RODDY Forsyth of the Daily Telegraph and BBC Radio Five is a mate, we've known each other for years and I have always respected his views on football.
Roddy never has been a member of the notorious 'Lap Top Loyal', that trusty band of hacks who quote freely from the gospel according to St Walter - but are ecumenical enough to also beatify the 'Blessed Martin' and his disciple 'Lenny the Good'.
But in this morning's Telegraph, I am afraid Roddy penned a piece which just might get him invited into the LTL, praising Rangers for getting a draw out of last night's turgid affair against a Manchester United XI, some way short of full-strength.
OK, football is a results-driven industry, so this was maybe the equivalent of East Fife or Annan Athletic going to Ibrox and getting a 0-0 draw in the SCottish Cup. I further accept that the title "Champions League" is a joke. Rangers may be the Scottish Champions, but MU are not the current English Champions and should not, therefore, in my book, be allowed to compete for the title Chamipion Club of Europe - that honour ought only be competed for by the champion clubs of the various European League.
However, money talks, and the supposed big money (it ought really be the clubs with huge debt) clubs have to be accommodated; or they will pick up their ball and go elsewhere, ergo, MU are in.
Just last week Lithuania and Liechtenstein were being lambasted by our media for their spoiling tactics in an effort to deny the much-superior (allegedly) Scots victory in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Now, when Rangers adopt the same tactics, it's all hail Walter's heroes.
But, you write what you think your audience wants to read and I fancy the Telegraph, or "Torygraph" if you like, is put into more Rangers than Celtic households in Scotland.
The fact Rangers were not even prepared to have a go at a United team shorn of most of their big names is, to me, far more worrying than Scotland's failure to beat Lithuania or stick some goals on Liechtenstein.
Where is the gallusness which prompted Jim Baxter, lounging on a dressing room bench at Wembley, on 15 April, 1967, to briefly put down his Daily Record and in his broad Fife accent, inform his Scotland team mates: "See them (the World Championship-winning England squad they were about to face), they can play nane, ken"?
What happened to the confidence which caused George Young, after 20 minutes of continuous English pressure in the 1949 Wembley game (Jimmy Cowan's match), to tell his forwards: "Just you put the ball in their net, we're doing ok keeping them out at this end".
Have we lost the Chutzpah which had Alex Hamilton of Dundee asking immediate opponent Bobby Charlton, during a Hampden encounter: "What's it like to play against a good player Bobby?"
Sure we've had our embarrassments: analysts, rather than blaming Frank Haffey - who was probably at-fault for no more than two of the nine goals he shipped at Wembley in 1961 - have instead put the heaviness of the defeat down to the over-aggressive, too-attack-minded team which Scotland put out.
Wing halves Dave Mackay and Bert McCann were so far up the pitch, Johnny Haynes and Bobby Robson had acres of space behind them to prompt Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Smith into killing us with goals.
But, at least, back then Scotland had a go. Today, we seem feart to try.
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