Colin Hendry’s Expert Predictions: World Cup Preview and Scottish Football Review

How Would You Describe the Experience of the 1998 World Cup and Your Fondest Memories

It’s really difficult to try and put into words exactly how that felt. And just the other day we were watching the Craig Brown diaries, and everything comes flooding back to you. But I really, I probably thought that maybe the opportunity to play for my country might have passed me by. But when the uprising of Blackburn Rovers was in the early 90s, and I was part of it all, it obviously helped.

But the opening game against Brazil. I would have loved for Gary McAllister to have been there. And unfortunately, he wasn’t there because of injury. But for me, that was quite a disappointment because him, as much as anybody, deserved to be on the world’s biggest stage.

What Advice Would You Give to the Current Squad and How Do You Think They Will Do

Well, I think we’ll get through. Going back to discussing the Haiti game, it’s not going to be easy. Every game’s difficult, and every situation is going to be difficult. But I think we have got to win at least one game to go through.

It’s difficult to take anything out of the friendlies, but certainly on the evidence of the competition games and the games that mean something, I’d like to think that we’re more than capable of beating Haiti. I know Haiti beat New Zealand the other day 4-0 and they’re ranked well up the pecking order. But Scotland are too. But you can’t really take that into consideration because they’ll look at us and think that’s a game that they have to win.

After all, Morocco are decent, and then Brazil’s Brazil, isn’t it. Nobody really expects to beat Brazil. But beat Haiti, and then with the adjustment of the rules with more teams being involved, the 12 groups of four, and the eight best third-placed teams in each group, that definitely gives us a much, much better chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.

But I think we’ll do it. I really do think we’ll do it. And I hope for everybody that’s going out there, all the fans, all the supporters, all the people paying good money to go and watch Scotland and enjoy themselves.

David Turnbull – Should He Move This Summer and Would a Return to Scotland Make Sense

Well, they’ve got promoted, haven’t they? So it may be when you go up the levels, you feel as if you’re even a better player than what you were at a lower level. So if he can find himself and fight his way into the team doing well at Cardiff, I think that would be great for him.

And yeah, Championship, they’re in the Championship now, so that’s a proper competitive league. You’ve got so many teams that think they’re going to be in the shake-up for the promotion, whether it’s the playoffs or going straight up. But it’s an incredible league; that is the Championship. If he can break his way back into the team there, then that’d be great for him and his hopes of the national team. It’s a serious level, the Championship.

Elliot Watt to Cardiff – Good Fit and Is £3m a Fair Valuation

Every player’s got a valuation, and it just really depends on the market. I think every club has got its price. He was consistent with my son Callum at Salford and mates at Motherwell as well. And I think in the way the game’s played at Motherwell, they were great to watch this season. They really, really were. Quite a breath of fresh air for the whole league. So if they can get that balance right and he finds the right club, I see no reason why he couldn’t be performing at a high level.

Did You Ever Envisage David Moyes Managing at the Top Level for So Long

Yeah, I think the team that must be kicking themselves the most are West Ham. He took them into European glory. And Dave Moyes, I know him really pretty well. We’re not on the telephone every month or every year for that matter, but I know David pretty well because he lives where I lived for a long time. And he’s done extremely well.

Sometimes people can reflect back on what managers and coaches and even the players earn these days, because of the commercialisation, TV rights, etc.; good luck to them, they should be enjoying themselves and getting well paid for it because they’re right at the top of the tree. And Moyes is at the top of the tree as well with Everton. He’s a different class. He’s probably my type of manager because in the period that I did play a couple of games on loan, even though I think he’s only three or four years older than me, he was bringing me in and trying to tell me at the age of 37 what to do here and what to do there.

But nah, he’s a great guy. I wish him well. I wish him luck. And hopefully next season it all comes together.

Are You Surprised to See Sections of the Everton Fanbase Questioning His Position

There is quite a demand from the fans, but at the same time, you’ve got to understand: brand new stadium. And you know, you’ve got to look at what he’s done. He took them into European contention, which is such an amazing achievement given how they’ve been struggling at the bottom for several years. So you can’t underestimate how much good work David Moyes has done there. A disappointing end to the season, but they’ve got the new stadium, and they’ll be hoping for much better results at that new ground now as well.