This Could Be a Marvellous Year

A GUID NEW YEAR TAE ANE AN AWE.

 

Right, that's the pleasantries out of the way - back to Scottish fitba. And, what a great start to this New Year, with Aberdeen going to the top of the Premiership table. Of course, ever since Furious Fergie took himself off to immortality in Manchester, there have been short-lived outbreaks of optimism and hope from the Granite City. Could this latest one, under Derek McInnes be different? 

 

Only time will tell, but, the Dons now have a chance this month to open a gap and put pressure on a somewhat flakey Celtic team. Aye, the next few months could be interesting.

 

 

 

SOME five years ago I took a conscious decision to stop watching 'Only An Excuse'; I found it predictable and no longer funny. Against my better judgement, I watched the 2014 version on Hogmanay - it was dire.

 

Please BBC Scotland, kill this off. Scottish football is now beyond parody and, when the reality is (albeit unconsciously) funnier than the supposed satire, the satire has lost.

 

The funniest comment on the current state of the game up here came in the wonderful Herald Diary, when one contributor suggested Ronnie Deila as Man of the Year 2014 - for managing to make the Premiership exciting.

 

 

 

BUT, as in 2012, 2013 and 2014, THE Scottish Fitba story of 2015 is shaping up to be the long-running soap opera Edminston Drive.

 

The King over the water has finally moved, and put some cash into the Rangers Tribute Act. Things are about to get interesting here, as the battle for control enters a new phase. 

 

The RTA might well emerge from the promotion-relegation play-offs as a Premiership side, but, I for one will not be holding my breath. The reality, as I see it, is - another season in the Championship, with Kenny McDowall introducing some more young talent, might, in the long run, be better for the club than going up this season.

 

Certainly, a huge improvement will be needed, the Championship title and the single automatic promotion spot is now Hearts' to lose; while Hibs might, if they can build on that big win over RTA, be in a stronger position than the Glasgow outfit come the play-offs.

 

 

 

THE machinations around Ibrox, and Donkeycaster's assertion that the RTA is in fact, a continuation of real Rangers even made it onto the serious pages of the pro-Independence website Wings Over Scotland.

 

I was amazed that the Rev Stuart Campbell, who runs WoS actually took his eyes off the political situation in Scotland to comment on events around the football club.

 

His pay-off was over 200 posts, many from political "anoraks" who have little or no interest in sport in general or football in particular, but, had an opinion on the status of Rangers International FC.

 

This merely illustrates what a huge institution this club, be it dead, on life support, a ghost or a tribute act, is in Scotland.

 

 

 

IF YOU have access to the BBC iplayer, can I suggest you search-out the BBC Alba programme: 'Tartan Pride', an unashamed nostalgia fest around the old Scotland v England football rivalry.

 

This excellent programme was shown on the graveyard shift, at 11pm on Friday, 23 January. The Gaelic bits had sub-titles, the talking heads - Craig Brown, Tommy Docherty, Denis Law, Gordon McQueen, Stuart Cosgrove etc, were good value and some of the archive footage was terrific.

 

Seek it out and watch it, you will not be disappointed.