I sort of half-listened to BBC Radio Scotland for the early action, such as there was, from last night's Qatar match at Easter Road; then I gave-up and found better things to do with my time.
OK, we won 1-0, Matt Ritchie scored his first and possibly only international goal, the SFA have got a rather attractive trophy to show-off at Hampden, but, in the grand scheme of things - what did the match prove?
I can accept WGS's argument about the need to give those international squad players whose club season had ended three weeks or so before, a wee run-out before playing the Republic of Ireland net week. But, that has in no way compromised my view, there must be a better way of doing things; a more-professional means of getting the best-possible Scotland team on the park, and qualifying for the major tournaments.
Good luck to Ritchie, but, if you look at the recent history of new Scotland caps, such as he, there appears not to be a system for identifying potential international caps and for bringing them up to "international class".
As things stand, only the absolute top-quality young players will go straight from the Under-21 to the full squad; for the rest, there will be a period during which they vanish from the pubic eye, only to return, older, hopefully wiser, after a three or four-year hiatus.
Then there are the "bolters" such as Ritchie or Ikechi Anya, Jamie Mackie or George Boyd, who are plucked from obscurity, usually in the English Championship, to become full caps.
Given that, in the current lowly state of the domestic game, guie few players with Scottish clubs will encounter European competition with their clubs, we have to find some way of bringing them up to speed with the higher demands of the more-technical game beyond the Solway. But how?
Sixty years ago, still staggering from the evidence, gathered so-painfully during the 1954 World Cup Finals in Switzerland, that we were years behind the times, the SFA decided to introduce age group internationals, at Under-23 level.
The plan was, the brightest and best would be identified and blooded at Under-23 level, before moving-up, via the Scottish League team and the B team, to the full Scotland team, and, voila, we would become a power in the world again.
Aye Right. It didn't work. For a start, the guys picking the Scottish League team didn't always buy into the idea of a strong (SFA run) Scotland team. The inter-association rivalry saw them do their own thing.
Then, the SFA themselves, chose to abandon the B team for a spell, and they have never been too-keen on restoring it, making various half-hearted, even quarter-hearted attempts to resurrect the B team, at about decade-apart intervals.
Then, Under-23 became Under-21, further widening the gap between the age group and the full team, and we have struggled ever since.
We no longer send teams to the big tournaments such as the currently on-going toulon one. We have seldom, if ever, used one of our big selling points, the world-wide Caledonian Diaspora, to send-out touring teams to integrate new players into the Scotland system.
If I may digress slightly. The 1967 World Tour is one chapter in Scottish football history which is often overlooked. This is hardly surprising, when you have Celtic winning Scotland's only European Cup, Rangers reaching the final of the Cup-Winners' Cup the following week and Scotland beating World Champions England at Wembley, the small matter of an UNBEATEN world tour, albeit against some then footballing minnows, is bound to be a foot note.
Manager Bobby Brown led an 17-strong group away from Glasgow - a further three players joined-up later. Of these only five players: goalkeeper Jim Cruickshank, centre-halves Ian Ure and Jackie McGrory and midfielders Andy Penman of Rangers and Jim McCalliog of Sheffield Wednesday had been capped, with only McCalliog, who had made his debut against England at Wembley, having appeared in a full international that season.
Tourists Willie Callaghan of Dunfermline, Doug Fraser and Bobby Hope of West Brom, Tommy McLean of Kilmarnock, Joe Harper of Huddersfield Town and Willie Morgan of Burnley went on to win full caps.
A certain Alex Ferguson of Dunfermline Athletic scored ten goals, including four in "internationals" against Israel and Australia, in which the opposition awarded full caps, but "Scotland" didn't - he never did win a full Scotland cap (of which more later).
Anyway, that tour worked, in it showed the then Scotland boss that several fringe players could, if required, step-up to the full team. With a wee bit of thought from within Hampden (damn - I knew there was a potential pit-fall), we could do more of these trips, to the benefit of the national team.
Such trips would, I suggest, be of greater benefit to the long-term health of Scottish international football than meaningless friendlies against the likes of Qatar.
JUST a thought. We are now entering the silly season, that period when, with no live football to cover, those over-paid, under-employed "sports writers", wha ken naethin but fitba, hae to find a way of justifying their high salaries and expenses on the dailies (not that things are as good as they once were there).
So, they telephone round, or are more-often these days telephoned by those charming chaps the football agents, keen to keep the profile of their clients high.
This gives us that summer staple, the red-top EXCLUSIVES, as to which big-name player is about to sign for one or other of the Bigot Brothers.
Not this year, however, the Blue Bigot Brother is skint, under new ownership, taking stock, oh aye, and, lacking a manager. So, little room for EXCLUSIVE transfer speculation at that end of Glasgow, for now.
I suppose they (the hacks) could always take one of the rent-a-quote mob out to tell them who ought to be handed the poisoned chalice of restoring the RTA to its rightful place in the Premiership.
But, most-likely, we will have daily EXCLUSIVES about who is in-line for the big job.
So, in the spirit of friendship and co-operation, can I throw a name into the pot?
A big name foreign boss, with little or no idea about what a putrid cess-pit Scottish football is, might seem attractive. However, if said new boy does come in, one look at the lifestyle choices and a quick viewing of the skills level, commitment and attitude of yer average RTA player and he (the assumed new boss) will, if he has any sense, say: "Thanks, but no thanks" and head elsewhere.
Even your man Warburton, with an Ibrox legend as number two, might have qualms about taking on this Herculean rebuilding task.
Davie Weir? Maybe, but, his track record in management does not inspire confidence. A good number two, yes, number one? Jury's out.
Then, last night, reading something else, an almost-forgotten name leapt out at me: Stephen Pressley.
"Elvis" might have, in management terms, left the building after it all went tits-up at Coventry, but, I think his departure there had more to do with club management (above the level of management) style in England than a loss of touch or indeed failure on his part.
He did well in a care-taker role at Hearts. He did brilliantly at Falkirk. He managed to match youthful promise with encouraging more-established players to build a good team spirit there, and at Coventry.
People forget, he started at Rangers. I remember back then, watching a youthful Rangers team on a dreich Monday night at Somerset Park. Even then, aged 19, Pressley stood-out as the one most likely to make it from that young Rangers team.
I think he ticks so-many of the boxes for the Ibrox job, he would be worth a punt. That said, it might take him a couple of seasons to turn things around, and, whoever gets the job will not have the luxury of that time.
But, as I keep insisting, even a managerial genius such as Matt Busby, or Alex Ferguson, or Willie Shankly, didn't immediately start winning with their greatest team.
A wee bit patience, from the King and his courtiers, plus the right sort, and I think Pressley might have that right stuff, could pay-off, big time.
As things stand, only the absolute top-quality young players will go straight from the Under-21 to the full squad; for the rest, there will be a period during which they vanish from the pubic eye, only to return, older, hopefully wiser, after a three or four-year hiatus.
Then there are the "bolters" such as Ritchie or Ikechi Anya, Jamie Mackie or George Boyd, who are plucked from obscurity, usually in the English Championship, to become full caps.
Given that, in the current lowly state of the domestic game, guie few players with Scottish clubs will encounter European competition with their clubs, we have to find some way of bringing them up to speed with the higher demands of the more-technical game beyond the Solway. But how?
Sixty years ago, still staggering from the evidence, gathered so-painfully during the 1954 World Cup Finals in Switzerland, that we were years behind the times, the SFA decided to introduce age group internationals, at Under-23 level.
The plan was, the brightest and best would be identified and blooded at Under-23 level, before moving-up, via the Scottish League team and the B team, to the full Scotland team, and, voila, we would become a power in the world again.
Aye Right. It didn't work. For a start, the guys picking the Scottish League team didn't always buy into the idea of a strong (SFA run) Scotland team. The inter-association rivalry saw them do their own thing.
Then, the SFA themselves, chose to abandon the B team for a spell, and they have never been too-keen on restoring it, making various half-hearted, even quarter-hearted attempts to resurrect the B team, at about decade-apart intervals.
Then, Under-23 became Under-21, further widening the gap between the age group and the full team, and we have struggled ever since.
We no longer send teams to the big tournaments such as the currently on-going toulon one. We have seldom, if ever, used one of our big selling points, the world-wide Caledonian Diaspora, to send-out touring teams to integrate new players into the Scotland system.
If I may digress slightly. The 1967 World Tour is one chapter in Scottish football history which is often overlooked. This is hardly surprising, when you have Celtic winning Scotland's only European Cup, Rangers reaching the final of the Cup-Winners' Cup the following week and Scotland beating World Champions England at Wembley, the small matter of an UNBEATEN world tour, albeit against some then footballing minnows, is bound to be a foot note.
Manager Bobby Brown led an 17-strong group away from Glasgow - a further three players joined-up later. Of these only five players: goalkeeper Jim Cruickshank, centre-halves Ian Ure and Jackie McGrory and midfielders Andy Penman of Rangers and Jim McCalliog of Sheffield Wednesday had been capped, with only McCalliog, who had made his debut against England at Wembley, having appeared in a full international that season.
Tourists Willie Callaghan of Dunfermline, Doug Fraser and Bobby Hope of West Brom, Tommy McLean of Kilmarnock, Joe Harper of Huddersfield Town and Willie Morgan of Burnley went on to win full caps.
A certain Alex Ferguson of Dunfermline Athletic scored ten goals, including four in "internationals" against Israel and Australia, in which the opposition awarded full caps, but "Scotland" didn't - he never did win a full Scotland cap (of which more later).
Anyway, that tour worked, in it showed the then Scotland boss that several fringe players could, if required, step-up to the full team. With a wee bit of thought from within Hampden (damn - I knew there was a potential pit-fall), we could do more of these trips, to the benefit of the national team.
Such trips would, I suggest, be of greater benefit to the long-term health of Scottish international football than meaningless friendlies against the likes of Qatar.
JUST a thought. We are now entering the silly season, that period when, with no live football to cover, those over-paid, under-employed "sports writers", wha ken naethin but fitba, hae to find a way of justifying their high salaries and expenses on the dailies (not that things are as good as they once were there).
So, they telephone round, or are more-often these days telephoned by those charming chaps the football agents, keen to keep the profile of their clients high.
This gives us that summer staple, the red-top EXCLUSIVES, as to which big-name player is about to sign for one or other of the Bigot Brothers.
Not this year, however, the Blue Bigot Brother is skint, under new ownership, taking stock, oh aye, and, lacking a manager. So, little room for EXCLUSIVE transfer speculation at that end of Glasgow, for now.
I suppose they (the hacks) could always take one of the rent-a-quote mob out to tell them who ought to be handed the poisoned chalice of restoring the RTA to its rightful place in the Premiership.
But, most-likely, we will have daily EXCLUSIVES about who is in-line for the big job.
So, in the spirit of friendship and co-operation, can I throw a name into the pot?
A big name foreign boss, with little or no idea about what a putrid cess-pit Scottish football is, might seem attractive. However, if said new boy does come in, one look at the lifestyle choices and a quick viewing of the skills level, commitment and attitude of yer average RTA player and he (the assumed new boss) will, if he has any sense, say: "Thanks, but no thanks" and head elsewhere.
Even your man Warburton, with an Ibrox legend as number two, might have qualms about taking on this Herculean rebuilding task.
Davie Weir? Maybe, but, his track record in management does not inspire confidence. A good number two, yes, number one? Jury's out.
Then, last night, reading something else, an almost-forgotten name leapt out at me: Stephen Pressley.
"Elvis" might have, in management terms, left the building after it all went tits-up at Coventry, but, I think his departure there had more to do with club management (above the level of management) style in England than a loss of touch or indeed failure on his part.
He did well in a care-taker role at Hearts. He did brilliantly at Falkirk. He managed to match youthful promise with encouraging more-established players to build a good team spirit there, and at Coventry.
People forget, he started at Rangers. I remember back then, watching a youthful Rangers team on a dreich Monday night at Somerset Park. Even then, aged 19, Pressley stood-out as the one most likely to make it from that young Rangers team.
I think he ticks so-many of the boxes for the Ibrox job, he would be worth a punt. That said, it might take him a couple of seasons to turn things around, and, whoever gets the job will not have the luxury of that time.
But, as I keep insisting, even a managerial genius such as Matt Busby, or Alex Ferguson, or Willie Shankly, didn't immediately start winning with their greatest team.
A wee bit patience, from the King and his courtiers, plus the right sort, and I think Pressley might have that right stuff, could pay-off, big time.
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