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.

 

Do We Really Have To Cancel Everything For A Game 1400 Miles Away?

ANDY MITCHELL or Douglas Gorman I am not, but I do enjoy delving into the rich history of Scottish Football. Indeed given the parlous state of our game in this third decade of the 21^st century, there is something comforting in looking back to the days when Scotland was a genuine force in the Beautiful Game.

Back in 2018 I was doing a 90^th Anniversary of the Original Wembley Wizards piece, when a snippet from the Daily Record picqued my attention. This was an aside to the effect that when the half-time score from Wembley (England 0 – Scotland 2) was announced at Ibrox, where Rangers were in the process of beating Clyde 3-1, it produced the biggest roar of the day.

That will seem strange to modern eyes. The perception these days is that Rangers supporters are, to a man, England fans in disguise. But, surely the stranger thing is – there was a full Scottish First Division programme going on that day.

OK, there were only three Scotland-based players in the victorious XI at Wembley: goalkeeper Jack Harkness (Queen's Park), inside-right Tim Dunn (Hibs) and outside-left Alan Morton (Rangers), but I reckon, from memory, it was only in the 1970 that clubs were given a dispensation to re-arrange matches – when they had three or more players in an international squad.

Nowadays, complete swathes of fixtures are cancelled when there are internationals on the agenda. To me, this does not make sense. Scotland are in Croatia on Saturday, so why cannot we have a full programme of domestic games played. After all, it's not as if Stevie Clarke calls on Scottish-based players, only seven of his squad for the games against Croatia and Portugal are home-based and of these, only Hearts (2) and Celtic (also 2 now that Greg Taylor has pulled out) contribute more than a single player to the squad.

You look at Rugby Union, where both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh are expected to contribute a full team of players to a Scotland squad and still play league games. After all, if our 12 top-flight teams can register 399 professionals and only 7 of them are on Scotland-duty, 1400 miles from Glasgow, what's stopping them from putting-on a full domestic programme on Saturday?

As it stands, there are only two domestic SPFL fixtures scheduled for Saturday. I fear this might be a mistake on the part of the SFA and the League. What happens if a lot of the displaced fans decide to get their Saturday Fitba Fix by taking in something like a West of Scotland League game, and realise, they are getting better entertainment and more bang for their buck there?

There are some tasty-looking South Challenge Cup Third Round ties on the calendar, I can tell you.

When I was a boy the senior football season began in August and was effectively done and dusted by the end of April. The Juniors mind you, worked to a different calendar. I remember, back when he had hair on his head rather than his chin, Chick Young announcing: “This season's Junior Football shutdown will be on a Wednesday”. I remember one season covering one Ayrshire side's first pre-season friendly one July Saturday, then Auchinleck Talbot's final cup final of the previous season the following Wednesday.

With these blank weekends for internationals, the postponed games will have to be played on a midweek, which will mean additional costs for floodlighting, police overtime and so forth. Surely, if Scotland is in Zagreb, it makes sense to tive the stay-at-home fans games to go to at 3pm on a Saturday. You never know, it might catch on.

IN A RECENT BLOG I was somewhat scathing as to the talents of Rangers' wide man Vaclav Cerny. I reckoned, on the evidence of his early displays in blue that he wasn't Rangers Class.

He has quickly discovered, expectations are high when you patrol the wider areas of Ibrox,you are being judged against legends such as Alan Morton, Willie Waddell, Alex Scott, Willie Henderson, Davie Wilson, Willie Johnston, Davie Cooper and Brian Laudrop – and that judgement is being carried out by a support which demands, rather than expects excellence.

However, watching Cerny against St Johnstone on Sunday night, I got an idea that maybe there was more to the Croat than I had initially thought. He took his goals well and looked a much better player than previously.

Maybe he is starting to find his feet in the crazy world of Scottish Football. I think there is a player in there, simply struggling to get out. It certainly does not help that the current Rangers squad is very-much a work-in-progress, in the face of impatient, over-critical fans.

SEVENTY YEARS or so ago, Scottsh Football was supposed to catch up with the modern world. Embarrassed by doings at the hands of Hungary and Uruguay the English FA and the SFA decided to inaugurate Under-23 games, to help develop the next generation of young talent and feed them into international football.

Thus, on 8 February, 1955 the nations met, at Shawfield, for their first meeting at this level. The game finished 6-0 to England, the win mainly down to a second-half hat-trick from the great Duncan Edwards of Manchester United. It would be fair to say, Scotland centre-half Doug Baillie never really recovered from the Hell which the legendary Busby Babe put him through that night.

However, four of that beaten Scottish team: Alex Parker, Eric Caldow, Dave Mackay and Graham Leggat went on to wear the full team's kit with distinction. The full Scotland team that night was: Willie Duff (Hearts); Parker (Falkirk), Caldow (Rangers), Mackay (Hearts) Baillie (Airdrie), Bobby Holmes (St Mirren), Leggat (Aberdeen), Jimmy Walsh (Celtic), Ally Hill (Clyde), Bobby Wishart (Aberdeen), Davie McParland (Partick Thistle).

Nine of the England team, by the way, went on to become full internationalists.

In the pre-game preview, the Glasgow Herald pointed-out that the entire Scotland team, with the exception of Caldow, were already first-team regulars with their clubs.

Compare that with today, where hardly any of the latest Scotland Under-21 squad are even household names in their own households; 6 of the 25 players named are on-loan to lower-ranked clubs that their original sides and the squad includes Rangers' third-ranked and Celtic's fourth-ranked goalkeepers.

As part of their Player Development Programme, the SFA has initiated the formation of a number of Performance Schools across Scotland. These are at: Aberdeen's Hazlehead Academy, Dundee's St John's RC High School, Edinb urgh's Broughton High School, Falkirk's Graeme High School, Glasgow's Holyrood Secondary, Kilmarnock's Gtrange Academy and Motherwell's Braidhurst High School.

This programme has been running since 2012 and has brought through the grand total of one player – Napoli's Billy Gilmour, the only member of Stevie Clarke's current squad who is a Performance Schools graduate.

That's an awful lot of money spent on developing one player, even if, Gilmour is a wee bit special.

I also had a look at the make-up of the current full Scotland squad. Of the 23 players in the squad, 14 are graduates from the Under-21 team, on average taking just over two years to graduate to the full team. But there is no set pattern to this promotion. Some players, such as Ben Doak James Forrest or Grant Hanley are promoted quite-quickly. Others such as Ryan Porteous can take up to five years to graduate to full honours.

Maybe we need a half-way house between the Under-21 and full teams, Berti Vogts certainly thought so, when he came up with a German-style Scotland Development Team, but that idea didn't fit with how we have always done things here – just as the Scotland B team, a concept first tried in 1952, and which, in five seasons, was the breeding ground for two full teams of capped players – never caught on.

I fear we simply have to face it, we Scots don't do player development, or even planning for such development, at all well. We prefer to trust to luck, it's the Scottish way apparently.

 

Let's Not Laugh At Celtic

SCOTLAND'S STRANGE attitude to Football was perhaps best summed-up by the late Hugh McIlvanney's almost off-hand re-telling of an encounter he had with one of the High Heid Yins of the Scottish Football Association as they departed Hampden Park following the 1960 European Cup Final, in which Real Madrid hammered Eintracht Frankfort 7-3 – the Germans having reached the final via a 12-4 win over Rangers in the two-legged semi-finals.

As McIlvanney told it, this pillar of football administration assured him: “The ordinary Scottish football fan will never pay to watch that sort of football on a weekly basis.” As I understand it, the bold Hugh's response was a two-word reply, familiar to anyone from Scotland: “Aye right!”

Fast forward nearly 65 years, and I suppose, along the sixth floor corridor of power inside the same SFA's Hampden Park bunker and the successors to that 1960s “blazer” are probably, being Scottish, not exactly indulging in wailing, renting their garments, gnashing teeth and doing: “woe, woe and thrice woe” Frankie Howard impressions, in the wake of last night's Dortmund doing for Celtic.

At this juncture, we can rest assured, any sadness being felt by the High Heid Yins of the Celtic Family will be assuaged by reflecting on the wisdom of another SFA High Heid Yin from the sepia-tinted days of the 1950s – the blazer whose response to Uruguay 7 Scotland 0 at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland was: “Ach! The fans will forget all about this one if we beat England next season.”

Unfortunately for him, the score at Wembley, ten months later, was: England 7 Scotland 2, and, nearly 70 years on, this writer still bears the scars that defeat inflicted on his eight year old self.

So, while heavy defeats in Europe are now becoming an all-too-familiar burden on the Celtic Family, I suppose a big win against Ross County, in Dingwall on Sunday and all will again be sweetness and light in the East End of Glasgow.

Perhaps in the cheaper seats, among the massed ranks of the Green Brigade and among the many in the corporate seats to whom, looking down on The Other Lot is their main kick in life, a typical multi-goal win on Sunday and, once again, all will be well with the world.

But, I would suggest that view will find little traction in the rarified areas of Dublin, in the locker room at The K Club, or the Members Club at The Curragh where no doubt, Dermot Desmond will be the butt of some humourous asides from the other movers and shakers of the Celtic Tiger – (that's Keltic with a hard K) he encounters there.

Perhaps Mr Desmond is having second thoughts about bringing back Brendan, after yet another European disaster. Maybe he is questoning a management model which sees his club paying over the odds for B or C List players, who may well be a tier or two above those they encounter in their domestic league, but who are found wanting on the big stage.

One of my Facebook friends, a Former Pupil of The Academy, who has blighted his reputation as a member of arguably the school's finest football team, by not just supporting Talbot, but also joining the Celtic Family. Well, he's hurting this morning and is suggesting: perhaps it would be better if his team and (maybe) The Other Lot, got out of Scottish football and into a European League – to allow the other Scottish clubs to find their own level.

Sorry Tam, won't happen. Not that you are wrong; I firmly believe there has to, sooner or later, be a European League, but, the entrenched interests of the long-established national associations, of FIFA and UEFA, werll, for a start, they will want their pound of flesh in setting-up such a League. They will also place every obstacle they can erect in the path of that League getting going, far-less thriving.

Even getting the Ugly Sisters into the English system would not really work – that would require the SFA to be taken over by the English FA. Good luck in selling that to the “blazers”.

Good luck too in the obvious answer to the problem, by raising the standard of players, coaches and team managers and overall club managers in Scotland. We could make a start to this, by making the Scottish League more Scottish.

I did a wee search this morning, on the number of Scottish players playing in the top flight in Scotland. It wasn't easy, but here is what I found:

1. Celtic – 29-man First Team squad – 9 Scots – only 2 of whom are first-team regulars

2. Rangers – 30-man squad – 12 Scots – only 1 of whom is a first-team regular

3. Aberdeen – 30-man squad – 11 Scots

4. Dundee – 26-man squad – 11 Scots

5. Dundee United – 42-man squad – 21 Scots

6. Hearts – 30-man squad – 10 Scots

7. Hibs – 35-man squad – 10 Scots

8. Kilmarnock – 30-man squad – 21 Scots

9. Motherwell – 45-man squad – 19 Scots

10. Ross County – 34-man squad – 16 Scots

11. St Johnstone – 34-man squad – 16 Scots

12. St Mirren – 30-man squad – 17 Scots

This adds up to 399 professionals across the 12 clubs, only 173 of whom (43%) are Scottish. Only two of the clubs, Kilmarnock, with a staff who are 70% Scottish and St Mirren, with a staff who are 57% Scottish have more than half their sqaud qualified to play for Scotland.

I would suggst that no national governing body worth its salt should be allowing their memebr clubs to so openly recruit players who are not qualified to play for the national side.

In the early days of the Bosman Ruling, UEFA introduced the Three Foreigners Rule, which Chick Young immediately christened: “The Eight Diddies Rule”. Maybe we should go back to those days.

I would suggest, no Celtic XI composed entirely of home-grown Scots would have shipped seven goals in Dortmund. After all, look no further than the greatest Scottish, far-less Celtic club XI: Simpson; Craig and Gemmell; Murdoch, McNeill and Clark; Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld and Lennox.

None of them born more than 40 miles from Celtic Park, nine of them brought through the ranks at Celtic Park.

Or: McCloy; Jardine and Mathieson; Greig, Johnstone, Smith; McLean, Conn, Stein, MacDonald, Johnston; again, every one Scottish, five of them home-grown, the other six bought from other Scottish clubs.

Or: Leighton; McMaster and Rougvie; Cooper, McLeish and Miller; Strachan, Simpson, McGhee, Black and Weir. Once again, 11 Scots, 8 of them home-bred by the club.

I do not accept the: “That could never happen nowadays,” as if we suddenly lost the knack of recruiting and training-on talented young Scots. I am convinced we still have diamonds out there, maybe we have lost the skills to polish those raw diamonds.

So, today, I caution my fellow Scots:

Let's not laugh at Celtic, because, if we do not waken-up and smell the coffee, such results may well become more-common.