LAST night I enjoyed a quiet drink with the inner circle of one of Scotland's more-successful sports teams, not a football one I should add. The Head Coach, Assistant Head Coach, Fitness Coach, Technical Director and Chairman.
The evening waswhat might be termed "intelligence gathering"; completely off the record, nothing discussed to be written about directly, a full and frank discussion of the state of the game and how they would attack the new season.
In the course of our wide-ranging talk, the Chairman, the very-succesful Managing Partner of a large accountancy firm dropped a wee hand grenade into the discussion, when he said: "Rangers will fail again - their new management model is, like the old one unsustainable".
This guy, who had paid his dues at the coal face of reading through the books of companies large and small and who has lots of contacts in the business and sports worlds is adamant: Rangers cannot go on losing £1 million per month and hope to survive for long.
That's the conclusion I also came to, some time ago. When your club's policy of signing players rather than developing and promoting from within lands you in Queer Street, surely the last thing you do when you get the chance of a fresh start is - repeat as before; but, that's exactly what Rangers have done.
Old Rangers were deemed: too big to be allowed to fail, hence the stitch-up which let Sevco straight into SFL3. Because the melt-down, when it comes, will not allow Hearts that same luxury. Then, when New Rangers fail, as fail they will, this time there can be no way back.
Then, a slimmed-down, part-time, Irish/Welsh/Scandinavian-style new-look Scottish League just might emerge. Only problem then will be: what do we do about Celtic?
Without their conjoined sectarian alter egos across the city, might they not wither and die? Scottish football might be shite on the field, but, it will continue to mesmerise off the field for some time to come.
WELL done St Johnstone, another superb result in Europe. Of course, it is only half-time in their Europa League qualifier, but, with an away goal in the bag and a home second leg to come, they are surely in the best place of our three surviving European representatives.
Dropping two goals behind, at home, I fear Motherwell are already doomed, unless Wee Faddie can turn back the years in the second leg. Celtic should be able to defend their narrow advantage in Sweden, but, that's not a given.
Aye, squeaky bum time; as somebody once said.
WHEN I was a boy, we used to look forward to the start of the new season. That's when there was a proper start - you knew that, on a given Saturday, at 3pm, every club would kick-off at the start of the League Cup campaign.
It was in sections then, the league didn't start for another month, but, the League Cup was important too. Nowadays - it's almost a case of: Start when you feel like it lads. We've already had some Ramsden's Cup games; this weekend we get the first League Cup ties (I think - one diddy cup is the same as another to me) and, even when the top layer of dross in the dwindling coal seam which is Scottish football gets underway, it will be a case of: "Start if you feel like it lads - but, if you'd rather play a meaningless friendly, that's ok by us".
The High Heid Yins seem to have forgotten - with so-many demands on the amount of their dwindling cash reserves, after paying the mortgage, buying food and the other necessities of life, the potential fan of Scottish football has to be coaxed into turning up of a Friday night, Saturday lunch time, Saturday at 3pm, Sunday lunch time, Sunday afternoon or Monday night, provided he knows when his club is playing, to watch what is, a pretty poor product.
A wee bit of marketing might not go amiss - starting with a proper, co-ordinated launch of the new season.
The likes of Sir Bob Kelly and his fellow legislators of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were often criticised for their old-fashioned approach to televised football as they fought to preserve the integrity of live action.
Kelly realised tv could be a useful servant to the game, but would by a bad master to it. Now, football is tv's servant, and a hard-done-to one at that. The SFA etc no longer own the game, tv does, and that aint good for the game at all.
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