You Can Surface Gordon - They Don't Want To Sack You this Week

WEE Gordon Strachan can relax and enjoy himself this week. The heat is off, the Stenographers have retreated to their preferred habitat – all things Old Firm.

The august members of the SFWA and the Lap Top Loyal can stop agitating for the replacement of the Wee Man as Scotland boss, and get back to what they do best – producing “click-bait” for their newspaper websites, via Old Firm stories.

During the close season, I happened to log into the Herald website, which always lists the 20 most-viewed articles, more than half of the stories on the list concerned either Celtic or Rangers, this is how-important the two clubs and their rivalry is to the Glasgow media village.

So, it was providential this week that, just as the Strachan situation was running out of puff, Celtic should hold their AGM, what fresh game for the Stenographers, what rich pickings to be had – Resolution 12 - “State Aid” - not forgetting “Will Celtic sign Stevie Gerrard?”. I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from Level Five at Ibrox from this distance of over 40-miles away. Celtic is ruling the back pages – do something, do anything.

What exclusive will all the Stenographers be fed, in an effort to get Rangers back above the fold on the back page, or even, wet panties in joy at the thought, the Splash? I feel the pain as this problem is tackled at the highest Level.

As if damage limitation following the off-loading of Pal Joey wasn't enough to keep them going.

WEARING my ABE tee-shirt the other night, I settled down to watch the England v Spain friendly from Wembley. Initially, an under-strength Spain seemed content to go through the motions, and, in the process, they actually made England look quite good.

Then, with 20-minutes to go, and with England bringing on their subs, it suddenly seemed to get through to the Spanish players: “Hey guys, we could lose this one”. Immediately, they found that hitherto missing fifth gear and, while it took them a wee while, they came good at the end to secure the draw and, in the process, demonstrate that, really England is not a very good team.

OK, as a Tartan Army foot soldier, I relish English discomfort on the international stage. I love it when their inadequacies are shown-up. But, on the other hand, when you consider how easy it was for Spain to up their game and pull back the two-goal lead they had handed England, it doesn't half show how bad we are.

I NOTE that Welsh guest side, the New Saints have reached the semi-finals of the Irn Bru Cup (if that's what the Challenge Cup is called this season), where they will face the old Saints – St Mirren.

I realise this tournament is exclusively for the “diddy” teams in Scottish senior football, but, I am moving towards the view of becoming a supporter of the Welsh side, on the premis that a win for them will be another nail in the coffin of “aye beenism”, one of the incurable diseases which are causing the terminal decline of Scottish football.

Should the Welsh side lift the trophy, it just might be one more shred of evidence that Scottish fitba is shite, and, until that realisation hits Hampden, we will never see the much-needed, long-overdue changes put in place.