On The Premier League
Gordon’s thoughts on the title race
I think if Liverpool don't win it now, then people will say they've lost it. It's like a handicap race. If you get to this stage of the season, and have the lead that Liverpool have, they would have bitten your hand off at the start of the season.
I don’t think that it’s over by any means, but Liverpool have a commanding lead over the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.
If you’re top of the league at Christmas, then you would expect Liverpool to go on and win it. They’ve put themselves in this position by playing wonderful football. The good thing about Liverpool is, when it comes to April, they've got a lot of players in there who’ve seen and done it before, which is handy. It's theirs to lose now, because they put themselves in that position.
As for the challengers, if they can overhaul Liverpool, then it would be some achievement. I've got to say that on watching yesterday's performance, Chelsea as a unit is as good a team I’ve seen for a while. Maybe that's because they were just phenomenal against Tottenham, but I’m looking at them and I think that Chelsea are a terrific side this season.
Thoughts on the top four
I think the race for the top four involves everyone down to Man United, there's no doubt about that, because the league table is so tight from Brighton in fifth down to Manchester United in thirteenth.
If you look at Brentford, Brighton, Nottingham Forest, they’ve all surprised me this season. Brentford and Brighton, they just get on with things and do things properly, but Forest, that’s been a surprise. Forest have a larger-than-life figure at the helm. I usually find that these larger-than-life figures at the top of football clubs have a habit of chopping and changing and it never really gets going.
This is the most settled I’ve seen Nottingham Forest. Everything seems to be moving in the right direction and feels calm, whereas the owner has previously taken the sledge hammer to his club.
It's a really interesting league at the moment, it really is. There's a lot of good stuff going on.
On Arne Slot’s Liverpool impact
It’s been great management from Arne Slot, because he's not trying to change everything that Klopp put in place. There's still that crash-bang wallop at certain times, but there's a wee bit of a hybrid there now with the football they play.
There's a wee touch of Slot, and a big touch of Klopp still there, which is good management. He’s kept the best bits of Klopp, and I think some managers would have wanted to remove that.
He's changed the way they're playing in the build-up, it’s a bit more patient, but they can still flick the switch. I love teams that can play any sort of game, whether it be short passing, longer passing, going over the top.
Liverpool are like a good German team. They remind me of Bayern Munich from a couple of years ago. They’re a team that exploits weakness in the opposition. They’re not wedded to a playing style, they look for weaknesses on the park and they go after them. I like that.
On Enzo Maresca’s impact
Chelsea are a great reminder of why, we in the media, fans, society, we shouldn’t make our mind up with players after four games. Look at these guys like Enzo Fernandez, he was written off, and he’s starting to produce now. There are several players at Chelsea who are starting to come good now.
I think it’s amazing how quickly people can make up their minds about players. Maybe that's been the problem with Chelsea over the last few years. It's a young group of lads who just want to do well.
I think they've got a good bunch of boys now. I think before it was a mishmash of older players; It was just a mess. Through this kind of mess, through all the problems being reported in the press, I think it’s amazing that this is a team that is starting to realise its potential and grow. They look like a proper team now.
Football is a very reactionary game, isn't it? You know, it only takes l12 games for everyone to change their minds on Chelsea. Everyone that said their transfer policy was absolutely bananas is now thinking it’s great.
Importance of getting your recruitment right
The most successful recruitment is about development and recruitment. You recruit players, then you develop them. A lot of clubs, maybe Chelsea over the years and other clubs, have recruited them and gone, ‘Right, just get on with it.’
It should always be about developing the players that you recruit. That’s what I tell our people at Dundee and anybody who wants to listen about recruitment, the recruitment must come with a guarantee of development with the players as well.
It doesn't usually work that way, by the way. Usually a manager says, ‘I should have these players that are terrific, put them together, and it should happen.’ Manchester United is probably the club that has been the most guilty of that type of recruitment over the last ten years. Those squads have just been chucked together in a panic to see what happens. There hasn’t been a development plan for these players. There has to be a development plan in place. I don't care who you are, or how much it costs. There has to be a commitment to developing players at the same time.
On Manchester United
It happened, Erik Ten Hag left the building last month. Were you surprised by that 180 by Jim Ratcliffe and his team after backing the manager in the summer?
Well, Ten Hag’s dismissal was a bit like Christmas. Is that coming this year? Of course it's coming. For Ten Hag, at the back of his mind, he must have been thinking that his days at the club were numbered since the summer. The meetings [with other managers], I think that harmed him in the eyes of the players. There’s no doubt about that.
There were grey areas at the club, and you cannot have grey areas in football clubs. Meeting with other managers, I think that was the time Ten Hag should have decided to leave. It's hard to leave Man Utd and you really want to prove yourself. But I think at that point, it just got untenable for him.
The players were thinking a couple of bad results and he's going, who's the next manager? The players I've been in dressing rooms with, most of them actually feel for the manager. They really do feel for the manager, and it affects their performance because they feel they're letting the manager down.
If you put it all together, Ten Hag was never going to survive. The club was in turmoil, and that’s when you need your people at the top to make the correct decisions. I'm sure they thought they were making the right decisions at the time, but it wasn’t really the case. I think the people at the top probably need a helping hand to tell them what to do, and how to go about it. Somebody with great experience who could say, ‘This does not work. It's leaked now that you've been talking about other managers. I really think we'll have to speak to the manager now.’
The football world felt sorry for the fella, but the same time must have thought, ‘Walk away now.’
It's hard for a manager to walk away. It's hard to walk away from Man United. When I left Man United, I was crying my eyeballs out because that's the club it is. It’s not easy to walk away. And I knew he should have walked away in the summer. That's when somebody needs to go, ‘Right, bang. We're sorting this out now.’
Ruben Amorim has said there is a renewed focus on fitness, running and effort for United’s players. Would you say there has been a drop in standards on this front over recent years?
Man United have probably been saying they have the best sports scientists in the world over the last two years.
When a new manager goes into a club, that's what happens, they all say the players have got fitness problems. Every manager who goes to any club, it's the first thing they say, it's standard. We need to work on their fitness.
What's been happening at that club? Everybody goes on about sports scientists. Every club has got them. But has a lack of effort and work rate really got anything to do with sports science? Of course it doesn’t. It’s about your players character. Have these United players got the drive to want to get better and improve? Have they got that resilience?
Southampton have got sports scientists. They've got five points for all the sports scientists. Ipswich have got sports scientists. Leicester have got sports scientists.
Leicester have got data.
It goes back again to what we're talking about, players and resilience. Because Man City are playing the same way, but they do not have Rodri, they do not have De Bruyne at his best, they do not have Silva at his best.
The pressure has now been heaped upon players coming into Man City who have not been used to going, ‘Right, okay, win the game.’ They think, ‘But De Bruyne usually wins the game first, so does Rodri, and so does Silva. I usually back them up.’ It's simpler than you think.
You still need a good coach to put this all together. So, I'm not saying it's all about players, but players are the most important. It's like Barcelona. Barcelona is still playing 4-3-3, right? But it's nothing like Barcelona with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Yaya Toure
It's not like that. They don't play in the same way.
Marcus Rashford has been back in form since the arrival of Ruben Amorim, have you seen enough out of the forward to believe he can return to his best of a couple of seasons ago
Well, that's one of the problems that Man United have. We've just got to hold our breath for Marcus Rashford to play well. And we've just got to go through this again every season where we've got to hope Marcus gets better. ‘I hope he starts smiling and I hope he starts enjoying the game.’ Do me a favour. If you don't enjoy it at the club, leave. Just leave and then we can all get on with it. You're a good footballer, son.
As Man United fans, do you want to just keep waiting for Marcus to do well? I think that conversation should be moved on now and just put away. You either want to play or you don't want to play. Do me a favour, if you're not enjoying it, do something else then.
Dan Ashworth's departure doesn't paint a picture of serenity at Manchester United. We're you surprised by that announcement given the lengths that United went to get their man?
It could have been decided both ways. It might be Dan Ashworth decided this is not my club, this is not what I bought into. We don't really know what went on there, but it's another PR catastrophe from Manchester United.
It's funny that people always think they have to be given time to do this and that and develop it. I've seen it with coaches. I've seen it with players. I've seen it with sporting directors, but there's no time at Man United. You've got no time.
Nobody's interested, because Man United fans do believe they're the No. 1club in the world, along with Real Madrid. They've got all the money in the world, and success should be immediate. That's it.
It's the same with the manager. He'll not understand the immediacy of the pressure or the expectation. As he said at Sporting Lisbon, he had more time to develop. You’re not going to get that at Man United.
It's the same with the sporting directors. There's no time here. The only collateral, as I've said before in football, is winning. Forget about the rest. Forget about your projects.
Nobody's interested in your projects. We just want to win.
Man United fans just want to be better than Man City. That's it. It's okay talking about projects, but you have to be brave if you've got to put that together. And you need to make big decisions.
United are not in a good place, it’s going to take years before they start challenging
At the moment, the club's not in a good place. There's no doubt about it, especially with Ashcroft going after they’ve just changed manager.
If you said to Amorim, ‘How many of these players do you want?’ What would he tell you? He's got to be nice about these players, he's got to be talking about these players, but how do you change literally a whole team?
These players that you're talking about they've been there for a certain amount of time now. They've had a year; they've had a year and a bit to produce this.
I think they'll have to wait a year and a bit before we see any kind of consistent improvement. I don't think it'll be the next season; it'll be the one after that. That's when Amorim should really be judged because there's too much going on at the moment.
Strachan blasts United recruitment
I just think it's been a scattergun approach to recruitment. You're buying Anthony for £85 million and people Ten Hag already knew. That's what happens sometimes as a manager. You buy people you already know. Sometimes that's not a good thing. You'd be better starting afresh with new players.
The recruitment didn't join up at any point because, when look at Ugarte, Zirkzee, Hojlund, people like that…. where did everybody see them playing, and what sort of system did anybody envision?
Strachan outlines the difference between a system and a philosophy when discussing United problems
A philosophy is different from a system. Because there's different systems in the world of football. There's not a system that actually guarantees you success.
If you look at Man City, apart from the Liverpool game when they changed the system a bit, they play the same system. They play the same system all the time, it's been two wide men, two people getting in the 8 and 10 positions. One striker staying up, two behind them, three at the back when they're building. They've been doing that forever, right?
So how come it's not working now? It’s because of the players’ ability and character.
So, the philosophy can be about character, humility, determination, technique, fitness.
So that's your philosophy. Your systems are different. Most people get messed up between systems and philosophy.
The philosophy can stay the same, but you can change the system as such. Man City, they did it Liverpool. They didn't have their two wide men as normally they do. That's the first time I've seen that. It's the first time I've seen them changing since Guardiola's been there. So, what is the difference? It's players.
That's what I'm saying. It's the players you bring in and what you do not get in data is an understanding of a players character. That’s why you need to do your homework on new signings. You have to understand if they have a good character, intelligence and humility.
Man United have not had that for at least 10 years. They haven’t had the right players at the club with the right character. With humility, you want to get even better as a player. I think a lot of people have turned up to Man United and thought, ‘This is great, it doesn't get any better than this, I'm made for life now.’
They don’t have any standard-bearers of a philosophy that demands hard work, humility and intelligence. Unfortunately, with Man United’s standard- bearers, they don’t embody a philosophy of winning as a professional footballer as far as I'm concerned.
It feels like every player at Manchester United is being auditioned for their club future. If you had to name three players who's futures look assured under the new manager, who would you pick?
You'll find out about players in crisis moments. It's not playing against rubbish teams. It's in crisis moments where things are not going well for you, when you're up against it.
It's 1-1 with the crowd turning on you. Can you play at that point? That's what you're looking for.
People who can deal with the pressure of playing for Man United, that's what you're looking for. Whether they score a couple of goals and they get beat or draw 2-2 against Ipswich, which doesn't mean anything, the point will mean a lot for Ipswich, but it doesn't mean anything for United.
In big games, can you produce? Can you stand up? Can you take the ball under pressure? All that kind of stuff. It's finding people's characters. Not if they can score a goal, not if they can score a magical goal.
Week in, week out at Man United, you need to deliver. There's no excuses when you play at a club like Man United. Nobody's taking excuses from me at Man United, because you're at a great club and you're expected to win. I think over the last 10 years I think there's been a lot of people at Man United who are just happy to wear the badge, but not do anything about it, not create any real history. It’s simply about enjoying being a Man United player and being a celebrity.
On Manchester City vs Manchester United
Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes seem to be new boss Amorim’s preferred central midfield partnership. How do you think they will cope against City in the derby given their performance at Arsenal, or will Amorim change things up?
When he was Sporting Lisbon manager, all due respect to Sporting Lisbon, who are a great club, they never had the pressure that's going to be on Man United to beat Man City. It's a different sort of thing altogether, which is why I don’t think that his recent victory over Man City with Sporting means anything in terms of this game.
It's something that Amorim will have to get used to, that constant pressure of every club wanting to beat you. Even if they’re in crisis mode, they're still Man United, and it's like Ferguson used to say, when United turn up, it’s like the circus coming to town.
Lisbon, it was different from Man Utd, right? There's no doubt about it whatsoever.
None whatsoever.
He's going with Ugarte and Fernandes as that seems to be his preferred partnership.
He’s got his attacking wingbacks, and unless you're playing against somebody who maybe has an outstanding wide man against you, you might play a more solid kind of full-back wing-back, but generally he asks his wingbacks to attack.
There's not many teams playing three at the back now in the Premier League. His philosophy might be the same about his players. He may be thinking, ‘My philosophy is based on what type of player I want, what kind of football I want to see, positive football, thinking, looking forward, fast, and all the rest of it.’
He might have to play like that for a while then go, ‘I need to evolve into something else. It's a different league, this.’
On Tottenham vs Chelsea
It was a match that represented a microcosm of the problems at the club under Ange's tenure. Throwing away a 2 goal lead against a rival, being in control and letting the opponent back with costly individual mistakes. How does Ange put this right?
He won’t change. Managers and people will say, ‘Stubborn.’ This one's stubborn.
That one's stubborn. Ferguson was incredibly stubborn. Arsene Wenger was incredibly stubborn. But we're all stubborn to get to the top. And if you're right 80% of the time, then you're going to be a very successful manager. You just have to take the hits because everybody will say you don’t change.
But if you're changing every week because of every pundit, then you'll be all over the place, and the players themselves will be confused.
As a player, there's nothing better when you see a manager and think, ‘I can follow him because he believes in what we're doing, he believes in me, and he believes in that, so it's fine.’
I've got to say that I did believe that Ange Postecoglou could go into Man United and change it completely, as quick as anybody, I did. Now how long he could have stayed there, it doesn't matter. I think he would have put them back onto that football that Man United fans expect. Just to go along and get entertained and see that every pass is positive and they're looking forward. I think Ange could have done that. I really think he could have done that. And that's what he did at Tottenham. That's what he did at Celtic.
Obviously, a bit easier in the Scottish Premier League. We all know that.
What he's brought to Tottenham is this positive thinking with all the players. And it's been great for us as fans, because no matter what happens, if Tottenham are on, we'll go and watch it, because something's got to happen. There'll be great goals, crazy games, disappointment. For Tottenham fans, it doesn't matter.
And the funniest thing about it, because they've gone back to this again, but do you know when you speak to fans, what do we want to see? Well, do you want to see positive football? Attacking football? You’re getting it.
But when you ask Tottenham now, they want to be above Arsenal, that's all they want to do. So, there's a conundrum here for most managers. If you go to clubs like that, we'll give you attacking football, you've got it, it's wonderful, it's great.
They're all sitting watching that game yesterday and we all knew at 2-0 that Chelsea weren't out of the game. We knew it wasn't finished. It was unfortunate losing a centre-back during the game. Then two of them went down. So, that was a problem, but it was a wonderful game.
Say, Ange does move for whatever reason. Whoever the next manager is, they’ve got to be a very lucky man because he's got players with a mindset that want to go forward with positive thinking.
At Celtic, when Brendan went in, he had to have a look at it for a while, but I think there's now a fantastic hybrid at Celtic between Ange and Brendan.
Because Brendan realised, Jesus, these boys just want to go forward and have a bit of imagination. So that will be a legacy. If Ange ever does move on, it will be that legacy of attacking football and leaving players with a wonderful mentality.
I hope he's there for a while because I do like him as a man, he's unusual. Gavin (Gordon’s son, Celtic coach) worked with him a long time, and he's fantastic at work because everybody knows exactly what they're meant to be doing.
On Rangers vs Tottenham
What kind of a welcome can Ange expect when he takes his Tottenham team to Rangers?
I think, for Ange, I think it'll be great. It'll be away from the Premier League. It'll be back to something he knows. He's going to come under a lot of humour - whatever you want to call it - from Glasgow. It takes your mind away from the kind of pressure of this, that and everything.
I think he’ll enjoy getting out of that English environment, the Premier League. Coming back, there's new voices speaking to him at interviews. It makes a difference.
Instead of seeing the same faces asking you the same questions all the time. So, I think he'll enjoy it.
On Chelsea
Enzo Maresca is refusing to say that his team are in the title race publicly, do you think he’s saying the same thing to his players privately?
Everybody's in the title race. If you're in the league, you're in the title race. If you don't want to be in the title race, don't join Chelsea, go to another league. Look, go to the Championship, stay in the Championship if you don't want to be in the title race.
I don't think he'd mention the title race in the dressing room, he’d say just go on and play. But I think at the moment, he probably thinks that this team needs another year, another two years probably.
And I think over the next two years, if they're second, third and things like that, that'd be acceptable.
But we've seen it before. Teams come through, playing incredibly well, then get momentum going. They didn't start the season great, but they've got a bit of momentum going now.
I think there were major doubts when Maresca was appointed Chelsea boss. Has he put those to bed do you think with what he’s done so far this season or are the bigger challenges, times when he will be truly tested as a manager, when we will find out because everything has been pretty calm for him so far…
Absolutely. It could happen, the bigger tests, but whatever you say, if you're second in the league, then you're in the title race, and it's hard for managers to say the right thing after a game.
‘What's the best for my players? How do I go about this?’ They are in a title race.
If they crumble, that could affect their confidence for months to come.
So whatever we say as managers after the games now, it gets dissected, chewed up, spat out. That's what you get paid for really.
The coaching side and the excitement of being the Chelsea manager, working with great players, you would do that for nothing. It's saying the right things and the stress that comes along, but also the stress of saying the wrong things that might backfire on you.
So, we'll try our best, but somebody will always find a fault in what we've got to say.
But there's no doubt about it, Liverpool have been terrific this year. A great shape, great energy, and Chelsea are the same.
On The Champions League
We’re approaching match week six, what do you think of the new big-league format?
I think the format of the Champions League has been put together to keep the top clubs happy. It's basically what they were trying to do a couple of years ago, with the break away and super leagues. It’s a format designed to keep the old established clubs happy.
I've got to say, there's no edge. There's definitely no edge to it when you've not got away against AC Milan after playing them at home and all that. If you said to the Celtic fans, who are you playing in the next match? No idea. Couldn't tell you. But I've got to say, has anybody found this interesting at all? This has been change for the sake of change.
How would you assess Celtic’s Champions League campaign?
I think the new format has helped them. There's no doubt about it. I think Celtic have produced some great performances though. Like I said, they won at home. At Atlanta, away from home, getting a draw was terrific. So the new format has definitely helped them, but they've also helped themselves.
It's just dragged on a wee bit. There's a lack of excitement there. And they've got a good chance of making it into the play-offs. They've definitely got a good chance on Tuesday against Zagreb. Zagreb took a real hit against Dortmund in their last game.
I think Celtic will qualify for the play-offs. They've had a good week in the league playing different types of football, in different conditions, as we've seen. They’ve done well in Europe this season.
On Scotland
Celtic are looking irresistible in the SPFL. How do you think this team compares to Brendan’s invincible treble-winning side of 2017? Can anyone in Scotland actually beat Celtic? Could they go on another unbeaten season again this year?
There seems to be more energy in this team. I think there's a hybrid between Ange and Brendan, which is great. And it's good work by the people at the top to make sure that happens. They put a bit of thought into what's going on.
I think a lot of people over the last three or four years, can say, right, this has been great stuff, you know, pat yourself on the back. That's not how a club should be run. You have to always keep looking for ways to improve and to raise the bar,
And again, we're talking about recruitment, and everybody thinks recruitment has to be a lot of money, but just think about this. Maeda, £1.5 million. Kyogo, £1.5million. Matt O’Riley, £1.5 million. Johnston at right back, £2 million.
Recruitment and development, there's been a lot of thought put into that. And not only do you get good players, but you can sell them on like Matt O’Riley for £30 million, which keeps it all going.
If you had to name one player that has really impressed you for the Hoops this season, who would it be and why?
Cameron Carter-Vickers, the captain. I think Alistair Johnston, the right-back, has been phenomenal. I mean, absolutely phenomenal. And Kuhn, who plays in front of goal has become a better player. Everybody's talking about Kuhn, which is quite right. And again, that's development. We were quick to judge him after four games.
Now, you look at his development and I also think he’s been helped because he’s playing with Johnston behind him. He has become a top player now. Other clubs want to buy him, he’d probably be the first player that other clubs would love to pinch.
There's a great combination there with Kuhn and Johnston. Johnston runs 20, 30 yards to give Kuhn one yard or two yards of space. Now that's what you need for a good team. That's the type of players you need, players that are going to put themselves there for you. Not many people will notice Johnston running, but that running, that's what he does.
I'm a huge fan of him because I know fine well that when I was a player at Aberdeen I had a guy playing behind me called Stuart Kennedy. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as I was a football player. He made me the player. He gave me the chance to have a platform to be a decent player over my career. So that's why I can relate to this guy, Johnston.
On The Scottish League Cup Final
If they played this game three weeks ago, I think most people would be expecting a huge victory for Celtic. I think over the last couple of weeks, Rangers have got themselves back in a position where there's no doubt the dressing room will be feeling a lot better about itself.
Rangers got six against Kilmarnock, you've got another three against Ross County, you've got a fantastic result away from home in Europe against Nice. So, the power of confidence from winning makes a huge difference.
I think privately, people at Rangers might have been thinking the cup final could have been a real problem for them. I think if you asked them today, I think they'll be saying, ‘I'm looking forward to this.’
We have to go back to May 23 for the last time Rangers beat Celtic. Do you have any concerns about this one, or will Celtic blow their rivals away?
It's always a concern, no matter who you play. I've played in cup finals myself. You're always thinking in the back of your mind, we can lose this. We can lose this for whatever reason, because strange things happen in cup ties. We've seen it happen before. Strange things, they really are. Conditions can make a difference.
You've seen Aberdeen try to play Celtic on Wednesday. Conditions were horrendous.
For all your plans on how you try and play football, the conditions are horrendous. Celtic Park is so enclosed that hardly any wind gets in, but Hampden does a different thing altogether. It's put back, there's wind swirling about all over the place.
There's all kinds of things that can happen. Celtic must be favourites because they're playing really well. But from the Rangers' point of view, I think if you'd asked them both a month ago, ‘Na, I'm not really looking forward to it,’ but I think they are looking forward now.
Celtic ran out comfortable winners over Rangers in their league meeting earlier this season. Do you think it will be the same result in the League Cup Final on Sunday, and how much credit do you give Brendan Rodgers for how well things have gone this season so far?
It's not easy to take over from somebody like Ange Postecoglou. He was exceptionally brilliant at his job, with the football, I think I've said this before, I think it took a wee while. I think it took, last season, three or four months to understand that Brendan wanted a certain type of football that he likes to play. But I think he was clever enough to go, ‘These guys, they've learned something else from another manager. I can use that.’
And so you've got these two great energies. Thought, energy, ability. You're seeing that come together now, this season in particular. The recruitment and development has been first class.
