STUART McLAREN watched Ben Doak turn it on for Scotland this week and allowed himself a knowing smile.
Seeing the on-loan Middlesbrough winger star for Steve Clarke’s side against Croatia and Poland days after he’d turned 19 didn’t come as a surprise to his first international boss.
Doak is quickly becoming a fan favourite in the senior team[/caption]
McLaren was the man who gave the teenager his first call up[/caption]
Former Stirling Albion manager McLaren was Scotland under-16s coach when Doak made his first national appearances in 2019.
The then-Celtic youngster was still just 14 – but that didn’t stop him letting McLaren know he wasn’t happy when he was left on the bench for the Scots kids’ Victory Shield opener against the Republic of Ireland.
McLaren – now assistant boss of Northern Ireland women’s team – laughed: “To use an old Scottish word, he went in a massive huff when the team was named and he wasn’t in it.
“He wasn’t 15 yet so he was effectively in a group that was a year older than him. Some of the other boys in the group were physically more developed than he was.
“But he still had a mentality that he was the best player and he should be playing.
“He was the type who if you said to him, ‘You’re up against the Real Madrid full-back today’, he’d have said, ‘Fine, just give me the ball.’
“He felt he was one of the best players in the squad even though he was one of the youngest and that gave us all a wee insight into his mentality.
“We won the first game against the Republic of Ireland 4-0 but he started the second one, against Northern Ireland.
“We ended up being joint winners of the Victory Shield that year, with the hosts Wales.
“The Under-17 Scotland team’s European qualifying section overlapped and they took four of the boys from the 16s age group – Ben, Dylan Reid who was at St Mirren and who’s gone to Crystal Palace, Barry Hepburn and Ryan Duncan.
“At the age Ben was, anyone who can categorically say someone’s going to make it all the way to the full national team is lying.
“But with Ben he had physical capability, he had willingness to take people on, but most of all he had a real mentality about succeeding.
“He was quick and he loved to dribble against a defender one-on-one.
“With all those attributes, we were very hopeful he’d make good progress.
Doak is quickly becoming a fan favourite in Clarke’s side[/caption]
“But to see him be so effective that he’s starting games for the full team at 19 is just tremendous.
“I don’t believe that coaches should take much of the credit when someone like Ben does as well as he has.
“I had a professional career myself and though it wasn’t anywhere near the heights Ben’s at, I know what it feels like when things are going well.
“When one of them makes the kind of progress Ben has, you feel privileged that you had a small part in that.
“With young players in the international set-up, you don’t see much of them over the course of a year so a lot of their progress is down to their clubs.
Doak made handed his first senior debut at Celtic[/caption]
“I was at Celtic when Ben was beginning to make his mark around the first team and I know Ange Postecoglou rated him highly – so much so that one of Ben’s first games was a sub in an Old Firm game in 2022.
“Ange had faith in him and I know there was a contract on the table for him at Celtic.
“But he made the decision to go to Liverpool and he’s now playing at a good level in the Championship which will be another good stage in his development.
“It’s great to see.”
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