Lou Macari: Former Stoke striker Iwelumo deserves better
I understand the big striker was a popular player among the City faithful for his three or four seasons at the Britannia.
He won't get over a horror moment like that overnight, but I must admit I was impressed with his demeanour and apparent determination when he spoke on Sky after the game.
He certainly seemed up for the challenge of trying to redeem himself.
I think the track his career has followed also stands him in good stead when you think how he battled back from the disappointment of being released by Stoke four years ago.
He spent a period on loan at Brighton, took off for Germany for a season and then mucked in at Colchester for a couple of profitable seasons.
He should draw some inspiration as well from Wayne Rooney's performance for England against Kazakhstan.
In the first half I thought he looked like a little boy lost – and I wouldn't have been that surprised if he'd been taken off at half-time he was so poor.
But two things happened for him second half. One was the decision to play him in his proper position – up front in a proper striker's role – and the other was the stroke of luck he had when everyone was patting him on the back for what turned out to be an own goal.
That gave him the lift he needed and the rest, as they say, was history as he went on to pick up the man-of-the-match award.
England will definitely need more of the same for a much tougher assignment in Belarus tomorrow night.
Sadly for big Iwelumo, his luck in front of goal was the complete opposite and goes to show the thin dividing line between hero and villain.
But that luck can change and, with the determination he seems to have, I'm sure he can set the record straight with the Scottish public if and when he gets another chance.
In the meantime, however, there will be little sympathy from the Scottish supporters and press for his trials and tribulations on Saturday.
Although Chris is Scottish born, the fact he plays in England doesn't go down well north of the border, as I know from my own experience.
However well he plays for Wolves between now and his next chance will count for something in the eyes of Scotland manager George Burley, but count for nothing with the public and media up there.
All he can hope for is that next chance to put it right and hope – nay pray – that his miss doesn't have any material bearing on Scotland's qualification hopes in the final analysis.
That would be harsh on the big fella and he certainly seems to deserve better than the personal agony he must be feeling at the moment.
The frosty treatment Iwelumo might get back home in Scotland will be in stark contrast to the way Kris Boyd will be getting off Scot-free (if you'll excuse the pun) after turning his back on the national team.
People will accept his reasons for refusing to play again under Burley, but not me.
Burley had told him he needs to play more for Rangers first, which seems fair to me, but Boyd has turned round and said he won't play for him.
So is Boyd going to adopt the same attitude with Walter Smith for declining to play him much for Rangers?
Of course not ... not when he's sitting on a nice contract at Ibrox and would have nowhere else to go except back to Kilmarnock perhaps.
At least he leaves behind one striker in the Scotland camp who still appreciates the opportunity and privilege of playing for his country.
I was as shocked as anyone else when I first heard sections of the Wembley crowd jeering Ashley Cole's every touch after he gifted Kazakhstan their goal on Saturday.
But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that reaction was almost inevitable.
Given the way he left Arsenal for Chelsea, not to mention Chelsea's unpopularity with just about every other football fan, you've got a sizeable proportion of the crowd thinking little of him ... and many of whom will have had a few drinks by that time of the evening
Throw in his much publicised behaviour in his private life, plus that infamous quote in his autobiography about nearly crashing his car when hearing he was going to be offered only £55k-a-week, and you almost wonder why there wasn't more getting on his back.
But the clincher for me was the fact that many in the crowd will have wagered a fiver or a tenner of their hard-earned cash on England winning 3-0, 4-0 or 5-0.
So if he wasn't already public enemy number one in their eyes, he surely was after gifting Kazakhstan the goal that left their betting slips being torn to shreds.
I'm just surprised we didn't hear some equally vociferous cheering for Cole – from the bookies.
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