He should be well used to it by now.
For every piece of good news the manager of Scotland receives, there’s almost always a bit of the bad stuff in the post to balance things out. Sometimes more.
So when word came through from Celtic Park the other night that Craig Gordon will not be spending the twilight years of his career rusting away on a gold-plated bench on the Kings Road, it had to come with the compulsory sting in the tale.
Yes, Gordon may not be putting his gloves into semi-retirement on a Chelsea pension plan. But while Strachan’s No.1 remains very much in business, his No.9 has been taken out of Celtic’s firing line at the most inconvenient of moments.
Both of these players were thrown in at opposite ends of Strachan’s last 11, when he rang the changes for what appeared at the time to be a win-or-bust showdown at Wembley.
And now the entire World Cup campaign has rolled over into 90 minutes against Slovenia, it stands to reason that Strachan will want to turn to them again in his next hour and a half of need. Or at least he would have done had Leigh Griffiths not suddenly gone rogue.
![Scotland boss Gordon Strachan with Leigh Griffiths](http://web.archive.org./web/20170204074329/http://i3.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article9011033.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/JS101840441.jpg)
The goal spree that forced Strachan into a change of policy in November has long since dried up, with Griffiths yet to get off the mark in 2017.
Of greater concern, the striker was publicly rebuked by his manager in a manner which suggests unless he gets the finger out he could soon become surplus to Celtic’s requirements.
The best-laid plans and all that.
Strachan said: “I’ve no idea what’s happened to Griff. You never pry into what’s going on at a club. You never say, ‘What’s happened to my player’.
“It’s nothing to do with me. With us he’s never a problem. He has the odd migraine now and then, that’s all.
“When he trains he trains hard. He’s decent to work with, he always has a nice sense of humour about him.
“He’s never caused me any bother. But I don’t have to work with him every day.”
Which is why Strachan is minded to side with manager over player. It’s not so long ago, after all, that he was sitting in the very same hotseat and laying down demands of his own.
He added: “When you’re an international manager you can only ask the players to do what you want them to. But if you’re paying people at your club a lot of money you can make demands.
“You can demand they train harder, or do this and that. You can demand whatever you want. As an international manager you can only ask them to.
“It’s nice that managers put demands on players. Sir Alex demanded all the time. If a manager doesn’t make demands the players start coming off it and it’s very hard to get it back.
![Video thumbnail, Video: Celtic's Leigh Griffiths ties scarf to Ibrox goalpost](http://web.archive.org./web/20170204074329/http://brightcove04.o.brightcove.com/4221396001/4221396001_5266925216001_5266895049001-vs.jpg?pubId=4221396001)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170204074329/http://i3.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article8653009.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/JS97375778.jpg)
“But being a footballer now is different to when I started on 60 quid a week, or whatever it was. We were all on the same wage, we could mess about. We could play golf in the afternoon. You can’t do that now.
“I made up all sorts of rules at Celtic but I didn’t publicise it. Like no golf for example – and that one went down badly!
“But think about it, if you come down to Silverknowes and walk about there for five hours, you’ll be knackered after it. What’s it like after five hours of golf?
“Keep all your energy. As a football player, especially at a top club like Celtic, you’re paid that kind of money, you dedicate your whole life to the game.
“Forget the nights out – you can drink as much as you want later on. You dedicate the whole thing to football, and there’s no excuse.
“It’s different if you’re getting paid £200 a week playing non-league, go and enjoy yourself. But otherwise you’re totally committed to it.
“It’s the same when you come to our squad, you have to be committed to it, and be prepared to train morning and afternoon. If you don’t like it, don’t come along. Go play your golf somewhere.
![Gordon Strachan with Aiden McGeady during his time as the manager of Celtic](http://web.archive.org./web/20170204074329/http://i4.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article6925970.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/GP7252742.jpg)
“It’s the same with alcohol. We don’t allow any alcohol in the Scotland team, including for the staff. You don’t need it.
“Also, it causes problems. Any problems you see with Scotland in the last 50 years, alcohol has been involved somewhere along the line. I’m big on that – and training, and sleeping. I used to go to bed between two and four every afternoon. Where did I get that from? Kenny Dalglish. He did the same thing.
“Fergie even hated you going shopping with your missus. ‘Where are you going? What are you doing? Shopping? She can go shopping herself!’
“Because you have to be resting. If you walk around shops for two hours, that energy can be used in your training. So I’m huge on that. I back any manager on that.”
In other words, there’s little chance of Griffiths finding a sympathetic ear in the national boss, assuming the striker does do enough to make the cut for Strachan’s next squad and that crucial Hampden showdown against Slovenia.
Gordon’s position, on the hand, already appears to be nailed down, especially given the
keeper’s decision – if that’s what it was – to continue his career at Parkhead.
Strachan was monitoring this one closely for most of Monday and Tuesday as Gordon’s
immediate and long-term future was hanging in the balance.
He said: “Everyone dealt with it really well. From Celtic’s point of view they didn’t make a big song and dance about it and the player himself was fantastic.
“He’s not done the, ‘I’m not playing for you any more’ sort of thing. He dealt with it right.
![Strachan was full of praise for Celtic's Craig Gordon following speculation linking him with a move to Chelsea](http://web.archive.org./web/20170204074329/http://i4.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article9720451.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/JS110407309.jpg)
“The reason he dealt with it right is because he’s had a few knockbacks in his career and he knows people have helped him to get back to where he is.
“But he was the main protagonist in getting back to where he is now. He’s a strong-minded character.
“But we also have to remember that when you get to 33, 34 you have to think about what’s best for your family because by then there’s kids involved.
“So I can understand why his head might have been turned – or anybody’s head might have been turned – at the age of 34.
“You’re talking to somebody who went to Leeds because they gave him the most money. I remember telling Big Ron Atkinson I was leaving. He said to me, ‘How much have you been offered?’
“When I told him he said, ‘Oh for f***’s sake, do they want a manager there as well?’
“So I understand that. I don’t know what financial position Craig is in but it can turn your head.
“But Craig has just got on with things and not done the, ‘I’m not playing for you again thing’. That says a lot about him as a person.”