Scotland's Super Mario and social butterfly who emerged from Man Utd cocoon

Scotland's Super Mario and social butterfly who emerged from Man Utd cocoon Image source, SNSByTom EnglishBBC Scotland's chief sports writer in CharlotteScott McTominay is talking about mentality, about dig and dog and how some players have it and how some players just don't. That refusal to stop and give up? He says he's had it since he was a kid and knows that every last man in the Scotland changing room has it, too. "Not willing to stop when it gets tough, it's one of the most important things in football," he tells BBC Sport, before talking about a guy who, to him, embodied that uncompromising nature every day - Michael Jordan, the NBA colossus of yesteryear. "He once said that whenever somebody arrives to the stadium they could be watching for the first time," McTominay explained. "So if you're not giving your absolute best a young fan could be walking away going 'he wasn't that great'." The Scotland midfielder says he's been doing a bit of that in training, a mentor but also a taskmaster for the youngsters in the squad, such as teenagers Tyler Fletcher and Findlay Curtis. "I'm demanding and quite hard on some of them," he says. "The right way to live your life off the pitch is probably more important than what you do on the pitch because you can kill your whole career by things that you do off the pitch. "They need a little bit of tough love sometimes, young players. I had that. There was a lot of senior pros saying, 'Listen, you've got to up your game or you've got no chance. I don't want to name names. It was a lot. Behind closed doors. "And the things that get said are ruthless - sink or swim." Figure caption, McTominay on winning mentality The day McTominay scored an even better overhead kick Published30 AprilHow has world changed since Scotland were last at men's finals? Published3 hours agoSet up BBC Sport website and app to show you more Scotland this World Cup Published1 day ago'Jose dressed me down... I thought it was over'McTominay grew up in a tough school, entering the Manchester United development set-up aged five. He left home in Lancaster at an early age to become part of a residency programme at the club, an emotional upheaval that presented challenges to a boy who spent much of his early years flying well under the radar. He was no childhood prodigy, no sure thing. In his first season of under-18 football he barely saw two hours of competitive action. He was only 5ft 6in at 16 - a "silky number 10" as he put it. In his debut season with the under-21s he started two of 22 matches. His growth spurt was something to see, from a diminutive attacker to a beast at 6ft 4in. His bolshiness seemed to grow in proportion with his height. That tough love he talks about now began around then. He tells a story of a day spent training with the senior team and how he vented when all the tight decisions in a bounce game were given in favour of the "old lads" and against the "young lads". Figure caption, Did McTominay find his mum in the crowd? Jose Mourinho was his manager who later became his champion. "Jose phoned me because I was arguing with Michael Carrick and Ashley Young," McTominay recalled. "There were a couple of swear words in there. He dressed me down. It was like 'who do you think you are, you've done nothing'. I thought it was over [at United] before it started, how forceful he was." It wasn't over, it was just beginning. McTominay made his senior debut in May, 2017. "This kid has everything I want," said the manager. The following season, Mourinho invented a new award at the end of campaign ceremony, making McTominay the manager's player of the season. "He started the season in the academy and ended it playing big games in the Premier League," said the Portuguese. "I thought this kid cannot go home without an award." McTominay was a Scotland player by then, capped in March 2018 against Costa Rica. There was a brief crossover between Steven Naismith exiting the international stage and McTominay bursting on to it, but Steve Clarke's now assistant, remembers how the young man was back then. "He kept himself to himself," he said. "At the start I thought, is that because he was born in England and it's his grandparents who are Scottish? He's maybe just a wee bit unsure of the Scottishness, the bluntness of Scottish people? But over the years, he just matured." McTominay was born into a difficult era at United. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer succeeded Mourinho and loved the youngster. He gave him 22 games, then 37, then 49. He called him a "physical monster". His engine was unreal even when the team was not. Ralf Rangnick succeeded Solskjaer and talked of McTominay as a future captain. The problem was that Old Trafford was in turmoil. When the United fans rounded on players then their local boy, the lifelong fan, was one of the first to get it. Playing in a deeper role instead of the box crasher he has become, he came in for special treatment. Tough love? At times, it was

Scotland's Super Mario and social butterfly who emerged from Man Utd cocoon

Key takeaways

More in sports