On the day he left Celtic after "18 years of ups and downs", Stephen Welsh posted a classy video on social media thanking the club for everything they'd done for him. The footage featured a clip of him as a child in a Celtic jersey, playing indoor football with his mates with the number 18 and the name 'Lennon' on the back. He smiles at the camera, held by his mum, and says he scored a goal.
Welsh looks like the most contented kid on the planet. He's all grown up now at 26, hard-bitten by the reality of professional sport, but meet him at Lesser Hampden on Monday afternoon and that same smile is there. Maybe not the same boyish innocence but certainly the same love for what he's doing in the game.
From bit-part player at Celtic to a turning point season at Motherwell under his greatest influence Jens Berthel Askou to top of the Championship with Swansea, to three caps for his country. Composed in his defending, accurate in his distribution, convincing in his partnership with fellow newcomer Luis Binks. Much has changed in his life.
Playing for Scotland is one thing but winning is quite another. How did it feel on Saturday night in Skopje when the last whistle sounded and his first win was put on the board? "A bit of relief," he says.
"We felt there could have been a lot more goals. Five or six and you probably couldn't have argued. To get your first win under your belt is a good feeling.
Hopefully it pushes us on now." The final act of this international window comes on Tuesday when Slovenia arrive at Hampden ( ), a chance to make up for last week's nightmarish experience against the Swiss, a game reduced to a non-event after Jack Hendry's early red card. Scotland battled away, but lost 3-0. "We had to suffer for a good 80-90 minutes," he explains.
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