The 13 Haddies - And Not One Is A Player

AS I sifted through the wreckage of last night's travesty in Travana, some of the wise words of Ally MacLeod came back to me. During one of the free-wheeling discussions which followed a good Ayr United performance, in his pokey wee office below the stairs at Somerset Park, we were mulling-over the then upheaval up the road at Rugby Park. I cannot remember which Kilmarnock boss was under pressure at the time – it might have been Eddie Morrison, or Jim Clunie, but, anyway, while things were rolling along nicely for Ally in South Ayrshire, in East Ayrshire, the natives were revolting.

“He's ok just now”, said Ally of the under-pressure boss. “His troubles will really start when the fans turn on the directors. Once they start getting flak for how the team isn't playing, the manager's jacket is on a shoogly nail – that's when the board has to be seen to do something, and the gaffer is on the way out”.

Sure enough, the Killie crisis deepened, and the manager duly left. That's how it is in football – the professionals cop all the flak, then take the walk of shame, the directors, who more-often than not pick the wrong guy as manager, have a fairly easy time of it.

Right now, WGS is under attack from the combined football IQ of the fans with lap tops, most of whom couldn't explain the offside law to you, far less discuss how to counter a high pressing game, or how a midfield diamond works. The chaps have, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the fact Scotland is shite is all the fault of the wee man in the technical area.

Guys, Scotland has been shite for years – last night's “disaster for Scotland” is nothing new. My dear and much-lamented old friend David Francey trade-marked: “Oh dear, oh dear! Disaster for Scotland”, before most of the present-day hacks were born.

We currently have four points from three games; this is par for the course with Scotland in the 21^st century. Does any sane and sensible Tartan Army foot soldier honestly believe a new manager, even if we could persuade the likes of Jose, “The Chosen One” or Pep Guardiola to take the Scotland job, could do any better with the players WGS has at his disposal.

OK, maybe tinkering with the personnel could bring improved performances, but, there is no guarantee of this. It is not as if we have guys to bring in who are markedly better than the guys WGS is picking.

The manager is getting pelters for losing, away from home, to the team ranked second in the group – he has had more abuse for this result than he got for not beating, at Hamden, the team ranked fifth out of the six in our group – but, that's the thinking of the Scottish media pack.

Over the years, it isn't the away losses to the teams ranked above us which has derailed Scotland's cause in World Cups or European Championships, it's the fact we consistently dro points to the group minnows.

In 1965, it wasn't the fact a weakened team lost 3-0 to Italy in Naples which cost us our place in the World Cup in England the following year – it was the fact we only took one point from the four available against Poland. If we hadn't lost from a winning position in the final five minutes of the game against Poland at Hampden, things would have been a lot different, and we would at least have been in a play-off against the Italians.

In 1994, we took maximum points from the two “diddy” nations in the group – Malta and Estonia, but, we only took two of the eight points available against Portugal – who didn't qualify – and Switzerland, who did. Italy were always favourites to top our qualifying group that campaign, it was our poor displays against the other two teams we were effectively fighting for the second qualifying slot which snookered us.

In 2006, it was always going to be the Italians who topped the group, with Scotland and Norway fighting it out for second. The Norwegians won at Hampden, we won in Oslo, which cancels out. We had the same record as the Norwegians against Moldova, who finished bottom of the pool. Where Norway qualified instead of us was they took 10 of the 12 points available against Slovenia and Belarus, we only managed five points.

The last campaign, to go to Brazil, was yet another in which our failure to impose ourselves on the two bottom teams cost us dearly. I can agree, we suffered some dreadful refereeing decisions in the two games against Wales – who finished below us, but no points from the six on offer was a huge blow to our qualifying hopes. Also, we took four of the six available points from our games with Croatia – who qualified, but, failing to beat Serbia, who finished above us, was almost as big a blow as our failures against Wales.

In the 2010 campaign, I suppose we really can blame one man. If big Chris Iwelumo had only stuck away that sitter against Norway at Hampden, we probably would have qualified.

But, as you can see from the above list – our failure to win games we ought to win has been a recurring theme, so, we shouldn't be too-surprised at what happened last night.

I would suggest, from the above evidence, there is something lacking in Scottish football, something right at the heart of the game, and, since past managers, even the great Jock Stein, have had to live with qualifying failures, it is no use blaming the guy who picks the side, or the players.

I say again, the whole structure of Scottish football is wrong. It has been wrong for years, and there is absolutely no sign of the Hmpden blazers changing things to sort this imperfect structure, and, until we do – non-qualifications will simply continue.

And, by the way, it is far too early in the 2018 campaign, to be throwing-in the towel. There are a lot more twists to come in this group.

However, if the Tartan Army and the Fans with Lap Tops really do care about the future of Scottish Football and about where we are going from here – they should not attack the manager, but, the combined wrath of an angry Scottish nation should – MUST – fall on the stumblebums who make the decisions.

The main Board consists of eight members: the Scottish FA Office Bearers (Alan McRae, President; Stewart Regan, Chief Executive; and Rod Petrie, Vice-President), plus Ralph Topping (SPFL), Michael Mulraney (SPFL), Tom Johnston (Scottish Junior FA) and independent non-executive directors, Barrie Jackson and Gary Hughes.

Chairman: Rod Petrie (Scottish FA), along with Alan McRae (Scottish FA), Stewart Regan (Scottish FA), Andrew McKinlay (Scottish FA)*, Neil Doncaster (SPFL), Ralph Topping (SPFL), Duncan Fraser (SPFL), Michael Mulraney (SPFL), Stewart Robertson (SPFL), Sandy Stables (SHFL) and Andrew Waddell (SLFL) make-up the Professional Game Board.

I would excuse Tom Johnston – who has enough on his plate keeping order between Auchinleck Talbot and Cumnock, before he gets going on the other local versions of the Hatfields and McCoys in Junior Football – Ban Ki Moon couldn't do Tom's job.

But, we should be getting into the ribs of those others named above. The ongoing mess is their fault, we should be reminding them of that and insisting they get their fingers out and put things right, pronto.

It's not th fault of WGS that we are shite, but, the 13 haddies named above can take the blame for their failings, and those of the hundreds of haddies who went before them.