blog of a creative genius

Gerry kept it on, singing along during the entire game, but it did not helped at all. At the end of the match, with Scotland being 6-0 down, all he could do was shouting at the giant screen up the wall, where an advertisement for Carling Beer reminded the few remaining supporters in blue tops and kilts of those glory days in the past: Gary Mac Allister’s shaved head or Archie Gemmill scoring twice against Holland in 1978. But those moments graved into the collective mind from Kilmarnock to Wick for eternity proved to be nothing more than a blimp in history. Things are different now. Scotland, once again did not made it. No trip to Portugal for the Bravehearts, no Beer – fed Holiday in the sun for their huge support. And two years later, with the world cup qualifiers over, the situation is almost the same again. There will be no Tartan Army flooding Germany’s city centres, no flags with the Saint Andrews cross waving over the stands and no sing alongs such as: Oh flowers of Scotland, when will we see…? This is sad. But how could it happen?

The downfall of Scottish football probably started a long time ago, but its misery became obvious only at the end of the 1990s. The team that qualified for the Word Cup 1998 was far over the edge and depended on a rigid tactical discipline and the genius of its aging stars Mac Allister and McCoist. Once the heroes retreated shortly after the tournament, the national side did not found the path to success again, lost to minor football powers as Lithuania or Slovenia and doomed in agony. At the same time, the Premiership’s two leading clubs, the Glasgowegian Teams of Celtic and Rangers could not match Europe’s elite any more, despite their budgets, which set them light-years ahead of their national concurrence. The days of Scottish teams winning an European Cup are over, the last success remaining still Aberdeen’s 2-1 win over real Madrid in the 1983 Cup Winners final.

But it is not only about the money. Structures and styles also changed. While other small football nations started a professional scouting system a long time ago and concentrated more and more on improving the technical abilities of their youth, Scotland’s managers still trusted their hard-boiled kickers, which treated the ball rather like an genuine enemy than a source of inspiration and physical creativity. Just go to Pittodrie or Den’s Park or any other Premiership Stadium outside Glasgow and you will see why the Scots fell back to number 65 in the world ranking: rusty men run all over dirty brown fields and celebrate a brutal kick and rush – game that looks more like a First-World war – Artillery clash than modern ball sports. This version of the game may perhaps amplify your physical readiness for Saturday – night – out – pub – fights, but will never push your technique towards world cup level. The results of those archaic habits are obvious: when he was asked about his club’s tradition of signing up Scottish footballers, Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger went straight to the core of the problem: “We don’t take them any more ‘cause they’re just too bad”, he said.

Scottish FA – officials realised the need for change. Former manager Berti Vogts and his successor Walther Smith renewed the team by lining up young players. But the bhoys around Manchester United’s youngster Darren Fletcher still need lots of time. And with Italy and France in their qualifying group, the Scots must hope for a miracle to reach Euro 2008 finals. Until there, Gerry may sing on and at least hoping for a first step back to glory in tonight’s friendly against Switzerland at Hampden Park.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 1st, 2006 at 5:35 pm and is filed under english, krieg und frieden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.