WE ARE TRIBAL in Scotland, and nowhere do the tribes despise each other with the ferocity you encounter in my own part of God's Country – Ayrshire. Robert Burns is one of the very few Ayrshiremen who is as loved in Kilmarnock as in his native Ayr. At the weekend we lost another whose passing was mourned at both Somerset Park and Rugby Park, with the death, aged 70, of Jim Fleeting.
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Fleets was a distinguished captain of a good Ayr United team, before going on to – in tandem with elder brother Bobby – going up the road to revitalise a Kilmarnock team which had slumped into the third tier in Scottish football.
But, his biggest role in Scottish Football was still to come, when he joined the Scottish Football Association as Director of Football Development, then Director of Coaching, in which role he, amongst other duties, oversaw the coaching courses at Largs. He spent over 20 years at Hampden.
He earned his spurs in the Juniors with Kilbirnie Ladeside, before signing for Norwich City. He had a spell in the USA with Tampa Bay Rowdies, before returning to Scotland and Ayr United, then Morton, Clyde and Partick Thistle.
Management beckoned, with Stirling Albion, before he and Bobby, who had built up a successful development business won a bitter take-over battle to take control at Kilmarnock in 1989.
Bobby was the public face of the deal, generating interest, while Jim led the playing staff, with Jim McSherry and Frank Coulston. They got Killie out of the doldrums, while attracting some big names, most-notably Tommy Burns to the club. Burns would succeed Fleets as Manager and get Killie back to the top flight in Scotland, but, it was Fleeting who laid the foundations for the resurgence at Rugby Park.
Swearing is the Lingua Franca of Football. The first words foreign imports to Scottish Football learn begin with the letters B, C and F, particularly F; Jim Fleeting didn't swear – he was a complete gentleman.
As a football writer covering Kilmarnock at the time, he was a joy to deal with, always open. approachable and helpful. Mind you, he did give me and a handful of the regulars in the Rugby Park press box the most-embarrassing few minutes of our career one night.
Killie surprisingly lost a home Scottish Cup replay to Queen of the South and Fleets was raging. At the end of the game, we went downstairs, to be directed not into the usual press room, but the home dressing room. There we were a dozen or so journalists, lined-up across the room form the downcast Kilmarnock team, with Fleets standing in the middle of the room.
He made it clear, he was not going to try to excuse or mitigate the defeat, he then invited us to ask his team – who were half-undressed and clearly as embarrassed as us – to explain what had happened. Jim Fleeting cared, he really cared.
Jim Fleeting was, in truth, no more than a journeyman player; a no frills central defender. He was a better Manager than player and a better Administrator and Leader than Manager. But, his lasting gift to Scottish Football was, he was the father of Julie Fleeting, behind only Rose Reilly in the partheon of great Scottish women footballers. However, it is to his immense credit that he will be known as Jim Fleeting, Football Man, rather than as Jim Fleeting – Julie's dad.
It was a pleasure knowing him – he will be sorely missed. My sincere condolences to his family at this sad time, whose grief will hopefully be lessened by the genuine outpouring of affection for Jim from across the Scottish Football landscape. He was one of the Best Guys.
EVERYBODY WITH even a passing interest in Scottish Fitba knows, referee John Beaton is a Rangers supporter. However, I fear, in recent weeks, perhaps in a misguided attempt to demonstrate he does not take his Rangers bias onto the field, he has been involved in one or two incidents where Celtic have benefitted from his mistakes.
This is nothing new in refereeing circles. Over the years I have seen umpteen examples of match officials, perhaps covering a game involving a club they once player for, or allegedly support, falling over themselves to show: I am not biased and making mistakes.
Few, however, have been as blatant as that penalty Beaton awarded Celtic against Motherwell on Saturday. It was never a penalty, both players were pushing, shoving and pulling the other's jersey. My take, watching on TV, was that the Celtic player started the shoving; then, to red card the Motherwell player, that was ridiculous.
Time I think for Mr Beaton to hang-up his whistle and for the SFA to have an in-depth look at how they work VAR.
Technology is only as good as the human element working it and, with VAR, it is quite clear, Scottish referees are not up to the job of working something that complicated.
