'You are the real Braveheart now!' – Klopp's brilliant response to new Scotland captain Robertson

The 24-year-old says the way his German manager reacted to the news was typical of his whole approach

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp offered a brilliant reaction when Andy Robertson told him that he had been named as Scotland captain.

The German dubbed his 24-year-old left-back “the real Braveheart”, referring to Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning 1995 movie, in which he portrayed William Wallace, a Scots hero from the Wars of Independence, who won a famous 1298 victory over the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

Robertson, who has won 26 caps for his country, is now Scotland’s most high-profile player and has earned the captaincy under Alex McLeish.

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He has detailed, however, the events that unfolded with his club manager after he told him of his rise to international prominence.

“I texted him saying, ‘Just so you know, I’m getting the captaincy,” Robertson explained to Open Goal. “It was just out of respect because I didn’t want him finding out from someone else.

“I said: ‘Gaffer, thanks very much for everything you’ve done, I’m going to be Scotland captain, I hope it can be a success’ – all that sort of stuff.

“And then he just texted back in big capital letters: ‘You are the real Scottish Braveheart now!’ I gave him a thumb emoji and he gave me the wee dance emoji. Brilliant. That sums him up.” 

Robertson is expected to lead Scotland out in UEFA Nations League C Group 1 action on Saturday, when they will face Albania away from home. Regardless of the outcome of that match, they will have to beat Israel at home on Tuesday if they are to progress to the playoff stage of the competition but have a squad decimated by injury problems.

McLeish has seen nine players withdrawn from his panel in the days before the encounter and is already missing others, such as Hearts centre-back John Souttar and Celtic forward Leigh Griffiths.

Glasgow-born Robertson started his senior career with amateur side Queen’s Park but rapidly graduated to Dundee United and then Hull City, where his performances in the Premier League caught the eye of the Reds.

Over the course of his time at Anfield, he has established himself as first-choice in his position and played in the 2017-18 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.