Self awareness is better than self deception
Last updated 9th Sep 2019
There is no known cure in football for the problem of one team having players who are inferior to the side they are playing.
And at the moment it feels like Scotland are confronted by one overpowering reality, whether it is in Group I of the European Championship qualifiers or simply in general terms.
The reality being there is a level we are presently unable to reach on the field which makes us inferior to an awful lot of the teams we come up against.
So far in this competition, Scotland have struggled to beat San Marino and Cyprus, which is incomprehensible, and been firmly put in our place by Belgium and Russia, which is understandable.
We have also been humbled by Kazakhstan, which is inexcusable.
The most frequently heard request for directions with regard to the national team is, “Where do we go from here?”
And here we are, with no apology for repetition, asking the same question as Steve Clarke’s side prepare to take on Belgium, the country rated number one in FIFA’s world rankings.
The first step we should take is the one towards the mirror which offers us the opportunity to take a long, hard look at ourselves.
The manager has a good goalkeeper, one genuinely outstanding defender, a few decent players in midfield and remains bereft of a potent striker.
We are not out of anybody’s definition of the top drawer, no matter how vivid an imagination you might possess.
We are, in truth, honest triers occasionally burdened by an unrealistic level of expectation.
To take a walk through Glasgow’s city centre on Friday afternoon was to be reminded of the enduring devotion a group of supporters have for their team.
But, like the music that was blaring from pub doorways, it is all about a fragrant past that is better than a troublesome present.
Rod Stewart was Sailing some time ago and it wasn’t yesterday, or the day after, the Proclaimers were walking those 500 Miles.
You now have to be over thirty years old to properly recollect the last time Scotland played in a major final.
Arithmetic and logic tells you Clarke will need to rely on the play-off finals in March to have a chance of breaking a twenty-two year cycle of failure when it comes to qualifying for the game’s major stages.
Belgium at home tonight and Russia away thereafter will only confirm that state of affairs to be the case.
Hampden will then house a series of glorified friendlies against the other also-rans which will have to be used to form a cohesive strategy for the visit to the Last Chance saloon which will determine our European fate.
This is where we are. Where we go from here is a question that feels as if it only has one answer.
Search me.
The emergence of a Caledonian Harry Kane would be a help. A couple of imposing central defenders would be nice.
A Scott Brown type who is not in his mid-thirties and protecting his body for what remains of his club career would do very nicely.
The trouble is international football has no transfer market. We go with what we have at the moment and hope for the best where future recruitment is concerned.
Self awareness is better than self deception. Clarke is a football manager and not an illusionist or a magician.
We are what we are, and that is limited.
But at least you can get through a Scotland game without feeling nauseous when the crowd starts singing.
Rod Petrie sat through Friday’s mauling from Russia for the first time in his capacity as SFA President.
Afterwards he delivered his verdict on Scottish football’s problem with sectarianism.
It was soundbite safe but short on clarity.
“This is an opportunity for all of Scottish football to come together, work cohesively and share best practise to see what can be done to learn from the lessons of the past,” he said in the wake of UEFA coming down hard on Rangers and closing part of Ibrox for two Europa League matches.
Good luck with that, Rod.
On the basis that self awareness is better than self-deception, a cursory glance at the photographs take in Glasgow City centre on Saturday afternoon while riot police attempted to contain violence surrounding marchers and protesters opposed to the marchers prompted one thought.
Andrew Robertson will be running round Hampden holding the World Cup aloft before any lessons from the past help eradicate the present day scourge of sectarianism within our domestic football.
And that’s not Petrie’s fault any more than it is Clarke’s fault that we don’t have enough good players to be a force at the game’s highest levels