PAUL LAMBERT, a key Scotland midfielder at the 1998 World Cup in France, believes that Scotland could be on the cusp of ending their 18-year exile from a major international tournament.
With four games still to be played to complete the qualifying stage, Gordon Strachan’s side are in third place, just three points off the pace set by leaders Poland and two shy of World Champions Germany.
Next up is Georgia away before Scotland host Germany at Hampden three days later, a double header that could be definitive in whether Strachan’s side are handed an invite to Euro 2016.
However, Lambert has warned against writing off Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland side, who currently sit just two points behind Scotland. Lambert still maintains an immense level of respect for his former Celtic manager whom he admits he still refers to as "gaffer".
“He came up to Aston Villa’s training ground and that was the last time I spoke to him,” said Lambert. “He was good – exactly the same. The minute he walks in you still call him 'gaffer'. But I know what he is like – he will not give up until it is impossible. He will keep going.
“I said before the Ireland game that if Scotland could walk away from Dublin with a point it would be a good result.
“Ireland are still in it. I think there will be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing but Scotland are in a good position. It will go close but they are in a strong position.
"The good think about Scotland at the minute is that the whole country is with them. The crowd is with them, that eagerness of not being too far away from going to a major international tournament is there big thing, especially at home.
"They are in it. This is the best chance they have had for a long, long time.”
And it is the camaraderie that appears to exist within the Scotland camp which Lambert believes can be the catalyst for successfully negotiating the final chapter of the qualifying stages.
“The team have now got that togetherness and that team spirit that can get you results which will get them points here and points there,” he said. “I always think Shaun Maloney can give you something a bit different but I also think that Gordon has got a good team spirit there and it has transferred onto the terraces.
“Everyone thought the Germans would just go and win it and it would be Poland, Ireland and Scotland fighting it out, but the way it is working at the minute Poland are the ones who are taking it on.
"You still think the Germans will be one of the two but even if you get to the play-off you would take it.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here