You know, the Scottish national football team is going through a pretty bad patch. I think that’s fair to say. The new manager, Berti Vogts has been in charge for 6 games which have consisted of 5 straight defeats and one draw with the Faroe Islands. Now, I don’t wish to disrespect the players of the Faroe Islands, but they’re not exactly what I’d consider a footballing nation. They’re a part-time team and as such should have been easy pickings for any half-way decent professional squad.
Unfortunately Scotland were 2-0 down after a short time and the Faroe Islands looked by far the better team and deserved to win. That Scotland clawed back to 2-2 was testament to some of the fighting spirit of some of the team. It was a sad day for Scotland and, with the main Scottish premier league teams (Celtic and Rangers) playing mostly foreigners then the future for Scottish football is bleak to say the least. The youngsters are as good as anyone and the talent is there, it’s just that they’re not getting the chance to break through to the senior game.
Someone came to my site after searching for “crying Scottish football fan photo” on Google (follow the link, my site comes up fourth) and although they wound up at my site, there won’t be any tears from me. I just don’t care enough any more. Scotland have let me down so much over the years on the football pitch (with the exception of that game against England at Wembley in 2000 – Scotland were all over England and won 1-0) that I’ve become immune to it all. Given the choice of watching a Scotland or an England game on TV, I’d take the latter every time. At least I’d get the opportunity of seeing some decent football (unless Scotland were playing Brazil).
I will always support someone or any team that shows courage, fighting spirit and bottle. But I didn’t see any of that from the Scottish team and I haven’t for quite a while. The squad is low in confidence and it’s the managers job to instill that confidence in his team. But on the current evidence I don’t think Vogts is managing (pardon the pun) that task very well. Craig Brown (the previous manager) may not have had a squad full of David Beckhams or Ronaldos but he managed to turn what he had into a pretty strong squad that was tough to beat. So it can be done. I just think that Vogts could be doing long-term damage by not getting up to speed fast enough. My vote: get him out!
You see I’d love to see Scotland doing well again (they were never going to win the World Cup, but they at least used to be able to qualify). I used to love watching the Scotland vs. England matches – a good bit of nationalistic but friendly rivalry – and I long to see a game where Scotland actually have a chance of winning again. I guess I could be in for a long wait…
To be fair, wasnt Craig Browns team ageing badly? I thought Vogts was looking to build a new team from the younger players. If that IS the case, you have to give them a bit of time.
The greatest moments of any Scottish football games are 1. Archie Gemmill’s goal against Holland and 2. Paul Gascoigne’s goal at Wembley. I bet if you brought back Dalglish, Gemmill etc today (like they did in Michael Palin’s “Ripping Yarns”) they’d stand a better chance against the Faroe Islands.
I’d put money on them doing better… And I’d have to agree about your great moments. They’re certainly the ones that spring to my mind.
Okay…I dont know much about football coz I only really watch the World Cup…however…how any Scottish man can put down his home team so publically is beyond me. ;P I suppose you are only saying what the rest of us are thinking, god forbid my father finds out I shout for England to win, as he would never allow me over his doorstep again.
I guess my negative comments show what a bad state Scottish football is in!
As scotland are so bad these days, I’m all for bringing back the annual england-scotland “friendly” of yesteryear. Least then we could convincingly win something. You’ll have to stick to Golf and Snooker John – a few good Scots at those sports.
Quote: “I used to love watching the Scotland vs. England matches – a good bit of nationalistic but friendly rivalry”. Unfortunately the same sentiment cannot be expressed by an English person watching the game in Scotland. I look back fondly on the Euro 1996 Scotland v England match when the ‘friendly rivalry’ I experienced in Dundee included having beer glasses hurled in my direction during the game….. Never mind – we still won……
Yeah, you’re quite right, the Scots tend to be more ignorant and prejudiced towards English people than the other way around. I’ve experienced nothing worse than friendly banter since moving to England…
That’s cause we’re just so darn nice john. And you are Canadian too so the scottish thing doesn’t come into it.
I can assure you that I’m 100% scottish. I have no idea where my accent came from. Maybe watching too much Starsky and Hutch when I was a kid.
Perhaps if you had a Scottish accent you’d be subjected to the same racist abuse many of us Scots in England receive.
I don’t call racism “friendly banter”.