Another Blast At The Blazers

I HAVE LONG held in contempt the decision makers to be found along the sixth-floor 'Corridor of Power' inside Hampden Park. They are the proud descendants of the butchers from Kilmarnock, the bakers from Kirkcaldy and the candle-stick makers from Dumfries who spent so-many years running Scottish Football into the ground.

But, fair's fair, they have, after over 150 years of international football, avoided long-held practices and kept faith with the current Scotland Head Coach. Now Stevie Clarke's job is not as much a case of holding a poisoned chalice as the same job with England. The Tartan Army of fans isn't like England's equaivalent congregation, described as “Barmy”. The average Terracing Tam knows, we've been shite at fitba for a long time, and is, unless of course he's one of the dwindling number inside Ibrox who still prefers to be Scottish rather than fake English, fully-aware that, even if we had peak of his powers Busby, Ferguson, Shankly or Stein in-charge, we would still struggle to get beyond being a “mid-table” international team.

Given the strength of opposition, finishing third in our group in the UEFA Nations League was still a good effort. We will discover on Friday where we go from here, with the draw for the Leagues A and B promotion-relegation play-off games, which will be played in late March, 2025.

I missed the win over Croatia on Friday night, but, from what I have heard, it was an old-style night of passion at Hampden, in which we maybe rode our luck a wee bit, before Super John McGinn's late winner sent the Tartan Army off home happy.

I did watch the game in Warsaw on Monday night and, if I had been a neutral, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it, two teams really having a go – a genuine old-fashioned cup tie of a match. We maybe won 2-1, but that game could well have finished 5-4 either way.

The Polish goal was “A Worldie”, while Andy Robertson's winner was probably the best goal scored by a Scottish full back, since John Greig's against Italy in 1965.

To be honest, this is not yet a great Scotland team, but, we have, when you look at those injured players unavailable at the moment, added quality we could bring in. We still need to build a central defensive pairing, we desperately need a reliable goal scorer up front and, longer term, we need to find a replacement for the seemingly ageless Craig Gordon, but, we have in the past got to World Cup finals with fewer resources. We definitely lack squad depth, but, that is improving.

LESS COMFORTING was the statistical piece which emerged at the end of last week, outlining the lack of opportunities being given to young Scottish players in our domestic game.

It was, of course, a Scot who opined: “You win nothing with kids”, but, when you see Celtic – the club which brought nine members of a European Cup-winning squad through the ranks at more or less the same time – adopting a management strategy of scouring the world for under-priced talent, to form a squad which is in Europe to make-up the numbers, in the hope of selling them on to lesser clubs playing in bigger leagues; well you have to wonder, why are they not pro-active in going back to the club's basics and promoting young Scots.

I remember speaking with the janitor at a Roman Catholic high school in a large Scottish town. In his youth, a good Junior with one of the top teams in that tier of football, he had run the school's football team for many years, sending a good number of boys into the adult game, with two of them winning Scotland Under-21 caps.

“I suppose I've done well as a talent spotter,” he admitted. “But, until I produce a boy who plays even one game in the Celtic first team, I'll consider myself a failure.” He was not alone in that view, across central Scotland, there were and probably still are, a lot of jannies and teachers at RC schools, whose aim in life is to provide even one boy for the cause.

In the other camp, another teaching contact, one of the main high heid yins in Schools Football for many years, sent a steady stream of youthful talent in the direction of Ibrox. None of them became Rangers Legends, but, quite a few got to wear the first team strip, while others didn't make the grade, but had good careers elsewhere in the Scottish game.

Scottish kids want to play football – but to keep encouraging them, we need to see Scottish players forming the bulk of the squads at Scottish clubs. We need to have a better player pathway, we need better coaching and until the high heid yins at Hampden sort these failings out, then for all the good work of the likes of Stevie Clarke, we will continue to be a pot two or pot three nation internationally.

We know the SPFL has the lowest “transition rate” of 16-year-old new recruits making it all the way through to the first team, of any league in Europe – I reckon if you look at how many of these new entrants are tossed aside after just one season, the “failures” proportion would be even higher. It's all about instant results, with decisions made too-hastily.

I think back to my old school, which used to have a good record in turning-out players of at least good Junior level. In one of my daughter's year, there were two players – the midfielder, even at 15, was clearly going to be a star. He played for Scotland Schools, went to a top English club, won age group honours and eventually 40-odd full caps.

The striker was generally on the bench at school, but the jannie, himself a former player who had graced the old pre-Premiership English First Division, saw something in the boy and encouraged him to keep going. He persuaded a top English club to take a punt on the kid, who made it through to play a couple of first-team games, before coming back up the road to play for half a dozen Scottish clubs and, along the way, win a few domestic medals and 26 full caps, with a more than decent scoring ration of 0.4 goals per game.

The schoolboy midfield prodigy was a sage punt, but, I would argue, the schoolboy striker had the greater work ethic. We Scots have always had to work harder for recognition, maybe it's time our clubs worked as hard as some of the kids, and had faith in Scottish talent. The results might surprise us all.

 

it's A Sair Fecht Wearing Number Nine Today

WHEN I WAS a boy, back in the 1950s and 1960s, football teams were laid-out in the time-honoured 2-3-5 formation: goalkeeper, right and left full-backs, right, centre and left half-backs, outside-right, inside-right, centre-forward, inside-left, outside-left. Today, in the final year of the first quarter of the 21^st century, those few newspapers who still print teams, still generally use this formation.

The reality is, even in the 1950s, British teams generally played in a loose 3-4-3 formation: goalkeeper, the two full-backs and the centre-half concentrated on defending, the two wing-halves and the two inside-forwards occupied the midfield, while the attacking threat generally came from the two wingers and the centre forward.

The great Hungarian team of the early 1950s mixed things up; centre-forward Nándor Hidegkuti may have worn the number nine shirt, but he was withdrawn to a more midfield role, alongside József Bozsik – providing chances for inside-forwards Ferenc Puskás and Sándor Kocsis to score (although this didn't prevent him from scoring a hat-trick against England in 1953).

Then, in 1958, in winning the World Cup, Brazil further modified formations, by introducing 4-4-2, which involved withdrawing one wing-half to form a double centre-half team, while the other wing-half and one of the inside-forwards took on the midfield creating roles.

The next evolution came with the introduction of the 4-3-3 formation: goalkeeper, two full-backs and two central defenders at the back, three midfielders and three forwards. Evolution continued until today we have seemingly infinite variations around a fairly common template – the flat back-four, five men in midfield and one lone striker.

Some clubs now go with three at the back, two holding midfielders, three attacking midfielders, a “False number nine” and the single front man, These changes perhaps demonstrate, in my life time we have gone from an emphasis on trying to score goals to win (five front-line players) to an emphasis on not losing (packing the back field).

It used to be said, every young boy wanted to be the centre-forward, the guy with the glamour job of scoring the goals. Today's wearers of the number nine shirt, while still expected to put the ball in the net with a degree of regularity, increasingly are being asked to run themselves into the ground against two or three defenders, with little help from his team-mates.

The record books tell us – since the first International, in 1872, 432 players have scored for Scotland in full internationals. In terms of goals scored, the top ten are:

1. Denis Law – 55 games – 30 goals – 0.55 goals per game and Kenny Dalglish – 102 games – 30 goals – 0.29 gpg

3. Hughie Gallacher – 20 games – 23 goals – 1.15 gpg

4. Lawrie Reilly – 38 games – 22 goals – 0.58 gpg

5. Ally McCoist – 61 games – 19 goals – 0.31 gpg

6. Kenny Miller – 68 games – 18 goals – 0.28 gpg

7. John McGinn – 71 games – 18 goals – 0.25 gpg

8. Robert Hamilton – 11 games – 15 goals – 1.38 gpg

9. RS McColl – 13 games – 13 goals – 1.00 gpg

10. Andy Wilson – 12 games – 13 goals – 1.08 gpg

Eight of those top ten goal scorers were out and out strikers, but, it is striking that only five of the ten met the long-established benchmark for an international-class striker – scoring at a rate of above 0.5 goals per game, or, a goal every-other game.

Using this benchmark, since the end of WWII, 19 players have beaten that mark in full internationals for Scotland. Aside from Law and Reilly, these players and their gpg averages are: Harry Morris – 3.00 gpg; Charlie Fleming – 2.00 gpg; Joe Harper – 1.40 gpg; Bobby Flavell, Alex Linwood, Hugh Howie, Alfie Conn Senr, Sir Alex Ferguson – all1.00 gpg; George Hamilton – 0.80 gpg; Alex Young – 0.63 gpg; Bobby Johnstone 0.59 gpg; Jimmy Mason 0.57 gpg; Jackie Mudie 0.53 gpg; Colin Stein 0.52 gpg; Alan Gilzean, Mark McGhee and Ted MacDougall – all 0.50 gpg.

Thirteen of these nineteen players were centre-forwards, which emphasises how putting the ball in the net is still seen as the primary task of the man in the number nine shirt, but, we should perhaps accept, the switch to a back four and twin centre halves has made his job that bit harder.

Five of the 19 are also members of Scotland's far from exclusive One-Cap Wonders Club,which says much about how inconsistent and arbitgrary were the decisions of the old SFA Selection Committee.

The last Scotland striker to hit the 0.50 gpg target was Mark McGhee, who won the last of his four Scotland caps 40 years ago. Whilst, of those with more than a single cap, statistically, Scotland's best post-war goalscorer has been Joe Harper, whose average of 1.40 gpg probably merited him winning more than his five caps.

Thus we should perhaps be rewriting the rules for gauging a striker's worth. Might it be time to recalibrate the benchmark downwards, to perhaps 0.25 or 0.3 gpg, to better reflect the realities of the modern game.

In which case, are we maybe being a bit hard on Rangers' Cyrille Dessers, who has copped some flak for not scoring more than one goal in Thursday night's draw with Olimpiacos, in Athens; or Lawrence Shankland, who failed to find the net in Hearts' home loss to German side Heidenheim the same night.

This pair went head-to-head in the SPL on Sunday, with Dessers coming out on top by scoring the only goal of the game, leaving Shankland ever-deeper in the sort of Couldnae hit a coo on the erse wi' a banjo goals drought which occasionally strikes all but the absolutely elite strikers.

It's a sair fecht wearing the number nine jersey in Scotland today; but, somehow, as a former goalkeeper, I'm rather relishing their discomfort.

 

 

The Lunatics Are Running The Asylum

I HAVE LONG FELT – the management model which the various factions who have had control of Rangers FC since the excrement hit the air agitator back in 2012 has been, regardless of who was in-charge, a classic case of Institutionalised Madness – continually doing the same thing in the vain hope of something changing.

The management model followed has been the same as David Holmes and Graeme Souness introduced what I call “The Viv Nicholson Method” of “Spend, Spend, Spend” in running the club.

The club has been in existence for 150 years, a period which can be broken-down into six different eras:

1. The Early years – 1872 to 1920

2. The Bill Struth Years – 1920 to 1954

3. The Scot Symon Years – 1954 to 1970

4. The Willie Waddell/Jock Wallace Years – 1970 to 1986

5. The Graeme Souness/David Murray Years – 1986 to 2012

6. The Modern Era – 2012 to 2024

The level of success over each of these different eras is:

1. 13 trophies in 48 years – 24.5% trophy wins

2. 30 trophies in 34 years – 50% trophy wins

3. 15 trophies in 15 years – 33.3% trophy wins

4. 16 trophies in 16 years – 33.3% trophy wins

5. 35 trophies in 26 years – 44.9% trophy wins

6. 3 trophies in 12 years – 8.3% trophy wins

Of course, when looking into the history of one or other of Scotland's two dominant football clubs, we journalists are required – for balance – to do a similar job on the other club. The figures for Celtic under their various eras and managers/owners is:

1. The Early Years - 1888 to 1896

2. The Willie Maley Years – 1897 to 1940

3. The Bob Kelly Years – 1941 to 1965

4. The Jock Stein Years – 1965 to 1978

5. The Four Families Years – 1978 to 1994

6. The Fergus McCann Years – 1994 to 1999

7. The Dermot Desmond Years – 1999 to 2024

The level of success over each of these different eras is:

1. 4 trophies in 9 years – 28.6% trophy wins

2. 30 trophies in 43 years – 37.5% trophy wins

3. 5 trophies in 15 years – 9.4% trophy wins

4. 24 trophies in 13 years – 61.5% trophy wins

5. 10 trophies in 16 years – 20.8% trophy wins

6. 3 trophies in 5 years - 20% trophy wins

7. 41 trophies in 23 years – 71.9% trophy wins

The record is a wee bit like looking at a pendulum, one of the clubs is on top for a spell, then it swings back and the other lot have their spell as top dogs. Unfortunately for Rangers, at the moment, Celtic are in the driving seat and, given the current situation, it appears likely that this situaton will continue for some time.

Up until what the press dubbed: “The Souness Revolution” in 1986, the clubs worked in roughly the same way – taking mainly young Scots from Junior Football and bringing them through in-house. Celtic, in the Bob Kelly Years, took in-house training to a new level and, to be fair to them, they, even today, are more likely to give young Scots a chance.

They found and polished some very-good young Scottish players, Bobby Collins and Paddy Crerand being perhaps the best of the Kelly Kids to become Scotland caps and then be sold on to English clubs, however, they held on to enough of their young talent to produce Scotland's greatest club team – The Lisbon Lions, nine of whom came through the ranks.

When it comes to buying-in non-Scots, certainly over the last decade, Celtic also have done it better than Rangers. I still believe, if Rangers had used their years of getting from League Two back to the Preemiership to nurture and train-on young Scottish talent, they might not be as in-thrall to foreign players who are patently Not Rangers Class than they are at the moment. They might also be in a better financial position, given the millionsd they have wasted in NRC players in recent seasons.

Philippe Clement may or may not be the Manager to get the club back to where they aspire to be; the jury is out on that question. However, I would suggest he is better equipped to do his job than some of the players and some of the Directors are to do theirs; and until the club recruits a better standard of player and a better standard of director, they Rangrs will continue to be a poor second to Celtic.

One single player might not make a difference – as for instanbce the arrival of Jim Baxter did back in 1961 – but what the club does need is to have A Real Rangers Man, a player ready to die for the cause, on the park and snarling at the badge-kissing under-performers around him.

The lack of such an animal is the biggest and most-glaring failure in the current under-performing squad.

The likes of Bobby Shearer, Alex Macdonald, John Brown and Lee McCulloch were bang average players, but, they were fans on the park who drove the team on. The lack of such players now, and the lack of a strong spine to the team – a very-good goalkeeper they have, but they lack a dominant centre-half, a midfield play-maker and a truly sharp striker – means the team is vulnerable.

But, perhaps most-crucially of all, they lack someone at the top with a vision for the club and the strength of purpose and character to give it direction and good management. If they don't get that man in-place, things will get even more messy and the lawyers, accountants and insolvency specialists could be in for another bonanza.

 

2024 - Not A Good Year For The Roses Or The Establishment

2024 is not currently a good year for The Establishment across the Western world, but, mainly in the sporting sphere.

Let's look across the Atlantic, where aside from the Democratic Party's candidate being neck-and-neck in the Presedential race with a Republican candidate, backed by billionaires and, in West of Scotland terms: “A Bawbag”, we have “The Evil Empire” aka New York Yankees, 0-3 down in the best of seven games “World Series”, while “America's Team – The Dallas Cowboys are a by-word for the lunatics running the asylum.

Over here, we have the worst Rangers team in a century falling-off even the pedestrian pace of the Scottish Premiership, Auchinleck Talbot crashing out of the Scottish Junior Cup to a team from the North Region and Hawick struggling in mid-table in Scottish Rugby's Arnold Clark Premiership.

But worse, in a move so-important, it was the second item in the BBC's Lunchtime News:

Manchester United have sacked Erik ten Hag

This was hardly a surprise, for months past now, it has been a case of WHEN rather than IF United parted ways with their Dutch coach. The axe finally fell on Monday morning, less than 24 hours after they had lost in London to West Ham United.

It is difficult to argue with the good sense of sacking ten Hag. United are 13 places and 12 points behind “The Noisy Neighbours” in the English Premiership standings. United being 14^th in the table is unacceptable to the United heirarchy, their legions of supporters and their media cheer-leaders.

I watched the highlights of his final game in-charge, against “The Hammers”, and on the evidence of that game, I have a degree of sympathy for ten Hag. In his post-game interview, he bemoaned his lack of luck, which was only too evident in the match. United ought to have been out of sight by half-time, but they missed a host of good chances and were finally seen off by a VAR-awarded penalty, the sort of duff decision which will get football stopped.

Mind you, when it comes to luck in sport – I am firmly in the Gary Player camp; he it was who memorably said: “The more I practice, the luckier I get.”

It is quite clear – if ten Hag had not already “lost the dressing room”, he has lost one or two of his supposed main players.

I think Marcus Radford was only mentioned once in the highlights package, before he was withdrawn after a highly-anonymous 50-odd minutes. And the England internationalist is not the only member of the squad who has consistently under-performed during the ten Hag tenure.

IF and given how big clubs are managed these days, ten Hag had full control of recruitment, then he had to go, since he has bought badly, spending some £600 million to make the team worse. But, received wisdom is that at institutions like United, the recruitment is done by “Sporting Directors” or “Directors of Football” - maybe Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire who is running things at the club, should be considering a bigger clear-out.

The sacking and the speculation over who is next to pick-up what is becoming a seriously-poisoned chalice will, however, keep the English media rat pack excited for a few weeks; after all, daft “Who's next?” speculation is bread and butter to the football media.

This morning, a new clip came up on my Facebook page. It is of Roy Keane and Gary Neville, from 2019, when Jose Mourinho had just been replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjar. Keane, as ever, didn't miss the man and hit the wall, as he insisted: “The same players as threw Jose under the bus will do the same to sOle, leopards don't change their spots.” Neville, for once, agreed with Keane. Five years on, nothing seems to have changed, so, maybe it's not a new manager United need, as much as a big game hunter; or maybe to clear-out the dressing room, they should invite Trigger to come up from Peckham for the day, and to bring his broom.

MEANWHILE – up here Rangers continue to stumble along, so far behind the other big Glasgow side as to be practically out of sight. OK, they beat St Mirren at the weekend, but, their big test comes tomorrow night, at Pittodrie. This is a “Must Win” game for the club, and, I hear in readiness, Roger Hannah, the Honest Man who runs the Scottish Sun's sports desk has already ordered-up the cracked Rangers crest graphic for Thursday's edition.

There is currently such a stench of under-performance around Rangers, their home game with St Mirren was only third on Sunday's Scottish Premiership bill, getting minimal TV highlights coverage. When even the Rostrum Camera Loyal at Pacific Quay rank Rangers that low, well, it's obvious they've got huge problems.

The Bears continue to turn up in numbers, but, I wonder what effect defeat in Aberdeen tomorrow night might have on attendances going forward.

SUNDAY'S big game, at least as far as Sky TV was concerned, was the High Noon shoot-out Edinburgh Derby. My disdain for the possession football of the English Premiership has long been expressed on these pages – I find it ever-so boring.

So, perhaps I ought to have been happier watching this game, which was further proof that what fitba needs to be entertaining is that both sides make plenty of mistakes. But, there are error-ridden games, and there was this match, which was dire in the extreme.

If new Hearts boss Neil Critchley is the excellent coach of young players he is cracked-up to be, then perhaps, over the season we will see imporvement in the younger Hearts' players and less reliance of hired mercenaries, which should augur well for the Gorgie club. However, I fear for the future of Hibs; the joke used to be that the Unknown Six at the back – who included some fine footballers – were not as good as the Famous Five up front. The current lot, to me, are pretty much the Anonymous XI.

I say again, it is long past time the SFA initiated Chick Young's “Eight Diddies Rule”, we got back to Scottish clubs fielding largely Scottish teams and we sent the foreign wage stealers back from whence they came. Otherwise, Private James Frazer will have been right about Scottish football.

 

Dignity In Victory Fellow Killie Fans

WE RUGBY PARKERS have had our ups and downs over the years, for every Eintracht or Tynecastle victory, there has been an embarrassing defeat, but, when we get a good day, well we make the most of it.

Now, we all refer to our East Ayrshire heartland as: “God's Orange County” so after yesterday's events inside The Theatre of Pies, those of us who support local are enjoying the discomfort of the Glory Hunters who wear their Father's sashes.

But, I caution my fellow Killie fans, ca canny on the gloating, for the fact is, this current lot just might be the worst Rangers team in several generations. I have been saying for ages, the goalie apart, none of them is Rangers' class and they went out of their way to demonstrate this on Sunday.

Watching their games on TV this season, I have reckoned, Rangers play more square and back than forward passes. The speed with which some of them get rid of the ball once they get it is the mark of a team lacking confidence and guidance.

Sunday was a good and much-needed boost for us. Let's hope we can build on it to get into the top six and start putting together a run of wins. However, I hope it can offer a similar boost to the other “diddy clubs”, to come out and have a go at this embarrassment of a Rangers team.

If they go on the front foot, instead of letting Rangers set the pace, the other clubs could well garner more wins against them and make Scottish football better.

This is a rank rotten Rangers squad, they are there to be taken.

PERHAPS I MISSED the real Golden Age of Scottish Football Reporting; I never shared a press box with 'Waverley', Jack Harkness or Rex Kingsley. I did, however, sit next to Doug Baillie, owe a helluva lot to Dan Archer, and Hugh Taylor and still call Alex Gordon, Graham Spiers and Roddy Forsyth friends. So, I've been in the trenches with some class operators.

But, perhaps because they have to stay cosy with “The Ugly Sisters”, there has always been a lack of gravitas and true intellectual thought at the upper levels of The Scottish Football Writers Association. For me, “Dan” was the man, but, having gone to Rugby School and having been most-definitely a Brahmin in the pecking order of sports writers, Mr Archer knew how little our opinions and travails mattered in the longer term.

But, when it came to the more-serious issues in the game, Dan, in his op pieces, such as his legendary “permanent embarrassment and occasional disgrace” quote from 1976, hit the back of the neck more regularly than even Hughie Gallacher, Scotland's greatest-ever goalscorer. Of course, being a true follower of the mantra: “Firhill for Thrills” Dan had an almost Kiplingesque (dis)regard for The Old Firm.

Today, “Britney” having swapped the regard of his peers for Murdoch's Millions, soldiers on, while the potential future legends are worn down by the demands of managers who long since lost the plot, intelligent comment on Scottish fitba is rare in the mainstream media. But, all is not lost, on the Dark Web, or BBC Shortbread as we know it, there is still the occasional shaft of wit to be found in programmes such as 'A View From The Terrace' – although, I have to admit, from recent listenings, I feel it is perhaps past time for 'Off the Ball' to follow 'Only An Excuse' into retirement.

But, why should anyone take Scottish Football seriously – since the guys supposedly running it are incapable of this?

SPEAKING OF top-flight journalists, I am an avid follower of Guardian Political Sketch Writer John Crace. The current state of British politics, well it would drive you to tears, but, when Crace is on-point, these are tears of laughter. He dubbed Boris Johnson: “The Criminal”, James Cleverly to Crace is: “Jimmy Dimly”, while his irreverent attitude to our Political leaders in general is never going to get him an OBE or higher.

Crace is also, for his pains, a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur FC, and not at the moment a happy one. He unleashes his pain in his weekly political round-up piece, published on Friday, in which he wrote:

“When Spurs surrendered a two-goal lead at Brighton I really wasn’t that bothered. So what’s changed? Partly, it’s that I’m fed up with being treated as a revenue stream. One that the club could probably do without as I never buy anything from the shop or the food and drink concessions.

“I feel as if the owners care even less about results than I do. They aren’t interested in winning cups, just turning White Hart Lane into a corporate entertainment venue. A tourist destination.

“Then there is the feeling of being gaslit. Being told by the manager that we are playing a new and exciting brand of football, when the evidence of my own eyes – a few players excepted – is that we spend long periods passing the ball around the back four before losing possession.

“ 'Exciting' is clearly the new word for “not very good”. For me, exciting was winning cups. A late semi-final win against Ajax. I loved the Mauricio Pochettino team. But not this lot. They don’t even love themselves. Don’t worry. I will still renew my season ticket, but God it’s going to be a long seven months.”

Not being a season ticket holder at any club, I am coming from a different place than John, but, I fully endorse his disgust at the current fashion fot passing the ball around the back four. This is partly a response to the modern fashion for “Keepball” - where retaining possession is apparently more-important than moving the ball downfield, perhaps at some risk of losing possession, with the aim of scoring goals.

If the powers that be don't do something about this, I fear they will get fitba stopped.

 

Galacticos Can Have A Bad Effect On Referees

GOING DOWN the “Galactico” route doesn't always work. This has been obvious for decades, I can just about remember how the Sunderland directors of the time drove a coach and horses through English football's financial rules, back in the 1950s, when they assembled what was known as: “The Bank of England Team” - they won nothing. The word “Galactico” was thought up to describe a star-studded Real Madrid team, who didn't win every week.

In Rugby Union, Racing 92 is perhaps the club which came closest to adopting a Galactico mind set, but, that has not made them pre-eminent in France. In England, Saracens was almost another Sunderland – ok theyt won things, but, their disregard for the financial rules cost them relegation, so, you have to perhaps think, going down the Galactico route is not the panacea it might be.

Which brings us to Hollywoodbet Sharks, perhaps not – given the state of the South African economy – a true example of Galactico thinking, but, rather like present-day Celtic in Scottish Football, seemingly enjoying a financial boost over their compatriots.

A near full-strength Sharks XV will be a match for anyone, and coach John Plumtree paid Glasgow Warriors a huge compliment when he deployed all his big guns for Saturday's clash in Durban. He also got the result he wanted, a much-needed home win, but, although Franco Smith will be annoyed at the result, taking two points from what was always going to be a difficult away match, was still a good show by Warriors.

Sharks' big players all played well, but, Glasgow still won one or two of the crucial individual battles, with Nathan McBeth, back in the land of his birth, showing up really well in his personal battle with Vincent Koch. On the other side of the scrum, I thought Zander Fagerson put down an early marker for the Lions' number three shirt next summer by the way he handled the challenge of Ox Nche.

What a pity then, that referee Chris Busby muddied his escutcheon by guessing wrong at one or two scrum penalties and wrongly penalising Glasgow. The opening penalty goal for Sharks came from what was one such refereeing blunder, while other refereeing mistakes proved costly.

Over the piece, Busby was really poor and gave the impression he had decided pre-game, Sharks were the better side. He let them away with lots, helped by the usual myopic Saffa touch judges.

Over the piece, Sharks probably deserved to win, but, refereeing errors on the day did, I feel, prove crucial in the win.

What was good from Glasgow's point of view was how well some of the lesser lights, McBeth, Max Williamson, Stafford McDowall, Gregor Hiddleston for instance, stood up to the challenge of facing real quality.

Yes, defeat was disappointing, but, this Warriors side will still be at the sharp end of the BKT United Rugby Championship race all season. The way they kept going right to the end, clearly demonstrated this.

EDINBURGH'S EXCELLENT home win over Cardiff, which immediately followed the Glasgow game, was a timely boost for the capital club, since it hoisted them into the top half of the URC league table.

It took Edinburgh a wee while to get on top of a stubborn Cardiff defence, but a sparkling second half show got them home and has probably given the squad the confidence boost they needed to banish any lingering pain from that dire first half on the high Veldt, two games ago.

This Edinburgh side remains a work-in-progress, but progress is being made. Ross Thompson is growing in stature with regular game time, Ali Price is more like the Price of old, while D'Arcy Rae and Paddy Harrison made solid cases for a call from Gregor Townsend.

Speaking of which, there was a clear: “I'm not done yet” cameo off the bench from Hamish Watson, while Messrs Crosbie and Muncaster demonstrated the depth of talent we have in the back row in Scotland.

Against this, I fear, this season, Grant Gilchrist may be at the end of the line and Edinburgh really could use Sam Skinner being back.

A final thought, the way both Scottish sides kept going until the end demonstrates, the bulk of our international team are being kept really fit by their clubs, which bodes well for the Autumn Tests.

FINALLY – Gregor Townsend names his squad for the Autumn Internationals this week. He has already lost Andy Oneyama-Christie of Saracens, probably Robbie Smith of Northampton Saints and there are doubts overf one or two of the home-based Scots, such as Kyle Steyn.

So let's hope he has no further “Sorry Boss but I won't make it” calls between the naming of the squad and the games starting. After the success of the Summer Tour, he has choices to make during these games, to give us the best possible shot at the Six Nations next year, and he needs as many players as possible challenging.

 

The Hapless Herald - Getting It Wrong Again

I STILL get the (Glasgow) Herald's morning bulletin into my inbox, but I haven't bought a hard copy of this once-great paper in years. I recall, a few years back now, telephoning the Herald Sports Desk, and getting the late Hugh McKinlay. Now, in the Herald's order of precedence of brilliant journalists, Hughie, as he would tell you himself, wasn't in the front line alongside the likes of Dan Archer or Doug Gillon, but Hughie was a brilliant sub-editor, who could polish even their glittering prose, while he could go out into the front line of match reporting and deliver the goods. He was the professional's professional.

When I asked him how things were at the top of Albion Street, back then, (this was right at the start of the bean counters down-sizing the paper) he told me: There are still, just, enough of us in here who still care, but, it's getting harder and I am counting the days until I can go.”

Shortly afterwards, Hughie did indeed go, sadly, he didn't get to enjoy a long retirement, before he was taken, too-early.

I doubt if I could have that conversation today, there are people running desks and getting by-lines in the Herald who would never have got through the doors twenty or even ten years ago.

For example, take one of today's featured pieces, by Graeme McGarry, who asks what is the point of the Scotland Under-21 team under Scot Gemmill. On the face of it, a fair question. Scotland will not be going to the 2025 European Under-21 Championships, a result which young Master McGarry thinks has got Gemmill's trackie jaiket on a shoogly nail.

Here Son, have a reality check from an old hack who has endured far-more “Disasters for Scotland” than you. Scotland failing to qualify for the finals of this competition is nothing new – we haven't managed it this century. Our last visit to the finals of this competition was when it was held in Spain in 1996.

Our record in this competition since then is:

Played 128 – won 47 – drawn 30 – lost 51 – wins per-centage 36.7%

In the qualifying competition which has just finished, we finished third in our group, behind Spain (FIFA ranking 3) and Belgium (FIFA ranking 6). Lest we forget, Scotland is currently ranked 52 by FIFA. Scotland won 50% of their games in their 2025 qualifying group, so, rather than thinking of sacking Gemill, we ought to be praising him for a better than usual campaign.

But what Master McGarry and the great brains of the Scottish Football Writers Association will not tell their readers is: it matters not a jot who is managing our Under-21 team,; you could invest in a time machine, bring back peak Alex Ferguson and give him the manager's gig and we would still fail to qualify – because Gemmill is having to work in a system which is broken and against developing young Scottish talent.

Scot Gemmill is having to largely pick from players who are not playing for really big clubs, and, if they are, they are only getting occasional minutes on the park, because the clubs' first teams are packed by inferior non-Scottish imports.

It is easier to buy a ready-made journeyman from a nation which still believes in youth development, than for the SFA to enforce a genuine youth development programme in Scotland, and until that changes, out Under-21 team will continue to fail to qualify for the big tournaments.

Them are facts – face them.

WE ALL KNOW, managing the England football team is The Impossible Job, so good luck to Thomas Tuchel, the latest schmuck to be tasked with meeting English expectations via the reality of most of the available players coming from a league which is only English in where it is based.

Mind you, I reckon, these days, managing Scotland is fast approaching English levels of impossibility, we do love to make things difficult4 for the manager in whom we trust, or do not trust as the case may be.

I was disgusted by some of the immediate comments on social media from some Rangers supporters, continuing their insidious campaign of hatred against Stevie Clarke. It is a sad condemnation of Scotland and Scottish Football that the national manager should be getting abuse from a section of the football public, probably because, for them, to use a Scottish expression: “He kicks wi the wrang fit.”

That this criticism should come from followers of a club which has very-fre Scots in its first team squad, and whose management would far-rather they were a small fish in the larger and financially deeper English Premiership pond – well, to me, they are onloy embarrassing themselves by their stupidity.

SPEAKING of people embarrassing themselves, Cristiano Ronaldo didn't do himself any favours when he spat the dummy and threw his rattle out of the pram at the end of Tuesday night's Nations Cup match at Hampden.

Sure, it must be annoying when you, who sees yourself as The G.O.A.T. miss the only two half-decent chances which come your way in a game, chances you would have buried with aplomb even five years ago; then to see your expensively-rated team unable to beat Scotland, a nation ranked 44 places below you in the Coca-Cola/FIFA World Rankings – well, I think that gives you some right to throw a wobbler.

It is common knowledge that the hardest decision a sportsman has to make is when to call it quits. To be honest, the few who have managed to get it right are hugely out-numbered by the thousands who got it wrong, who soldiered-on too-long and ended up being dumped out of a game they loved when someone, usually of inferior ability decided: “Nah! He's over the hill and it's time to put him out to pasture.”

As yet, Ronaldo has not met anyone with the strength of character to pull the plug on his career, but, on the evidence of Tuesday night, he is swirling round the stank-hole and it is perhaps time for somebody to grab the bull by the horns and save him from himself.

EMBARRASSMENT is contageous; consider the case of the reports that Manchester United has cancelled Sir Alex Ferguson's contract as Club Ambassador – a move which has brought even more abuse down on the heads of the new High Heid Yins at the club.

Club Ambassadors are a fairly recent arrival in the world of football. Time was when the Club Chairman was its Ambassador. The Manager was perhaps the public face, but when it came to the politics of the game the man seated at the top of the board room table was the Main Man.

United were perhaps fortunate in having, over many years, top shelf, football royalty in the ambassador's role. Once he stepped down as Manager, Sir Matt Busby practically invented the position, before handing it over to Sir Bobby Charlton. After Bobby's death, the role passed to Sir Alex.

The Alex Ferguson of his days as a manager, well for that Alex Ferguson, diplomacy and an ambassadorial role was a definite no-way; however, he has embraced the role of Elder Statesman and while his presence around the club was far from ideal for those attempting to fill his shoes in the technical area, he added dignitas and lustre in the directors' box.

But, this came at a price and perhaps his reported £2 million per year plus employment package is now too-much for a mid-table Premiership club. I dare say, however, he will continue to sit in his free seat at Old Trafford on match days. But, in dropping him, the new United management has given themselves a face as red as the club's shirts.