It was a long old season for John McGinn at Aston Villa prior to the European Championships. It was an even longer summer for him afterwards.
McGinn, the national side’s talisman and so often the man who makes the difference for his country, was devastated to be part of the collective failure of the national side to not only reach the knockout stages of the Euros, but to come anywhere close to doing themselves justice.
It is perhaps because there is so much expected of him that his own personal performances proved so disappointing to both the Tartan Army and to himself. No one was more desperate to perform on the big stage in a Scotland jersey, but for whatever reason, he was one of many in dark blue who couldn’t reach the heights which we know them to be capable of.
He now says the focus is on lifting the spirits of the Tartan Army, and of each other, particularly the new arrivals in the squad like Ben Doak.
“Aye, it wasn't great,” McGinn sighed.
“Obviously as a team, personally, a lot of expectation from previous success, both individually with the national team and as a group.
“But you're more than happy to take the praise when it comes along. So, in football, things don't always go your way, and you take the criticism in the chin, try and use it to inspire you to do better, to find out where we went wrong, how we can improve and also try and look forward, really.
“We've come a long way as a nation to qualify for these tournaments. We didn't want that to just be enough. We all know we could have done better in the summer but now there's a new batch of players coming in, a different feel to the squad.
“Hopefully it will re-energise all of us individually and hopefully everyone in the country as well.
“I think you definitely don't park them [the disappointments]. I still think about getting relegated with St Mirren, what I could have changed, what you could do better. These things never leave you. Everyone always says the highs in football make the lows worth it, but they're lying.
“It will always be in the back of your head, things you could have done differently, both together as a team and individually. We kind of changed that now. It's about looking forward. It's unfair on the new players coming into the squad.
“Obviously Ben was in the squad before the summer. He wasn't involved in that, so why does it need to be doom and gloom with him in the squad?
“We need to try and use that to make us better, but also try and bring a freshness and a little bit more positivity with the new guys coming into the squad.
“When you create that expectation and you have some small success, everyone expects you to do better. Personally, as a group, we had ambition and belief.
“We need to embrace the criticism and now the expectation will be shifted to, ‘let's see what you've got now in the Nations League’. We'll probably have a lot more people to prove wrong.”
The injection of some fresh blood into the squad – Doak has been joined by Ryan Gauld after a decade-long absence and Dundee keeper Jon McCracken following the withdrawal of the injured Robby McCrorie – is vital to doing just that, according to McGinn.
Doak in particular is already making his presence felt behind the scenes just as much as McGinn hopes he will against Poland on Thursday night.
“He cheered me up last night,” he said.
“There was only five or six of us that arrived because a lot of the boys were travelling and played [on Sunday].
“We were touching on [the Euros] and he said, ‘If I stayed fit it might have been different!’ That’s just his character and it's brilliant. He's got a lot of confidence, he's a good laugh and he's fitted in well.
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“He's excited to play some games at Middlesbrough and I think he's ready to contribute for us. I think everyone's aware of his ability and he's certainly something different to what we've got.
“Hopefully we can see that on Thursday. Even in training, he's so explosive. Sheer pace, power, strength. It's certainly something we've been missing over the past couple of seasons.
“He's definitely going to bring something different there. He'll definitely get supporters off their seats and hopefully we can see that.
“I know he was joking but I think not only Ben, but all the other injured lads, they certainly could have helped.
“We're not a massive country. We've not got endless amounts of top players to choose from, but we certainly missed all the injured lads and Ben was certainly one of them.”
So, McGinn is grateful to now turn his focus to the Nations League and ultimately, the quest to take Scotland back to a World Cup for the first time since 1998.
He firmly believes that manager Steve Clarke is the right man to lead the country there, despite acknowledging the criticism he would have been receiving after the disappointment of the summer.
“I didn't see it on purpose,” he said.
“I've got better at that. You're aware of the criticism for all of us, I think.
“When we qualified, I got praised, other players got praised, the manager got praised and we qualified together and we all accepted that.
“Us as players take as much responsibility as the manager and his coaching staff and we'll all have been hurt in the same way.
“As much as I didn't see any of it, we're all big enough and old enough to realise what would have been getting said. A lot of it probably deserved. Maybe some people were a bit nicer, but I don't know.
“We're all behind the manager and he certainly seems hungry and ready to go again.
“Hopefully we can do what no-one's managed to do for a long time and get to another major tournament.”
