Crossroads? Cross words? Cross fingers!
Last updated 10th Sep 2018
A bald and perfectly accurate fact was presented for public consumption in the immediate aftermath of Scotland being systematically taken apart by Belgium at Hampden last Friday night.
It was Scotland's heaviest defeat at home for forty-five years.
What was not presented for perusal was what came after that.
On February 14, 1973 England dismantled Scotland five-nil, a Valentine's Day massacre if ever there was one.
But the team who took the hit went on to qualify for the World Cup finals in Germany the following year and in so doing began a twenty-five year sequence of high achievement.
There were World Cup final appearances in 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1998 as well as European Championship appearances in 1992 and 1996.
And the team which started it all off by playing Zaire in their World Cup group stage opener in Dortmund in 1974 contained Sandy Jardine, Danny McGrain, Billy Bremner, Davie Hay, Denis Law and Joe Jordan.
Could the most terminally optimistic Scotland supporter see anything remotely like that on the horizon for the current crop of players at our disposal?
Me neither.
Now we are fretting over a game against Albania tonight in the Nations League and contemplating whether defeat against a side outwith the top fifty in FIFA's World rankings might signal a premature end for Alex McLeish.
If a little gallows humour is permissable at this juncture, it might be suggested Eck's job is as safe as houses.
If the SFA hierarchy still haven't decided, after what seems like an eternity spent in quiet contemplation of the matter, whether to remain at Hampden or exit for Murrayfield then how long might it take for the President, Alan McRae, to determine whether to bullet his pal or not?
It is time for plain speaking.
We have scored one goal in the five international matches since Alex took over his role.
We look no nearer to having a settled shape after those handful of games.
Tacticul error seemed obvious against Belgium.
The national team has been met with apathy from a previously fervent fan base.
Tonight is a school night and the opposition could hardly be termed box office.
Ticket prices are also too high.
In summary, we are mired in a place where we look unable to do anything right, on or off the park.
And there is no point in accusing the media of negativity towards the team or the manager. The public have turned their back on Scotland because they have lost faith.
We are suspect in defence, frequently over-run in midfield and one goal in seven and a half hours of open play underlines the fact we lack what is central to progress for any side, a predatory instinct up front.
Big Eck is a nice guy. A very good man whose company you would seek out at any time.
But he had better win tonight or the calls for a re-evaluation of his appointment will be as plentiful as they will be valid.
Pragmatism is the name of the game here.
Ten days after Scotland lost to Italy at Hampden and failed to qualify for the European Championships in 2007 Alex gave up the job as national team manager and went off to take charge of Birmingham City.
That was entirely his prerogative and there is nothing wrong with looking after your own career.
And there was no reason why that decision should have been any form of impediment to him being re-appointed Scotland boss eleven years later.
But if we get the wrong result against an Albanian side who are well beneath our fortieth place in the world rankings then the great Scottish public is entitled to ask, in the same pragmatic fashion, if we have the right guy in charge of the team.
Fair's fair.
There are occasions when you find yourself trapped in an obvious mis-match. Friday night at Hampden was one such example of men against boys.
Football clubs who detect serious malfunction in their managerial department are swift to react in the current climate.
St. Mirren gave Alan Stubbs four league matches before deciding they'd made a dreadful mistake and took steps to safeguard their future.
Falkirk gave Paul Hartley one game fewer in the Championship before sacking him.
Clubs are entiled to protect themselves from what they suspect is further harm and take corrective steps towards self defence.
If what they do is defective, as opposed to corrective, then those in charge of picking the managers they employ must get the blame, and rightly so.
A system of governance, as well as a team and its management, goes on trial at Hampden tonight.
The Scottish public were sold the idea of appointing Michael O'Neill and delivered the illusion of a bright new dawn.
What they got was the appointment of McLeish after O'Neill's approval turned out to be something less than nailed on, and with no contingency plan to hand.
Now it's backs to the wall stuff against Albania.
Win and we stride on to Israel away next month with the benefit of the doubt available to all at the helm.
Draw and the sound of shouting and bawling will be heard among dissidents and devotees.
Lose and it's a free for all on the subject of where we go from here, and who takes us to the next phase.
I didn't invent this world. I just live in it. And I know how it works.