I MUST admit, as time goes by, I find it more and more difficult to be an almost lone voice, crying in the wilderness, about the ills befalling Scottish Football.
Basically, because, I do not see the concerns of myself, and those others who know all is not well in the game we love here in North Britain, but - NO MATTER WHAT WE SAY OR SUGGEST, NOTHING WILL CHANGE ANYTIME SOON.
We will continue to stumble from non-qualification for the European Championships to not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup and so-on, ad finitum. Our media will continue to over-hype kids who haven't got it, our clubs will more and more rely on loan deals with lesser English clubs, or cheap foreign imports. I do not see the necessary and long-overdue changes being implemented any time soon.
Still, for as long as they can be spoon-fed tittle-tattle from the Big Brothers, for as long as they rely on quotes from Rent-a-quote Has Beens, change will never happen.
In the corridors of power on Hampden's sixth floor, the stumblebums will stumble along, keeping their fellow members of the wee insiders clubs sweet, and to Hell with the Public - they will continue to come along.
Only, the numbers have been falling consistently for years and years now; and I cannot see the pattern changing any time soon. I despair.
OF COURSE, should we beat Poland, at Hampden, on Thursday night - it will be all-change. Aye right.
I honestly don't see us beating the Poles. In fact, with my interest in Scottish football history, I can see and fear a repeat of the Poles's visit to Hampden almost exactly 50-years ago.
This visit, on 13 October, 1965, was for a qualifying game for the 1966 World Cup. Scotland went into the game in what was, on-paper, a strong position. We had beaten Finland home and away - 3-1 at Hampden, 2-1 in Helsinki. We had gone to Poland less than five months previously, gone 0-1 down but escaped with a draw and a crucial away point after Denis Law's 76th minute equaliser. Then were denied an absolute stone-wall penalty when Willie Henderson was upended in the Polish box.
A win would leave us in a very good place, with just the two games against Italy to come. We had Jock Stein as (part-time) manager and he picked a strong team for the game: Bill Brown of Spurs was in goal, winning the 27th of his then record 28 caps; Alex Hamilton of Dundee was winning his 24th and last cap; paired at full-back with new boy Eddie McCreadie, winning his sixth cap.
Our half-back line oozed strength and class - Paddy Crerand of Manchester United, winning his 16th cap, skipper Billy McNeill, winning cap number 19 and John Greig of Rangers, winning his 11th cap.
Up front Rangers's wingers Willie Henderson (18th cap) and debutant Willie Johnston offered a threat out wide, while inside them we had wee Billy Bremner, winning his second cap, Alan Gilzean of Tottenham, winning his eighth cap and the Lawman, winning his 34th cap.
With a 107,580 Tartan Army behind them, surely the Scots would win? And that win seemed closer, when McNeill shot home in 14 minutes. Law and Henerson then missed sitters while, twice, after Henderson, then Gilzean were sent crashing inside the Polish penalty area, the Swedish referee copped-out by awarding indirect free-kicks to Scotland!!!
Debutant Johnston tore the Polish right flank to shreds and a net-bound Gilzean back-heeler was cleared off the line. So, at the break, there was clear frustration inside the home dressing room.
The momentum wasn't maintained after the change-round, Poland came more into the game, the Scottish defence fell apart and two goals in the 84th and 86th minute sent Scotland tumbling to defeat.
Had we won that game, we would have gone onto seven points, and, in the final analysis, that home defeat rather did for us when it came to qualifying for 1966 and all that.
Assuming we had won against the Poles, after our win over Italy at Hampden on 9 November, 1965 - when big Greig scored that last-minute goal, we would have been on nine points to Italy's seven.
Even if we had then lost to Naples, as we actually did, we would still have had a play-off on neutral territory to get through, and who is to say we could not have beaten the Italians then.
Mind you, this being Scotland, even if we had beaten the Poles and got past the Italians, you have to ask, what kind of fuck-up would we have come up with against the North Koreans, who did for the Italians in the finals?
So, if a Polish team, without a striker of the quality of Robert Levandowski could beat that star-studded 1965 Scotland team; what chance have today's Caledonian journeymen got?
For'ard tho' ah canna see, ah guess and fear.
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