The Famine Is Over

THE famine is over - and let's face it, for either half of the Old Firm, over one complete season without meaningful silverware represents a famine. To those of us whose club tends to lift a big one once every 30-years or so, 18-months between laps of honour is a missed meal. So, well done Celtic on your Scottish Cup triumph.

For fans of most clubs, simply winning would have been enough; but "the Celtic Way" demands the team wins with style and a certain swagger - this they managed while goals one and three were as good Cup Final goals as you could wish to see.

The smile on Neil Lennon's face said it. He's had a torrid time since being thrust into the top job at Celtic Park and he deserved to end a traumatic season with his hands on a cup. By the way Neil - great smile, if we saw that a bit more and your snarling face a bit less, we'd all be happy and your public image would be much better.

EXACTLY how Ally McCoist copes with the top job at Rangers is still to be discovered. But, he's had a lengthy apprenticeship under Walter Smith and, having been eased-in with responsibility for cup campaigns, albeit with Walter having an overviewing role, he has had to make the big calls before. Maybe, had Lennie had a similar understudying role, perhaps he could have avoided some of the bother he's become involved in this past season.

So, we look forward to this additional facet of next season's battle for the big prizes: the experienced, trophy-winning Neil Lennon against the inexperienced Ally McCoist. Some Celtic fans believe the pendulum has swung their way, perhaps it has, but, in the past, when a Number Two has become Number One at Rangers - that club has done well. Smith seamlessly replaced Souness; Jock Wallace took over from Willie Waddell, while of course Bill Struth replacved William Wilton in 1920. If I can be naughty here: maybe just as well "Walter" had resigned before he took to the water with his assistant - there is "history" there.

OUR football focus now turns to the Carling Nations Cup, in Dublin this week. Scotland face Wales in midweek and are clearly due to stick it to the Taffia in no uncertain terms, let's hope Levein's squad can produce the win we all crave, then carry-on the good work against the Republic in the final game.

Every international now counts towards our FIFA co-efficient, while, since these are competitive internationals, they also affect our UEFA co-efficient. The trick for big Craig is to integrate his fringe men, without seeing us slide any further down the co-efficient league table.

There has been some talk this week about Craig's efforts to discover Scots-qualified players beyond the homeland. Fair enough, if, as we are told, Scotland's greatest export has been our brightest and best, it stands to reason there must be some potentially outstanding talent out there in the Caledonian Diaspora.

But, I'd rather we tended our own native stock better. There is no development structure in the Scottish game. Youngsters who are no closer to the first team at their clubs than bench duty, under SPL rules, get Under-21 caps, then vanish for years before coming back into the national set-up, or, more-likely, sinking without trace. We have to keep our brightest and best going forward.

Scotland's "best" age group team was the Under-16 team which would have won the 1989 World Youth Cup - had FIFA had the cojones to chuck out the Saudi Arabian cheats who beat them in the final. No I accept that excellence at aged 16 is no gurantee of excellence as an adult. However, from that team we got full internationalists: Paul Dickov (10 caps), Andy McLaren (1) and Bryan O'Neil (7), not much of a return on the considerable effort which went into that team doing so well - remember, they beat Portugal's "Golden Generation" in their semi-final at Tynecastle.

The days have long gone when we produced potential internationalists as a matter of course - today it takes work and Scotland doesn't work hard enough at producing good young players.

SO, IF the Sunday Herald and Twitter are to be believed - Ryan Giggs is the footballer with the financial muscle to engage lawyers with experience of getting super-injunctions for their client.

Well, ah kent his faither, when I worked in Yorkshire, where his old man was living at the time - he had an eye for totty, which has apparently passed-down to his son. Surprise, surprise.