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Interview: after a career strewn with injuries and disappoin
The Celtic player has been through so much, and suffered so many false starts, to ever risk taking a long-term view on anything.
There has been a growing feeling in recent weeks that Maloney has been approaching what could be described as his best form. Neil Lennon, his manager, has been purring about the player’s role in Celtic’s perfect start to the domestic season, and there have been plaudits aplenty from team-mates and opponents alike.
Reluctantly, as befits a man not prone to outbursts of self-promotion, Maloney, 27, agrees that he has been playing well, but has learned from bitter experience not to assume things will continue in a similar vein from here on in.
“I was pretty pleased with how I was playing this time last year but unfortunately that got curtailed pretty early on,” he said wistfully, having had his season finished by an Achilles injury sustained at the end of October . “I learned a while ago to take nothing for granted. You don’t know when you could get injured again.”
It seems inconceivable that Maloney will not be involved when Craig Levein names his Scotland squad on Thursday for the forthcoming double-header against Czech Republic and Spain. The player, who has been utilised both as a wide player and in the No.10 role for Celtic this season, hopes to be included, but, as with most things is not counting any unhatched chickens.
“I’m hopeful and fingers crossed I get in,” he added. “But if it doesn’t happen then I will just have to respect the decision of the manager and try harder for the next squad. Craig came up to see me in the summer to see how my injury was progressing and we had a short chat. I’ve missed international football. You’re proud, and your family are proud, when you play for your country.”
Levein is not likely to load the side with attacking players for the matches in Prague and at home to the reigning European and world champions, but there is little doubt Maloney is the sort of player who can create something out of nothing, and Levein has few of those to call on, especially with James McFadden unavailable due to injury.
Club managers tend to fret whenever their players head off on international duty – like an anxious mother waving her sons off to scout camp – but Lennon was more than happy to recommend Maloney for a Scotland call-up.
“Shaun has been brilliant, absolutely brilliant,” he enthused. “I think he’s taken more responsibility on board because he’s one of the older ones. His level of performance has been very high and we’re delighted with him. I don’t think there’s any doubt he’s due a Scotland recall. His performances merit that. To be fair to Craig, it was probably too early with the last international matches, but he’s well worthy of a call-up this time round. He’s going to be a big player for us this season.”
Maloney could never be labelled a slacker. For a while, Lennon the forward was actually trying too hard to regain fitness, inadvertently setting himself back in the process.
“You can’t help but admire him, he’s always trying to better himself,” Lennon added. “It got to the stage where we felt he was over-training. He’s so desperate to get fit and do well. We had to tone it down because he was doing too much and it was becoming detrimental to him. He seems a lot happier and we’re getting the benefits of that now. It’s just his nature, he wants to be the best he can be.”
Maloney, politely, refutes any suggestions that he expects too much from himself. “I wouldn’t say I get overly down if I put in a bad performance, I won’t stew over it for days.” And does he work too hard? “Well there are certain things I have to do to keep fit. But there’s been a change in staff members in the medical and sports science department and the training I’m doing has completely changed. I listen to their advice and I’ve got a lot of trust in them.”
As he is as mild-mannered a man as you are likely to come across, it was something of a surprise to see Maloney losing his cool when he trod on the ball at Rugby Park last weekend and had Kilmarnock players roaring in his face, accusing him of diving. That came on top of Craig Brown saying the player had “gone down easily” for a penalty in a match against Motherwell earlier in the season, and left Maloney having to defend his reputation.
“I got a bit angry in the Kilmarnock game with that particular incident but generally I don’t get too angry on the park,” he said. “In the heat of the game when you get a confrontation like that I’m usually quite passive but maybe with the Motherwell incident also still pretty fresh in the memory I perhaps let my emotions ran away slightly. I don’t think that will be happening again.
“I think it’s unfair for people to suspect me [of diving] but of course I’m going to say that. I wouldn’t want to be labelled with that. You try to play the game the right way and I have respect for my fellow pros and the players I play against.”
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