesnae care.
Me and Jacko love to wind him up. After dinner we'll be going back up to the rooms to go and play COD then when we get up there we'll shout: "Dyksey, we're just going to go to sleep. See you in the morning."
I remember before the Serbia game he text asking if anyone could shave his hair off because he had a skinhead, so I went around to do it. Thought it looked smashin'. Think the only person he doesn't understand is me.
Ryan Christie: A big softie at heart and he's always giving me tattoo ideas, which I'm not too sure is a good idea because he's absolutely covered in them.
DG: A good lad. He came to the last squad with nothing but his Firestick, so he was basically just sitting in his room. I text him saying: "You got an XBOX or that so you can join in with the boys?" So he actually got someone in his family to go and drop off his XBOX for him in his first camp.
I'll put him in the Liam Cooper category. Absolutely terrible at COD, if he doesn't bring his A-Game in this camp he's oot and Davie Turnbull's in.
DG: Came into the last camp and was full of energy. Fitted in straight away. We got him into the COD school and he was a pleasure to be around. Steve Clarke likes to hand out the first cap to everyone as it's a special moment. The boys all shouted 'speech' and he's standing up ready to belt one out, only for us to go: "Eh… we're only jokin' mate."
LC: Lovely lad, not known him too long, played against him a few times. Serious finisher. He'll be one hell of a player for us.