Glam Rock, Flares and Saturday Afternoons

Given Scotland haven’t qualified for the finals of a major tournament since the World Cup in France in 1998, there was inevitable excitement when the draw for the qualifying stages of the 2016 European Championships was made in Paris the other week. After what seems like a life-long struggle to make any kind of progress, there seems genuine hope that Scotland, under the tutelage of the ebullient Gordon Strachan, might actually qualify for the finals in France two years from now. Of course, Germany are rightly the favourites but there’s no reason to suggest Scotland can’t get the better of the Republic of Ireland, Poland – who the Scots defeated in Warsaw a few days ago -  Georgia and Gibraltar, particularly when those countries visit Glasgow. And there would be a certain symmetry if Scotland’s first appearance at the finals of a major tournament for the best part of two decades were in the same country of their last appearance in 1998.

Much as the draw was the cause of some excitement, my enthusiasm was dampened somewhat when I saw the dates and kick-off times for the fixtures. Not one of the scheduled games involving Scotland will kick-off at 3.00pm on a Saturday. The Scots’ opening game in Germany will kick-off at hardly the most traditional of times – 7.45pm on the evening of Sunday 7 September. Scotland will play their next game on a Saturday – against Georgia in Glasgow on 11 October – but it will start at 6.00pm. The following fixture in Poland will be on a Tuesday evening before the Republic of Ireland visit Glasgow – on a Friday six weeks before Christmas.

Those of you who regularly read my ramblings on this website - and I thank both of you – may realise I’m something of a traditionalist. Yes, looking back at years gone by can sometimes give a false impression, with fifty-something supporters like me tending to view things through maroon-tinted spectacles. I try not to hark on to youngsters about how things were when I were a lad because it can be very irritating. However, when I were a lad, for the most part, there were two days when games were played and two kick-off times. Hearts and Scotland, for that matter, would either play at 3.00pm on a Saturday or 7.30pm on a Wednesday.

Of course there are two main reasons why football in 2014 can be played at any time, no matter how inconvenient to the fans. Television and money – and one follows the other. Some of my childhood in the 1970s was spent watching a struggling Hearts team and a Scotland team who, on their day, could just about beat anyone (the Scots returned home from the World Cup in Germany in 1974 as the only unbeaten team in the tournament) Back then, we didn’t need to check the fixtures to see if Hearts were playing on a Friday night, Saturday lunch time, Sunday or Monday evening. When Scotland played it was usually a Wednesday with the home internationals occurring at the end of the season, for example, Wales on a Saturday, Northern Ireland midweek and the auld enemy of England on the following Saturday with the bi-annual weekend trip to Wembley being the highlight of many Scots supporters lives.

Of course, back in the decade of glam rock, flares and long hair – and I recall fondly the days when I actually had hair – there was no satellite or cable television in this country. We had the BBC and ITV and that was it. The attitude from the powers-that-be who ran Scottish football was that televising an entire 90 minutes of football live would drive fans away from the game. Therefore, only the Scotland-England international and perhaps the odd World Cup qualifier were shown live on the wee box. Even the Scottish Cup final wasn’t shown live on television until 1977. There were the odd game or two, such as Celtic or Rangers in big European games which were shown live but these were few and far between.

Now, television dictates when football will be played. Hearts game with Dundee United this coming Friday is a case in point although, in fairness, there’s something appealing about Friday evening football as the increase in attendances at these games has shown. However, there’s something which strikes at the heart when looking at Scotland’s fixtures for the Euro 2016 qualifiers. The big kick-off in Germany will be eagerly anticipated but a Sunday evening, when many people are contemplating another fraught working week, may douse the fervour somewhat. And it will mean another Saturday afternoon kicking our heels or being dragged through DIY stores having to answer the perennial question ‘why haven’t you fixed that shelf in the kitchen yet?’

The huge sums of money involved in club football these days has led many people to question if international football has quite the same appeal as it did in the days of the dodgy perm and the dulcet tones of commentators Archie MacPherson and Arthur Montford. Having obscure kick-off times will only add fuel to the fire of those who feel it doesn’t.

And those who feel a sadness that a Saturday afternoon at 3.00pm is fast becoming become eerily quiet…

 

Mike Smith

Twitter @Mike1874

Willie No Come Back Again?

‘It was rare to see so many youngsters playing in the first team together. As with most youngsters they could lack self-confidence and belief in themselves. What they needed was some old heads to lift them both on and off the park. They’re a talented bunch.’

Those are the words of a former Scotland internationalist who played for Hearts at the end of an illustrious, if controversial playing career. However, Willie Johnston wasn’t talking about the current crop of youngsters plying their trade at Tynecastle. In his excellent biography ‘Sent Off at Gunpoint’, Johnston was talking about the group of young players with dodgy 1980s hairstyles who were trying to break into the Hearts first team more than 30 years ago in 1982. One of the finest left wingers ever to play for Scotland, ’Bud’ Johnston was 35 years old when he was signed by then Hearts manager Alex Macdonald in September 1982. The likes of John Robertson, Gary Mackay, John Brough and Davie Bowman were the future of a club that was almost on its knees in 1981 before Wallace Mercer saved Edinburgh’s oldest and finest football club from oblivion. Three decades on and it seems the more things change the more they stay the same…

I wrote in a previous article about the sad demise of Scotland’s international team and how, in my view, things have been in a steady decline since the World Cup Finals in Argentina in 1978. Willie Johnston doesn’t need reminding he was sent home from those finals after admitting to taking a banned stimulant. The truth was he had taken anti hay fever medication which contained traces of the stimulant. He certainly didn’t take it to enhance his performance – Willie was one of the fastest players in the world and had no need to take any performance improving drug. As Scotland manager Ally MacLeod said at the time, perhaps unwisely, there was no way Johnston could have taken drugs on top of all the alcohol he had the night before. The bold Ally was jesting, of course, but the SFA viewed it as a serious matter and Johnston never played for Scotland again.

Johnston may have been nearing the end of a career which included two spells at Rangers – the first of which saw him score two goals to help the Ibrox side lift the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972 – West Bromwich Albion and Vancouver Whitecaps. However, Alex Macdonald saw Bud as the ideal man to bring his considerable experience to the likes of Robbo, Mackay and company, not only on the pitch but off it too.

Of course, controversy was a constant companion of Bud’s and I was at Celtic Park in March 1983 when the little winger was sent off during a Scottish Cup tie after an ‘altercation’ with Celtic’s Davie Provan. Johnston maintains to this day he barely touched the Celtic winger but the man in the hoops collapsed to the pitch and Bud was shown a red card. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing and perfectly understood Bud’s initial reaction when he refused to leave the pitch. To Hearts credit they backed their man and Wallace Mercer wrote to the SFA to protest at the treatment of the man from Cardenden. When two police officers at the game then came forward to say Willie had not struck Provan, the SFA knew there had been a miscarriage of justice and other than the automatic one match ban, there was no further punishment meted out to the veteran Hearts man.

Bud was someone who proved invaluable in the development of the younger players at Tynecastle at that time. John Robertson and Gary Mackay still regale a Bud story or three to this day and they readily acknowledge the contribution the great man made to their development. Yes, he could be a controversial character – but he was a character, something you don’t see much of in the game today.

As the curtain falls on a disappointing season for Hearts, it would be good to think today’s young Jambos could be influenced by someone who has done it all in the game, like the left winger who helped to nurture the Hearts youngsters of three decades ago.

Bud Johnston – Willie no come back again?!

 

Mike Smith

Twitter @Mike1874

  

A Different Kind of Embarrassment

So farewell then to World Cup 2014. Scotland began the qualifying campaign with our Head Coach uttering, almost Ally MacLeod like, that there was no reason why the Scots couldn’t win all of their games. Yet here we are, six games in, with no victories and just two points gleaned from miserable home draws against Serbia and Macedonia. And the bitter realisation that Scotland are not only rock bottom of Group A but cannot now qualify for the football extravaganza that will be held in Brazil next year. To add insult to already gaping injury, Scotland are the first European country to be eliminated – good God, even San Marino still have a mathematical chance of qualifying…

It is 35 years since Scotland last had a team many of us thought were one of the best in the world. The aforementioned Ally MacLeod was the national team manager who took Scotland to the World Cup Finals in Argentina and the bold Ally was telling anyone who would listen that the Scots ‘would return home with a medal’. Defeat from Peru, a humiliating draw with Iran and the sending home of winger Willie Johnston for taking a banned stimulant – in truth, Willie only took hay fever medication called Reactive which contained traces of the stimulant – meant the Scots were sent home with their tails between their collective legs. Not even a thrilling victory over the Netherlands – who would go on to reach the final itself – in the final group game could save face. Since 1978, Scotland’s football team has been in steady decline.

There has been the odd occasion or two when it seemed Scottish football was about to make its presence felt again. We came close to qualifying for Euro 2008 with the Scots famously defeating France home and away. Only a narrow defeat by Italy in the final qualification game prevented Scotland from gracing the European Championship finals. In 2003 Scotland defeated the Netherlands in a play-off for a place at the Euro 2004 finals. The trouble was it was only a 1-0 win in the first leg – and Scotland crumbled 6-0 in the return in Amsterdam…

1998 was the last time Scotland played in the World Cup Finals. A brave showing by Craig Brown’s men in the opening game against holders Brazil still resulted in defeat. This was followed by a draw against Norway, defeat from Morocco and the return tickets back home…

What I find particularly sad is that decades of, for the most part, abject failure has taken its toll. Apathy now seems to reign over the national side. It wasn’t until the afternoon of the game that I realised Scotland’s tie against Serbia was live on the ‘cooncil telly’ that night – and I had far better things to do than watch the BBC’s Rob McLean and co pick over the carcass that is Scotland’s latest attempt to reach the World Cup Finals…

Unlike some so-called experts – step forward Pat Nevin – I don’t have the answer to Scotland’s troubles. I am simply saddened that our country’s football team is as poor as it is. I hanker after the days when Scotland reached six World Cup Finals out of seven. Particularly the Willie Ormond era when Scotland were the only unbeaten country at the 1974 World Cup Finals and were within a Billy Bremner hairs breadth of beating Brazil. Even the Ally MacLeod era, pre Argentina debacle, when Scotland brushed aside European Champions Czechoslovakia and defeated England at Wembley with a style and swagger that shouted ‘Wha’s like us?’

Jock Stein took over from the much maligned MacLeod and while he steadied the ship and guided Scotland to the World Cup Finals in Spain in 1982 and for much of the successful qualifying campaign for Mexico 1986 – tragically, the big man died during Scotland’s draw in Wales which secured a play-off place – there still seemed to be something missing from the Scotland sides of that era.

Sadly, Scotland no longer produces players such as Jimmy Johnstone, Willie Johnston, Jim Baxter, Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish. The focus now seems to be about trying not to lose rather than displaying flamboyance and skill by putting opponents to the sword. I’m tried hearing the same old script trotted out – ‘we’re only a small country, we shouldn’t expect to produce hugely talented players blah, blah, blah…’ I know we live in a different era now and society has changed so much in the last five decades but when I see some of the players who play for Scotland now and compare them to the greats of yesteryear it makes me mourn for our national side. Scotland has failed to adapt to the changing world. When we qualified for the 1978 World Cup Finals we did so from a qualifying group of just three countries – Scotland, Czechoslovakia and Wales. Now it seems we just don’t have the players to cope with a two year qualifying campaign and our international ranking may well be sinking to the levels of the Faroe Islands, Malta and Cyprus before long. In fact, we may have already reached that level.

The fervour and hype that precipitated the 1978 World Cup Finals will never be repeated. Indeed, the SFA would never wish it repeated given the embarrassment that enveloped the national team at that time. There seems to me to have been a deliberate attempt to play down Scotland’s prospects ever since for fear we are exposed to the same humiliation again.

Sadly, as the likes of Serbia, Macedonia and Wales pass us by, it seems we no longer need to play down our prospects – our national team’s lack of ability has resulted in a downward spiral we may never escape from.

And the consequences are Scotland is now dying from a different kind of embarrassment…

 

Mike Smith

Twitter @Mike1874

A Change in Attitude

Three weeks ago, STV began a second series of their excellent recall of Scottish football, The Football Years. The first programme was about Scotland’s World Cup squad of 1974 who returned home from the finals in what was then West Germany as the only country undefeated (the West Germans won the competition but lost to East Germany in a group game) The Scots beat Zaire but draws against the reigning world champions Brazil and Yugoslavia were insufficient for progression and so the boys in blue went out in the first round group stage on goal difference (this wouldn’t be the first time this would happen) The STV programme interviewed players who took part as well as journalists who were there.

I remember 1974 very well, being just 12 years old at the time, but what struck me on watching the programme was the attitude and preparation - or lack of - of the Scots and the ‘wha’s like us’ mentality that would be frowned upon today. Scotland manager Willie Ormond had gone to watch opponents Zaire in an African Nations Cup match against Ghana - and according to journalist Rodger Baillie left the game after just 15 minutes stating Zaire were no good and would pose no threat to the Scots. He then invited Scots journalists present to accompany him for a wee dram or three back at his hotel. True, Zaire didn’t pose any threat to Scotland in their opening World Cup game but the image of captain Billy Bremner playing keepy-uppy with the ball in his own half as Ormond’s men settled for a 2-0 win rather than a more emphatic victory is an enduring one, particularly when one reflects on the Scots going out the tournament on goal difference. I have stated in these pages before how I believe Hearts Donald Ford would have been a better option up front instead of an ageing Denis Law but Fordie remained on the sidelines alongside, incredibly, the best Scots player I have ever seen - Celtic’s Jimmy Johnstone. ‘Jinky’ appeared to pay the price for some high jinks as the team prepared - although I use the term loosely - for the finals a few weeks earlier.

Willie Ormond would become Hearts manager three years later and it’s difficult to imagine his laissez-faire attitude to preparation being adopted by today’s Scotland manager, Craig Levein who, of course, also managed Hearts. Zaire were managed by a Yugoslav, Blagoje Vidinic, and when the Africans lost their next World Cup game to Yugoslavia 9-0 questions were asked although the answers weren’t given until several decades later when it was alleged some of the Zaire players were given ‘incentives’ not to give their all in the game. The fact Brazil only managed to put three goals past them indicates there was some substance to those allegations.

The day after the STV broadcast last month, Hearts played out a less than enthralling goalless draw with Aberdeen at Pittodrie. I didn’t find the idea of leaving Edinburgh at eight in the morning to head to the Granite City particularly enticing so I opted to watch the game on television in a pub. However, I was interested to hear Aberdeen manager Craig Brown’s post match assertion that it was a sign of how much his team had progressed that they had secured a nil-nil draw against the high-flying maroons (or turquoise and white stripes in this case) True, the goalless affair was, for The Dons, a big improvement on their last meeting with Jim Jefferies’ boys when they endured a 5-0 thrashing at Tynecastle a fortnight before Christmas. Nonetheless, it was another example of how football has changed over the years.

A decade after Scotland’s adventure in the 1974 World Cup, Aberdeen weren’t just the third force in Scottish football - they were the force and by some distance. I recall Hearts first season back in the Premier Division after securing promotion in 1983 and being at Pittodrie towards the end of season 1983/84 when Hearts secured a 1-1 draw against a side who were at the time the European Cup Winners Cup holders. Wee John Robertson scored a second half equaliser and I recall leaving Pittodrie’s Beach End as it was then thinking how much progress Hearts had made under manager Alex Macdonald. Twelve months earlier, Hearts had been playing the likes of Dumbarton and Alloa Athletic in the First Division; now they had drawn at the home of one of the finest teams in Europe.

Someone once made the wisecrack that nostalgia isn’t what it used to be and there’s no doubt football has changed a lot in the last thirty odd years. Craig Levein certainly would never dream of leaving a game featuring Scotland’s next opponents after just 15 minutes and heading for the pub while nowadays Aberdonians consider themselves satisfied with a goalless draw against Edinburgh’s finest. One thing remains a constant, however. The joy of seeing Hearts and Scotland triumph and the wellbeing that creates. Now that’s something that will never change!

Death in Prague

It seems a strange thing to say but part of the allure of being a Hearts supporter is there are more downs than ups. Younger readers may think I’ve been at the brandy and lemonade again but I’d like to think those Hearts fans who have been worshipping the maroons since the days of Donald Ford, Jim Cruickshank and Alan Anderson would know what I mean. Success may be an infrequent visitor to Tynecastle but when it arrives we hard-pressed Jambos know how to appreciate it.


Witnessing Hearts Scottish Cup triumphs of 1998 and 2006 were dreams come true for me and thousands of others with maroon blood. However, there have been other occasions where success wasn’t measured so much in silverware but in triumphs that induced the great to be a Jambo factor. One of these came in November 2003. When the draw for the second round of the UEFA Cup paired Hearts with French giants FC Girondins de Bordeaux it was the pairing that watered the mouths of the Hearts support. Three thousand of us headed to the south of France seven weeks before Christmas and basked in temperatures in the low seventies and an unforgettable day camped outside an Irish pub in a French city. As Hearts were very much the underdogs against one of the best teams in France, an unforgettable day turned into an unforgettable night as Craig Levein’s men recorded a remarkable 1-0 victory thanks to Mark de Vries’ strike twelve minutes from the end. For those of us who literally made a flying visit there and back in less than twenty-four hours it was simply the perfect day - my best experience of being a Hearts fans in over forty years, outside the aforementioned Scottish Cup triumphs.

Levein may have been a rookie at managing in European competition but he got his tactics spot on that evening. Admittedly, I was somewhat bemused when I heard the Hearts starting eleven as I joined the thronging mass of the Hearts support behind the goal at the Stade Chaban-Delmas half an hour before kick-off. We all thought Hearts would adopt a less than cavalier approach, try to keep the scoreline respectable and bring the French back to Tynecastle for the return leg with a fighting chance of making it to the next round. When I heard that Dennis Wyness, Jean-Louis Valois and Mark de Vries were all starting I couldn’t understand it. Yes, like most of the three thousand Jambos present, I had consumed a fair amount of alcohol that day - the French hospitality was superb and we didn’t want to offend our hosts - but I couldn’t understand Craig Levein’s thinking. Then, when the game started it quickly became evident Hearts were playing an unheard of formation of 3-6-1 - with de Vries the lone striker and Wyness and Valois part of the plan to swamp the midfield.

Hearts fans had spent a not inconsiderable amount of money on the trip to see Craig Levein’s tactics of more or less telling his Hearts players not to cross the halfway line unless they had to. Now, of course, the reason Levein has progressed from club manager to Head Coach of the national side is that he knows infinitely more about football than the likes of I. Hearts attempts to go forward that evening were few but one attempt proved fruitful - when de Vries hooked home the only goal of the game towards the end there was bedlam in the Hearts end of the stadium and I lauded the Hearts manager as a master tactician.

Seven years later Levein is now in charge of Scotland. When he took the Scots to Prague to face the Czech Republic in a Euro 2012 qualifier on Friday, he obviously thought of that glorious evening in Bordeaux with Hearts and set out the Scotland stall accordingly. However, there were notable differences this time.

Against the Czech Republic Scotland played 4-6-0. No strikers. Yes, Levein had decided a goalless draw would be the target for his team. Now, I’m an old-fashioned kind of fella who still hankers for the days when football was considered entertainment. Ten thousand Scots headed for Prague and while I suspect not many thought Scotland would win, most would have expected their team to at least try to venture forward now and again. I watched the game on television and grimaced as the Scots remained camped in their own half. It was football, Jim, but not as we know it.

Yet it seemed at one point that Levein’s grim master plan would pay off. Until with twenty minutes to go the Czechs scored the one goal they needed. Levein resorted to Plan B and threw on Kenny Miller and Chris Iwelumo but the damage had been done. Of course, it’s easy to be critical with hindsight but if the Scots had had a go from the outset things might have been different. After all the Czech Republic are not the same side that was one of the best in Europe a few years ago. Lithuania showed how it could be done by beating the Czechs in their own back yard just a month earlier. It seems Scotland’s stock in world football has fallen to the extent we don’t think we should even be on the same field as some countries - this despite beating France home and away just a few seasons ago.

As I’ve said, Craig Levein knows more about football than most of us. But surely the purpose of playing football is to score goals? Having no strikers indicated the Scots had metaphorically thrown in the towel before the game had even started. Has Levein lost all faith in Scottish football? If he has he is sadly not alone.

I agree with fellow blogger Kenfitlike -  Scottish football died in Prague on Friday evening. The funeral is scheduled to place at Hampden against Spain this Tuesday...

Nation Unto Nation

A few weeks ago, I was watching the BBC’s excellent Match of the Day programme late on a Saturday night in the company of my good friend Jack Daniels. After the brief highlights of Everton’s game the topic turned to whether the Goodison midfielder Mikel Arteta should be considered for England. I damn near choked on my Tennessee whisky when I heard the smirking Gary Lineker bring it up in conversation - surely, Arteta is as Spanish as paella. At the time of the broadcast there was speculation the former Rangers player qualified for playing for any of the home countries as he had been resident in the United Kingdom for more than five years and as he hadn’t represented Spain yet, it was widely believed he could pull on the three lions of England in the not too distant future. However, FIFA weren’t slow in amending their original rule and have now decreed that a player can only play for a country if he has been educated for a minimum of five years under the age of 18 “in the territory of the relevant association”.


FIFA come in for a lot of criticism but this time they’ve seen some sense at least. Surely merely being resident in a country shouldn’t entitle you to represent that country at sport? However, it got me thinking about other players who have gone down this road – pre the new FIFA ruling.

The former Chelsea player Deco was born in Brazil but opted to play for Portugal. Fair enough, there are historical ties between Portugal and Brazil so that’s not completely a surprise. The ex Arsenal player Eduardo was also born in Brazil and brought up in Rio de Janeiro but opted for Croatian nationality in 2002 and has represented that country ever since. However, if you think this is a relatively recent trait, then you would be mistaken.

More than forty years ago, the most famous footballer in the world was Alfredo di Stefano. Born to a family of Italian immigrants in the capital of Argentina - Buenos Aires - di Stefano played six times for Argentina - missing the World Cup in neighbouring Uruguay in 1950 as the Argentines refused to participate. He then played for Colombia before acquiring Spanish citizenship in 1956. Di Stefano was part of the legendary Real Madrid team who won the European Cup six years in succession and he went on to play for his adopted country more than thirty times.

In recent years, there has been a measure of controversy about players having tenuous links with the countries they represent, most notably the Republic of Ireland. Scotland, it has to be said, hasn’t been slow to get in on the act. Recently, manager Craig Levein has been sounding out the possibility of Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll pulling on the dark blue jersey. "I've heard I'm wanted by Scotland but I'm obviously doing well with the England Under-21s at the moment and I will see what is happening there," Carroll was quoted as saying, speaking as if it were his contract at St. James Park that was about to come to an end. Carroll, who has a Scottish grandmother added “I would be lying if I said that the Scotland thing wasn't in the back of my mind. It's nice to know I'm wanted. But England is where I am from, it is my country and that is who I want to play for really”. Hmm. England is my country and that’s who I want to play for. That will go down well with the Tartan Army if Carroll is ignored by Fabio Capello and trots out at Hampden wearing dark blue…

I have to say I belong to the old school when it comes to playing for one’s country. I’ve never been comfortable with players representing Scotland because they’ve suddenly discovered a long lost granny in Wick. However, other countries do it so the Scots are merely following suit. Indeed, Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen could have played for Denmark as his grandfather came from there. Nevertheless, there’s a difference between having a family link to a country and having the right to play international sport just because you’ve lived there for a few years. In my view, this makes a mockery of what used to be an honour of playing for your country.

This isn’t being racist, nationalistic or jingoistic. We live in a multi-cultural society where respect for all creeds is the foundation of an equal and fair society. It’s just that when it comes to watching our country I want to see players who are Scottish or have a family link to our nation. Somewhat belatedly – but correctly - the suits at FIFA appear to have had second thoughts about what defines ‘international’ competition…

Wales v Scotland - Anfield 1977

World Cup Qualifier in 1977 - Scotland knew if they beat Wales at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium - switched there from Wales for safety reasons - they would qualify for the World Cup Finals in Argentina in 1978. Commentator Archie Macpherson described the crucial penalty award to Scotland late in the game as 'a punch if ever there was one'. No doubt about that, Archie - although it seemed to everyone bar the referee that it was Scotland striker Joe Jordan who punched it. Did we care? Of course not - and Kenny Dalglish's clincher with minutes to go was sublime.

I still get a tingle down my spine when I watch this - Scotland games aren't just like this any more...

Wembley 1953

Hibernian's Lawrie Reilly scores a last minute equaliser for Scotland against the Auld Enemy at Wembley Stadium in 1953. England's Alf Ramsey's challenge is in vain.

Darren Fletcher - Heart of Midlothian!

It was the summer of 2001. Any father of teenage daughters will tell you the phone rings incessantly for their offspring and this was a time when mobile phones were not quite yet the mass production must have item they are now. Answering the phone for what seemed like the three hundredth time that day, my patience was at breaking point.

‘Yes?!’ I snapped, my telephone protocol long since discarded.

‘Oh, hello Mr Smith. I’m sorry to trouble you but I was wondering if Laura was around?’

Daughter Laura was fifteen years old then and being a teenager in Dalkeith her circle of friends were normally of the grunting, sniggering variety. Therefore, this well-spoken, polite young lad had me immediately on my guard.

‘Eh, no’ I replied somewhat hesitantly, ‘she’s not here’

‘Oh, that’s okay’ the young man responded, ‘would you mind telling her that Darren called?’

‘Darren?’ I sniped. ‘Any message?’

‘No, it‘s okay Mr Smith. I’m sorry to have bothered you. Thanks for your time’.

Said daughter duly arrived some time later and my inquisitiveness got the better of me. ‘Some laddo called for you earlier. Says his name is Darren but he doesn’t sound like he’s from round here’ I said, hoping to extract further information on this mysterious and, for all I knew, potential chaperon to my elder daughter.

‘Darren?’ my daughter asked with eyes alight. ‘That’ll be Darren Fletcher. I knew he was back in Dalkeith - I’ll call him later’

At that, I threw an inquisitive look towards my daughter. ‘Darren Fletcher? The laddie whose folks live down the road? The laddie who has signed for Manchester United?’ I asked.

‘Aye, that’s him’ came the almost nonchalant reply.

Daughter Laura went to the same St. David’s High School as Darren Fletcher and even though there were a couple of years between them, they were friends. But then Darren Fletcher had lots of friends. He was polite, courteous, approachable and as was evident at even that early age, had immense skill as a footballer. It was little wonder that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made the journey north to Mayfield, Dalkeith in July 2000 to make a personal visit to Darren Fletcher’s family in order to persuade their gifted son to join the Red Devils. Not that he would need much persuasion to join arguably the biggest club in the world. Fletcher’s family knew their boy was going to make it as a professional footballer but they harboured concerns that he might not get his chance to do so at Old Trafford. After all, a year earlier United had been crowned champions of Europe and with likes of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes were destined to add to the multitude of honours. What chance would young Darren Fletcher have of breaking through into this team? Ferguson merely placed his hand on their shoulders and said ‘trust me’. Fletcher joined United as a trainee in the summer of 2000 and signed professional terms six months later. Nearly a decade on that trust that Sir Alex Ferguson asked for has never been questioned.

Now 25 years old, Fletcher is approaching the years when a footballer hits the peak form of his career. Last month Manchester United lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. To most observers, United were unlucky to lose the game and only a controversial refereeing decision cost them three points. The Reds had chances before John Terry’s late winner to take the lead and this added to Ferguson’s bitter frustration that his team left the west end of London empty-handed. Particularly when you consider the guilt-edged chances for Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs were set up by the subtle skills of Darren Fletcher. The joust between the Scot and the home team’s Frank Lampard was one of the highlights of the afternoon and, as always, Fletcher did not let anyone down. The Dalkeith boy - and despite fatherhood and the responsibilities of having twin boys brings he still looks a young laddie himself - has matured from a gangly, enthusiastic squad player to one of the first names Sir Alex Ferguson puts on the United team sheet. Fletcher’s absence from the United team that lost to Barcelona in the Champions League Final earlier this year was, in my view, one of the reasons the Old Trafford side relinquished their hard-earned title from twelve months earlier. Fletcher was sent off in the semi-final victory over Arsenal by a referee who got the decision badly wrong. Fletcher made a magnificent tackle on Cesc Fabregas but referee inexplicably decreed it was an illegal challenge and sent off the young Scot thus depriving him of a place in the Champions League final. As he trudged dejectedly from the Emirates pitch, Fletcher displayed the dignity and professionalism with which he has become associated; in fact, the same good grace and excellent manners he displayed while trying to locate my daughter all those years ago.

Fletcher’s obvious ability to support the front players with runs into the box and also provide exquisite passes to his highly-priced team mates mark him out as a special talent, one of the most gifted players to emerge in Scotland in recent years. It’s not just his ability to pass the ball that makes him special; his extraordinary vision of where the passage of play will take place next is something we more mature fans used to associate with the likes of Alex Young of Everton, Hearts and Scotland - a man they called the Golden Vision.

Mention of Scotland, of course, brings the quite ridiculous criticism that Fletcher isn’t the same player in the dark blue as he is in the red of United. The award for Stating the Bleedin’ Obvious should go to those critics; the national team are hardly world beaters and what is often seen as a poor pass from Fletcher is, in reality, a great pass - it’s just not seen by his colleagues. I recall Fletcher scoring his first international goal against Lithuania at Hampden in October 2003. I said to my mate at the game I thought Fletcher was actually too good for the Scotland team - his team mates in dark blue just didn’t seem to share his vision and passage of play. Fletcher’s winning strike that afternoon took Scotland to the play-offs for the finals of Euro 2004. Little wonder, then, that Scotland manager George Burley has appointed Fletcher captain in the absence of Barry Ferguson.

It is the fervent hope of every Scot that Darren Fletcher doesn’t end on the same trail as his United team mate, the equally gifted Ryan Giggs. The Welshman, despite being one of the best players ever to play for Manchester United, has never played for his country at the World Cup or European Championship finals. At 25, Fletcher still has plenty of time on his side to achieve this.

At a time when the standard of Scottish football has slipped alarmingly, we should be thankful that evidence that this country can still produce gifted footballers remains. Darren Fletcher is one those rare breed; a immensely talented football player who never causes any trouble for his managers either for club or country. His sublime goal against Everton today brought the house down at Old Trafford. His name is the first to be considered for both Manchester United and Scotland. For that, we should be hugely appreciative.

George Burley - Exit the Quiet Man

We’ve been here before. Far too many times. Scottish football in crisis, our clubs being outclassed in Europe, our national team shamed on the international stage. We’ve tended to bounce back before. The usual clichés about us being a small country punching above our weight and those good and bad times alternate in cycles are usually trotted out by those in power in the corridors of power at Hampden Park. This time, however, the feeling of despondency goes deeper. Scots clubs have been nothing less than shambolic in Europe this season and they will soon resort to type by being eliminated from the Champions League and Europa League by Christmas. As for Scotland, an inept World Cup qualifying campaign was followed by a hapless display in a friendly against those giants of world football - Wales.

Not since the dark days immediately following the debacle that was the World Cup Finals in Argentina in 1978 has Scottish football been at such low ebb.

The financial crisis affecting the game in Scotland - intensified by the collapse of the television deal with failed Irish broadcaster Setanta in the summer - has affected the Old Firm’s attempt to dine at the top table of European football. The fallout of the financial explosion hasn’t affected the national team in the same way. However, there appeared to be an alarming trait during George Burley’s time in charge - that of a lack of commitment from certain players.

In the immediate aftermath of Scotland’s woeful display and subsequent 3-0 defeat in Cardiff last Saturday, BBC Radio Scotland’s Chick Young - for it was he - said he had been told off the record by a player that he didn’t want to play for Scotland that day as it was a meaningless game. Pressed for the name of this player the not so bold Chick wouldn’t divulge the information using the excuse that it was off the record. Which begged the question if it were off the record why did Chick mention it at all? However, it also begged another question - was the player's apparent disinterest designed to put George Burley literally in a can’t win situation? It wouldn’t be the first time ‘player power’ has influenced the fate of a manager.

Back in May 1993, a Hearts team playing out the dying embers of a disappointing season faced a soon to be relegated Falkirk at Brockville Park. The maroons had little to play for having lost four league games in succession since losing their Scottish Cup semi-final to Rangers the previous month. Hearts were two goals down at half time and manager Joe Jordan’s team-talk at the interval clearly went collectively in one ear and right out the other. Hearts lost three goals within the first few minutes of the second half and eventually lost the game 6-0 to a team then managed by Jim Jefferies. It was a pitiful performance, which beggared belief among the travelling support. A few years later, I was at a Hearts shareholders dinner where striker John Robertson was a guest speaker. He ‘confessed’ that evening that once Hearts lost the third goal in that game and knew they weren’t going to get anything from it the team made a collective decision to ‘down tools’ and conceded three more. Robbo admitted few of the players liked manager Joe Jordan or his methods and they felt an embarrassing result would give then chairman Wallace Mercer little option but to dispense with the services of the former Scotland striker. And so it was less than forty-eight hours later that Jordan was given his marching orders.

I thought of that game when I heard the reports of Scotland’s loss in Cardiff last Saturday. And again today when I heard that George Burley had been sacked as Scotland manager. The quiet man had fallen on his sword.

Burley has, of course, crossed swords with more than one Scotland player since his appointment in January 2008. And it doesn’t take a genius to see there’s a common thread. Firstly, Rangers striker Kris Boyd took exception to merely being on the substitute’s bench during Scotland’s World Cup qualifier against Norway at Hampden in October 2008. He took even more offence at seeing Chris Ilewumo being brought on instead of him in the second half and seethed as he and the nation witnessed the Wolves striker being guilty of one of the most glaring misses in front of goal ever by a Scotland player. The game ended goalless and the end was already in sight for the Scots chances of going to the finals in South Africa next year. Boyd went in the huff and refused to play for Scotland again under Burley’s tutelage.

Six months later after a miserable but entirely predictable 3-0 defeat by The Netherlands in Amsterdam there was the infamous ‘Boozegate Episode’ (© all newspapers) Captain Barry Ferguson and goalkeeper Alan McGregor were dropped from the starting eleven to play Iceland four days later following their late night drinking session when the team returned from Amsterdam. As they took their places on the substitute’s bench, the pair made offensive gestures to the media. This sealed their fate as far as Burley was concerned and, like their Rangers team mate Boyd, their international careers were finished - under Burley at least.
The feeling that some players no longer wished to play for Scotland under the former Ayr United, Ipswich Town and Hearts manager intensified during the shockingly poor performance in Cardiff last weekend. Steven Naismith and Kenny Miller - both Rangers players - looked lethargic. Gary Caldwell struggled as he has for much of this season while Stephen McManus looked less than fit. Captain Darren Fletcher - so impressive for Manchester United this season - looked like a fish out of water although he publicly backed the manager after the game. Then you would expect your captain to do so. However, you might also expect the captain to be the man who disgruntled players go to vent their feelings.

Whatever the rumblings of discontent among the players the least that is expected of them is that they give their all for their country. That they show the same commitment to their nation the always large numbers of the travelling Tartan Army do. In years gone by the likes of Billy Bremner, Kenny Dalglish, Denis Law, Dave Mackay and the aforementioned Joe Jordan would have run through a brick wall to play for their country. The huge swathes of money in the modern game nowadays mean some players don’t want to miss playing for their clubs through picking up an injury on international duty - particularly if it’s a meaningless friendly being played just weeks after failure to qualify for the World Cup Finals. However, no matter if they have important club games coming up and no matter what gripe they have with the manager, playing for Scotland should always be an honour and a privilege. If there are players who don’t want to do so - even in games like the one against Wales who, it should be said, have also failed to qualify for the World Cup but showed an enthusiasm and eagerness that just wasn’t there for the Scots - then they should be shown the door a la Ferguson and McGregor.

It was difficult to see how George Burley could have survived the crisis. It seemed to me that he had lost the support of much of the media, the fans and crucially some of the players. With Walter Smith’s future at Ibrox anything but certain I wouldn’t rule out a return to the international arena for the present Rangers manager. The irony of such a situation wouldn’t be lost on many.

Whatever happens the nation should come first before any personal vendetta against the manager. It’s the very least Scotland expects.