SADDLED as I am with four daughters -and notwithstanding the phenomenon knows as "Synchronisation" - I am well aware of the perils and pit-falls of putting together a team of the gentler sex.
So, well done the girls of the Scottish Women's team, who have scored 14 goals in posting back-to-back wins in their first two World Cup qualifying games. Just imagine the media over-kill if our brave lads were to stick seven goals each on even the Faroes and Bosnia.
Of-course, that aint gonna happen, because, unlike our girls, our men have all those generations of learned behaviour to fall back on. The girls never had old hands telling them: "Naw, ye canna dae that, it's aye been done the ither wey".
Because, they don't pick-up bad habits playing in the street, and have come through a structured, coached background, the girls are, I warrant, technically better players than their male peers, and it shows in their results.
Sadly under-appreciated the girls are by the Scottish sporting media, or Mysoginists Are Us, as they are better-known, but, there was one wee vignette from the BBC's sparse coverage of the build-up to the Bosnia game which I enjoyed.
Hand-in-hand the girls backed across the pitch, keeping the ball in the air through headed passes to each other. I'd love to see WGS's squad try that - the holding hands bit would undo them even before the ball entered the equation, I bet.
I am reminded of something I read, in, of all places the Weekly News, when I was a boy. Bobby Flavell the former Airdrie and Scotland forward of the immediate post-war years, later a manager with several Scottish clubs, was recalling (this prior to the 1960 European Cup Final at Hampden), his first encounter with Alfredo di Stefano.
This happened when Flavell joined the short-lived exodus to Bogota in about 1950. He recalled, on his first day of training, watching di Stefano and another Argentinian take the ball the length of the park, volleying it between themselves and never allowing the ball to touch the ground.
Flavell reckoned you'd never see that done in Scotland. Over 50-year later, I bet that would still be the case. OK, I accept Jinky and Bertie Auld could probably have done it, except, Bertie would probably have got fed-up at about half-way. Davie Cooper could have been one half of a potential Ibrox duo, but, who would he pass the ball to? Other than maybe Laudrup or Gascoigne, but, they weren't Scots.
About four years ago, covering a First Division match, I burst out laughing at the efforts of one of the players to control the ball with his left foot. Seeing as he was playing on the left-side of midfield, I would have thought the ability to do more than stand-up on his left foot might have been useful.
This player, one of the most-experienced men on the park, and a former Scotland Under-21 cap to boot, simply couldn't use his left foot. He was then 30 and had been with his club since leaving school.
The same player is still playing today, in the Premiership. But, I suppose he is still known as Wan Fittit.
Let's do the math (as our trans-Atlantic cousins say). He had been a full-time professional footballer for 14-years: our "professional" clubs usually train for four days per week, for 40 weeks of the year - that's 2240 days of "work" in his 14-year career. A footballer's "working" day generally lasts 90 minutes - that's 3360 hours of "work", preparing for the nearly 500 games said player had played up until I saw his failure to do his job properly.
That comes to a professional career which has lasted 4110 hours, less than half the 10,000 hours of practice which we understand are necessary to become proficient at a sporting endeavour.
Since our "professionals" are not getting anywhere near what is considered to be base-camp level in technical proficiency, is it any wonder we have fallen so-far down football's pecking order?
And still the Hampden blazers try to kid us the game is safe in their hands.
So, well done the girls of the Scottish Women's team, who have scored 14 goals in posting back-to-back wins in their first two World Cup qualifying games. Just imagine the media over-kill if our brave lads were to stick seven goals each on even the Faroes and Bosnia.
Of-course, that aint gonna happen, because, unlike our girls, our men have all those generations of learned behaviour to fall back on. The girls never had old hands telling them: "Naw, ye canna dae that, it's aye been done the ither wey".
Because, they don't pick-up bad habits playing in the street, and have come through a structured, coached background, the girls are, I warrant, technically better players than their male peers, and it shows in their results.
Sadly under-appreciated the girls are by the Scottish sporting media, or Mysoginists Are Us, as they are better-known, but, there was one wee vignette from the BBC's sparse coverage of the build-up to the Bosnia game which I enjoyed.
Hand-in-hand the girls backed across the pitch, keeping the ball in the air through headed passes to each other. I'd love to see WGS's squad try that - the holding hands bit would undo them even before the ball entered the equation, I bet.
I am reminded of something I read, in, of all places the Weekly News, when I was a boy. Bobby Flavell the former Airdrie and Scotland forward of the immediate post-war years, later a manager with several Scottish clubs, was recalling (this prior to the 1960 European Cup Final at Hampden), his first encounter with Alfredo di Stefano.
This happened when Flavell joined the short-lived exodus to Bogota in about 1950. He recalled, on his first day of training, watching di Stefano and another Argentinian take the ball the length of the park, volleying it between themselves and never allowing the ball to touch the ground.
Flavell reckoned you'd never see that done in Scotland. Over 50-year later, I bet that would still be the case. OK, I accept Jinky and Bertie Auld could probably have done it, except, Bertie would probably have got fed-up at about half-way. Davie Cooper could have been one half of a potential Ibrox duo, but, who would he pass the ball to? Other than maybe Laudrup or Gascoigne, but, they weren't Scots.
About four years ago, covering a First Division match, I burst out laughing at the efforts of one of the players to control the ball with his left foot. Seeing as he was playing on the left-side of midfield, I would have thought the ability to do more than stand-up on his left foot might have been useful.
This player, one of the most-experienced men on the park, and a former Scotland Under-21 cap to boot, simply couldn't use his left foot. He was then 30 and had been with his club since leaving school.
The same player is still playing today, in the Premiership. But, I suppose he is still known as Wan Fittit.
Let's do the math (as our trans-Atlantic cousins say). He had been a full-time professional footballer for 14-years: our "professional" clubs usually train for four days per week, for 40 weeks of the year - that's 2240 days of "work" in his 14-year career. A footballer's "working" day generally lasts 90 minutes - that's 3360 hours of "work", preparing for the nearly 500 games said player had played up until I saw his failure to do his job properly.
That comes to a professional career which has lasted 4110 hours, less than half the 10,000 hours of practice which we understand are necessary to become proficient at a sporting endeavour.
Since our "professionals" are not getting anywhere near what is considered to be base-camp level in technical proficiency, is it any wonder we have fallen so-far down football's pecking order?
And still the Hampden blazers try to kid us the game is safe in their hands.
As ever, an interesting insight into the fitba oracle that still exists inside your journalistic head. However... possibly smoke and mirrors to entice us (me especially) away fae the results earlier today perhaps? All the more sweetened by Mr Boyd not even getting a look in during the first half, possibly even nipping out for the second 45 minutes to get a coffee, a meat pie or indeed even a seat on the bus.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't that long ago that I had my head in my hands as your favourite team had us at 3 nil down in the first half, luckily for us we fought back hard and scraped the draw. That memory was finally erased the day.
A lot of bad times for the Killies of late, debt, in-fighting and supposed fans protesting outside the ground. They played pretty well today, brave and game, they never gave in, they deserved the draw at least. Although the Celtic dominated the game, our opponents played out of their skins and impressed.
....apart fae Mr Boyd of course. I believe he may still be on the back of the bus.