“Meet The New Boss….”
Posted in Football, Scotland at 4:54 pm on 24 December 2009
So Craig Levein has been given the poisoned chalice of Scotland manager.
Quite why he, or anyone, would want the job is a mystery considering the unrealistic expectations of press and public as revealed by their treatment of George Burley.
Yes, in the past Scotland qualified for five World Cups in a row (1974-1990) and six out of seven up to 1998 and haven’t managed that feat since even though the number of available places is now larger.
But don’t forget that a Scotland side littered with players we’d die to have now – Baxter, Law, Crerand, White (1961) and their successors four years later who beat Italy at Hampden when Greig, Murdoch, McNeill etc could be added to the roll call – failed in the attempt even though qualification was less lengthy in those days; albeit the 1961 vintage lost to the eventual World Cup finalists.
That run of six out of seven World Cups was an anomaly. A country the size of Scotland has no divine right to sit at the top table. Arguably even being in Pot Three in Europe is an over-achievement.
Look at the players listed above: do we nowadays have anyone fit to lace their boots? It’s no surprise we can’t qualify for anything. We’re simply not good enough. Organisation will only take you so far.
Times have changed. Time also to adjust expectations.
No matter who the new boss is (or was) he’ll have an almighty struggle returning Scotland to tournament participation.
Let’s just bask in being top of the list of unofficial World Champions. (Even if that’s only because back in the day we could beat England quite often.)
