I CAN see a pattern
developing in Scottish Football as it stumbles into Season 2016-17,
and, it worries me considerably.
Already, before the
end of July, Hearts and Hibs are out of the Europa League. Apart from
the fact we used to believe, being drawn against a Danish side was a
virtual bye into the next round in Europe, the fact Hibs only lost on
penalties to Brondby isn't too-bad a result. But, they did manage to
lose at home, and that is a distinct no-no.
Hearts losing to a
team from Malta, however, and at home too. In Mad Vlad's day, that
would have been a sacking offence. OK Ann Budge has a lot more sense,
but still – not good, not good at all.
Ann Budge - her predecessor would not have been so sanguine at a Hearts defeat
Aberdeen travel to
Maribor in midweek. This does not fill me with confidence, since no
Scottish club has won there. Even Celtic, going into their second leg
Champions League qualifier, at Celtic Park, all-square; this is no
longer the given it once was, particularly if Brendar Rodgers has to
put Efe Ambrose in his team.
Then, we had Celtic
being brushed aside by Barcelona, in their prestige Dublin friendly
yesterday, while Burnley barely broke sweat in beating Rangers at
Ibrox. As my dear old friend David Francey would have said: “Oh
dear, oh dear, oh dear, disaster for Scotland”.
Then we look at the
progress of the Betfred Cup, as the League Cup is now known.
One-third of the Premiership teams who were involved in the group
stages have already gone out. This is like ten seeds going out of
Wimbledon in the first round. It clearly demonstrates the woeful lack
of quality in the dressing rooms of our top clubs.
Ross County, Dundee
and Kilmarnock are all full-time clubs, if I was a director of one of
these teams, I would be asking my manager or head coach what was
going-on.
SPEAKING of Kilmarnock,
the latest rumours, and there always seem to be rumours floating down
Rugby Road these days, is that manager Lee Clarke is already thinking
of bailing out – just weeks into a restructuring which has seen a
complete new team of young players being recruited from England.
To quote the wisdom of
Alan Hansen: “You win nothing with kids”. Of course, Lee Clarke,
this season, is not going out to win things. Replicating last
season's 11th place with victory in the play-off at the
end of the season would do – except, my fellow Rugby Parkers want
just a little bit more than that this season.
I am disappointed that
he took the familiar route of recruiting players from the lower
reaches in England, this has been going on in Scottish football for
too-long, and has helped propel us down the UEFA ci-efficients. I
would rather whoever was managing at Rugby Park recruited from the
West of Scotland. I am convinced, there is sufficient local talent in
the West of Scotland Junior Superleague who could step-up and, with
proper coaching and management, do a really good job at Rugby Park.
The Kilmarnock side
against which I judge all others was the 1960 Scottish Cup final
team: Brown; Richmond, Watson, Beattie, Toner, Kennedy; Stewart,
McInally, Kerr, Black and Muir – that forward line: Rab Stewart,
Jackie McInally, who died earlier this month, Andy Kerr, Betrtie
Black and Billy Muir were all Ayrshiremen. And, apart from Fifer
Jimmy Brown in goal, and wing-half Frank Beattie, from Stirling, all
the rest were from within half an hour of Kilmarnock. Jim Richmond
was from Blantyre, Matt Watson from Paisley, Willie Toner from
Shettleston and Bobby Kennedy from Motherwell.
Don't try to tell me
you could not recruit 11 guys today from such places and not have a
team able to compete in the Premiership. Of course, Brown, although
uncapped, was international-class, Watson and Beattie suffered from
being contemporaries of great Old Firm players, Kennedy was an
Under-23 cap, who played a few games for Manchester City, while Kerr
was a goal-scoring genius.
I am not saying there
are players of that class around the West of Scotland today, but,
these guys were in some cases seen as mere journeymen, who got better
under Willie Waddell's managerial nous and Walter McCrae's fitness
regime.
All is not yet lost at
Kilmarnock. Get Kris Boyd into the box and find a player who can find
him in there, and the goals and wins will come.
My brother in law watched Brown when goalie at Gorgie, a character! He claims that in the days of shoulder charging a Celtic player went for Brown, as he approached Brown flung the ball into the net, got clattered before the ball crossed the line and was given a free kick! Few others would try that.
ReplyDeleteJimmy was indeed a character. I remember he once held-up a crucial Rangers game for some five minutes, after he found a "screwtop" lying in the middle of his goalmouth, at the end of Rugby Park packed by "Ra Peepul". This was back in the days of the running track - Geoff Capes must have been a Rangers fan, I couldn't see anyone else throwing a bottle that far.
ReplyDeleteThe suspicion was, Jimmy had planted it there, just to wind them up, as he frequently did with his "Masonic gestures" at them (flicking the Vicky).
He waged psychological warfare on Wee Johnny Hubbard - insisting he would save a Hubbard penalty, which he did eventually; but, wee Johnny swears blind he scored three against Jimmy before he had the one saved.
If he had had a proper business brain, he'd have made a fortune - he was designing and wearing his own goalkeeping tops in the 1950s, Reusch and Uhlsport didn't start doing this until the 1970s.
Speaking of goalkeepers winding up the Old Firm, what about Hughie Sproat at Motherwell and Ayr United - blue top when facing Celtic, green one for Rangers.