Scotland v Liechtenstein

I have a friend who struggles a bit with some of the things in modern life that the rest of us take for granted.

Tonight I will be showing him, for maybe the tenth time, how to upload pictures to a popular social networking site.

The prospect doesn’t fill me with joy.

Yet I feel it’s preferable to going to the pub to watch the Scotland v Liechtenstein this evening. When somebody else’s holiday snaps win out over the national team there’s summat not right.

Craig Levein has come out fighting over accusations of negativity after Friday’s bore drawn with Lithuania. And he’s right. The shape of that team was classic Levein, he’s approaching the job as he was always going to approach it. There’s not much he can do now if our expectations don’t match his views on how best to coax the best from limited resources.

I can accept all that but I do feel that he should changed things earlier on Friday. The changes when they came coincided with an increasing desperation in the Scottish ranks. An earlier change to personnel or formation might have been more effective. But, hindsight and all that. What’s done is done.

Different look to the side tonight though:

Allan McGregor, Alan Hutton, David Weir, Stephen McManus, Lee Wallace, Scott Brown, Darren Fletcher, Lee McCulloch, James McFadden, Kenny Miller, Kris Boyd.

A 4-4-2. The noticeable names are, of course, McFadden and Boyd. There to offer the spark of creativity and goals that we somehow couldn’t summon up in Lithuania.

Anything but a win tonight is unthinkable. It will mean Euro 2012 is over for us. It will also mean we can’t beat Liechtenstein at home. Like I say, unthinkable.

It’s difficult to judge games like this. A scrappy 1-0 is, essentially, job done. But punters and pundits expect more and there’s a danger of viewing anything short of a 4 or 5 goal triumph as a failure.

But a look at the team suggests we should be OK. Hutton and Wallace are likely to be underemployed defensively so will be free to bomb up and down the flanks. McFadden should be more creative than Barry Robson and Steven Naismith were on Friday. If we make chances Boyd will be looking to convert them. It would also be nice to see a more effective attacking contribution from the midfield hub of Scott Brown and Darran Fletcher.

I’m not going to join the anti-Fletcher ranks. Nor will I jump on the “Scotty Brown? He’s A Bit Crap” bandwagon. But we might be entitled to see them offer a bit more against lowly opposition at home.

Respect the opponents, of course. They’ll be doughty customers with a game plan that they know inside out. But whatever pretensions we have left as a footballing nation probably wouldn’t survive the shame of failure tonight

A home win. And I think we might get 3 or 4. (Apologies if I've just jinxed us!)

England: The Story So Far

So England won 4-0 last night. All is well with the world. Hell of a manager that Italian boy, isn't he?

Elsewhere down south the annual cattle auction that is transfer deadline day has passed. As in Scotland the international break has come too early in the season to allow us to draw any firm conclusions about the English Premier League season ahead.

Still, as guest blogger Mark Briggs discusses below, we might just be able to find a few pointers about the drama to come:

We’ve hit the international break, so this is the ideal time to reflect on the start to the new Premiership season. In a handy combo for summarisers the transfer window has also closed. So who’s started well, who is squirming in their seat, and who did the transfer window treat well or poorly.

Well let's start at the top, well it’s the big 4 isn’t it. Isn’t it?

Well, yes and no. Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United make up the top 3. Then Aston Villa have got themselves up there, despite being hammered by Newcastle and dumped out of the Europe League (still sounds weird).

Europe, of various kinds, looks to have caused a slight hangover for Manchester City and Tottenham who both had disappointing results after midweek games.

Blackpool sit comfortably in mid table (also despite being humped 6-0) and Stoke lie in the bottom three, but have picked up some very useful looking summer signings.

All this shows that looking at teams start to the season is pointless in terms of, well, points gained. So which individuals have caught the eye, and who looks a bargain, or a financial pain in the neck.

For all the sobbing about England’s golden generation (see previous posts) and the lack of replacements for them it’s young Englishmen who have caught my eye. Theo Walcott looks sharp, not just quick, and with purpose. Neither of these could be directed at him last season. This year he has had the summer off, and has started the season fully fit. These are also two things he couldn’t have been accused of last year. Twelve months ago Arsene Wenger complained the Walcott shouldn’t have gone to the U21 tournament, he needed rest and a proper pre-season. Whinge, whinge is what most people heard, but having got just that this summer, well, he looks on fire.

Andy Carroll caught my eye when Newcastle got relegated. Despite not scoring a hatful of goals there was something about him. A season of regular football at Championship level and he looks ready for the Premiership. It was the manner of his hat trick against Villa that was most impressive and his early season form must be making Carlton Cole look over his shoulder, nervous for his England squad place.

And finally Joe Hart. His performances so far this season have spectacularly made a mockery of Fabio Capello’s decision not to play him at the World Cup. Having kept Shay Given out of the team the only goal he has conceded so far is a penalty.

Questions remain over the rest of the City team, however. What is their preferred line up, important for when the big games come around, what style do they want to play, and how do you keep Given, Adebayour etc etc happy (or at least quiet) till January?

Liverpool have recouped more money than they have spent this summer, perhaps a statement on the teams behind the scenes troubles, and haven’t had the type of start that suggests they are ‘back’. Their quest for a second striker yielded no results, so hope now falls on Ngog to continue some bright form. Arsenal also failed to acquire a goalkeeper. This is the bad side of Arsene Wenger. We love the flowing football, the attacking intent, and the slicing open of a defence with one touch. But the stubbornness to not get a goalkeeper, because he believes in someone the rest of us have never seen, or because the one he was after cost 99p too much looks likely to turn round and bite him at least once this season.

A goalie gives the rest of the team stability, look back to the history of Manchester Utd between the Schmeichel and the Van der Sar years. If nothing else they lacked the aura. These two goalies put it in the opposition’s head; it is going to be hard to score today. Never mind generating chances, if you get a chance, in the back of your head you back the goalie to save it. Manuel Almunia is capable of spectacular saves, but he doesn’t give you that aura.

Staying with Manchester United, what can you say about Paul Scholes? He is simply getting better and better. At one point last year he came in for a few games and looked totally inept. The decision to keep him in the squad looked a sentimental one. Then he burst back into form and hasn’t looked back. At the moment he is playing like Iniesta or Xavi, and over the last few years at club and international level there is no higher praise.

It has been the start we hoped for, goals flying in from everywhere, many of them from Chelsea who have carried on as if the summer didn’t happen. Now switch your attentions to Euro 2012 before we really get this season going and into the autumn months, where the football really starts to count.

Lithuania v Scotland: A Chance Missed

Do we think it's all over?

It’s probably best not to be too fatalistic. But Scotland make it hard. And 0-0 with a limited Lithuania side is a massive blow to our already slim chance of reaching Euro 2012.

I actually felt there were some positives, especially in the first half. It was certainly a much improved performance from the Sweden game a few weeks ago.

But even in that first period the chances were few and far been. Barry Robson was charged with control of the set pieces.

And, given Lithuania’s apparent fear of Scotland hitherto little know attacking reputation, he was given plenty of opportunity. He rarely delivered.

When a free kick did afford Stephen McManus a glimpse of chance it was Darren Fletcher who delivered it. Why either manager or players didn’t relieve Robson of his duties at that point we will never know.

There was, as ever, the gnawing fear that our failure to get a goal in the first half would be an issue in the second half.

So it proved as the game wore on and Scotland increasingly lost their shape and composure. Kenny Miller, who put in his normal willing shift without really threatening, looked ever more isolated.

Again we might have expected more from our midfielders. Fletcher’s struggles to impose himself within the restraints of the Scotland team continue, Scott Brown was anonymous except when being drawn into foolish niggles.

The recalled Steven Naismith had a couple of half chances but displayed a hesitancy that a team creating so little can ill afford.

Given Scotland’s dominance of the first half there is a strong argument that Craig Levein should have made a change or two sooner.

The defence looked sound enough and both Alan Hutton and Steven Whittaker were able to get forward as the manager must have planned they would.

Comfortable but not ahead there should have been a willingness to get somebody - Boyd, Dorrans or McFadden - on earlier. It might have meant a change to the shape of the midfield but a team enjoying possession like Scotland did in the first half shouldn’t be scared to take a calculated risk in the search for a goal.

That, though, might not be the Levein way.

Still, it would have been nice to have at least tried. That the final substitution was Whittaker coming off for Christophe Berra in the dying moments as Lithuania suddenly looked to offer a threat of their own was a perfect summary of a big opportunity lost.

The manager was left to bemoan the lack of protection offered by the referee. In fact Cuneyt Cakir had a reasonable game.

He punished Lithuania for their niggly start to the game and wasn’t scared to show his intent with yellow cards in the opening stages.

The truth is Scotland squandered the free kicks they were awarded. Our fault, not the referees. Players like Brown, Fletcher, Robson or Hutton shouldn’t be trying to hide behind the referee on nights like this.

I wrote before the game that I expected Levein to bring organisation and spirit to the Scotland team. They were certainly more organised tonight.

But they lacked the spark that they needed to take advantage of the situation they found themselves in. There is little doubt that this is two points dropped.

Given the opportunity to provide a statement of intent Scotland failed.

It is difficult to see either Spain or the Czech Republic being so profligate on their trips to Kaunas.

One match played. And Euro 2012 has never looked so far away.

Scottish Football Podcasts Part One

I was asking around on Twitter a couple of weeks ago to try and get some sort of definitive list of Scottish football podcasts.

Then I thought: "Why do all the work myself" "Maybe there's a better way to do this than simply posting a list."

So the plan is to give any podcast-ers who would like to introduce themselves and tell people a little about their shows the opportunity to do so in their own words.

First up is Andrew Gibney, blogger and pod-der at the almost eponymous gibfootballshow. Judging from his tweets he also watches more football than Opta. He's fitba' crazy and he must have an understanding other half:

Hi my name is Andrew I am the host and editor of the gibfootballshow podcast, after the World Cup in South Africa I was inspired by The Times and Guardian podcasts and thought it would be fun to try my hand at a new type of medium.

My aim was to provide people a different way to view the blog, we are in an iTunes era where people can listen to all types of shows while on the move, so instead of having to sit and read a blog post on my views you could have a listen on the bus to work or on their lunch.

The pod started as a solo recording, mainly just recording my views on the world of football, it has now expanded to a 3 or 4 person podcast where we dicuss the current football issues, predictions on upcoming games and I hope to be able to provide the listeners with a broad range of subjects so far we have covered football in not only this country and Europe but as far a field as the USA and Mexico.

When I invited fellow bloggers to join me in the pod I was overwhelmed by the amount of replies from all over the country and abroad, which should make for some interesting recordings in the future.

Just as an example on the show so far have been Gav Stone from the excellent site Les Rosbifs, Charlie Anderson (@Luciano Says on twitter) who is an expert on Scandanavian football, Chris Mayer a fellow blogger who covers not just the English Premier League but French Ligue 1 and other European Leagues, and Brent Atema one of the co-founders of the Global Football Today website all the way from Austin, Texas.

As a host I am still developing my style and the direction of the show, feedback so far has been very positive and I hope with future guests and the discussions, hopefully the pod can grow and grow.

Over to you: if you've got a football podcast dealing with Scottish football (or mentioning Scottish football occasionally, or based in Scotland - it's not a narrow classification) then feel free to drop me an email with a few lines about your show. I'll be delighted to post them and give you some free publicity.

Alan Gow: A Drastic Change

The Scotsman strikes again.

Tell you what is a disgrace, the subbing in "Scotland's national newspaper" at the moment.

You might not know what Alan Gow looks like. But the national team captain?

Lithuania v Scotland: Let's Get Ready To Rumble

Scotland launching a qualifying campaign for a major championship with a tricky away tie. What can possibly go wrong for Craig Levein's bravehearts?

Loads and loads and loads can go wrong. But it doesn't do to look at a glass half empty. No. Onwards and upwards.

The team, the chosen eleven for the manager's competitive debut, will line up like this:

McGregor, Hutton, Weir, McManus, Whittaker, McCulloch, Naismith, Brown, Fletcher, Robson, Miller

Hmmm. A few things spring to mind. David Weir's return makes him Scotland's oldest ever player. It's a remarkable achievement for him and it should return a certain stability that was lacking in the back four that played against Sweden.

But it's a fairly depressing indictment of the talent available to Levein.

Lee McCulloch will be the holding midfielder in a 4-1-4-1 formation. It's a return to favour for the a player who looked to have ended his international career. I'm a touch surprised that Paul Hartley wasn't picked in that role but it would seem to be a position that suits McCulloch.

And Steven Naismith is back after a long absence from the starting line-up, meaning there is no place for James McFadden, whose reputation as a talisman might just be slipping a bit after more than a few anonymous displays. Still, not a selection I was predicting.

Whittaker (slightly worried that a defender who doesn't always inspire confidence will be playing on the other flank from his normal berth) and Hutton will be expected to get forward from full back and, with McCulloch sitting in, the rest of the midfield must offer support to Kenny Miller, restored his traditionally lonely role up front.

We've also got a right to expect that Miller will have brought his early season domestic form with him to banish memories of his apparent profligacy at this level.

It's not a team that has got me shouting from the rooftops. But it was never going to be. And there's a lot of changes from the Sweden game. That has to be a positive.

Organisation and spirit: the two things I thought Levein could bring to Scotland. Well, now is the time to start showing that he can deliver.

Lithuania are no mugs. But a defeat tonight and we might as well give up. It's a Scotland team that looks like it has been designed to be cautious. But they can't be too cautious because a draw would be a big blow to our chances of getting second place (if I'm be presumptuous enough to expect Spain to win the group).

I'm almost entirely unmoved by the prospect of tonight's game. But I want some excitement, some sense of anticipation.

I think we all do. So there's the challenge: these are the eleven men who need to restore the pride, the passion, the reasons to believe.

Don't let us down, boys.

> I can't get excited but I can still moan. Friday night internationals. Gie's a break. Friday nights are for either a restorative nap or a barrel load of beer. Although, now that I think about it, Scotland are probably capable of inspiring both.

In Bed With Maradona

Some of you might have seen on your trundles around the world wide web a new football site called In Bed With Maradona. If you haven't visited yet you should check it out.

You'll find a new section has been added called "Scotland" and that's where you'll be able to find my fortnightly missives on the state of Scottish football.

Given their almost total lack of exposure anywhere else my first article deals with the season ahead for Rangers and Celtic. Nice to give a shout out to the minnows.

But I've promised that will be the last mention of either of them for at least three articles:

The early season international break seems as good as place as any to dive into this new, regular run-down of events in Scottish football.

After just three rounds of fixtures there’s still uncertainty about the season ahead. But some things never change.

Already Rangers and Celtic sit atop the SPL. They’ll remain there in May but it’s too early yet to predict who’ll have the bragging rights at the end of season.

As is traditional in any discussion of the SPL I’ll be concentrating on the big two here. But I’ll do you a deal. Unless something spectacular happens over the coming weeks I promise that neither Rangers nor Celtic will appear in the next three installments of these fortnightly ramblings.

There's an ever growing roster of writers on In Bed With Maradona and I'm delighted to be part of the team. It's a site for football fans, pure and simple and is developing into quite a resource.

Partick Thistle Fans Boardroom Conspiracy

A guest post from a concerned Partick Thistle fan. Seems the Jags Trust, Scotland's first supporters trust and an instrumental force in saving Thistle, isn't as welcome as it one was at Firhill.

I don't know much about the story. And there are probably two sides to it so feel free to respond. An interesting read though:

A football club is nothing without its fans...

...but that doesn’t seem to be the view at Partick Thistle, where the first supporters trust in Scotland was set up in 1998 after the “Save the Jags” campaign prevented the club slipping into administration. The Jags Trust’s reward back then was to be gifted one fifth of the newly created shares in the club and a promise of a place on the board. This new dawn for Scottish football saw hard working directors Brown McMaster and Tom Hughes being gifted the same amount of shares as “custodians”, in order to make sure that control of the club could never again be held by one individual and the club would never again sleepwalk into a financial crisis.

Fast forward to 2010, where the club has just told the Jags Trust (after discussing the matter at two recent board meetings) that its latest board nominee has not yet been invited to join the board. This doublespeak (they’ve not said no, just not said yes) seems to indicate that the club now has a problem with the concept of supporter representation on its board, at a time when Stirling Albion’s move to fan ownership has only recently been announced.

To the outsider looking in, the trust’s announcement on its own website holds little in the way of a clue as to what the heck is going on in the Firhill boardroom. The club chairman, Allan Cowan, who was instrumental in the 1998 fans campaign, has reportedly told the Jags Trust that it needs to “concentrate on activity which directly benefits the club”.

This is confusing, since, amongst other activities in the recent past, trust members voted to merge their own, profitable fundraiser, with the club’s new scheme, allowing the club to take direct control of an income stream that is vital to continuing to pay its debts. Jackie McNamara’s loan signing last season was funded by the trust, prompting the chairman to say “without their financial assistance we would have been unable to bring Jackie to Firhill at this point and our grateful thanks are extended to the Jags Trust”.

It seems that as one boardroom is being opened to the fans at Forthbank, the door at Firhill is being closed in the face of an active and supportive trust. At least two board meetings have now taken place with no representative of the fans present, a development that can only be viewed with suspicion in the absence of any reasonable explanation.

Thistle fans are entitled to wonder what on earth is going on in the boardroom that will not stand the scrutiny of their representative, while fans of other clubs with a place in the boardroom will now be looking over their shoulders in case the habit is catching. Conspiracy theorists will no doubt watch this with interest – here’s hoping that it can be sorted out soon and that it will all turn out to be a misunderstanding, because if it isn’t then there’s a clear message to Thistle fans that they are not welcome at the top table.

John Hughes Going Nowhere, Yet

What do John Hughes and William Hague have in common? Not, admittedly, all that much.

But yesterday the Hibs manager and the Foreign Secretary were both subjected to a frenzy of speculation and rumour that, it seems, was entirely unfounded.

The big gossip in Scottish football seemed to surface about 6.30pm when a radio station apparently reported that John Hughes had left Hibs.

My phone started vibrating like mad, Tweets appeared, emails were sent.

By coincidence I arrived at Easter Road’s 1875 function suite at around 7.05pm yesterday evening.

And who was already in position ready to take place in a quiz organised by Hibs’ sponsors. Why, surely it was the newly walked-out Mr John Hughes. As bold as brass and most definitely sitting in the stadium rather than storming out of it.

“A lot of rubbish” was his standard response to the inevitable questions regarding the reports.

And, this is an admission that pains me, his team beat mine. Although he did appear to have roped in a couple of ringers. (The players team led at the halfway stage before fading badly: a quiz based metaphor for Hibs' normal pattern during a league season.)

So it was a nonsense that appears to have been a case of somebody failing to get an interview and putting two and two together.

That’s football and it’s hardly on a par with the intrusive gossip that Mr Hague and his family have had to cope with.

But the rumour interested me less than the reaction to it.

The fans I was with gave no sign of being upset at the thought of a Yogi-less Hibs. More than one ruminated that they “hoped” it was true.

The Easter Road support have slipped away from John Hughes. Fans can point to six home defeats on the bounce and last week’s loss to St Mirren as being symptomatic of a wider malaise that has shrouded the team since around January of this year.

The reality is that Hughes’ form in those months has not been good enough.

Knee-jerk reactions are, of course, what fans do best. And an Easter Road board that craves financial stability will have no desire to be fishing around for yet another new manager in the near future.

But even there we can maybe see some fault-lines developing. Alan Gow didn’t impress many supporters during his spell with Hibs last season. But the manager is a big fan.

With Anthony Stokes lost on deadline day and Gow still available Hughes might have hoped to bring him in. For whatever reasons that didn’t happen and Gow has signed for Motherwell.

If Hughes feels the frostiness from the terraces is being matched by a reluctance from the board might he begin to consider his own position?

Last night somebody joined up a loose series of dots and came up with a pattern that fitted Hughes’ departure.

That was wrong.

But that so many fans were happy to believe it, that there were clues appearing that suggested it might be true, could just mean that Hughes and Hibs are now entering the last days of their relationship.

Hughes wasn’t going anywhere last night. Don’t be tempted to bet big on him still being around for the annual quiz next year though.

Transfer Anarchy To End?

UEFA supremo Michel Platini has again been giving us his man of the people, greed is bad routine:

UEFA president Michel Platini has declared the new regulations to halt excessive spending will bring an end to the transfer market "anarchy".

The organisation are set to gradually implement new financial fair play rules from next season in attempt to keep a lid on club debt and create a level playing field.

These measures could put a halt to the influence of billionaire benefactors such as Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour on the sport, and the ex-Juventus and France superstar backs the governing body's action.

He said: "For years and years we were in total anarchy but the clubs asked for the rules because they knew they could not continue.

"We can see already that the clubs are spending less as they look to balance their books.

"This is because the first time the break-even rule will kick in is in the coming year, the 2011-2012 season.

"It's very soon and this means that the strategy to say 'I can now go and spend hundreds of millions' doesn't work because we will see it in two years at the latest.

"Transfers have not been as crazy as in the last few years, they are pulling up their socks and the clubs are making special efforts to comply with the rules."

The legislation will allow owners to inject €15 million (£12.3m) a year into their clubs up until 2015, and then €10m (£8.2m) until 2018. This cash cannot be a loan, which is an approach already taken by the Manchester City and Chelsea hierarchy. (From Goal.com)

We'll see.

One thing that struck me yesterday though.

The transfer window and the apparent rush to get signatures and close deals is a stupendously bad way to run a business.

I understand the need for a transfer window - although I'd prefer it to end before the league season starts - but I can't see how it encourages a sensible financial approach.

Yesterday may have been quieter than some windows of the crazy, recent past (Sam Allardyce and his Bolton helicopter springs to mind) but even so, it seems a strange way to reconnect the game with a degree of financial sanity.

Maybe Michel the Red should turn his attention to that next.