IF Andy Robertson had a pound for every time someone brought up the admittedly remarkable rags to riches tale of his rise from Queen’s Park to Liverpool, he could tear up his lucrative contract with the English giants and still live out the rest of his life in some comfort.
The newly-appointed Scotland captain is far too polite and takes his position as a role model far too seriously to ever do anything but smile and rehash the response he knows inside, out, backwards and forwards, but he wouldn’t be human if it wasn’t starting to grate ever so slightly.
It is not that he is ashamed of his past, but more that he is proud of where he presently is and where he sees himself going.
Given that he is the starting left-back for one of the biggest clubs in England, if not the world, and is captaining his country at the age of 24, does the constant focus on his humble beginnings unintentionally come across as a lack of respect for his current status?
“Yeah, maybe,” Robertson pondered. “It can be a wee bit annoying, of course it can. People keep bringing it up, but it is a past I’m proud of. It gets brought up every time I do anything.
“It’s not something I’m bored of talking about, but it is hard to give positive answers all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved every club I’ve played for, but the end of my career will be the time to talk about it.
“I’m always one to look forward, never behind. Everyone brings up my story. There are times when I like talking about it, but for me it is about the next five years, not the last five years.
“I can’t change it, but where I am today I’m comfortable in my role playing at Liverpool and playing for a great club.”
Robertson’s first match as Scotland skipper didn’t go entirely to plan with the thumping defeat at the hands of Belgium, but his first competitive fixture was an altogether more pleasurable affair, with the former Dundee United man leading his country to a comfortable win over Albania that got the Uefa Nations League campaign off to a flying start.
If Scotland can win their group and negotiate two play-off fixtures, then Robertson will have surpassed the achievements in dark blue of some of his role models, players who he respects such as Scott Brown and Darren Fletcher, but that he wants to surpass with every fibre of his being.
“There were a lot of experienced lads when I came into the side,” he said. “People like Darren Fletcher and Scott Brown. They were the two captain figures. They were massive role models who have done it all.
“They have had great careers, but there’s only one thing I would want to do differently from them. And that is get to a big tournament.
“I think if you asked them that would be the one big disappointment of their career. Other than that, their medals and trophies they have won don’t lie. But, they would have been desperate to take us to a tournament.
“Hopefully I can do that. The main aim has to try and get to the Euros and we will put everything into it. Hopefully, we can succeed and be back at a major tournament after a 20-year absence.
“It is not about me and it is not about the captaincy. That is all irrelevant. Obviously it is a huge honour to lead out the country and the team. But, when it comes to result it is a team game and I’m just pleased for all the lads we got off to a good start.
“At the start of the campaign there is always a bit of pressure. We still have three massive games and nothing has been decided just yet.”
The influence of the senior members of the squad is something that Robertson will continue to fall back on as he adjusts to his new role within the Scotland set-up.
“They didn’t so much give you advice,” he said. “It was all about trying to make you feel comfortable. That is the most important thing in squads.
“Charlie Mulgrew and Robert Snodgrass are other guys who have been around the squad for a while. And I have ended up forming very good relationships with them. That’s exactly what will happen to the new lads when they come in. They will have the relationship we all had.
“Lads are coming in here just like I was a few years ago. It’s about making them feel comfortable and hoping they produce good performances.”
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