SO WHAT CHANCE DOES HE HAVE?
T... A BIRTHDAY celebration for a stalwart servant of Scottish football turned into a wake for better times past.
Former Aberdeen and Rangers No.2 Archie Knox blew out 70 candles at his party in Glasgow last month.
Ex-pupil Richard Gough blasted a harsh wind of reality across the landscape of Scottish football as another guest, Gordon Strachan, prepares to lead the country into a must win World Cup qualifier.
It’s a game Gough knows well – he nodded the only goal the last time the Scots defeated England at Hampden in 1985 when only the Rous Cup and national bragging rights were up for grabs.
Gough, now 55, concedes it’s an age bias when older generations label the music and fashion of their youths as better than anything that had gone before or since.
But he’s speaking from a position of strength when he reflects of the halcyon days of his own playing career when Scotland qualified for their fifth World Cup in a row and went to the Euros twice.
Gough, who won 61 caps, played in the World Cup in Mexico and Italy and captained the team in his Swedish homeland at Euro 92.
He said: “I was at Archie Knox’s birthday party recently, alongside the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Walter Smith and Willie Miller.
“Willie said to me, ‘We always say it was better in our day – but it was’. The facts show it. When we played they said it was better in the days of Jim Baxter but they never qualified for a World Cup in that period.
“We qualified for three World Cups in a row when we played so who was the better team?
“Willie and I were talking about how the game has changed. During matches we used to ask Graeme Souness to come back and he would turn round and say, ‘I’m a midfield player, YOU do the defending’.
“Now you have 10 players behind the ball and one striker up front. We always had two or three up front and when we attacked we attacked with an intensity. We had good players.
“In those days there was no inferiority. These boys today are not used to playing against their English rivals when they’re in the Championship and the other side are playing for Manchester United. When I played against England I was coming up against clubmates.
“I’ve got a great picture at my home of the Scotland team from around that time. Steve Archibald, who was playing for Barcelona at the time, is there. Souness had just won the European Cup. For a third time. We had quality players.”
The Scottish line-up that rainy day at Hampden on May 25, 1985 included Gough and Miller, Alex McLeish and Maurice Malpas, Souness, Archibald, Strachan and David Speedie.
The English line-up under Bobby Robson included Terry Butcher, Glenn Hoddle, Mark Hateley, Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins, John Barnes and 1976: Trevor Francis. Gough added: “Gordon has had a tough challenge.
“He was also at Archie’s party and I spoke to him. He was with Aberdeen and I was at Dundee United and we were both battling into the latter stages of European competitions and then going to play for Scotland.
“We were pretty streetwise about the game because of that experience. Now Gordon is getting guys who can’t get a game for Championship teams. What chance have you got?”
Gough makes a valid point. Since his winner 32 years ago the nations have met 10 times and the Scots have won once, a meaningless result in 1999 when Don Hutchison scored the only goal at Wembley, but it wasn’t enough to overturn a 2-0 first-leg defeat in a play-off for Euro 2000.
Since winning two in a row in the Home Internationals in 1976 and 1977 the Scots have won only three times in 18 meetings, John Robertson’s Wembley penalty in 1981 adding to the victories in 1985 and 1999.
When Gough walked away from CLOSE YER LEGS RAY, KING KENNY’S ON MARK... 1984: international football in April 1993 the national team were ranked 23rd in the world and the 17th best team in Europe. Now Strachan’s squad are 59th and 30th respectively.
Gough added: “It’s going to be a difficult game against England. They are better than us. We just have to hope we catch them on a bad day. Eight out of 10 times I would imagine they would win the match. That’s just being realistic.”
If Gough suspects the Tartan Army will be trudging out of Hampden with unhappy faces his match-winning header beyond Peter Shilton at least always raises a smile. He said: “That goal against England is a highlight for me. Not many people score a winner against England.
“There were also two goals in Cyprus that maybe got us through to the 1990 World Cup. I’ve a lot of good memories with Scotland.” MARK McGHEE’S BELTER STUNS SHILTON...
RICHARD GOUGH
1985: BIG GOUGH AT THE BACK POST