Memories

A video that I hadn't seen before, so apologies if you have.

Quick tour of the museum at Hampden and a bit about both Queen's Park and Third Lanark. Worth a watch.

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Now Is The Winter Of Our Discontent

Is summer football going to become a bugbear of mine? Probably not. But there is a problem with our schedule. And that's mixed in with my traditional moan: our inexplicable problem with scheduling home-away-home-away games for clubs.

Do we want to make it more difficult for fans to watch Scottish football? It seems so.

Here's an exert from The Scotsman today:

The scheduled SFL game of the day at the weekend was in Falkirk, with Raith Rovers supposed to be the visitors. A crowd in excess of 5,000 had been anticipated; that figure is unlikely to be matched if the teams play on the rearranged date of 14 December. Hospitality packages purchased with Saturday in mind will suffer an inevitable drop-off for a Tuesday night; all in all, it is a costly process for the home club.

"It's a funny one because normally we would have moved heaven and earth to make sure the game went ahead," said Falkirk's managing director George Craig.

"We had everything in place - gritters, snow ploughs and the like but we had to take a view. Even if we managed to get the game on, what would have been the possibility of people being prepared to travel?

"People have struggled to get the schools and their work all week, were they then likely to come out for the football on a Saturday? With that in mind, it was probably one of the easiest decisions we have had to make. And that's not even taking into account the pitch, which is sitting with ten inches of snow on it just now."

The balance sheet, though, will feel the impact of Falkirk's current situation. "We are not due to have a home Saturday game until 18 December," Craig added. "That will mean a six-week gap between them. When you are in the SFL, gate receipts basically are your income."

As The Scotsman points out Alloa's game against Peterhead went ahead, the artificial pitch proving its worth.

But a fake surface wouldn't really have helped Falkirk this week.

Clubs are being crippled by winter weather. Dare I say that we're also not seeing our players at their best because we ask them to play at the wrong time of the year.

Major leagues in Europe don't have winter breaks or summer football. Well, we're not a major league. We need to do everything we can to improve the quality of our football and maximise our earning potential.

Summer football or a total (three month?) shutdown? I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's time for a serious discussion.

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The Kids Are Alright

A bleak weekend, the SPL gone for a burton. Only Alloa and Peterhead surviving in the SFL. What to do?

Well, how about thinking about Scotland, Craig Levein and our ongoing search for qualification to a major tournament?

I'm delighted to welcome guest blogger Euan Wishart to the Scottish Football Blog stable.

Euan's debut is about all things national team and how Levein might be able to build something for the future.

And don't worry, Euan's not two months behind everyone else - I was tardy in getting this posted. Anyway, have a read and let us know your thoughts:

It is now 12 years since Scotland and the Tartan Army graced a major tournament. This season’s defence v attack style match in Prague against the Czech Republic, where Scotland managed ZERO shots on target, only heightened the levels of disenchantment with the national team.

Much has been made in recent times about teams ‘building for the future’ and ‘blooding younger players’. Across the border there is a similar malaise and Fabio Capello was tasked with those very issues after the perceived failure of the England team at the World Cup.

While Capello adhered to these values in the pre qualifying friendlies, come business time Wilshire & Gibbs found themselves back in the under 21’s.

Under Craig Levein Scotland appear to have gone down a similar route. Experience counts. Levein has recalled David Weir, Lee McCulloch and Paul Hartley, not to mention his attempts to lure Barry Ferguson out of retirement. All of whom are the wrong side of thirty and can’t be seen as long-term players.

But what of ‘building for the future’?

Both Scotland and England have been urged to follow Spain’s blue print for success. The much-praised Spanish team have a squad nucleus with an average age in the mid twenties yet most of the squad have vast international experience.

Similarly, the Germans under Joachim Lowe overhauled their aging squad and built their team around a nucleus of younger players. In South Africa the Germans with Ozil, Muller, and Neuer et al dazzled and won many plaudits and are now seen as serious contenders for the Euros in 2012.

Both Levein and Capello can argue that the ‘bread and butter’ is to qualify for tournaments. Football is after all a result driven business. But what happens if Scotland actually qualifies for the Euros? Will Weir, Hartley and McCulloch be able to perform at that level? And what of the next qualifying campaign?

There is a solution to the dilemma Levein and Capello have, a way of balancing off the immediate aims with the future gains.

Taking the match in Prague as an example, Levein commented that he had watched the Czech’s on a number of occasions and knew in advance how he wanted to set his team up and, barring injury, most likely which players he wanted to select: McGregor, Hutton, Weir, McManus, Whittaker, Caldwell, Fletcher, Morrison, Dorrans, Mackie & Naismith.

He also knew which players he would use to change the game with, in the Czech game, Miller, Iwelumo and Robson in mind.

Perhaps add a defender and a keeper: Berra and Gordon. That makes 16 players likely to get any form of game time. So what of the other members of Levein’s 23 man squad?

Why have players such as Maloney, Fletcher, Bardsley, Marshall or whoever sitting in the stand? This provides the manager with the perfect opportunity to look to the future and start building towards it.

Does it not make more sense to select seven younger players? Adding the likes of Danny Wilson, John Fleck, Paul Hanlon, David Wotherspoon & David Goodwillie would provide them with the stepping stone into the international arena. Getting them accustomed to the squad, it’s rituals, the media pressure.

Rather than give a thirty something ten minutes at the end of the game why not blood one of the new generation and use them as subs?

The SFA & FA could lead the way and ensure the make up of the national squads represent a 15:8 or 16:7 split with senior players and younger players under twenty-three. A reversal of Olympic football whereby teams are made up of under twenty-three players and have a quota of senior players to supplement this.

Adopting this approach would provide Levein and Capello’s England with a conveyor belt of talent making the gradual step into international football while not sacrificing the immediate aims of qualification and could return Scotland and England to the forefront of international football as pioneers for the future.

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The Tweetest Thing

Interesting discussion on Radio Scotland's Paper Talk on Monday night. Jim Traynor, Hugh MacDonald, Graeme Bryce and Jim Black were discussing Scottish football's refereeing crisis.

Someone suggested by text that the traditional media "lagged miles" behind social media in reporting the strike. Traynor pointed out that newspapers had to consider legal positions before publishing. Which is true, but not quite the whole story.

We're then told that a lot of stuff on social site is "patently ludicrous and untrue." That's the old "internet is populated by nutcases" argument. How refreshing. Because we all know that without a newspaper byline your views count for nothing in Scottish football.

Fair enough.

Except they're wrong.

It's up to you if you want to get on board with new technology or not. Although to be so vocal does suggest that you revel in the contrariness, that you'd be standing round the fire raging against the invention of the wheel.

There are some nutters on that, there internet. There's been a few in the gaggle of Scottish fitba' journalists down the years as well, mind.

But we're not all nutters. And some of us might even have got exceptionally high marks in our Scots Law for Journalists exams (not that I'm one to brag. But 95 percent, as you're asking.)

I don't pretend to set the news agenda with this blog or with any of my tweets. I'm without contacts, unlikely to ever get a scoop. That's not what this blog is all about, it was never intended to be a comprehensive round-up of Scottish football news. I react to news that interests me.

Of course, every blogger or tweeter will have their own reasons for covering Scottish football. And I'd like to think that most of us can bring something unique to the debate.

Hardly fair then to write us all off as lunatics. I didn't break any big news stories about the referee's strike but nor did I make up any ludicrous rumours. I even went out of my way to argue against some of the taller conspiracy theories.

But, and this is the point that Traynor's merry band of Luddites missed, Twitter did lead the coverage of the strike.

@STV_Andy and @STVGrant, of STV's ever improving football site, were my first call for the increasingly ludicrous and farcical twists and turns over the course of the week. They used the big, bad world of social media combined with some good old fashioned journalism to beat the oppostion on almost every big breaking story.

Not two guys sitting blogging in their mother's spare room. (Well, they might be. But it's not proving too much of a hindrance to them.) Two guys actually working for a real, proper "old media" website but realising that there's more to covering football these days than writing a story and then going on the radio to pontificate. Nothing wrong with a spot of pontification, of course, I regularly indulge myself.

But there is more to covering football now.

If you were waiting for the morning papers to get the latest you were way behind the story.

There is an arrogance in the insular clique of Scottish football journalists. Blogs, Twitter and forums might not be 100 percent reliable but they are changing how we digest our football news.

Someone at STV gets that.

Jim Traynor and his guests don't. And we all know what happened to the dinosaurs.

> You can listen to the programme here

England: Make or Break Month

The Scottish Football Blog, unlike the 2018 World Cup, is going to England. To the land of Manchester's United and City, of Newcastle and Bolton, Chelsea and Blackpool.

Why? Because there's only one Scottish game on this weekend. And because regular English Premier League guest blogger, Mark Briggs is back.

A cracking weekend of EPL action last weekend actually. Much to enjoy. Something of a shame for those who still insist that it is the best league in the world that Saturday and Sunday's goalsfest was overshadowed by the ridiculous brilliance of Barcelona on Monday night. Ouch.

Actually this season has confused me a bit. Sky's bombastic claims of the best league in the world seem at odds with all these experts telling me that this is the worst Manchester United team in the history of the world, EVER.

Sky of course would prefer us to stick with the pretence that football, and thus the whole WORLD, only began in 1992.

So probably United aren't really that bad and the league is going through a bit of a dip. Apply a bit of moderation to your world view and the INEXPLICABLE suddenly become explicable.

Anyway, I'm rambling now. So here's Mark:

Some clubs have set season objectives. A good start or a bad start sets the benchmark for success or failure going into the second half. West Ham will be hoping not to go down, Spurs will be looking for Europe again. But what of the clubs who have snuck under the radar and those whose seasons hang in the balance.

Firstly the under the radar section. At the time of writing Bolton sit sixth. I opened up the league table to check some of the details for this article and found Wanderers sitting pretty, just 3 points off a Champions League place.

Capable of playing flowing football (see their second goal against Blackpool at the weekend) but are not averse to knocking it long to the big man Davis up front and playing the old fashioned way. Could it be that a good December will see Trotters beginning to dream?

There is enough about this Bolton squad to suggest this isn’t unthinkable. They have a goalie who, back in the days when his team were lower mid table patrons, was playing beneath himself. Jussi Jääskeläinen

has been one of the most consistent goalkeepers over the last decade. And now in front stands an international centre-back in Gary Cahill.

A fresh and energetic midfield operates behind a spearhead of captain Kevin Davis, a man deservedly called up for England and then overlooked, inexplicably, for Jay Bothroyd. Alongside is the player Bolton thought they’d brought last season as Johan Elmander begins to show his quality. Again I refer you to a goal, this time against Wolves. YouTube should see you right on both counts.

At the other end, shorn of strikers and struggling for goals Everton and Fulham have so far not had seasons they would care to buy the DVD of. Just above them, Aston Villa are also looking over their shoulders.

So to the people whose season hangs in the balance. Namely Newcastle and Blackpool. Trouncing teams while being just as likely to get themselves humped is entertaining to watch but a run of either over the next month would really set their stalls out.

Andy Carroll is obviously the Geordies big hope. A local lad made good, knocking in goals in the big league as he wears the No9 shirt. That’s football like it used to be. Well almost, there is the small matter of some night time brawling and the disgusting issue of the girlfriend beating incident hanging over his head. We might, rightly, have moral issues with this behaviour. But, if it starts to affect his form, however unlikely that seems at this point, Newcastle could be in trouble.

So there we go, these look to me to be the teams to watch over the next few weeks. And with six games coming for most teams in December a loss of form now, or a little run, could make or break this season.

England, Russia, Qatar and FIFA

Russia and Qatar. The 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be going where no World Cup has gone before.

I was fairly unmoved by the whole shebang surrounding the bidding process. Certainly a fair few English noses have been put out of joint.

And many English journalists are now ranting and raving about the power of money and the questionable attitudes of the two countries to human rights and media freedom.

Fair points. But they miss crucial parts of the story.

FIFA now looks to me to be an institution so corrupt it is beyone redemption, certainly it seems beyond the jurisdiction of anyone that might like to heal the sickness that Sepp Blatter and, before him, Joao Havelange have left at its heart.

Of course, money talks to FIFA. It screams in FIFA's face. And FIFA love it.

And FIFA, like the Olympics, is brilliant at what we might call "flingin' a deefie" to anything that might be political. Of course both organisations are among the most political on the planet. And, like all politicians, the movers and shakers are brilliant at ignoring anything that they consider to be the wrong kind of politics.

Few of the journalists acting as bid cheerleaders for England would have been as quick to point out these problems had they got what they wanted. C'est la vie.

And the World Cup makes us all culpable in FIFA’s deceit. We want to watch the football so we ignore everything else. We’ll do the same again in 2018 and 2022.

England probably deserve the World Cup. They'd provide the stadiums and they'd provide the fans. But the bid got off to a bad start. And, nothing to do with media investigations or playing a typically English straight bat, England - all four home nations - just don't have enough friends at football's top table now.

A heady mix of Eton, royalty, politicians and brand Beckham was never going to change that.

And, as far as the football goes, Russia is not a totally crazy choice. It’s a massive country with an appetite for the game. The choice is consistent with others FIFA have made. And, of course, it offers a carnival of capitalism in a market that didn’t exist for FIFA 30 years ago. Growing the game is about making FIFA richer. Russia can deliver on that.

It’s the 2022 decision that is more interesting. This is a change in FIFA’s selection policy. Yes, Qatar delivers a new market and takes the tournament to the Middle East for the first time.

It’s the size thing that amazes me. World Cups have got bigger and bigger. That’s not always a good thing. But it makes the idea of a country with less than half population of Scotland hosting the tournament all the more remarkable.

There also seems little football heritage. The national team is ranked 113th in the world, 16th in Asia and have managed to beat only Yemen in their last five games. They have never played in a World Cup. It's not hard to make the argument that FIFA have been influenced by a reasons outwith football.

It’s an intriguing bid and it obviously caught the imagination of the suited and booted middle aged men who run world football. A victory, as Zinedine Zidane has said, for the Arab world.

Qatar have guaranteed that the heat will not be a problem, that stadiums will be climate controlled. They’re even likely to allow alcohol for thirsty fans.

Changing the temperature. Changing laws. FIFA have a long list of demands on any host country. A small country like Qatar, complete with an absolute monarchy, can offer complete compliance with every FIFA whim. This apparent leftfield choice could become the blueprint for the future.

But as strange a choice as it seems it reflects badly on us to dismiss it, 12 years out from the tournament, as a moment of FIFA madness.

Yet cynicism persists. FIFA are committed to breaking new footballing frontiers. The hope is that the World Cup doesn't get lost in the desert.

> An irony in attacking the BBC, and others, for highlighting corruption concerns at FIFA and attacking Russia for having a questionable on press freedom.

> David Beckham could teach many involved in the England bid a thing or two about diplomacy with his dignified reaction to defeat. Those that are throwing their toys out of the pram and attacking FIFA should be prepared to answer questions about why they were prepared to spend so much money trying to host the World Cup. FIFA’s problems don’t begin and end with Thursday’s voting.


> Let's not all turn into international relations experts. But 2022 is a long way off. Situations change, tense situations worsen. Could Qatar's defence concordat with Iran cause FIFA problems in the next decade? The combined concerns about the Qatar bid might explain the Australian's dignified acceptance of defeat - if Qatar can't host the 2022 World Cup I'm sure the Aussies will be waiting in the wings.

One Person, One Vote

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It will soon be time for what the film industry calls the awards seasons. In fact I think it might have started already as it does seem to drag on.

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It seems that Andy Muirhead, editor of Scotzine.com, didn't fancy his chances of getting an invite to the Oscars but still wanted an excuse to look out the fancy frock.

And so the Top Ten Scottish Football Web Awards were born. The TTSFWAs as they’ll soone be calling them.

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Anyway someone saw fit to nominate the Scottish Football Blog which is, of course, lovely and very much appreciated by everyone involved in the making of this production.

So if you're of a mind, please take a digital trundle over to Scotzine and cast your vote for Scottish Football Blog.

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You will, of course, be mentioned amidst the tears of my acceptance speech should enough of you be kind enough to go to the effort of depressing your mouse button next to my name. Which, in the list, is Scottish Football Blog if you were still wondering.

Somebody suggested I try a spot of subliminal marketing to get your votes. I'm convinced that doesn't work though.

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Winter Games

It's snowing outside. Time for a comforting old pattern. The media are obsessed (tip: don't waste time watching the news tonight, just look out the window for five seconds and you'll get the main thrust of the day's events). The country's transport infrastructure creaks, groans and ocassionally grinds to halt.

Already this evening the SPL have announced a weekend shut down. And that, my friends, is a rare example of proactive decision making in Scottish football. Whatever next?

So Scottish football gets to indulge in two of its favourite debates. Summer football and a winter break. OK, so neither are that exciting. But they beat talking about referees again.

The winter break I dismiss. I saw my first snow shower of our recent weather woes last Friday, the 26th of November. But earlier this year, the last week in March, I had to cancel a camping trip because it was snowing. And I had a poisoned foot, but that's less relevant here.

A three or four week break is almost impossible to plan without still suffering some problems with the weather. And, this being Scottish football, it would be odds-on to snow at every point during the winter except when we were on our shutdown.

The idea of a winter break might be a good one as far as resting players goes but it's not a way of coping with the weather.

So summer football? I don't have a traditionalist's anguish at the very thought. But we need a proper discussion about the benefits and, crucially, plenty of consultation to see how the majority of fans feel.

Timings would also be important in a "summer" season. A ten month season would still take in February and November. Which are not the most summery of Scottish months. Of course we could reduce the number of games. But that's opening a whole new can of worms.

Artificial pitches will also be mentioned and I think it's time that Scottish clubs began to look seriously at that option. The technology has moved on, the surfaces improved. They are also a way of earning revenue and placing clubs at the heart of communities again. We can't write them off as being a stupid idea any longer.

All these solutions offer certain benefits to the game. We should be giving them more consideration than just having the same conversation every time it snows.

And, this being Scottish football, any changes will come slowly.

I'm interested to hear your views though. Is there a workable way of bringing in a winter break? Is summer football an affront to the traditions of the game? Are you still scarred by the memories of Dunfermline's artificial surface (or literally scarred if you ever played on it)?

Comments in the usual way. Cheers.