WELL, that's that - we can put the Olympic Games back in the box until 2016. Fair does, that lot up in that there Lunnun done good. I see there have been calls for Seb Coe's Life Peerage to be upgraded to a Viscountcy; that won't happen, today's political class are all agin hereditary honours, so, apparently, Seb will be made a Companion of Honour - a rare and in this case justified honour.
Then, thanks to the populist touch started by that Fettesian twat what ran New Labour, various athletes will be knighted - look out for "Sirs" Bradley Wiggins, Ben Ainslie and Mo Farah and "Dames" Katherine Grainger and Victoria Pendelton, while MBEs will be upgraded to OBEs and OBEs to CBEs elsewhere.
But, what do we do about the likes of Sir Chris Hoy? I would love to see him being admitted to the Knights of the Thistle, but hae ma doots aboot that yin. Still, big Chris is a Watsonian and can therefore be expected to know how to behave around St Giles, something which might not be said about some working-class oik from a Glasgow scheme.
I would like to see Dave Brailsford, the brains behind British Cycling's success and his rowing counterpart Jurgen Grobbler being honoured - they, as much as the great athletes they inspired and guided, deserve a wee visit to the Palace.
BUT, the Olympics are over and it's back to the purritch and auld claes of Scottish football, where, as we know, mediocrity rules. We've got an international this week, against the kangaroo catchers, I am not confident of the outcome.
The official records show Scotland and the Aussies first met in 1986 in the inter-continental play-off, which decided the final team into that season's World Cup finals in Mexico. We won the first leg in Hampden - which, as the first game following the tragedy of Jock Stein's death, was always going to be a tough one mentally for Alex Ferguson and his squad. Then, we held out for a draw in Melbourne, thanks to a brilliant late save or three from Jim Leighton. Our reward, a place in The Group of Death with West Germany, Denmark and Uruguay in Mexico.
However, in reality, Scotland's first crack at the Aussies had come in a three-game "Test" series, down under, in June, 1967, as part of a World Tour.
With both halves of the Old Firm in European finals, manager Bobby Brown had to pick a shadow squad. The tour started a month after that 3-2 Wembley win over World Champions England, and the only one of the '67 Wembley Wizards to feature was Jim McCalliog, the youngster who had made his Scotland debut on that unforgettable day.
Squad captain Ian Ure had to come home with a broken jaw after the opening game against Israel was reduced to a kicking match (Alex Ferguson gets the blame for starting the bother) and Doug Fraser of West Brom took over the captaincy.
A Hong Kong XI were then beaten before the party arrived in Sydney, where, on 28 May, Fergie scored the only goal of the game in a game played on a virtual ploughed field at the Sydney Showgrounds. The Scots then moved-on to Adelaide where, three days later, Jim Townsend and Willie Morgan got the goals in a 2-1 win for the Scots.
On 3 June, in Melbourne, Ferguson scored both goals as the Scots completed the Australian leg of their round the world odyssey with a 2-0 win. They then moved on, via two games in New Zealand, to complete the circumnavigation with two wins in Canada, the second being a 7-2 win over the Canucks, in Winnigpe, during which Joe Harper scored five goals.
The bare tour statistics read: played 9, won 9, scored 33 goals, conceded 9 goals. In all 19 players played in that tour; six of these 19 players never got caps, because, unlike the Israelis, Australians and Canadians, the SFA has resolutely refused to recognise the games played as A internationals, worthy of the presentation of a cap to any participant. So goalkeeper Harry Thomson of Burnley, the Hearts defenders, Alan Anderson and Jim Townsend, Harry Hood - then with Clyde, but better known from his Celtic days - the Bury and former Partick Thistle full back Hugh Tinney and Alex Ferguson, then with Dunfermline and top-scorer on-tour with 11 goals, all played in internationals but never were capped. While Arsenal reserve John Woodward, after being summoned to New Zealand as an injury replacement, played in three games, none of which was an "international".
Forty-five years on, with Scotland playing Australia this week at Easter Road and with the SFA badly needing some good publicity, would it hurt them all that much to declare the internationals on that tour "official" and belatedly give Fergie his cap?
The SFA might also wish to ponder on how, in a period of 45 years, we have fallen from a position whereby we could send a shadow squad round the world unbeaten, to today, where Australia will start as favourites against us, in Scotland. Because, that is the reality of our fall from grace.
The winning Wembley team in 1967 is well-known, but, the next international, on 10 May, 1967, pitted Scotland against the USSR, who beat us 2-0 at Hampden. The Scotland team that night was: Ronnie Simpson; Tommy Gemmell and Eddie McCreadie; John Clark, Ron McKinnon and Jim Baxter (captain); Jimmy Johnstone, Frank McLintock, Jim McCalliog, Denis Law and Bobby Lennox - with Willie Wallace coming on for the Lawman. Clark, McLintock and Johnstone had replaced John Greig, Billy Bremner and Wallace from the Wembley winners.
The team which beat the Israelis 2-1 in Tel Aviv, six days later, was: Harry Thomson (Burnley); Willie Callaghan (Dunfermline) and Eddie Colquhoun (West Brom); Alan Anderson (Hearts), Ian Ure (Arsenal) and Doug Fraser (West Brom); Andy Penman (Rangers Reserves), Bobby Hope (West Brom), McCalliog, Ferguson and Willie Morgan (Burnley), with Hood replacing Penman during the game. Fergie and Willie Morgan got the goals.
Can we honestly say today that Scotland has the depth of player quality which would allow Craig Levein to make ten changes inside a week and win? I don't think so and I fear that, until the SFA gets its act together and creates a system whereby we can produce talented players in bigger numbers, we will only slip further behind the best.
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