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• McClaren happy with spirit, energy of players heading into first game of 2024-25 Nations League- “It’s been great”

  Head coach of the Jamaica Men’s National Football Team, commonly referred to as the “Reggae Boyz,” Steve McClaren, spoke glowingly of his squad’s energy and enthusiasm ahead of their 2024-25 CONCACAF Nations League opener against Cuba at the National Stadium in Kingston on Friday.

  McClaren, who was most recently part of Manchester United as a first team coach, was hired by Jamaica in July to replace Heimir Hallgrimsson, who has since taken up the role as manager of the Republic of Ireland.

  The 63-year-old former Newcastle United and FC Twente coach will open his stint as manager of a Reggae Boyz unit who finished third in last season’s Nations League under Hallgrimsson, their best ever finish in the competition.

  “Looking forward to it,” McClaren said in a pre-match press conference on Thursday.

  “It’s been a long build-up since I first came over to Jamaica,” he added.

  One thing that McClaren spoke glowingly of about his players is the energy and spirit he’s seen amongst the group ahead of Friday’s game, an important factor in any winning unit.

  “It was nice to get into camp, meet the players, get on the grass and lose my voice from shouting too much. It’s been great. From the first day the players came in, it’s been great energy and spirit amongst them. They’ve shown that on the training field and we need to transfer what we’ve done this week onto the field tomorrow to get a result against Cuba,” he said.

  Ahead of his first game in charge of the Reggae Boyz at home, McClaren, despite his 23 years of managerial experience, is feeling the nerves as is customary with anyone starting a new job in any profession.

  “Always. I like that. It means you’re ready for the game. That’s what football is all about, doesn’t matter what level. When you play, you don’t quite know what’s going to happen. It’s football,” he said.

  “We can control the controllable which we’ve tried to do. We just have to keep things simple. I’m going to concentrate tomorrow on the performance. If we get the performance from the players, normally you get the win,” he added.

  When questioned about the style of coaching fans can expect to see from him going forward, apart from jokingly saying a “winning” coach, McClaren emphasized a focus on the basics and building on what has been done over the last two years.

  “I’m quite a flexible, adaptable coach. I like the fundamentals. I like the basics. I like people knowing and doing their jobs, working hard, having a good attitude and being hard to beat. I think that’s the platform of all performances,” he said.

  “If you’re easy to beat, too stretched and can’t defend, you don’t win football matches. That is what the team have developed over the last two years and I like that. It gives us a platform. We need to build from that platform now,” he added.

   

   

• Scotland must aspire for Nations League success to 'feel the love', says Robertson

  Andy Robertson insists that Scotland must right their wrongs from a dismal Euro 2024 campaign to ensure they "feel the love again" from supporters. 

  Robertson, who led Scotland in Germany, was powerless to stop their group stage exit as their wait for knockout football at an international tournament went on. 

  After surpassing George Young's record for the most caps as Scotland captain in June, the Liverpool full-back will wear the armband for their two Nations League games.

  Steve Clarke's side welcome Poland to Hampden Park on Thursday before travelling to Lisbon to face Portugal three days later. 

  "The summer was a low for all of us," Robertson said. "But we have to move on from it. We have to be positive, otherwise it's pointless being here. We have to believe.

  "Okay, we might have some doubters again within our country. Our country was right behind us in the summer.

  "We get they're disappointed and now it's up to us to drag them along with us again.

  "It's up to us to show on the pitch we're willing to fight, win games, and put in the hard yards.

  "If we do that, we know our fans will come with us as well."

  Robertson spoke at length with his head coach ahead of their upcoming campaign and said it was the first time a review of a camp had more negatives than positives.

  Scotland proved they could compete with Europe's elite nations during their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, finishing second behind Spain in Group A, who went on to win the tournament, losing just one of their eight qualifying matches.

  They have also impressed in the Nations League, winning 10 of their 16 matches in the competition (D2 L4), with their 62.5% win ratio the best of any nation in the tournament.

  Clarke has also introduced the likes of Vancouver Whitecaps attacker Ryan Gauld and Robertson's Liverpool team-mate Ben Doak, who is currently on loan at Middlesbrough for their next two fixtures.

  And the 30-year-old believes those additions will help his side in the forward areas, but acknowledges they need to be more consistent against the best in the business. 

  "We know that's what we need to improve - that's the next step for us," Robertson continued.

  "That's us been to two tournaments now and only got two draws. We've not progressed the way we would have liked.

  "We need to look at that. And in the build up when we played the stronger nations like England and France we didn't show how good we can be.

  "But also not that far in the past we beat the European champions here at Hampden, we also beat a really good Denmark team. We competed against Spain away as well.

  "We need to get more consistent at doing it. We've done it previously but not all the time. That's what we need to get better at, especially at tournaments."

• 'It's the right call' - Walker accepts England omission

  Kyle Walker believes Lee Carsley made "the right call" leaving him out of England's party for their upcoming Nations League matches.

  Carsley named his first England squad last week, with Walker one of the notable absences after being a pivotal figure under Gareth Southgate.

  The right-back made 70 appearances under the previous manager, starting 64 of those, and featured in all seven of England's games at Euro 2024 as they reached the final.

  However, since returning to Manchester City after an extended break, Walker has played just two minutes in the Premier League, coming off the bench in their 3-1 win over West Ham last weekend.

  Walker admitted that while he was unhappy to be left out of the fold, he understood why he was not given a place.

  "I'm disappointed," Walker said on his BBC podcast. "You have to accept it and just try to prove them wrong.

  "With a new manager, you are always expecting a few changes. I'm disappointed because to represent your country is always the highest thing.

  "But I haven't played any minutes this season, so you have to take it on the chin. I've not performed at any level since coming back from the [Euros], so I think it's the right call from him."

  England start their Nations League campaign against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday before hosting Finland on Tuesday.