Made in Scotland. From girners

Hugh Macdonald

Chief Sports Writer

Friday 22 March 2013

HE thought he had broken his leg.

Graeme Le Saux believes the 'switched on' Gordon Strachan has the strengths and qualities to revitalise Scotland

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Hugh MacDonald

In a pre-season match, too. The sock was slashed, the shinpad broken and, as he looked down from a prone position on a stretcher, he saw his blood spilling on to the canvas.

"I was taken into the dressing room, put on our treatment table and they were just about to stitch it up," says Graeme Le Saux of his injury at Sheffield United when playing for Blackburn Rovers under the management of Kenny Dalglish. "But the half-time whistle went and the team came back into the dressing room and Kenny said: 'Can you not f****** do that somewhere else'. And that was it – I had to get off and go into the Sheffield United dressing room. Kenny wanted to give his team talk and I just had to take it because he didn't want people looking at my shin. I could have been really offended by that but you had to take it."

This is the story of Le Saux, born 44 years ago in Jersey. This is the tale of a professional footballer who flourished in England but whose mentality and success can said to have been made in Scotland, from girners. Le Saux had two spells at Chelsea and one at both Blackburn Rovers and Southampton before he retired with 36 caps and a league title and FA Cup winner's medals. He played under Dalglish and Gordon Strachan. He is insightful on both. "They're both cut from the same cloth, or the same tartan. There's a group of people that have that ability where they have that quick turn of phrase and are so switched on," says Le Saux, who played for Dalglish's side that won the Premier Division in 1994/95 and ended his career at Southampton under Strachan a decade later."Both Kenny and Gordon were like that. Football encourages that sort of cutting humour but without meaning to offend. Kenny could be really tough. If you did something you knew you'd get it in the neck at half-time. You had to be quite tough to deal with it but mature enough to know it wasn't personal. I had it with Kenny a couple of times where I felt it was personal and I stood my ground because there comes a point where you have to do that. But you did it one-on-one because a manager would never back down in front of everyone. It's a stressful environment and both managers have had their fair share of success."Le Saux speaks about both Strachan and Dalglish with genuine affection because he knows what they contributed to his outstanding career. "It's like a parent who wants the best for their children," he says of managers. "They don't always parent them that well because if they keep saying something nice then they'll take it for granted. Parents want to keep their child on their toes and managers are like that – the parent who is frightened to compliment sometimes."Nobody would have ever said to Kenny: 'God, you're amazing' because he never talks about it. You need to look on the internet to see his achievements. Gordon is the same."Both Strachan and Dalglish came from working-class backgrounds and Le Saux points out that his childhood contained tragedy. "Everyone thinks I had a silver spoon in my mouth but my mother died when I was 13 and I had a tough time dealing with that," he says. "I developed a resilience and I think you need that in sport to be able to cope with all the external bits but also some of the demands from inside the game as well."A dressing room can be a brutal environment where a player's psychological strength is placed under heavy stress. "The banter from Gordon and Kenny were like a test. If you use part of your personality, it acts as a really good filter. I'm quite sarcastic and if you say something sarcastic then you sort of know where you stand from their retort," says Le Saux. "Maybe that's their test but there's a fine line. Football life has changed a lot so managing players now is very different. The only one who still can get away with it is Sir Alex Ferguson, but he's adapted." He adds of the Manchester United manager: "He's changed over time because he's realised managing players now is different. Even with Kenny, his assistant Ray Harford would put an arm round you and say 'don't listen to him, he doesn't mean it'.'He believes Strachan has the strengths to revitalise Scotland, saying: "It is a young squad with inexperienced players but if anyone can, Gordon can. He is so switched on, so sharp. I have a lot admiration for him."Le Saux signed for Southampton having played for a championship-winning team at Blackburn and the aristocrats of Chelsea. The presence of Strachan at the south-coast club played a major part in convincing him to sign. "I felt we were on the same level in terms of the conversations we had. He was extremely motivated, led by example, but he was good fun as well with amazing stories," he says.Le Saux, of course, could have played for Scotland, as he was born in the Channel Islands. His Caledonian connection, though, was restricted to supporting Ally McLeod's side at the World Cup in Argentina when the future England player was only 10. "I have a big confession," he says. "I had a Scotland shirt for that World Cup with a massive dartboard badge on it because Scotland qualified and England did not. A few of my friends at school had Scottish parents so we supported Scotland." So when did he stop supporting Scotland? "I was fickle. I threw my jersey away after Argentina. It was in the bin." Hope he never told King Kenny.* Graeme Le Saux was guest speaker last night at the annual sportsman's dinner that raises funds for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow and the appeal for a new hospice in the city. See www.ppwh.org.uk for details.

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