Come On Guys - Give Us A Lead

I AM becoming increasingly concerned at the news values of the men piloting the sports desks of our national daily newspapers. In particular, I am concerned about two guys, Donald Cowey at the Herald and Colin Leslie across at The Scotsman.

Both are splendid guys; I may occasionally shake my head in wonder at some of the stuff they page, but, both are doing a difficult job well, in hard times for the good old print industry. It is not their fault that they are in situ at a time when print journalism is going through perhaps the worse crisis in its long history; newspapers, theirs as much if not more than any, are leeching readers and the guys on the executive floors at Renfield Street and Holyrood Road, like their counterparts elsewhere, seem at a loss as to how to stem the flow and react to the rise of new media.

However, at a time when Scottish football is lacking any kind of talented leadership from Hampden's corridors of the clueless, I might have hoped that Scotland's two broadsheet papers could have given a lead as to where we go next.

Instead of this, what do we get? Acres of newspaper space devoted to the fall-out from an ill-judged interview by Charles Green. FFS, there are more-important issues than how Chuck addresses a fellow Rangers director in private.

The fact that the SFA, under Regan, has chosen to become involved demonstrates two things to me - how beholden we now are to the unco guid of the race relations industry, and, perhaps - were I to be, like David "Leggoland" Leggat - a believer in an anti-Rangers conspiracy.

If calling a co-director of a club "My Paki Friend" is bringing football into disrepute, meriting a visit to a Hampden disciplinary board - what would be the correct punishment for some of the decisions made by the Hampden "blazers" in recent years, particularly vis a vis re-organisations?

Many of the "blazers" would be nane the waur o a guid hingin, in my view.

So, come on Donald and Colin - give us a lead in properly discussing the big issues, not some currently popular witch hunt.

By the way, the apparent "leaning" on Ross County's Roy McGregor to get him to support the 12-12-18 re-organisation plans is a disgrace; and, from what little I know of the Ross county chairman, doomed to failure.

When it comes to saying: "No", Highland Christians such as McGregor - who is, I understand a Wee Free - could give Lord Paisley lessons in being negative. Although, in this case, saying no would be a positive step for the game in Scotland.

REGULAR readers of this blog might recall my distress a week or two back, when the Ayrshire Cup clash between the mighty Lugar Boswell Thistle and some upstarts called Irvine Meadow was abandoned after some 70 minutes, with the 'Well cruising to victory.

The tie was replayed on Saturday, and, just as I forecast, the Medda scored a handful of breakaway goals to win 5-0. Snofair.

UNLESS my squaw Five Horses demands otherwise, I may well find myself at Beechwood Park on Saturday, looking to see real fitba, as Auchinleck Talbot "entertain", if that is the correct word, Rutherglen Glencairn in the Emirates Scottish Junior Cup semi-final, first leg. This promises to be a good game.