A SUMMER deluge is expected at Hampden Park this Saturday, just like the downpour the day 22 years ago that Richard Gough headed Scotland's last home winner against England.
The only problem is that, much as he would like to, the 55-year-old cannot seriously forecast the same outcome. He feels that Gareth Southgate's team of Barclays Premier League superstars would win this match-up eight times out of ten and it is Scotland who must weather the storm.
The England team that fateful day in 1985 contained plenty of players with big reputations - Bobby Robson's starting team included Ipswich Town's Terry Butcher, AC Milan duo Ray Wilkins and Mark Hateley, Glenn Hoddle, Peter Shilton, Trevor Francis and John Barnes, with Chris Waddle and Gary Lineker introduced from the bench. But these were glory days for Scottish football. Jock Stein's team felt no reason to have an inferiority complex.
Read more: Six of the best Auld Enemy matches: Scotland 1 England 0 (1985)
This was a defence hewn from granite - Jim Leighton the last line behind a stubborn New Firm-dominated back-four of Gough, Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Maurice Malpas. In midfield, there was industry and craft from the likes of Graeme Souness - now plying his trade at Sampdoria - Lokeren's Jim Bett, Celtic's Roy Aitken and the current Scotland manager, while Barcelona's Steve Archibald and Chelsea buzz bomb David Speedie complimented each other well up front. This was an even, grimly-fought match but Gough's towering header with around 20 minutes to go was enough to secure the inaugural Rous Cup, the vehicle being used at that point in time to keep the oldest rivalry in football going after the demise of the Home International Championship.
"That goal against England is a highlight for me," said Gough, speaking at a Show Racism the Red Card event in Glasgow recently. "Not many people score a winner against England. But there were also two goals in Cyprus that maybe got us through to the 1990 World Cup after being 2-1 down there. So I have a lot of good memories from my time with Scotland.
“I was at Archie Knox’s birthday party the other night," he added. "Sir Alex Ferguson, Walter Smith and Willie Miller were there. Gordon [Strachan] was at Archie's party too and I spoke to him as well. Willie said to me ‘we always say it was better in our day - but it was!’. The facts show it. Even when we played, they said it was better in the days of Jim Baxter and what have you - but they never qualified for a World Cup in that period. We qualified for three World Cups in a row when we played, so who was the better team?
Read more: Six of the best Auld Enemy matches: Scotland 1 England 0 (1985)
"Gordon has had a tough challenge," added Gough. "When he was Aberdeen and I was at Dundee United, we were both battling into the latter stages of European competitions and then going to play for Scotland. We were pretty streetwise about the game because of that experience. Now, Gordon is getting guys who can’t get a game for Championship teams. What chance have you got?
"In those days, there was no inferiority. But for these boys, if you are playing in the Championship and they are playing for Manchester United, there is a wee bit of something because you are not used to playing against them. It was club team-mates of mine I was facing when I played against England. I’ve got a great picture at my home of the Scotland team from around that time. Steve Archibald is there, who was playing for Barcelona. And Souness had just won the European Cup. For a third time. So we had good players.
"That's why it’s going to be a difficult game against England. They are better than us. We just have to hope we catch them on a bad day. Eight out of ten times, I would imagine they would win the game. That’s just being realistic."
If Scotland during the 1980s weren't exactly infallible - Gough points out the fact that Andy Roxburgh's side were taken apart 3-1 by Yugoslavia in Zagreb then 3-0 by France in Paris in successive matches even during that successful 1990 campaign - those were the days of the great Scottish central defender.
Read more: Six of the best Auld Enemy matches: Scotland 1 England 0 (1985)
While Charlie Mulgrew played with credit against Slovenia back in March, Scotland are still searching for the long-term answer in that position. It is one thing to say that Scotland could do with a Gough and a Miller to try to blunt the threat of Harry Kane and Dele Alli but in truth the art of defending has changed, and it is much more of a team affair. Nonetheless, Scotland could do with a return to their historic blueprint of keeping clean sheets and nicking a goal in the three home games they have remaining if they are to have any hopes of making it to Russia next summer.
"We were talking about that [the lack of top class Scottish central defenders] and how the game has changed," said Gough. "We used to ask Souness to come back and he would turn around and say: 'I’m a midfield player, YOU do the defending.' Now, you have 10 players behind the ball in games and one striker up front.
"And even when Willie and I were playing we got some doings from the likes of Yugoslavia or France," he added. "But we always had two or three up front and when we attacked we attacked with an intensity."
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