Our Young Players Deserve Better Treatment

I USED to be heavily involved in basketball, back in the day when, egged-on by the example of David Murray and his MIM (Murray International Metals) team, all the other Scottish basketball clubs began to import Americans. (To be fair to Sir David and the guys at MIM, it was the Paisley club which first imported Americans, only MIM did it better).

 

The club with which I was involved bought-in several Yanks. Some were great, others did a job, two or three were wastes of space and money. I remember having a conversation with the last guy we brought in. He had spent several years in Europe and, probably, coming to us, for whom he did very well, was confirmation of how his stock had fallen. He openly admitted, when he went home to the USA at the end of the season, he was going to have to sit down and consider his future.

 

"I made it to the pros, maybe not the NBA, but, I've played all over Europe for the past decade and more, but, it is maybe time to put down roots and get onto the corporate ladder", he said.

 

"Trouble is, the guys with whom I played in college, but, who didn't make the pros, have got a ten-year start on me. So, I've got ground to make up, if I do decide to retire and get a real job".

 

That guy, in his early 30s, with no prior business experience, at least had one thing going for him that his football equivalent - a guy whose full-time contract with a club was not being renewed and who had decided to either quit or go part-time - rarely has. My American friend had come through the US collegiate system. He had qualifications which would make him employable.

 

Just think how many Scottish footballers, who had been lucky enough to get a trainee contract as a 16-year-old school leaver, who had then been able to turn this into a full-time playing contract and who had been full-time for over a decade, have then been released and cast into a jobs market which is, shrinking, and for which they have had no preparation or experience. To be fair, most survive - but, some don't.

 

Last week there was a lot of interest in the notion that Scottish football's Academy system wasn't working. This interest mainly concerned the paucity of our players' technical ability. Little attention was paid to the massive number of under-performers we have turned-out in Scotland.

 

I remember reading once, that Arsenal, a club with a good track record when it came to home-grown talent, reckoned for every full team of 16-year-olds they recruited each year, they would be lucky if they got one through to be a first team member.

 

With that sort of return, from a big, well-funded youth development programme, is it any surprise that less-well-funded programmes, from lesser clubs, too-often fail to produce players?

 

We really need to have a more-holistic attitude to young player development. The days are past when we can simply feed young men into a sausage machine, hoping to turn-out quality players, but, unconcerned about the fate of those who don't make it. These kids, mostly, give it their best shot, so, we have a duty of care to those who don't make it, by giving them a grounding, an education and qualifications which will help them when it is time to hang-up their boots.

 

Just this past weekend, the SRU unveiled its four regional rugby academies, designed to produce more, better-prepared new talent for our two fully-professional rugby teams. One of the things the SRU was keen to stress is, these young men would also be encouraged to undertake higher education courses, in addition to their rugby work.

 

This isn't quite the American collegiate system, but, it heading that way and, while I can see some if not imperfections, then areas which could be done better, is already way ahead of anything we have seen from Scotland's full-time football teams.

 

OK, our young players are not as good technically as European kids - that issue has to be addressed. The SRU has accepted the same problem with our young rugby players: they don't react as well to pressure as others - but, they are counting on the academies to help alleviate this failure.

 

They are also working hard at making their young players better, more-rounded humans. I see little evidence of our football clubs being as concerned about the kids in their system. This is not good enough.

 

 

 

MAYBE not this season, but, certainly next, I might be tempted to put a wager on Steve McLaren's Newcastle United winning some silverware. McLaren is a far-better coach than his detractors in the English football media would have us think.

 

"The Wally With The Brolly" was a good Sun headline, but, McLaren always was better than that. Also, his new Number Two, Ian Cathro,  just might be the guy to get the best out of the many good young players who are produced on Tyneside.

 

I cannot think of a great Geordie player to have been produced by United, since the boy Gazza - that's far-too-ling to have had "crop failure", Cathro just might turn things around, which can only help put a smile back on the face of the Toon Army - THE most-committed supporters in the UK. I wish him, and McLaren, well.

 

 

 

OH DEAR! Oh dear! Oh dear! The draw for first round of the Diddy Teams' Diddy Cup, announced today, has paired the Rangers Tribute Act with Hibs - the Dream Final which everyone in Scottish football was hoping for.

 

I know all about: "the romance of the cup"; "the uncertainty of all-in draws"; and, of course, the fact: "It has aye been done this way", but, no half-way-sensible organisation would allow the two biggest draws in any competition entry clash in the very first round.

 

You wouldn't get Murray v Djorkovic or Federer v Nadal in the first round at Wimbledon, so quite why Scottish, or indeed British football continues to avoid seedings in knock-out competitions is beyond me.

A Game (Even A Women's One) Lasts 90 Minutes, Then Half An Hour's Extra Time, Then Penalties, And The Germans Win

THE television was so uninspiring last night - I'm not that interested in Glastonbury, anything after about 1975 is far too modern for me - I was forced onto BBC3 to watch the Germany v France match from the Women's World Cup.

 

I had hoped to avoid the BBC's coverage of this tournament. Not that I am agin Women's fitba, with four daughters and one grand-daughter, I cannot afford to be; but, I am agin the BBC's normal policy in such events, be they for men or women, of losing all objectivity an becoming cheerleaders for Engurland, Engurland, Engurland!!

 

However, I joined last night's game for the second half, and can honestly say: I saw better fitba in that one game than in a season of the SPFL. Also, there was little in the way of shirt-pulling, over-the-ball "tackling" and no rolling about as if shot after a hard challenge.

 

If the player' conduct is typical of women's fitba, then it is the men who are: "the big girls's blouses".

 

As ever, once it got to penalties - you could have bet the house on the frauleins seeing-off the madamoselles. 

 

Good, well-hit penalties they were too, significantly the one badly-hit shot was saved, so, the French were out. However, how typical of the Germans; they didn't play well, but, they hung-in there, got a break with the penalty, then turned the screw.

 

By the way, the Canadian referee made one or two wee errors, but, tel the truth, I doubt if even an Auchinleck Talbot defender with a grievance would have questioned her. To quote the old Scottish saying; I widnae like tae tak a broken pey hame tae her.

 

 

 

LEE McCulloch for Kilmarnock. Speaking as a Killie fan: "No Gary, no, no, never"!!!

 

"Elbows" did a great job for the Rangers Tribute Act in leading them to League Two and  League One titles. In those two seasons, he played and acted like an old-school "Real" Rangers captain. However, last season, in the Championship, he was found-out.

 

Towards the end of last season, Lee suddenly looked even older than his 37-years. To be blunt - he had gone. If he could not cut it in the Championship, how can Gary Locke expect him to do a job in the Premeirship?

 

Of course, he has signed as a player-coach. As such, I suppose he might be able to do an effective job in the reserves and during Monday to Friday training, but, if Gary Locke expects Lee McCulloch to do a job in the first team - I fear he maybe is about to discover, he has made a mistake.

 

 

 

A SIMILAR situation might be about to engulf new RTA boss Mark Warburton, who seems intent on bringing John Eustace to Glasgow, and making him captain.

 

Eustace has never been anything more than a journeyman in English football. He is now 35, which is a bit old to switch to the different style of play in the Championship. I cannot see it working.

 

Also, bringing in a guy with a proven track record as a captain, such as a Terry Butcher or a Richard Gough can work. I suggest Mr Eustace is not quite in that class as a player or leader.

 

Lee Wallace would be my first choice as Rangers' captain. He has put-in the time, he has the ability as a player, he has done the job. Even Danny Wilson, who led Hearts last year, and has a track record at Rangers, would, for me, be a better choice.

 

Captains, even Old Firm captains, are not what they once were. Today's arm band-wearers don't have the same status as a Stein, a McNeill or an Aitken on one side or a Young, Greig or Gough on the other. But, these two clubs still need an on-field leader with a proven track record - I don't know if Mr Eustace will fit that need.

 

 

 

YESTERDAY, I had my first chance to speak with one of my daughter's Partick Thistle-supporting partner. I, of course, raised the thorny issue of the new Jags' mascot.

 

He shook his head and said: "Well, we have to do something outrageous to get noticed, with all that media attention focused on the Bigot Brothers, but, for me, this is a mad scheme too far."

 

I also liked the tweet which was widely quoted, about Lisa Simpson letting herself go.

 

I am sure the lads in the Jackie Husband Stand will come up with something original and witty to say about the new mascot, once hostilities commence.

It Has Aye Been - But, It No Longer Works, So, Why Not Change Things

HOW best to manage youth development is an on-going problem for our leading clubs. In this matter, and with the caveat that the other  code's methods are not perfect - maybe Scottish fitba could learn a thing or two from Scottish Rugby.

 

I maybe ought to say, firstly, in Rugby Union, the Gentleman's game, in Scotland in particular, it still helps if you went to the "right" school. In Glasgow, if you went to the Academy, the High School, Kelvinside, St Al's  or Hutchie, you are more-likely to get onto the development ladder than if you went to John Street, Crookston Castle, St Mungo's, or Holyrood.

 

In Edinburgh, chaps from Fettes, Merchie, the Academy, Watson's, Heriot's or Stew-Mel are more-likely to be  noticed than boys from Forrester, Boroughmuir, Tynecastle, or Firhill Secondaries. In the sprawling Caledonian Region of Scottish Rugby - it's Dollar Academy, Morrison's, Dundee High School, Robert Gordon's and so-forth which are the rugby hot-beds, in spite of the brilliant tie-up between Bell-Baxter High School and Howe of Fife.

 

Of course, before the teachers' discovered the joys of having Saturday mornings to themselves back in the 1980s, there were similar stories of certain schools across Scotland producing more professionals than others.

 

Old-fashioned I might be, but, I think Scotland produced better players when schools football was the main starting point, than it has since the boys clubs took-on the initial development role. That said, clubs such as Hutcheson Vale, Gleniffer Thistle and the late-lamented Drumchapel Amateurs were as good football "finishing schools" as the big rugby-playing Edinburgh schools ever were in their code.

 

But, I digress slightly. Away from the top schools/FP club relationship in rugby, at club level, there is a system, which works, and which could be fettled for football.

 

Your average small town rugby club takes in boys (and increasingly girls) at about Primary Four level, and - if they are doing their job properly, and many are - they turn-out players aged 18 or 19 with a choice to make.

 

By that age, the ones likely to go on to the highest level of the club game, or even into professional contracts with Edinburgh or Glasgow, have already been identified and introduced to the SRU's elite Pathway scheme.

 

The ones who simply want to play for fun, for as long as they feel like it, will be ready to settle into the well-known rugby practice of playing the game to work-up a Saturday night thirst, while (still too-many) will have graduated to wine, women and song - and, there's nothing wrong with that.

 

But, most of them develop with the club where they started. Some, in the Pathway set-up, may leave a small club for a bigger one but, with regular mini and midi-rugby tournaments, which are structured to give everyone a game, there is no real need to do this.

 

Also, rugby tries very hard to make each game competitive. Particularly at that awkward time of the late teenage years, there are strictly-adhered to protocols which prevent callow youths from being ripped apart by adult players who are bigger, stronger and meaner.

 

Some smallish clubs have, in their youth development ranks, situations whereby they can field more than one squad at a particular age-group. This they do, there is no need to move clubs because you cannot get a game at your age group.

 

Then we come to adult development. Now, the two Scottish-based professional sides: Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the SRU, the governing body - so, the protocol is: Scotland comes first. In senior football in Scotland, particularly where a couple of Glasgow clubs are concerned - THEY come first, the needs of the Scotland team is an inconvenient nuisance.

 

Given a choice between recruiting a Scottish-born and coached player and one from England or overseas, I sense most top Scottish clubs would still, far-rather, recruit from outwith Scotland. They justify this by quoting EU laws which, according to the clubs, prevents them from operating a quota system, designed to ensure they have a mainly-Scots squads.

 

This claim is PURE BULL-SHIT. If the English Aviva Rugby Premiership can INSIST that each side's match-day squad had a minimum of 70% of the playrs "England-qualified", this rives a coach and horses through the SPFL's claims of "Eu Employment Law"  allowing the likes of Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Celtic to field teams with nary a Scot in them.

 

Back in Scottish rugby, the two professional sides also have to agree to a draft system, which links every player on their books to one of the ten top "amateur" club sides in the BT Premiership. There is also, within this, an understanding whereby if one of the professionals was recruited from a specific club - within his professional side's catchment area, he remains linked to that club.

 

This means, for instance, if Glasgow and Scotland players Gordon Reid or Mark Bennett are coming back from injury and need game time, away from the pressures of the professional Pro12 League, then they can turn-out for Ayr, the club which nurtured them as boys. Edinburgh players who came from Hawick, or Melrose or Boroughmuir go back there if they need game time.

 

Boroughuir won the Scottish Cup last season, thanks in no small measure to the input from some Edinburgh fringe players who played more-often at Meggatland than they did at Murrayfield. Glasgow Hawks have a good smattering of fringe Glasgow players in their ranks, as does Stirling County.

 

The rugby teams are, it must also be stated, far-better at player rotation and game-time management than are our football teams.

 

But, to get back to my main point about youth development. In rugby, the younger professional players - the EDPs (Elite Development Professionals) train Monday to Friday with their professional club, then play on a Saturday with the amateur club with which they are linked.

 

Why could this not work in football? Young Celtic players, who have gone through the U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19 U-20 age groups, but, are not yet considered ready for the first-team squad. Their contemporaries at Hearts might be turning-out for Alloa, or Stirling Albion. The similar Aberdeen or Dundee or Dundee United kids could be playing for Montrose, or Brechin, or Forfar. I would suggest, they might learn more there than playing what little reserve team football is still played in Scotland.

 

Certainly, some younger players go out on-loan, but, this is a bit hit and miss. The rugby set-up is not ideal, but it is something akin to a system which does work, that in North American sport, whereby the Major League clubs send young players out to minor league affiliates to learn to be professionals.

 

Scottish football's development system isn't working, but, there are alternatives out there - so maybe we should investigate these. However, there remains one huge stumbling block, one with which we are all-too-familiar in Scotland.

 

If we suggested change, many would simply stand up and say: "Naw, naw son - it widnae work, it's AYE BEEN DONE this way. Ayebeenism, the biggest draw back to success in Scottish sport.  

Youth Development - It's A Mess

ALAN Campbell is arguably the most-under-rated sports writer on the Herald's roster. He's the guy who covers those parts of the Scottish football scene deemed to beneath the dignity of the "real" fitba writers - Women's football and so forth. Alan covers this potentially near-barren field very well.

This morning, he wrote a piece which brought into the public sphere something which those of us who write about fitba had been aware of for years - the absolute bollocks which is "youth development" in Scotland.

I got to thinking on what AC had written, and, being an enthusiastic digger into the past, I had a look at what I consider to be the biggest failure in player development - the way Celtic and Rangers no longer seem to bring through home-grown talent.

In the first two decades after World War II, Celtic were firmly in Rangers' shadow. Under Bill Struth and later Scot Symon, Rangers ruled the roost in those days BS (before Stein).

A look at the Big Two's youth development at that time, however, shows an interesting difference. In those two decades between the end of hostilities in 1945 and the Big Man's return to Celtic as manager in 1965 -  20 Celtic players were capped by Scotland, as against 24 from Rangers. However, of those 20 capped Celts, only Neil Mochan was bought-in.

Jimmy Delaney, Willie Miller, Bobby Evans, John McPhail, Bobby Collins, Willie Fernie, Dunky MacKay, Eric Smith, Bertie Auld, Frank Haffey, Paddy Crerand, Billy McNeill, Jim Kennedy, Stevie Chalmers, Jimmy Johnstone, John Hughes, Bobby Murdoch, Tommy Gemmell and John Clark came through the ranks.

Most of these players - from MacKay on, benefitted from Stein's guidance and influence, as a coach. They were the original Kelly Kids, the forerunners of the Quality Street Gang. There are seven Lisbon Lions in that group. They were in-place, ready to burst into the full flowering of their talent, when Stein returned.

The Celtic fans back then didn't like spending so long in their greatest rivals' shadow. Yes, there was the occasional shaft of sunlight - the St Mungo and Coronation Cup wins, the league and cup double of 1954, "Hampden in the Sun" in 1958. Many moaned, but, the sharper realised, something was stirring and they got the pay-off with Lisbon and nine-in-a-row.

In the same period, the 24 capped Rangers are split thus: 14 - George Young, Willie Waddell, Willie Thornton, Jimmy Duncanson, Willie Woodburn, Eddie Ruthrford, Alex Scott, Eric Caldow, Davie Wilson, Ralh Brand, Billy Ritchie, Willie Henderson, Davie Provan and John Greig came through the ranks. The other ten - Bobby Brown, Jock Shaw, Sammy Cox, Ian McColl, John Little, Sammy Baird, Jim Baxter, Bobby Shearer, Ian McMillan and Jimmy Millar were bought-in.

During Stein's managerial tenure, from 1965 until 1978, 16 Celtic players were capped by Scotland, of these - nine players: Bobby Lennox, Jim Craig, Davie Hay, Jim Brogan, Kenny Dalglish, Lou Macari, Danny McGrain, George Connolly and Paul Wilson were home-grown; the other seven: Joe McBride, Willie Wallace, Ronnie Simpson, Ally Hunter, Dixie Deans, Joe Craig and Ronnie Glavin were bought-in.

During the same period, Rangers had 15 players capped. The Ibrox club's greater willingness to raid other Scottish clubs for talent is shown in the way these  players are split: seven - Willie Johnston, Ron McKinnon, Jim Forrest, Sandy Jardine, Derek Johnstone, Derek Parlane and Colin Jackson came through the ranks, the other eight - Tommy McLean, Colin Stein, Davie Smith, Tam Forsyth, Peter McCloy, Stewart Kennedy, Alex Macdonald and Bobby McKean were bought-in.

Between Stein's departure from Celtic and Graeme Souness's arrival at Ibrox, Celtic had eight players capped by Scotland. Four of these players - Roy Aitken, Tommy Burns, Charlie Nicholas and Paul McStay came through the ranks; Davie Provan, Frank McGarvey, Mo Johnston and Murdo MacLeod were bought-in.

That same period was a poor one for Rangers, with Ally Dawson the solitary home-grown player to win a full cap, alongside three bought-in players: Davie Cooper, Jim Bett and Ally McCoist.

In the years since "The Souness Revolution", both teams have tended to follow the pattern Souness used at Rangers, of  mainly buying-in ready-made talent. Celtic have had 38 players capped by Scotland in the years AS (After Souness): 13 - Derek Whyte, Peter Grant, Brian O'Neil, Simon Donnelly, Mark Burchill, Stephen Crainey, Jamie Smith, John Kennedy, David Marshall, Craig Beattie, Shaun Maloney, Stephen McManus and James Forrest came through the ranks; 25 - Frank McAvennie, Brian McClair, Maurice Johnston, Andy Walker, John Collins, Tommy Boyd, Mike Galloway, Gordon Marshall, Tosh McKinlay, Jackie McNamara, Paul Lambert, Craig Burley, Darren Jackson, Jonathan Gould, Rab Douglas, Stephen Pearson, Scott Brown, Gary Caldwell, Barry Robson, Paul Hartley, Kenny Miller, Mark Wilson, Leigh Griffiths, Charlie Mulgrew (although he left Celtic as an uncapped youngster, only to return after roving himself elsewhere) and Craig Gordon were bought-in.

In the same period, Rangers have had a mere eight home-grown players capped by Scotland: Ian Durrant, Derek Ferguson, Barry Ferguson, Maurice Ross, Chris Burke, Charlie Adam, Allan Hutton and Allan McGregor; while 27 players: Andy Goram, Ian Ferguson, Richard Gough, Maurice Johnston, Gordon Durie, Davie MacPherson, (although he had left Rangers as an uncapped youngster, only to return), David Robertson, Stuart McCall, Duncan Ferguson, Alan McLaren, Colin Hendry, Neil McCann, Billy Dodds, Allan Johnston, Kenny Miller, Steven Thompson, Ian Murray, Kris Boyd, Kirk Broadfoot, Steven Whittaker, Christian Dailly, Steven Naismith, Gavin Rae, Kevin Thomson, Lee Wallace, Ian Black and newly-returned assistant manager Davie Weir were all either capped with other clubs or had made their names elsewhere before arriving at Ibrox.

It might be argued that Celtic at least paid attention to the club's long-established practice of growing their own talent, until Martin O'Neill arrived. In the last ten years, James Forrest is the single home-grown Celtic player to come through the ranks to be capped by Scotland (while Aiden McGeady was capped by the Republic of Ireland).

Rangers, once Souness arrived, all but abandoned youth development - they didn't produce a single home-grown Scotland cap between Derek Ferguson's debut against Malta in March, 1988, and younger brother Barry's first start in Lithuania, ten and a half years later.

In the 21t century, Celtic have produced nine home-grown Scotland caps: Burchill, Crainey, Smith, Kennedy, Marshall, Beattie, Maloney, McManus and Forrest, Rangers a mere five - Ross, Burke, Adam, Hutton and McGregor, and, it might be argued that Adam and McGregor benefitted more from lengthy loan spells away from Rangers than from anything they learned at the costly and magnificent Murray Park.

Of course, times have changed over the course of the 70 post-war years. Up until Sky began to chuck money at the English Premiership, Rangers were able to match the wages being paid down south. Celtic were never that generous towards their players, and consequently lost a lot of stellar talent to the south, layers who, if the mythical "biscuit tin" had been opened a bit more often might have stayed.

These days are passed, Celtic, for instance, have seemingly adopted a strategy of buying unpolished foreign talent cheaply, polishing these players and selling them on to English clubs - should the Rangers Tribute Act ever morph into real Rangers again, who knows, they too might follow this policy.

However, given the poor financial state of Scottish football, our two biggest clubs might well do better to grow their own talent.

After all, the Lisbon Lions were all famously born within 35-miles of Celtic Park; the Barcelona Bears had a distinctly tartan hue, as did the Gothenburg Greats.

When we picked Scottish teams - we won European trophies. Might it not be worth trying that approach again? However, for that to happen, there will need to be a complete change of heart and a severe application of the Scottish work ethic. Who knows, it might work, so, why not try it?

There is one other damning statistic as regards what used to be called "the Old Firm". That is the number of Under-21 caps these two clubs have produced, who didn't "train-on" to become first-team regulars and full caps, but, drifted away.

A disclaimer should go in at this point. Some of these who were let go, such as John Spencer, Robert Fleck, Barry Nicholson, Stephen Hughes and Ross McCormack from Rangers and Ross Wallace from Celtic, were subsequently capped elsewhere.

In all, 60 Celtic players have been capped at Under-21 level, since 1976. In the same period, 59 Under-21 caps have gone to Rangers players. Only 23 Celtic players, 38% of those capped at that level, have gone on to win full caps - a slightly better than average performance.

Rangers have had 59 players capped at Under-21 level in the same period, of these a mere 16, 27% have trained-on to win full caps. This is a below-average performances, given that club's resources.

Sorting out youth development might be a good place to start. Where the big two lead, the others will follow.  

Into Europe - The Question Is - How Far?

SO, the European draws for the new season have been made, and, as if to confirm the impression that football these days is slewed towards the bigger clubs - Celtic get  the best draw of the four Scottish clubs.

The Hoops get the comparatively-straight-forward trip to Iceland, to face Starjnan, while St Johnstone must trek right across to Europe to face the Armenian side Alashkert and Aberdeen face an only slightly less daunting trip, to Macedonia, to take on Shkendija. Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who don't enter the Europa League until the second qualifying round, also face a lengthy trip, to Romania, to face Astra Giurgiu.

All four of the Scottish sides are seeded higher than their opponents, but, that ranking should not be taken as a passport into the next round. There are no easy games in Europe these days - even the diddiest of diddy teams are sufficiently well-organised to make things difficult for Scottish teams, and there have been more than a few "upsets", which were only actually upsets if you believe Scottish football's propaganda. It is now widely accepted -  your average player on continental Europe tends to be more technically-gifted than your average Scottish one.

It would be nice to think all four Scottish clubs can get over the first hurdle, but, I am not so-certain.

In researching another wee story I am writing, over the weekend, I had a look at the latest UEFA club coefficients. These make interesting reading for the average Scottish fitba fan. Obviously Celtic are the top-rated Scottish club, but, Celtic are only ranked 55th in the UEFA club coefficients (still seventh in the UK, however). The next Scottish club in the list is - I kid you not - the Rangers Tribute Act, in 113th position, followed by Motherwell at 197, Hearts - 227, Dundee United - 228, St Johnstone - 239, Hibs - 266 and Aberdeen, occupying position 285.

There are 454 clubs listed in the European club coefficient list, while, in the overall coefficient rankings, which lists the 54 Euopean leagues, the SPFL is ranked 23rd.

John Collins was having a wee whinge this week, claiming that Celtic are being unfairly penalised in the coefficient tables, because they get so little back-up from the other Scottish clubs, who have tended to be out of Europe before Christmas in recent seasons - a far way off those halcyon days when the Old Firm, Hibs, Dundee, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic and Kilmarnock were reaching European semi-finals, and the Old Firm and Aberdeen were winning European trophies.

I have long argued, the Bigot Brothers (when both were in the top league) should have been challenged more domestically, and believed, the ability to rack-up more than an occasional win over either of the big Glasgow sides, would lead to better European results.

I still believe this, but, getting there - ah, there's the rub. I firmly believe Scottish fitba as a whole is happy to accept low standards; the supposed "professional" clubs are, too-often, anything but professional; our players are not being forced to work hard enough on individual or team skills.

Until we eradicate these failings, Scottish clubs, individually and collectively, will continue to struggle in Europe.

John Collins has a point, it has to be conceded. However, Celtic, I would suggest, are not helping themselves. They were the seventh team to be crowned European Champions, back in 1967. In all 22 clubs have won this, the supreme European club prize. Of these 22 clubs, 20 remain within the 454 clubs listed in the latest UEFA coefficient table.

Nottingham Forest and Hamburg are the two to have dropped off the European radar. Of the remainder, Celtic are currently ranked 17th out of the 20. These 20 clubs and their current coefficient rankings are:
01 Real Madrid (Spain)
02 Barcelona (Spain)
03 Bayern Munich (Germany)
04 Chelsea (England)
06 Benfica (Portugal)
08 Porto (Portugal)
10 Manchester United (England)
13 Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
14 Juventus (Italy)
22 AC Milan (Italy)
24 Inter Milan (Italy)
26 Ajax (Netherlands)
30 PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
35 Marseilles (France)
42 Liverpool (England)
54 Steau Bucharest (Romania)
55 CELTIC
95 Feyenoord (Netherlands)
110 Aston Villa (England)
205 Red Star Belgrade (Serbia).

It could be argued, that of these 20 clubs, Celtic had the easiest domestic campaign to navigate their way through en route to European success. Aside from the New Firm days of the late 1970s, when Aberdeen and Dundee United challenged the status quo, Celtic have traditionally been involved in a two-horse race for the Scottish European Cup place - and the other horse hasn't been running over the last three seasons.

Yes, Celtic have lacked competition in Scotland, but, they have, it can be argued, failed to rise to the stiffer competition abroad. They are, in cricket terms: "flat track bullies" - they can win the easy games, but, when the going gets tough, they cop out.

Instead of whining Collins should be laying down the law to his players, and getting them to go much-further in the European Cup than they have for many a long year.

That, go further than in recent years suggestion also applies - even more, to the other three Scottish sides in Europe. In particular, I wish ICT well in this, their debut season in Europe. 

At Last, The Season Has Ended, But, There Will Be Another Along Shortly

ON Wednesday night, Hurlford United salvaged something from what was ultimately a disappointing season, by beating Auchinleck Talbot in the Ayrshire Cup Final, at Meadow Park, Irvine.

The blast of the final whistle in that match was significant, since it signalled the end of a long season in Scottish football - we are now, officially, in the close season.

That said, even before the United and Talbot players had taken the field, the first of our senior players were back in pre-season training, ready for the 2015-16 campaign; which just proves how the game is now an all-year-round one.

Of course, at senior level, the game is fully-professional (even if some of the game's administrators would surely have been, lang syne, struck-off for incompetence, if the game was governed with the same rigour as the traditional professions such as teaching, medicine, the law and accountancy). The professional clubs have to have 24/7x52 weeks 
income streams.

This fact will have repercussions when it comes to answering the growing clamour for a re-cast season, usually condensed into two words: "Summer Football".

**Meander warning - I am about to go off on a tangent**

Summer football is seen, somehow, as un-British. We must have a clear division in seasons, which would allow talented chaps to play both football in the winter and cricket in the summer.

Sadly, the days of the dual-international are long gone. The last man to play football and cricket for England (the real pinnacle of dual-internationalism) was Arthur Milton, who played on the right wing for Arsenal and was capped just once, against Austria in 1951.

Milton who played for Gloucestershire, won six Test caps in cricket for England, scoring a century on his debut against New Zealand in 1959. He had a much-longer cricket career, captaining his native county and having a street in Bristol, where he was born, named after him.

The last Scotsman to represent us at cricket and football was Andy Goram, but, Walter Smith put the kybosh on "The Goalie's" cricket career - which had seen him on Lancashire's books as a youngster, in case he damaged his hands.

Playing both sports was comparatively simple in the days of Milton, less-so in Goram's time; today, I would say it was impossible.

As a boy, growing up in 1950s Ayrshire, I enjoyed reading the DC Thomson comics - the Adventure, Rover and Wizard. Back then, in the pre-24-hour TV days, you actually had to READ these comics, actual words rather than comic strips were the order of the day.

And, what heroes we had: Alf Tupper, "the Tough of the Track", welder and plumber from Monday to Friday, Olympic 1500 metres Champion at weekends; "Limp Along" Leslie - shepherd and midfield genius; Nick Smith, veteran former England inside left, who with his lifelong friend Arnold Tabbs, who played left-half, would take-over a struggling Division Three North club in some town of dark satanic mills, win them promotion and at the same time, win the FA Cup, before moving-on.

Then there was my particular hero - "Bouncing" Bernard Briggs, the goalkeeper who "only lost one goal" - in the pre-match FA Cup Final warm-up at Wembley. As an impressionable wannabe young goalkeeper, I loved the idea of having a goose egg, a big, fat zero, after my team's name in every result.

Briggs was a small-time scrap metal dealer, whose mode of transport was an old Norton motor bike, with an old cast-iron bath as a sidecar. He played for Darbury Rangers, the team "Limp Along Leslie" captained, in the winter, while in the summer, be was a leg break bowler in county cricket. He was also, the England goalkeeper and an England Test cricketer.

These days, Briggs would be so-busy dealing with VAT returns and elf n safety to have time to train, far-less play.

Right, where was I? Yes, Summer Football.

When I turn up at late season Ayrshire junior games, such as Wednesday night's Meadow Park affair, I always find it interesting to bump into guys who, when you meet them at Rugby Park, or Somerset Park during the senior season, are somewhat dismissive of the juniors - which they sometimes don't see as "proper" football. Yet, there they are, enjoying the craic on sun-dappled terraces. You wonder then - what is wrong with summer football?

The reasons why not are myriad. Not least amongst these is the thorny question of when would the league shut-down? You can never properly forecast the British weather for a start.

In Scandinavia and on the bulk of mainland Europe, they know more or less that the snow will arrive in late November/early December and remain with them until early March. Leaving aside the lack of hard winters, due no doubt to global warming in recent years - we never could accurately forecast when games in Britain would be forced off by poor weather.

I remember playing rugby on Ayr Beach during the harsh winter of 1962-63, but, that winter apart, every other one has been a lottery. There would normally be a heavy snow-fall around the time of the old RAC Rally in November, maybe a heavier fall around New Year and a third bout of snow in late February, but, this no longer seems to be the case.

Back in the day, we didn't have pitch protection, or artificial surfaces, so, games were off. This isn't as much of a problem today. But, the problem remains - we cannot accurately forecast the weather.

So, we might decide to shut down from the second Saturday in December say, until the first Saturday in February, only to discover we have reasonably weather over this period, with three feet of snow dropped on us on the Friday before the season is about to resume.

Any change to Summer Football will not happen before season 2016-17, so, what might be the time-scale?

Assuming WGS gets us to Euro'16 in France, season 2015-16 will be extended until 10 July, 2016, which will give our home-based international players a very short break - the qualifying rounds of the 2016-17 European competitions will begin within two weeks of the Euros ending.

If we take it that the 2016-17 season kicks-off on 23 July, we have 22 weeks until the (theoretic) winter shut-down comes into play on the weekend of 17/18 December.

If our theoretic new seasonal calendar kicks off on Saturday, 5 February, 2017, and carries on through to the end of June, we have 20 weeks until the last Saturday of June, 2017.

This means, we have 42 weeks into which we have to compress 38 league games, plus the Scottish Cup, the League Cup and that diddy cup for the diddy clubs, which seems to have a new name or sponsor every season.

So, there will still be a need for midweek games. At least, under our theoretic new calendar, there will not be midweek games in deep mid-winter; unless we have our nightmare scenario of crisp, cold but dry weather over Christmas 2016 and into January, 2017, before white-out conditions in February.

A winter shut-down in Scotland could work, but, I would reckon, only if we bring in further changes, to league compositions and competitions.

This, of course, will bring us into further discussions as to how we make Scottish football, leaner, meaner, more fit for purpose in Europe. These aspects of change, I intend tackling in my next posts.  

We Live In Even-More Interesting Times

IT HAS been interesting, reading the MSM's take on the appointment of Mark Warburton as (delete according to particular bigotry) 15th manager of Rangers/second (permanent) manager of Rangers International FC.

The internet bampots on both sides have been out in force. Ra Peepul confident this is the real thing, the start of the march back to glory and domination; the wilder elements in the Celtic Family posting their familiar litany of: "Youse is deid": "Youse is a new club" etc.

I can almost taste their fear. The "green and grey hordes", as Ra Peepul taunt their enemies, have grown used to success. They are revelling in guaranteed European football and lording it over the "diddy" teams.

They can just about accept the odd trip-up in domestic competitions - after all: "Always Cheated - Never Defeated since 1888" is in their DNA. Being ranked among the "top teams in Europe", even if 34th-richest is not all that high a ranking, gives the CF something to puff-out their chests about.

But, deep down they know - when rather than if - the Rangers Tribute Act morphs into a re-born Rangers,these days will, albeit temporarily, pass - and they fear this.

Across the city, the sense of entitlement still burns within the breasts of Ra Peepul.

It hurts them that "they were conned" out of what they see as their birthright - to lord it over Scottish football and be big fish in the European pond - by dodgy financiers, their wealth "off the radar", and by subsequent "investors" who were never "Real Rangers Men".

They so-desperately you can taste it, yearn for the return to the byegone days of yore, when "Timmy" knew his place, and that place was under the brown brogues of Ra Peepul.

Ra Peepul believe the "Real Rangers Men" who now sit in the board room will bring those days back. They will back their judgement, that Warburton and Weir will deliver, and right now, they are starting to feel good about themselves again.

But, they are impatient. Aye, it was a wee bit different to have to go to places like Annan and Brechin on a regular basis. They were like cruise ship passengers, passing this way just once, and taking a passing interest in local culture and how the diddy people live.

This was only supposed to be a three-year journey, before they were back on familiar territory, this additional year in the boondocks was never supposed to happen.

They have slummed for long enough - if it doesn't look as if they will be back in the big time twelve months from now - the backlash will be huge.

Warburton and Weir will have to hit the ground running. Meeting expectations, with the bare bones of a squad which they have inherited and with, as yet - as far as we know - no definite budget towards bringing-in the new talent they need. Well, this will surely be the hardest challenge the new management team has ever faced.

So, how does the MSM play this? Of course, the Lap-Top Loyal will give the new regime every chance to sort things out, they will back them. There will be little criticism, at first, of the new guys - although there will doubtless be some cracking online posts from both sides of the Grand Canyon which separates the two cheeks of the bigoted arse of Scottish Football. There will be little in the way of constructive criticism of the RTA - at least at first.

What we really need, is for another team to come through and join Aberdeen in putting pressure on Celtic, and for Aberdeen to ratchet-up, even more, that pressure. 

We also need, Hibs to find real consistency, of the kind Hearts produced last season, to hand Warburton and Weir an even hotter welcome to the Championship, and for Ian Murray to get St Mirren playing, and James Fowler at Palmerston and Peter Houston at Falkirk to get their teams even-more consistent.

Then, Scottish Football will become interesting again. 

Appointing Warburton Is Not Such A Half-Baked Idea

MARK Warburton, the new manager of the Rangers Tribute Act is indeed an interesting character. Knowing very little about him, I had a look at his Wikipedia entry. OK, Wiki entries have to be taken with a healthy dose of scepticism, but, assuming it is mostly true - well, he doesn't exactly fit the accepted Ibrox model.

 

For a start, he wasn't impressed by Jock Wallace's methods, of which he got first-hand experience as a Leicester City youth player. He has no top-flight experience - but, the lack of a football pedigree didn't prevent Bill Struth from becoming a Rangers icon.

 

I did not, however, realise what a terrific track record he has in developing young players; this augers well for his Ibrox future, since not developing young talent is one of the reasons for the RTA being in the mess in which they currently find themselves.

 

Warburton also had a spell as Sporting Director at Brentford. The Sporting Director/Head Coach scenario is a continental one, not widely practiced in UK football. Indeed, in Scotland, the single example I can think of is at Hearts.

 

I don't know if the RTA will go down that route, given the finances of the club probably not. But, since Warburton will probably be given time to put his personal stamp on playing matters at Ibrox and at Murray Park - I would reckon, if Frank McParland, who was Sporting Director at Griffin Park, after Warburton became manager, doesn't quickly follow Warburton and Weir to Glasgow, there will not be such an appointment.

 

The position of Davie Weir will be interesting. Here is a former Club Captain, an Ibrox Legend, returning to the club. John Greig is back, there are "Real Rangers Men" in the board room - maybe, after the fun and games since 2012, finally, the RTA is on course to be in a position where we can again refer to the Club as 'Rangers'.

 

Another aspect of Warburton's CV is his spell as a city trader. The man clearly has cojones. He will almost certainly not be given megabucks to use in player recruitment for a while, if ever, but, he will, if the position ever changes, surely handle the financial side of the job well.

 

In his city career, he was apparently trading up to £2 BILLION per day; with that experience, gambling several £ millions on a player will not phase him.

 

With the manager's position sorted out, that's another box ticked for the Kingsmen. Now the men in the Blue Room can settle down to sorting things out with MASH, making the necessary repairs to the Stadium and getting the finances in order, to best support their new management team.

 

All seems set fair, however, as David Weir will surely tell Mark Warburton, raised on years of success and with a feeling of entitlement to wins and trophies, the Bears will quickly become restless if, as seems likely, it takes a wee while for the new regime to bed in and get the players to buy into their ideas.

 

The next year will be very interesting indeed.

One Game At A Time - That's The Way To Do It

A Dublin Draw I can live with; that result means, we will, everything else being equal, finish above the Republic in the final table. We can now focus on Poland and Germany ahead of us.

 

But, like that old sweet song, I've got Georgia on my mind. Back in the day, big Alex McLeish gave Scotland new belief, during his all-too-short spell as National Team Manager. Eck finished with something like a 70% wins percentage, but, like his predecessors from Berti Vogts, and his successors, he didn't deliver an appearance in the finals of either the World Cup or the European Championship.

 

The reason for that failure was mainly, a defeat by Georgia in Tiblisi. Beating Ukraine in Kiev was always going to be tough, given, at that time the Ukranians were one of the top teams in the world, so, no shame in losing there. But, Georgia were beatable, even in Tiblisi and Eck and his team couldn't do this. That memory is one reason why I fear for WGS and his squad.

 

They will have to head East at the start of a new season when they will maybe be a bit under-cooked. Also, the Georgia game is the first leg of a double-header, with the Germans, at Hampden, as the second leg. I fear we might be getting ahead of ourselves, by thinking about the Germans and perhaps under-estimating the Georgians.

 

It is a classic Scottish situation - not concentrating too-much on the "diddy" team, as we forget about: "one game at a time"and look too-far ahead to the "big" game.

 

Hence, having Georgia on my mind.

 

 

 

I HAVE long held to what I call the "Willie John Dictum" - a reference to their vastly-experienced captain Willie John McBride encouraging some members of the unbeaten 1974 British Lions in South Africa to ignore the South African Broadcasting Corporation's re-run of the crucial Third Test, victory in which had won the Test series for the Lions.

 

"That's history, ignore it and come back to the bar", was Willie John's instruction to his troops. I commend this attitude to those Tartan Army foot soldiers looking for a liquid brunch in Dublin this morning.

 

OK, the Irish goal was offside, but stood. Nothing we can do about it now (well, if we don't qualify we could always try the FAI approach of threatening legal action and settling out of court). We simply have to move on and concentrate on winning our remaining games.

 

By the way, I refer in my opening paragraph to our record in Georgia. The Poles have come to Hampden before now and seriously spiked our hopes in big competitions. We hear a lot about the disaster that was our trip to Naples in the final game of the 1966 World Cup qualifying campaign - the even-bigger disaster in that campaign was when we lost from a winning position, against the Poles, at Hampden.

 

We cannot change history, but, we can learn from it and avoid repeating past mistakes something we should remember as we approach three very difficult games at the start of next season.

 

 

 

I SEE the MSM are softening us up for the coronation of Mark Warburton and David Weir as the Rangers Tribute Act's new management team - scheduled for early this coming week.

 

As David Weir has probably already told Warburton, it is one thing managing Brentford, quite another managing even the RTA. At least, in appointing the two Ws, as we are being set-up to believe they will, at least the King and his court are, to some extent, looking outside the normal box of Scottish football.

 

Which players they bring in will be crucial to any success. There isn't a lot of "Rangers Class" talent in the current ranks of the RTA.

 

Warburton and Weir, or whoever gets the gig, will be expected to win the Championship next season - they will not be given time to get it right. This is a really tough gig.