Monday 15 December 2014

Northern Ireland

The excitement never stops as seemingly we are due to play Northern Ireland at home in February. I have been heartened by the progress of our cousins across the water in the current Euro Qualifiers however I am less than convinced that the re-opening of Hampden will quake to a full house for this friendly.
And a question can be posed....why not in Belfast? Is it really over 30 years since we played there, qualifying for the 1982 world cup with a fortuitous 0-0 draw.  When there Northern Ireland did a might better than us and beat the hosts Spain. Gerry Armstrong was the hero then & as far as I know became a media star.




Thursday 30 October 2014

Ticket Prices

With the poor crowd at the Ibrox Georgia qualifier & following a decent result in Warsaw we are facing a non sell-out for the all important Ireland game at Celtic Park, that is unless the Irish take up the remaining briefs.
Many home fans are boycotting the over priced game, some out of principle others by the sheer cost. Fans from Ireland are doing what we do, that is get into the home end, & why not.
Are Scotland fans letting the team down at this vital moment? In the past we have suffered dreadful performances & still turned out in amazing numbers.
What price loyalty?
The Daily Record & Sunday Mail have kept up a weekly campaign against the SFA amongst other media outlets. Only today a Sunday Mail journo was questioning on whether their has been a reaction to the cost of phoning the ticket office.
Shame on the SFA.

Sunday 12 October 2014

Georgia

Ibrox proved to be the almost perfect host for the Georgia game with a decent atmosphere to kick off the home campaign.  I tend to judge our performance by the actions of my brother who during times of stress goes walkabout. Yesterday he just held his head in his hands for the last 20 minutes, progress indeed.
A competent first half with good wing play & movement with the ball pinged at pace & a winning own goal. There just had to be a late scare & the malfunction of the 4th officials' substitution board was as close to a stramash as we got.
A crowd of 34,719 was a realistic attendance considering the prices however I can only think that the players & manager would have dearly loved a sell-out with that sizzle a packed Ibrox would have brought.
I was on radio Scotland ref the prices & pitted in the SFA corner was former Chief Exec Gordon Smith presumably as no press officer was brave enough to comment.
There is a lot of admirable work being done by the SFA in kids coaching, football development etc & well done to all involved. Does this come at a price? You betcha, we are paying for this & more.
£10 cheaper & we would have had a near sell out, a public sale for the Ireland game will see many of our Irish cousins joining us in Celtic Park stands, would we not do the same?
On the other negative side Poland beat Germany for the first time & suddenly our optimism looks misplaced, or does it? We need a point in Warsaw, 3 in Georgia and probably 4 against Ireland. We also need draws by our opponents.
Andrew Robertson looks a star & it was good to have Fletcher back, I however despair at our poor finishing, bloomin years of this.
Denis Law, Colin Stein, when will we see your likes again?


Hamish

Thursday 9 October 2014

Supporting Scotland

Talk of boycotts & fans not going cause it's Ibrox, jings all this fuss & we are playing well. Then there is the massive decision on whether to sing our anthem. My heart bleeds for the Tartan Army.
The cost of tickets is a scandal with a deliberate decision to fleece a cash cow, if you can pardon the mixed metaphor. By the way Mixd Metaphor was the Dutch manager when we beat Holland 3-1 in an Amsterdam 1938 friendly, those were the days.
If ever there was a time for action it was 1954 with a disastrous World Cup campaign. The SFA in their infinite lack of wisdom took 14 players, no training gear and a manager who would chuck it during the tournament. Rangers players were off on a summer tour, lucky them. To ensure the players would not suffer frostbite the Scotland jersey was made of extra thick wool which as Tommy Docherty later commented ensured that the lion on the badge melted as they lined up for the ritual 7-0 defeat in 90 degree Basle heat. This debacle followed a 1-0 loss to world power Austria & we were sent homeward to think again. Taking into account an England  4-2 trouncing at Hampden this was truly a dreadful year. The again England beat us 7-2 in '55.
Get along to Ibrox & sing your heart out.
As for the England game .....what a rip off.


Hamish

Wednesday 8 October 2014

A National Anthem

I have no recollection of God Save The Queen at Hampden however I do remember it getting laldy at Wembley 1977.
The Queen as Patron would have quite rightly been un-amused & I do remember an article in The Sunday Mail by The Lord Lieutenant  stating that it was a treasonable offence to fly The Lion Rampant flag without royal permission punishable by death. I kid you not!
An embarrassed SFA chose a Cliff Hanley ditty written circa 1950 for the singer Robert Wilson as the new anthem. A music hall success it proved to be quite popular with the fans and treated with half-hearted disdain by those in the old Hampden South Stand.  Used at Spain '82, a  tune with words so frivolous that when played abroad the travelling fans accompanied their lack of knowledge of the lyrics with mock highland flings. Many a home fan would stand at attention in respect and gawp at our frivolity.
Flower of Scotland a stirring song had it's most stirring rendition at the rugby Grand-slam, with neer a republican nationalist in sight. Have a peek at U-Tube from an Italian view of us singing FoS before our fatal Euro-qualifier defeat, rip-roaring, throat bending stuff.
As it stands we do not have a national anthem although in 'Auld Lang Syne' we have one of the most popular songs in the world. My father is of the opinion that many a Hampden fan only goes for the half-time Proclaimers & Runrig sing-song.
We certainly did not rise and be a nation again, but then again in Fitba we have been independent since 1872.
I will sing Flower of Scotland this week and hope to bring down our campaign in France in 2 years after a narrow defeat in the 2nd round with a rendition of 'Auld Lang Syne' having driven 500 miles (plus) to be there.


Hamish

Tartan Scarf

There are many images of past Scotland games with brylcreemed bandy legged wingers, toe-tector boots and a thick woollen jumper that absorbed more water when it rained than the T-ball laced football that proved to be more hazardous to a forwards napper than an England goalie's gloves at Hampden.
Scotland fans would travel to the game with a hip flask, a wee bit of hope and most important of all a Tartan Scarf.
As a kid I always wondered where said scarf was kept, in a drawer or under the bed? Never mind the Bay City Rollers it was Rod Stewart who set the fashion for a longer Stuart scarf, 2 sewed together. Man Utd fans I believe were the instigators of the wrist band scarf which come to think of it may be in Roy Keane's mind as he lambasts said Glory Hunters and fits in their mind-set as both Rollers fans and fashion followers.
Tartan suits were more common in olden day Wembley weekends than kilts, check out your DVD of the 1967 3-2 game & most of oor fans were wearing proper suits with ties and Tartan Scarves.
The modern kilt wearing Tartan Army soldier only emerged at the '98 France World Cup, neer one was seen 2 years earlier as Football came home and we missed a penalty. Paris, Bordeaux & St Etienne were awash with ill fitting kilts and Adidas sambas.
It will be strange to be at Ibrox on Saturday, but not for the first time for a Scotland international. I have dug my lucky cashmere Stuart Tartan Scarf out of the drawer just as all those old guys did when I was young.  I have a St Andrews ski hat just to make me modern, up with the kids, or as my pal said I just look like a big kid.
The pain & suffering may have started in Dortmund with an unlucky defeat, but our challenge really starts on Saturday & when Scotland score I will throw my Tartan Scarf in the air just like Scotland fans did all these years ago. 2 minutes later mind you I will be hiding behind said Scarf as Scotland attempt to create a stramash on their own goal line. Some things will never change.




Hamish






Tuesday 2 September 2014

A new campaign

A new campaign starts on Sunday with a clash with the newly crowned World Champions. The momentum gained during the Smith & McLeish eras dissipated with 3 pretty dreadful campaigns. Gordon Strachan has proved to be made to measure as an international manager, a talent Craig Levein has admitted recently not to have.
The old adage that Scotland likes a challenge will be tested in the wonderful Dortmund stadium. The Germans reacted to a disastrous 2002 Euro campaign with a long term plan which came to fruition this Sunday.
Scotland has become a well organised & tactically proficient team & this will be sorely tested, a glance at Monday's Bundesliga TV highlights reveals fast and direct football.
West Germany won their first world cup in 1954 & of course we found it pretty easy to beat them 3-1 3 years later.
Can we win? Can we draw?
Better still can we qualify? YES we can.

Wednesday 30 April 2014

England

As expected the return of the Scotland England fixture will continue with a visit from the Auld Enemy in November. Surprise or shock should be muted as last year's visit to Wembley was seen as a success with a really good competitive game and even more importantly the two sets of fans mingled with some enthusiasm. Extra revenue for the 2 respective FAs, surely not?
Many of the Scots in London were able to experience the traditional Trafalgar experience & whilst they could only gape in awe at the size of the ground and appreciate the good value for money that a national stadium costing many many millions that  is stuck in London within the M25 & not in any way easily accessible for Londoners never mind the rest of England.
There is a real prospect that the game will be played at Celtic Park due to the unavailability of Hampden. Whilst Wembley holds 90,000 these days that figure is dwarfed by the 149,000 plus that Hampden held on 2 occasions for games held in the 1930's. 52,000 is of course more than enough to accommodate Queens Park, Scotland friendlies and all semi-finals.
A visit from our friends south of the border is another matter & Hampden holds no great emotional
bond for me these days & the prospect of a 60,000 crowd would let more fans in. Dare I say a better atmosphere & other than a wee section for away fans a better view of the pitch.
I was honoured to have been part of the fans game last August with Scotland deservedly winning 6-2. We all got on famously, & why not?
We will have to ensure that there will be a good Scottish welcome for our visitors, as warm as we treat all football fans in Glasgow.
I travelled to London last year as cool as a cucumber. The game meant little more than part of the rebuilding of our battered team. When we scored I was again a young lad with bell bottomed trousers celebrating Kenny Dalglish's 1977 winner. Does the England game mean a lot to a Scotsman?
You better believe it.

Thursday 17 April 2014

Barry


Barry Ferguson former Rangers & Scotland captain was interviewed on Radio Scotland this evening & thoughtful as ever reflected on a nearly great career. His first managerial job is the temporary boss of a sinking Blackpool & I wish him well. No doubt he will soon be looking for a new club & may land back home in Scotland.
He was a boyhood Rangers fan & followed his brother in wearing the blue of Ibrox. When younger he was struggling to get a game & seemingly asked his best pal if there was a vacancy at Celtic.
The Captain of Rangers job came eventually & he had a career not without its controversy & he was the major factor in seeing off the hapless Paul Le Guen, a well respected foreign coach hounded out of Ibrox.
For many Barry's defining moment was not the Italy goal and captaining Scotland in an exciting campaign including a double over France, no drinkgate in Loch Lomond & his lack of judgment following.
I was called often that week by the media to damn him & in the end I called for some form of punishment, however Walter will have chastised him more than any angry quote I could muster. He was banned by fax.
Drink & fitba, surely not? The first Scottish footballer to disgrace himself?
Archie Macpherson writes a first hand account of the shenanigans at oor 1974 World Cup camp. Scotland Captain Billy Bremner & sailor extraordinare Jimmy Johnstone appear at the team hotel drunk & singing. Argentina '78......
But they were different they were well, not Barry Ferguson.  Modern day footballers live by different standards, but we continue to eulogise Jinky , Bremner & the king of booze, Jim Baxter.
Barry will with a bit of luck be a good manager, maybe not of Rangers, but then again.
He claims that many want him to fail. Those who remember Loch Lomond.
I remember a really classy player, he played at Wembley '99. He captained the last Scotland squad to play well in the qualifiers.
Good luck Barry. Be a good manager, give us some good Scottish lads with technique as well as passion.

Wednesday 16 April 2014

The Hearts

The trials & tribulations of the hearts fans may just be drawing to a close, for now. The mad spending of the mad chairman has wreaked & that cannot be a bad thing however to what purpose?
Tynecastle is a great arena for atmosphere & requires a new main stand. Years of overspending on the playing staff has resulted in some cup success but no custom built club & training facilities.
The future must surely lie in creating a modern Scottish football club with a modern footballing style, raising kids to play the modern way. Coaching in the European style where a brand of football can be instilled in the youths and carried onto the big team.
Will fan ownership demand this? Will there be a clear strategy for the future; modern football?
The club have yet to leave their period of administration however the fans have a lot to ponder for the future of the Heart of Midlothian.


Hamish