James McFadden tips Steven Naismith to be key man for Scotland

The two will be re-united again at Hampden Park on September 7 with McFadden having graduated to become part of Alex McLeish’s backroom team at Scotland, while Martinez – who employs Thierry Henry in a similar role with Belgium – is fresh from leading the Red Devils to a third-place finish in the World Cup in Russia this summer.

“Roberto came in as an older head when I was a young player at Fir Park,” said McFadden. “He was a great guy and brilliant for the dressing-room. He was a tidy footballer and you can see why his teams play the way they do. He was always approachable too as a young player if you needed any advice and it’s great to see him doing well.

“We got on well, he was a good laugh at Motherwell. His dress sense was appalling – but he didn’t think so. He thought everyone else was jealous! He was older than me obviously – even if I probably looked older at the time. Even then he did a lot of work for Sky TV on the Spanish football, doing the punditry. That was a sign that he’d become a manager. He was always interested in speaking about that side of the game.

“I played against his Swansea team and he started their footballing philosophy before Brendan Rodgers took it on.

“Whenever I’ve met him we’ve always had a warm embrace and I’ve got good memories of our time together at Motherwell when I was still trying to learn the game.”

For all the talk of a new broom under McLeish, with a raft of new faces representing Scotland on their summer tour to Peru and Mexico, when it comes to picking someone to play a key role in the friendly against Belgium and Nations League matches against Albania and Israel, McFadden named a man he used to line up alongside.

With Scott Brown having retired once more, there is a vacancy for veteran nous in this Scotland group and Hearts forward Steven Naismith, whose last appearance for his country came in the 1-0 World Cup qualifying win against Slovenia in March last year, might just fit the bill.

“He’s been forgotten about because he hasn’t played,” said McFadden. “He went to Norwich and it didn’t work out for him. Then when he came up to Hearts last season he looked a bit short of sharpness. But he’s managed to get a full pre-season and he’s started the campaign well.

“He’s experienced, he knows how to play a number of positions in international football. And like the manager has said since we came in – nobody will be discounted regardless of age.

“Steven has always wanted to continue playing for Scotland. There has never been any vibe to the contrary. Myself and the manager have spoken to him and it’s great to have guys like that who want to play. And not because it might enhance their reputation – just because they want to do well for Scotland. That’s what we need, guys who will pull in that same direction.”

Scotland came to rely heavily upon a healthy Celtic contingent in the latter stages of the Gordon Strachan era, a group which generally came into matches high in confidence on the back of their Champions League exploits. While the club’s exit to AEK Athens last week is a blow, McFadden doesn’t feel it should alter the equation too much.

“They are not going to be worse players because they are not playing Champions League,” he said.

On the other hand, there is the hope of a European run for the likes of Ryan Jack, Jamie Murphy and perhaps even Ross McCrorie on the other side of the city. And the Scottish league itself looks like it might offer a higher level of competition than for many seasons.

Wherever they play their domestic football, McFadden knows the Tartan Army are holding out for new heroes.

“We’re trying to build a young, exciting team and hopefully it’ll be a team effort,” he said.

“But within that, someone might have to step up and grab the glory. Everyone should want to be the hero and hopefully we can find someone to do that.”