I HOPE WGS has had his trick cyclist's hat on this week - because he has to get inside the heads of his players and persuade them, no, wrong word, convince them that the Welsh team in general and Gareth Bale in particular, are no better than they are.
I appreciate the boy Bale is a good player, however, like so-many of the big names who ply their trade in the English Premiership, there's a touch of the Barnum and Baileys about him. He's been hyped-up something rotten. One man can make a difference to a team, but, one can never beat 11.
WGS should be reminding his squad, had the refereeing team in Cardiff in the first match been even half-way competent, Scotland and not Wales would have won that game. We are good enough to beat the Welsh and, with the Tartan Army in full voice on the slopes of Hampden, nothing less is acceptable.
I accept, it will take a miracle to get us to Rio from where we now are, but, most-definitely, the comeback starts here, tonight.
ANOTHER wee reminder to Charles Green, Ally McCoist and the other entitlement junkies around Ibrox. Yes, Scottish football does (apparently) need the cash your followers bring into the game - that's why you were allowed into SFL3, when, had "sporting integrity" and the SFA/SFL's own rules been strictly adhered to, you wouldn't even be there.
But, don't push it - another year in the lower divisions means another year for the management within Ibrox to realise, their management model, though not as flawed as that pursued by Sir David Murray, is still flawed.
Stop spending money on crap imports, properly nurture your kids, give them at least a year longer in which to gain experience and, when you do get to the top flight, you'll be more ready to cope and to eventually win back what you see as your rightful place as Ra Peepul.
Mind you, to get there and stay there - you'll probably need a change of manager.
THE (Glasgow) Herald has this week been running a series: The Top 50 Scottish Footballers of All Time. This is a shameless push for readers, either to the hard paper copies, or even the on-line version of a paper which is a shadow of its past glories.
The Herald list causes pub comments, but, as a serious list of the top 50 Scottish players, is subjective, and also flawed, since the young guys writing it lack the experience to properly evaluate a top 50 from the many great Scottish players since 1872.
The top five will be revealed tomorrow: we can assume already that Messrs Jimmy Johnstone, Kenny Dalglish, Denis Law and Jim Baxter will be there, with AN Other. I cannot begin to speculate on the final order, but expect - if only to assuage Old Firm passions, the Lawman will take top spot.
I hope, tomorrow, to post, not my alternative top 50, but, a top 50 of fairly obvious oversights. If nothing else, it will demonstrate the depth of talent we have had over the years.
ALMOST forgot, anent tonight's game. John "Bomber" Brown has been criticised for suggesting our defenders ought to remind Gareth Bale they are there early in the game. This is refined fitba speak for: "Just kick the so-and-so, as early in the game as you can", a tactic which has much to recommend it.
Best examples I ever saw of letting an opponent know you were there, early doors, came not in football, but in athletics and rugby.
The athletics one came in the 1979 European Cup Final, a team event in which each country had but one representative in each race. In the 800 metres, East Germany fielded Jurgen Straub, who would, a year later, take silver behind Seb Coe in the Olympic 1500 metres final in Moscow.
In the 1979 European Cup semi-final, he had elbowed Coe out of first place in the race, so, for the final, the British selectors picked Steve Ovett for the 800, with Coe stepping up to the 1500.
Anyway, in the 800, the gun went and Ovett came straight across from lane five to lane two at the 200 metres split point and immediately hooked Straub - who, sensibly, took station behind the Brit and accepted the silver medal.
The second occasion was in a Calcutta Cup game at Murrayfield, in the 1980s - the exact year escapes me. Scotland kicked off and instead of chasing the ball, John Beattie, father of Johnnie and now a distinguished BBC broadcaster, went straight downfield and punched England's six foot eight second row Wade Dooley.
Dooley, who lived up to his name on more than one occasion, immediately forgot all about the game plan and spent the entire 80 minutes trying to get his own back on Beattie Senr. Effectively playing with 14 men, England were well beaten.
Let them know you're there - it works.
ALMOST forgot, anent tonight's game. John "Bomber" Brown has been criticised for suggesting our defenders ought to remind Gareth Bale they are there early in the game. This is refined fitba speak for: "Just kick the so-and-so, as early in the game as you can", a tactic which has much to recommend it.
Best examples I ever saw of letting an opponent know you were there, early doors, came not in football, but in athletics and rugby.
The athletics one came in the 1979 European Cup Final, a team event in which each country had but one representative in each race. In the 800 metres, East Germany fielded Jurgen Straub, who would, a year later, take silver behind Seb Coe in the Olympic 1500 metres final in Moscow.
In the 1979 European Cup semi-final, he had elbowed Coe out of first place in the race, so, for the final, the British selectors picked Steve Ovett for the 800, with Coe stepping up to the 1500.
Anyway, in the 800, the gun went and Ovett came straight across from lane five to lane two at the 200 metres split point and immediately hooked Straub - who, sensibly, took station behind the Brit and accepted the silver medal.
The second occasion was in a Calcutta Cup game at Murrayfield, in the 1980s - the exact year escapes me. Scotland kicked off and instead of chasing the ball, John Beattie, father of Johnnie and now a distinguished BBC broadcaster, went straight downfield and punched England's six foot eight second row Wade Dooley.
Dooley, who lived up to his name on more than one occasion, immediately forgot all about the game plan and spent the entire 80 minutes trying to get his own back on Beattie Senr. Effectively playing with 14 men, England were well beaten.
Let them know you're there - it works.
No comments:
Post a Comment