Rangers<\/a>, Queen\u2019s Park and Hearts youth coach knows some of the men Clarke is relying on, having been there to guide them as boys.<\/p>\nHe helped skipper Andy Robertson rebuild his career after rejection by Celtic and played a part in the development of Dark Blue stars Billy Gilmour, Nathan Paterson, Lawrence Shankland and Aaron Hickey.<\/p>\n
While they\u2019ve all had different journeys to reach the national team, they all share a fierce determination to succeed.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s those battling qualities that has convinced Waddell this squad can write themselves into the history books this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s that fighting spirit they all share that gives me hope,\u201d said the 45-year-old, now managing Lowland League promotion hopefuls Caledonian Braves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the warrior heart in that team. There are fighters like Andy, Shanks, Billy, Nathan and Aaron, who I worked with for a wee while at Hearts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve all had their different journeys but each has relied on determination to get where they are. They had it as boys and I still see it in them as men.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve taken this Scotland team further than anyone has managed in almost 30 years and that\u2019s why I am optimistic ahead of the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a special group and I feel we\u2019re in for a special summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Few players have faced a harder fight to reach the top than captain Robbo.<\/p>\n
Released by his boyhood heroes Celtic at the age of 15 on the grounds he was too small, the left-back has gone on to huge things having kickstarted his career at Queen\u2019s Park.<\/p>\n
That rejection may have stung but he\u2019s used it to fuel a desire that has him approaching a century of Scotland caps having won two Premier Leagues and a Champions League crown with his current club Liverpool.<\/p>\n
Ricky said: \u201cI began working with Andy at Queen\u2019s about a year after he was released by Celtic when he was about 17 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could tell he had drive and hunger but what stuck out with Andy was his fight \u2013 he had that never-give-up attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was so fit and quick but obviously physically he hadn\u2019t developed at the point Celtic decided to release him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile he maybe hadn\u2019t filled out, he was starting to physically develop in terms of power and running strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was clearing out my garage recently and found some notes I\u2019d done on him. I\u2019d written down things about his consistency, his inner belief and drive, his hunger and that fighting spirit. It\u2019s what you saw in nearly every game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAndy kept working and deserved his big chance when it came.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a testament to Gardner Speirs for putting Andy in at that age to give him the exposure.\u201d Robertson\u2019s path to the top was never certain but Waddell was as sure as he could be about a certain youngster he came across at Rangers.<\/p>\n
In fact, so convinced was he of Gilmour\u2019s star quality that former Falkirk, Partick Thistle, Hamilton and Clyde midfielder Waddell admits he felt under pressure himself to raise his own game while laying on coaching sessions.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cGiven my previous work in academy football, it\u2019s something I\u2019m pretty passionate about, trying to help younger players become better.<\/p>\n
![\"Caledonian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_AMR_HAM_WADDELL_04.jpg\")
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Caledonian Braves boss Ricky Waddell (Image: Niamh McInally)<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Billy is the best example because he was different to anybody I\u2019ve coached.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith guys like Andy and Lawrence, you always felt they had a chance because they were so driven.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Billy was a superstar when he was nine. You felt he was destined to go all the way, that\u2019s how good he was.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously there are never guarantees with young players but Billy was so diligent in his work, so good to work with.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always wanted to be the best at everything that he\u2019d do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat put me as a coach under pressure because your sessions had to be on point.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had to be challenging enough to fit the calibre of player that you were working with and Billy\u2019s potential was clearly high. I worked with him for a couple of years when he was a teen before he moved to Chelsea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you remember his breakout game for Scotland was that night against England at Wembley in the Euros when he ran the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell he was exactly the same thing when I first came across him. He was just in control all the time and made everything look easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the real test for the Napoli star will come this summer in the USA as Scotland seek to escape their group for the first time.<\/p>\n
Ricky said: \u201cBilly\u2019s at a stage now where he wants to make a real impact on the world stage. But as with the other lads, I see the determination in them to make sure this is an opportunity they take.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ricky Waddell played a key role in several Scotland stars’ development and he thinks we’re in for something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[33159,44177,748,1614,4884,81469,11653,712,13315,29532,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-858769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-andy-robertson","9":"tag-billy-gilmour","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-champions-league","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-lowland-league","14":"tag-premium","15":"tag-scotland","16":"tag-scotland-football-team","17":"tag-tartan-army","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116313977703421337","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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