LAST night I settled down in my recliner, to watch the Barcelona v Arsenal game. For the next 90 minutes-plus, I was thoroughly entertained as two good sides went at it. At the final whistle, the very good side, with the three megastars of "The Trident" up front had won, and won well. But, I have to say, Arsenal had their moments and fully contributed to an excellent match.
Once again Messi, Suarez and Neymar were well-worth whatever hefty salary they pick up at the Camp Nuo; but, the Barca "Chorus Line" of supporting players isn't a bad ensemble either.
Alerted by the commentators to what was happening in Munich, I immediately turned over at the final whistle and caught the extra time in the Bayern v Juventus match. As an encore, this was again, terrific stuff - with Bayern's two young subs turning the game towards a German victory - and Mr Robben didn't even trap through injury.
And there, in three paragraphs, is what is wrong with Scottish football. How can we hope to drag punters through the doors of our village hall football stadia, when they can sit at home and have a front row stalls position for the London Palladium?
"Ach, ye dinnae get the atmosphere oan the telly". Aye Right, I am afraid, I can well do without the "atmosphere" of a Bigot Brothers bash fest. Standing oot in the cauld in January, watching lumpen journeymen struggle to trap a fallig bag of cement - when I could be at home, in the warm, watching genuinely good, talented players on the box - it's a no-brainer.
This is why, the likes of Sir Robert Kelly was so correct, back in the 1950s and 1960s, when he fought to keep football off the box - in all but the most-extreme of cases. For as long as tv exposure was limited to highlights packages, or the likes of the Scottish or English Cup finals, the Scotland v England match and the World Cup, it had an element of control.
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| Sir Robert Kelly - the Celtic Chairman warned against selling-out to television |
Once greed drove the clubs to open the doors to wall-to-wall football, the game was on the slippery slope to oblivion. Also, with the advances in technology, the game became global. Thus, when replica strips first appeared, it was a local market, kids in Scotland were quite happy to display their liking for a particular Scottish team. Today, you are as-likely to see a Barca, or a Manchester United strip in Glasgow as one for either half of the Old Firm.
The clubs took the money and squandered it. Now, decades down the line, we are having to watch loanees from the Premiership, or guys who learned their trade with lower league English teams, or in lesser European leagues, filling jerseys once worn by global talents such as Danny McGrain and Sandy Jardine, Jimmy Johnstone and Willie Henderson or Jim Baxter and Bobby Murdoch.
Scottish women players such as Kim Little and Jenny Beattie are seen to be as good as any in the women's world game, because our women chose to do things differently. The best of our male team are not even in the field when it comes to choosing the best in Britain, far less the best in the world.
Of course, they have come-up through the system of "Ayebeenism", which legislates against change and innovation in young player development in Scotland.
ON THIS same subject, albeit perhaps a wee-bit off-centre; I read in this week's Cumnock Chronicle that my own wee club what I love dearly - Lugar Boswell Thistle - is to end its current "feeder" agreement with Ayr United.
Under this deal, some of United's brightest young talents have been strutting their stuff in Boswell's maroon strips, in the Ayrshire Junior League, on Saturday afternoons. United also provided the "Jaggy Bunnets" with the management team, and, the deal seemed to be working well.
Now, for reasons which have not been fully-explained, the deal is to end, which, I think is a great shame.
I have always said, if I ever won the same sum on Euromillions as the Weirs did, I would try to show football the error of its ways - by taking over either Ayr United or Kilmarnock and tapping into the strong football grass-roots in my native county.
I envisage a youth development scheme, forging links between my senior club and youth and school football in Ayrshire. As part of my dream scheme, I would have my Academy players, once they were out of the Under-20 team, moving seamlessly to a local junior team - with Boswell being my favoured option - there to develop until, at aged 23, the best would be sent upstairs to my senior team, those not good enough, would be helped find their level elsewhere.
This is how things used to be, back when Scotland produced good players. There would always be "bolters", players who were, as teenagers, food enough for the big time, but, most players developed via schools football - through Churches League or Juvenile football - into the Juniors, then, if they were good enough - they went senior.
That system worked, then, somewhere around the late 1960s - early 1970s, things changed and we were on the slippery slope.
The Ayr United-Lugar tie-in was in a way a return to these days. I wish they ahd kept it going longer.
I now fear for Lugar's survival. Living as they do, in the shadow of Auchinleck Talbot, Glenafton and Cumnock, they will always struggle to attract good players. Now, where are those Euromillions numbers?
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