'Very impressive' - Aston Villa specialist having major impact in new role
Aston Villa set-piece coach Austin MacPhee is currently working with Scotland during the international break
Scotland assistant manager John Carver has been blown away by Aston Villa coach Austin MacPhee, who is currently working with the Tartan Army ahead of a crunch World Cup qualifier against Israel.
The former Hearts and Northern Ireland coach was added to Steve Clarke’s backroom staff in August and Carver admits his recruitment was driven by stats showing the importance of converting set-pieces into chances and goals.
With Scotland in desperate need of a win over Israel on Saturday, Clarke, Carver, MacPhee and the rest of the Scotland coaching staff are leaving no stone unturned as they look to end the 24-year wait to appear at a World Cup.
“We are looking at everything,” Carver said.
“We haven’t been great at set-plays, but Austin has come in as a specialist on set plays. We are hoping he might give us the edge.
“He has gone to Aston Villa, got off to a really good start and I think they have scored a couple of goals from set-plays. So we are hoping he is going to add something different. That’s why Steve brought him in.
“So that might give us an edge on Saturday.
“I’m not big on stats but I’m almost certain when you’re looking at World Cup Finals and European Championships, the games that are so tight are usually decided by a set-play. I think the stats are quite high. So that’s why Steve looked at the situation and realised that we need a specialist to come in.
“Austin did a little bit with the players today which was very, very impressive, I have to say.
“We’re hoping that’s going to give us the edge. It might be in the Israel game, it might be in the Faroe Islands game — or in the two after that — we don’t know.
“We’re always looking to freshen things up, always looking for an edge. We’re always looking to see how we can dominate and beat the opposition.”
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