Keeper Guzan will show Strachan what he missed

Brad Guzan was deemed surplus to requirements by one Scottish manager only to be saved by another.

Now the American internationalist is aiming to show Alex McLeish was wrong to dump him, and Paul Lambert right to stand by him, when he faces Scotland at Hampden Park on Friday night.

Guzan was heading for the Aston Villa exit after failing to convince Big Eck he was worthy of a starting slot.

Lambert then replaced his countryman in the hot-seat and immediately re-signed the shot-stopper, who has since gone on to carve out a reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in England.

“The writing was on the wall that I was going to need to look elsewhere to have an opportunity to play first-team football,” says Guzan.

“Alex McLeish brought in Shay Given and spent a lot of money to sign him from Manchester City. My contract was also expiring so it looked as though I was leaving Villa Park.

“Technically, I did. My contract expired but Alex then left and Paul Lambert took over and everything changed.

“He phoned me, but I wanted to meet him face-to-face before committing myself. So I flew back over to Birmingham from the United States, met with the gaffer and he was great.

“I left that meeting feeling as though he believed in me, so I re-signed and I’ve loved working under him for the last 18 months.”

Ironically, Guzan could have found himself playing under yet another Scottish manager when he came close to signing for Celtic.

The shot-stopper was in high demand back in 2008 after earning rave reviews for MLS side Chivas, and was invited for a four-day trial at Celtic Park.

“I actually spent four days on trial at Celtic when Gordon Strachan was the manager,” revealed Guzan.

“Not a lot of people know that. Artur Boruc was Celtic’s first-choice keeper at the time.

“It was during the MLS close season in the States, and I was at an international team camp. But I was given permission to fly over to Glasgow to train with Celtic.

“We were getting ready to agree everything and I was close to becoming a Celtic player.

“But then at the 25th hour I received a call from Martin O’Neill, who wanted to take me to Villa.

“Playing in England was obviously a massive attraction for me so that’s what I decided to do.

“It’s funny how things work out because if that call hadn’t come in, I could have found myself playing for Celtic.”

Last season was Guzan’s first full season as first-choice at Villa, and he produced some outstanding displays to help keep the club in the Premier League.

And the American believes the club will continue to make progress under Paul Lambert.

“The gaffer has been great,” he continues. “I’ve totally bought into what he is doing for the football club and so have the other players and the supporters.

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress within a short period of time, and we’ve got such a young squad of players here that we are all confident we are going to keep getting better.

“The gaffer showed a lot of faith in me to bring me back to the club and make me his No.1. When someone puts that level of trust in you, then you want to do your best to repay them.”

Guzan knows Lambert never takes kindly to his players defeating Scotland at international level, but that’s exactly what the keeper will be trying to do on Friday night.

His country have already qualified for the World Cup Finals, but the recent and dramatic improvements within the Scotland set-up haven’t gone unnoticed by Guzan.

“It’s going to be a good challenge for us,” says the Villa keeper. “Scotland are a determined side right now, and are trying to put things right.

“Everyone recognises their players are working hard to turn things around, and it’s a game all our players are looking forward to.

“For us, it’s always nice to play against a European nation in Europe. But we know playing at Hampden Park is going to be a special occasion and you’ll be watching two teams with plenty to prove.

“We are preparing for the World Cup Finals in Brazil next summer and, although Scotland didn’t qualify, they are already working hard to prepare for the European Championship qualifying campaign.

“Their recent results have been very encouraging and we’re expecting a very difficult game.

“When we last played Scotland in Florida 18 months ago, it was a bit of a false game.

“We were preparing for World Cup qualifiers. They were not, and I think that was reflected in the game and the scoreline, a 5-1 win for us. Friday will be a completely different game.”

Guzan will also find himself lining up against Villa team-mate Alan Hutton, and he has praise for the full-back for his performances at international level.

“It speaks volumes for Alan that he has managed to start every game for his country and play as well as he has,” says Guzan.

“You can see he takes huge pride in playing for his country, and to play as well as he has when he isn’t playing first-team football at club level isn’t an easy thing to do.”