So, with the passing of Jack Charlton, another of that select group, English footballers to have won a World Cup, has gone.

Not the most cultured of players, unlike his brother Bobby, Jack was said to have thought when he learned of his England call-up that they’d picked the wrong Charlton. His position at centre-half though, has not historically been the preserve of the cultured. In his club career at Leeds United he had big shoes to fill, taking over from the Gentle Giant, John Charles, after his transfer to Juventus. In all he appeared for Leeds 629 times – a club record unlikely to be surpassed.

As a manager I remember him leading Middlesbrough to promotion to the top flight before spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United but it was as manager of the Republic of Ireland international team that he made his greatest mark, taking them to a World Cup quarter-final in 1990. Four years later they had a famous 1-0 win over Italy (who went on to reach the final) in New York.

John (Jack) Charlton: 8/5/1935 – 10/7/2020. So it goes.

So Scotland gets Germany, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Georgia and Gibraltar.

It could have been worse, I suppose. (Could it have been worse?)

We won’t finish ahead of Germany. I don’t think we’ve beaten them for over forty years.

Ireland, Poland and Georgia are all tricky. And Gibraltar? That’s the sort of international team we have struggled against in the not so recent past.

Still, Gordon Strachan has improved things. Look on the bright side.

Yes, it was a handball.

Yes, the goal should not have stood.

But don’t the laws state that the referee is the sole arbiter of events on the pitch?

If the ref (or assistant) didn’t see it, it wasn’t a foul.

If the ref didn’t give it, it wasn’t a foul.

Now, arguably the fourth official could have alerted the ref if he saw the TV shots. (Wasn’t Zinedine Zidane sent off in the World Cup final in this fashion?) But this fourth official didn’t. So we’re left with the ref’s decision.

Now, a goal line assistant, as in the present Europa League arrangements, might have seen the handball (and therefore better justice done.) Then again, he might not.

It would only have led to a shoot-out, though. Ireland weren’t winning the tie.

But replaying the game? You’re having a laugh.

That way chaos lies.