Reaping what you sow.

Scotland, the gorgeous land of my birth, with its mountains, glens, kilted men and  pale skinned women, and now the shittiest football team representing it that I can ever recall. EVER.

Scotland losing to Japan and then a complete humiliation in Cardiff to an understrength Welsh team was enough for the head honchos at the S.F.A  to call time on George Burley's tenure. And no, SFA does not stand for Sweet Fuck All, although you might be surprised because that has often been their M.O.

Of the names being touted around to succeed Burley I think that John Collins would be my pick, and of those not beng touted I would say Stevie Nichol but more of that later. Because if Jim Jeffries gets it then it shows that Scotland have chucked it, also Walter Smith is the man the bookmakers believe will take it. Yes, the same Walter Smith who left Scotland in the lurch to go to manage Rangers a few years ago. It seems some have a short memory, or should that be selective memory.

So Scotland are back to where we were 8 years ago, looking for a coach who can get us to a major championship. The major difference is the coach coming in then had some good players to pick. Well maybe not good but better than now. Darren Fletcher apart I do not think we have one other World Class player. and here is the point of my rambling "Why is that?" Why do Scotland not have any good players?

The answer I believe is a complex one that begins with Celtic and Rangers and carries on to the S.F.A, and other scottish clubs.

When Rangers changed the face of Scottish football in the 80's with Murray's millions little did we know that we would see the boom and bust in a matter of 20 years. Rangers (a club now toiling so badly in debt they can't find a buyer) can be credited for starting the demise of the Scottish national team. But they are not alone.  Celtic obviously followed suit with spending money and so a period followed when both clubs spent lots of money. But the thing is, I do not blame them. Celtic and Rangers could afford to spend. My problem lies with the smaller clubs who tried to emulate them.

As a player in the lower leagues, I saw first hand the 'foreign is better' mentality that swept Scotland in the late 90's and early 00's.  Managers all across the leagues were dying for that foreign flair. Why invest in youth, when it takes time to produce, when you can go get a 'complete' player. Now I happened to play with a huge amount of foreign guys and I can safely say the majority of them were average, one stands out because he was fantastic, Cedric Anselin but he played for Bordeaux with Zidane, so I expect him to be decent!! But the rest, well the rest all came from countries where they had their youth systems in order. So by the time these guys were failing in France or Spain, they could come to Scotland and look better in the lower leagues, and get payed good money for it too. Thus taking up the spots that would be filled with Scottish talent, the lower leagues should be a breeding ground of talent, where kids are given a chance to express themselves, and learn their trade.

Now this may sound like sour grapes, but believe me it is not. I ultimately was not good enough to succeed at the highest level but I had fun trying. My concern here is not for myself, but in trying to show where Scotland went wrong and how they can get it right. The current Scotland squad has no leaders. Players who are age 30+ the players who in any other international squad are the experienced ones, the calm heads, the lead by example men. Beckham and Ferdinand for England, Gallas and Henry for France, Buffon and Cannavarro for Italy. Scotland's best player of this generation was Barry Ferguson, and he told every one to Fuck Off, the other player in the squad of this age group is Barry Robson. I played against both and they were good players but the drop off after them is incredible. Yes we have a little talent-ish Riordan, Maloney, McFadden but they all share the distardly 'potential' tag, I'm sorry but by 25 you should be consistent with your 'potential'.

My point is Scotland is currently reaping what was sown well over 10 years ago. We have a dearth of talent in the country because the smaller teams tried to cheat the system and buy success. There was no emphasis on youth, our leagues were full of teams playing average foreign players instead of Scottish talent. This filtered down from the top two at times outrageously so. Hearts were paying some players $20,000 a week in 2000!

I think the penny dropped and now Scotland, again starting with Rangers and the completion of Murray Park (the fantastic training facility) Celtic followed with Lennoxtown (another superb facility) teams are trying to do the correct thing and focus on youth.  It just saddens me that I can not see Scotland qualify for a major tournament.The days of Dalglish, Souness, Hansen etc when England's best teams were littered with the cream of the Scottish crop seems like a far too distant memory, I think it will be even more distant until it happens again. And these fans deserve better than that.

P.S Stevie Nichol won't get the job because Scotland is too xenophobic for him to get a chance because he is coaching in an' inferior' league...newsflash Scotland, the MLS is every bit as good as the SPL. Beckham, Ljungberg, Donovan, Blanco...that is far more talent than plays in Scotland.

Soccer Savvy- Michael McBride

It brings me great pleasure to provide the first installment of Soccer Savvy, our series of interviews with people inside the world of soccer. I caught up with my old friend, Michael McBride, the physiotherapist for Coventry City FC and Scotland's national team, as he flew back from a recent friendly against Japan. He answered a few questions I had asked him, and I'm glad to have him here on the blog. 

1. Obviously apart from me ;) who is the most famous player you have put your magic hands on?

The most famous is relative, really- I suppose as what I think famous and what my dad does is different and I suppose also where you follow football. But I would probably say Darren Fletcher presently, Steve Staunton and Gary McAllister in my earlier days at Coventry. I also did a medical on Fabrizio Ravenilli but it didn’t go through.

2. What is the worst injury you have seen?

I've been kinda fortunate that I've not seen too many bad injuries, Broto (the goalkeeper at Livingston who then signed for Celtic) had a fracture dislocation of his ankle, which wasn’t great!!

3. If you had to choose an injury that you didn't want to try to come back from what would it be?

Ruptured Achilles and anterior cruciates aren’t nice either, not ones that I would want to recover from. 

4. What's the most gutted you have been in football?

I was devastated when Scotland never qualified for the Euros after having such great games against France at home and away, then losing out with the early Luca Toni goal, then the last minute Panucci header at the back post when it wasn’t even a foul on Alan Hutton. I was convinced that we would go through, nightmare. 

(Ed note: Cunt...)

5. Most happy?

At club level it's been good, there was obvious success at Livingston with the league promotions and European appearance in the UEFA cup. Coventry haven’t been near success to be disappointed with the failure. We have had reasonable cup runs last year- beating Blackburn then playing Chelsea at home. The year before, we went to Old Trafford and won 2-0.

6. What do you like most about your job?

It's being on trips like this that I realize just how lucky I am, to experience the extensive travel and see the cultures, people, and places really is a privilege and pleasure.

 
7. What's the best stadium you worked at?

San Siro

There've been loads of different stadiums I've liked for different reasons, whether it be the history, the result at the time, the atmosphere or indeed the facilities. I loved being at the San Siro when we played Italy. I grew up always hearing about it and seeing it on telly. The inside is unbelievably basic- the dressing rooms are very poor. The two Japanese stadiums were fantastic- the one last night was where the 2002 World Cup final was held, it's a huge place, absolutely vast. We trained there the night before the game and I was just messing about in the dressing room (each player has like a wee cubicle/booth type changing area). There was a white panel there that I pulled off to reveal a signed picture of Ronaldo- it was only the bloody place where he changed before scoring the two goals!!!! I tell you, Marky, what a buzz.

Nissan Stadium, Yokohama

8. Most intimidating atmosphere?

Hampden and Celtic Park are still excellent places for the atmosphere and I think I will find that hard to beat. The old Russian states are very intimidating. Moldova, Belarus and Georgia were not particularly pleasant visits but obviously great to experience.

 

9. Since you started in football, sport science has transformed attitudes, bodies and performance. What do you believe are the biggest changes and what do you see the future bringing to footballers?

Sports science has had a big influence in football definitely, we urine test the boys everyday for hydration levels, they wear heart rate monitors and we have ProZone which gives us every stat on a player you can imagine. We go a lot on distance covered, high intensity sprints passes completed, it is a fascinating area. I use it quite a bit for injury prevention and diagnosis. So for instance, I checked to see how many times in 5 games our goalkeeper kicked the ball: from ground, hand and pass backs. I then used this info to influence the coach to inform them about over-training and too much repeated kicking. This then reduced hip flexor and hamstring injuries in the goalkeepers. We review every injury that happens and look at the mechanism to help with the diagnosis and prognosis.

Lots of fitness work is now position specific and done to reproduce the stats from the ProZone stuff. Upper body weights and Olympic squats and lifts are a big thing at the moment. Technology is improving rapidly and football preparation is definitely a science. Some of the bigger clubs will start doing saliva tests to predict infection, illness and overtraining. It's exciting times.

10. What is your dream job? 

To work at this level is a dream job, but I would love to go further and work at a finals, either the World Cup or Euros- even just for those 3 group games. I think I would like to work in the premiership if the opportunity arose, but it is so difficult trying to get that opening. 

11. I recall that your favourite time of the week is 2.30 till 3.00 on a Saturday, because all the week's work is coming to a head, the nervous energy is abundant and everyone is buzzing. Is this still the same?

I cant believe you remembered that 2.30 was my favourite time!!! Yes, it still is and funnily enough, I was talking to George Burley at it just prior to the Macedonia game.

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Hope you enjoyed the interview, there will be more such as these in the future so look out for those.

Rafa-- Time to go?

"In the last 18 months, we have invested £128million on top of what has come in. That means it should be getting better. Now if it's not getting better, it's not Gillett and Hicks, it's the manager, it's the scouting. You have to make sure you balance out your analysis." - Quotes attributed to Liverpool co-owner George Gillett do not exactly increase the American's reputation at Anfield. (Sky Sports)

OK they may not make the American popular at Anfield but that does not make him incorrect. I feel that this is a sound statement, and were it applied to any other business everyone would agree. Rafa has spent a shit load, over £150m.The man who is writing the cheques is clearly stating that he would like to see some return for his investment. What is wrong with that?

Liverpool were my pick to win the league this year, and they may still do, but they are 2 injuries (Torres and Gerrard) away from being a mid table team. Take those two out, and perhaps Glen Johnson and I'm not sure you have many outstanding players left, and I include Mascherano in that. Rafa has bought poorly. That is they key, he can moan and fiddle with the stats but that is the bottom line. N'gog, Babbel, Voronin etc etc these guys won't win you championships. The pressure for Aquilani to perform is now immense, the hole left by Alonso is far deeper than first thought, and only now is his worth truly revealed.

I think that Rafa has a whole lot to thank Torres and Gerrard for, although the Captain has been posted M.I.A for the last few weeks, and if Liverpool are to still be in with a shout at Christmas Stevie la, needs to shake off the court case and get his finger out. But it will be interesting to see what Rafa can blame his lack of success on next, it certainly isn't lack of money, or behind the scenes politics, perhaps a long hard look in the mirror is required to finally reveal just why Liverpool are underachieving.

Refreshing

It was great to see the human side of the robot-refs this weekend in Scotland. The referee from the Rangers v Celtic derby came out and openly admitted he made a mistake. Whatever next? The SFA gathers its senses and moves the kick off back to a normal time? I won't be holding my breath.

The Dark Side of Barca

    Football is the biggest sport in the world, no questions asked. Football World Cups are as important, if not more important than any other event. People care about their teams and players as if they were part of their families. Every day we hear news about such and such a player, we know their personal lives, what food they like, what music they listen to, or what car they drive. That is the impact that football has in our lives, and some people take advantage of it.

    During the last couple of years F.C Barcelona has been on the news, both for issues related to sports and  matters which have nothing to do with any sport. Two years ago most of the sections (football, basketball, handball, etc) were not doing very well; and that was concerning many people. Last year the football team achieved the wonderful ``TRIPLETE´´ and the basketball team obtained the double (league, and cup). Some other teams are doing better and working in the right direction. This is a natural thing. Teams go through ups and downs. You cannot win every year and that is part of this business.

    What has been constant is the quantity of trouble generated inside the club from its own directors and of course its president. Let´s go back a few years to understand the whole situation. When president Laporta was elected in 2003 he came with a new crew of vice presidents and other executives. According to him they were all very loyal and very important in his project. Two men had more importance than the rest : Sandro Rosell, and Ferran Soriano. Rosell was the sports vice president and he played a key role in signing Ronaldinho and Deco. His contacts and his knowledge of the South American market were very important for the club. Soriano was the economics vice president. He managed to put the club back in a profitable position, generating great profits; and all obtained thanks to some of his innovative marketing strategies. Surprisingly, these two characters and many other important executives are no longer part of the current board. Apparently the liberal and consensual Joan Laporta changed into a bit more dictatorial president, whowith  the fame obtained after winning two leagues and one Champions League (including a double) twisted his habits. Many members of the board disagreed with his new policies and most of the initial crew is no longer there. Maybe an accidental casualty? But the reality is the club started to fall apart. Internal problems, difficulties dealing with the players, all kind of things started to happen.

    Laporta started very well in 2003. He was an interesting character who proposed new ways to bring the club back where it belonged. Sometimes he showed his ``catalanism´´, but not to a big extent. He started getting rid of the radical supporters. His zero tolerance worked very well and the whole country admired him for that. But after a couple of years, when he was feeling powerful, he started to involve himself in areas where the president of a big club such as Barcelona should not get involved. He continuously declared his political views (independency for Cataluña as another country), and constantly important members of the board were leaving their charges. Half of the country did not like him, and half of the Catalunians did not either. But the worst moment for him was in Summer 2008 when the stockholders tried to get rid of him even out of an electoral process. There is a legal way to do that if more than 66% of the club affiliates vote for it. People vote and a very impressive 60.60% voted against the current president. It was not enough but the message was out there. People do not like him anymore.

    Since then, F.C Barcelona seems more like the White House than a football club. Next summer there are elections for a new president. Laporta cannot present himself again but he is preparing a few candidates who will follow his tendency and obviously will provide him a good spot in the highest circles of the club. The last scandal was raised when some Spanish media found out that the club was actually spying on 4 of the current vice presidents (some of them could present themselves as candidates in the summer). Laporta said that he had nothing to do with that, and executive vice president Oliver claimed that it was necessary for the club to obtain information of potential club presidents.  He keeps using his position as the president of one of the biggest clubs in the world to expand his political views. He is making strides in politics at the club´s expenses. Some people are starting to identify the whole structure as Laporta´s stepping stone. That is not true. Barça supporters only want the club to do well, mostly concern with the football team. Laporta is very lucky that Guardiola is there (by the way Laporta wanted Mourinho for that position). Hopefully all this will be over in the summer and everyone will talk just about Messi, Xavi, or Ricky Rubio (basketball star). The next president, hopefully Rosell, must be focused in sports and the club´s good image.



Posted by Nando

Rangers v Celtic

Hatred will commence at Ibrox Park 7:30am EST Sunday Oct 4th.

Outcome?

Average level of football, lots of running around like madmen, bigotry, minor violence, the Queen and the Pope will be F***ed to heaven or hell, 1000's of hangovers, 55,000 incorrect historians, blood, sweat snotters and tears.

Bonnie Scotland

Made Me Smile

Just to see a centre half get a bit of a shoeing today. The less physical the Prem and football in general becomes the better, well if you are Fifa and Uefa that is, but I am more of an old school type. So to see Kenwyne Jones and Nemanja Vidic go at it today was refreshing. What made it better was that Jones dominated Vidic, I loved this because as a 5ft 8 striker, centre halfs have had their way with me many a time (insert own Carry On joke here)

And props to the ref who let it go.