Andy’s Sting In The Tale (26/06/26) "It’s Long Past the Time for Questions, Questions, and More Bloody Questions"
- Andy Smith
- 14 minutes ago
- 6 min read
It’s the ‘Mornings After the Nights Before’ for all who care more about the future of Scottish football rather than who’s maybe on the sub’s bench for our clubs of choice and other vital but peripheral nonsense /football talk.
Why?
Because Scottish football right now needs some big, simple and determined thinking and then some deep changes.
Like many fans I’ve loved being part of the World Cup and especially the way that our Tartan Army have not just captured the moment, they have been ambassadors for the game and for Scotland.
Despite Fifa’s severe and cynical economic thievery our sheer and positive presence in the land of King Donald has made positive waves all around the world.
There is a downside or two.
Our team didn’t show up, again.
And too many fan credit cards are maxed out, with Scottish life savings now sitting in American corporate coffers.
But what a ride while it happened.
My two boys had a great time in Miami and enjoyed everything about their $500 dollar seats except for the crazy and quite unnecessary ticket price and of course some very hard football facts and lessons.
My son in law, after a severe bout of FOMO, joined them by flying 17 hours from Dubai, on the spur, as you do to somehow becoming one of the magnificent band of Tartan Army Pipers, that just happened.
It was quite weird to see him on the UK news screens marching, playing and smiling out loud in a proud parade.
And talking of FOMO.
It has to become an important part of what needs to happen in Scottish Football.
We need to collectively fear missing out from the years of wilderness we are facing.
And the half dozen or so people who make and take the real decisions affecting our game have undoubtedly enjoyed the ride and are people who are smart enough to know while we will cruise into the Euros as joint hosts that our next time World Cup will probably be more than 28 years.
FOMO must become a factor in the minds of Messrs, Swinney, Mulraney, Maxwell, Doncaster Ms Todd et al.
We all need to raise this and always.
Otherwise and you don’t need a crystal ball for this prediction.
Half a lifetime of pain beckons
Because if nothing changes, the gap between Scottish Internationals skill levels and their improving oppositions will widen.
In the last few years we’ve seen our team become a good and dour clubbish side.
Scratching results even when outplayed by more skillful players from Greece, Denmark, Norway and others who seem to have better balance, better control and flexible football nous than we do.
We know our key long-term failing is our grass roots and an elite programme long-dominated by misdirected coaches grading on size and strength, way too soon.
(If you haven’t read Graeme McDowall’s wonderfully incisive book, ‘The System’ then do)
We know our quite seminal schools football network was allowed to wither.
And be cogniscant that the current SFA funding into the wonderful SYFA is £35k for some 88,000 kids.
Do the math.
Less than a week’s wages for some in the game.
Half of bugger all per kid.
Why guys?
Now that would be a fair question.
So in Andy’s view, after a disastrous World Cup we’re at the ‘MacRubicon’.
The point where decisions have to considered.
Do we turn back home?
I would hope we don’t and instead start the crossing.
Why?
Because the alternative and our usual default position is to do nothing and that means a faster slide into the Football Wilderness that beckons.
The Tartan Army’s Hamish summed up the weight of frustration when he pronounced that he’d preferred we miss out on a game in Mexico City because we’re not good enough.
He’s right.
There are already predictable shouts of changing the manager but the malaise/demise is deeper than the man who picks the team.
I had a great discussion with Amy McBeath on BBC Scotland’s lunchtime show just before we played Brazil.
A five minute conversation between 2 people who care about not just what is happening but more importantly what happens next.
Have a listen instead of my usual ‘album’ which today as I type is Capercaillie ‘The Blood is Strong’ which is my long-time comfort blanket.
We are now in a land of ifs and they’ll come at us quickly, beyond our control, and frame where we go.
Consider.
What will happen if we do nothing?
What will happen if we do the usual token stuff, minimise the costs, and play the old game with our media pals?
What will happen if we think the answers already underway under our control and just need tweaked?
What will happen if football as usual fails to welcome the outside thinking and help it needs?
And yes, cynical Andy thinks those ifs will soon be whens.
When you see Japan with their well-thought-through 100 year plan for football you can understand how they have gone from an international rabbits to a growing contender.
I’m no fool, money for genuine investment (I don’t mean player wages) will always be a challenge in our club-run game.
A game that has somehow forgotten that we used to grow a higher level of ‘elite’ player, before we even knew what ‘elite’ meant.
So It’s not over-simple to state that Scottish Football has simply forgotten that international success came from our roots.
And our media forgets we were in the World Cup top 12 in both ’74 and ’78 when we came 3rd in our 4 team groups.
In both tournaments we had Scottish grown players competing for all positions and were genuinely unlucky.
We also had attempts on goal.
Time For Decisions
I live in the real world and know that there are three things for whoever will make any decisions.
I can agree.
But.
(And there will always be a great, big) BUT.
In the real world we can only ever deliver two of our desired outcomes at any moment and the third desired outcome becomes a buggeration factor that actually fights the other two.
So:
Good and Fast, BUT won’t be cheap.
Fast and cheap, BUT won’t be good.
Cheap and good , BUT won’t be fast
In previous times our game’s administrators would circle the wagons, create a wee story/ charade, like Ernie Walker’s ‘Think Tank’, or the ‘McLeish Reports’.
Just to be seen to do something when in reality the clubs don’t want change that actually meant change or less central money coming their way.
So, we’re now at a three way signpost.
Straight ahead:
Do nothing and pretty soon football will break out again, the bar discussions about who the second sub should have been will take over and by the time our international underperformance becomes an issue again we’ll all be long-gone anyway.
Left Fork:
Use the usual sleight of hand but find other more ‘important’ things to do.
Right Fork:
(Create a ‘jobs-worth-doing’ approach with no sacred cows and real long-term ambitions a la Japan and the Nordic countries).
Accept that stuff just doesn’t happen but needs 4 distinct overlapping stages.
And cultivate and welcome the ‘Union of Interests’ needed.
Stage 1. What is the problem we want to address, i.e. our objectives?
A real time fact-find and analysis of where we are and the compilation and distillation of what we want to achieve.
Stage 2. Discuss the alternative ways.
Things to address the problem, i.e. our strategy, always building on the real world from our analysis and with outline financial and operational realities.
Be realistic.
Whatever happens has to be integral to everything that our collective game does. Not a bolted-on ‘set of wings’ to pretend our ‘pig’ somehow will fly
Stage 3. Agree the implementation plan
How does it integrate into what becomes the new norm with genuine sign up and support.
Bring the game’s stakeholders with us at all stages.
Stage 4. Review everything on a planned basis.
Real world management.
And, accepting this will never be a box ticking exercise.
FOMO is Our Friend
From the very top down because it’s nicer for our VIPs to be
in the good seats.
But Guys.
We owe change to the kids that are coming down the road