We Don't Do Friendlies

THE Scots are acknowledged around the globe as among the friendliest people anywhere, visitors to our fair land all acknowledge this facet of our national personality. Paradoxically, we are also seen as dour and self-effacing, nippy and, in military terms these friendly Jocks are, at the same time, among the fiercest fighting men on the planet.

Our Tartan Army of football fans are a by word as party animals, yet, few national games have as many private wee wars going on as Scottish football - aye, here's tae us, wha's like us - damn few an they're awe deid, right enough.

One thing is clear about Scottish football, however - we don't do friendlies, never have, perhaps never will. Scotland's success ratio in international football regularly hovers around the 40% wins mark. Sure, we had the odd good spell, this was usually in the 18 months or so before the World Cup, but whether we had our own Golden Generation, Baxter, Law, the Lisbon Lions, via Bremner and Dalglish and Souness, or, as recently, we've been forced to field teams of journeymen, overall we still struggle to win more than 40-45% of our internationals.

That said, we have always won a higher percentage of competitive rather than friendly internationals; in recent years, however, our successes in friendlies have become rarer than ever.

I was not, therefore, too confident about the outcome of yesterday's trip to Stockholm, and my fears were all too soon realised, once the Swedes got that early goal.

International football has never been as competitive as it is today. Every international counts towards a country's FIFA co-efficient. The UEFA co-efficient is more-sensible, only competitive games count for that.

Once upon a time the SFA could take a squad away to Europe at the end of a season, play two or three no-stress friendlies, bond as a squad, sight-see, get to know each other, enjoy a working holiday.

Today, with the higher-pace of the game, the greater financial rewards, the greater stresses on players of the modern game, that cannot be done. Also, international football, once a sort of break from the club game, is now just as competitive - you try to qualify for the World Cup and, once the finals are over, you start to try to qualify for the European Championships; once these finals are over, it's back on the World Cup treadmill - there is no let-up.

So, to get off the treadmill, build a squad, try things out, why doesn't the SFA adapt an old technique?

Back in the 1950s, there would be games such as Scotland v Anglo-Scots, Scotland v the Scottish League, Scotland v the British Army (a team comprising very good young players doing their National Service). Even, in the build-up to the 1958 World Cup, we had Scotland v Rangers and Scotland v Hearts.

Craig Levein would perhaps have been better giving Stockholm a miss this week and instead splitting his squad into SPL players and the rest - Over-25s v Under-25s, even that staple of club practice matches: Tims v Proddies, (no, scrub that - bad idea).

With a bit of commercial pizzazz this squad get-together-cum game could have been sold as a charity game, played at one of the smaller SPL grounds, away from Hampden, at reduced prices, kids in free, and he could have worked-out a few things without endangering Scotland's FIFA co-efficient. It would also have allowed the next generation of Tartan Army recruits to get up close to all their heroes.

As I've said before, we don't have a proper plan for the development of our international team - we need a B or Futures squad to plug the gap between the Under-21 squad and the A team. That interim squad would I feel, be the perfect vehicle for the proposed British Isles Cup, but until that is brought into being, I would suggest the first international date of any season is utilised for the inter-squad match I have suggested above.