It says much about the change of fortunes for Scott Bain that he would have been fairly assured of his place in Steve Clarke’s inaugural Scotland squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Cyprus and Belgium.
The Celtic keeper, who has taken on the number one mantle at the club from the turn of the year, has gone full circle in the last 18 months after being frozen out by Neil McCann at Dundee.
If his journey is an inspirational tale at a time of year when youth players up and down the country will be told they need to look elsewhere, former Aberdeen coach Sandy Clark has revealed his shock that Bain was left to move through the ranks after the Pittodrie side released him as a kid.
Bain can boast a trio of medals from Celtic’s clean sweep this season but as he combined part-time football at Alloa with a day job as a labourer, such heady days would have felt like Roy of the Rovers stuff.
READ MORE: Craig Brown urges Steve Clarke to invoke FIFA rules against reluctant Scotland conscripts
Clark worked with Bain as a teenager at Aberdeen and he admitted that when he left the club he was stunned at Craig Brown’s call to release the keeper.
“Scott Bain was at Aberdeen when I was there with the two Jimmys [Calderwood and Nicholl],” said Clark.
“It just amazes me that Aberdeen later let him go. I don’t want to have a dig at Craig Brown but he let him go for some reason and then to see him let go by Dundee as well, I couldn’t believe that.
“So I’m delighted for him to see where is now, having known him when he was just a kid.
“Even then he stood out as a top goalkeeper. I worked with him in the Under 18s squad, so he’d have only been 16 when I first saw him but he was really good even then.
“I don’t know what happened to him that Aberdeen chose to let him go after we’d left. But it was even more of a tragedy that he left Dundee – maybe there was a disagreement with the manager but he should never have been allowed to leave there either.
“But he’s a great example for any young players in the game to never give in. Because when you look at where Scott has got to now, it’s amazing. I’m really delighted for him as well.
READ MORE: Celtic's Leigh Griffiths 'on home straight' in his recovery
“He even went to work on a building site while he played part-time at Alloa but he still did really well there and got himself back in. The moral of the story is if you think you’re good enough, don’t give up.”
At 27, there is a feeling that Bain’s peak years are well ahead of him. And Clark expects that he will appreciate the opportunities on and off the pitch that he has at Celtic now with sports scientists and physios able to concentrate on every nuance of his performance.
It’s a far cry from rushing off the building site to make twice-a-week training.
“He’ll be all the tougher and hungrier for those experiences he’s been through,” said Clark. “Without a doubt he’ll appreciate this all the more.
“Don’t get me wrong, as a former Hearts player I wanted them to win – but I’m pleased for Scott getting his winner’s medal on Saturday because it’s a great example of how football can work if you battle through adversity.
“Football can kick you in the teeth and Scott’s had that. But when you look at the level he’s playing at now it’s just one of those really nice stories.”
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel