2017 was a year to prize out the best and worst
WELCOME to my New Year Book of Revelations.
Best appointment: When Stewart Petrie took over at Montrose last December they were rock bottom of League Two after seasons flirting with the drop. After guiding the Links Park side to a six-point lead at the summit, Petrie is rivalling Brendan Rodgers for Scottish boss of the year.
Most colourful character: Pedro Caixinha’s caravan finally came a cropper to the barking dogs but the ousted Rangers boss provided proverbs aplenty at press conferences.
The vampires may taste the flavour of the blood and want more but sadly Pedro was only a mere mortal as a manager.
Biggest disappointment: Forth Valley Academy falling victim to Falkirk’s decision to withdraw its funding which will see over 100 boys cast to the wind. It’s another sign of the failure of the youth structure in this country which deems one of the better ones as unfit for purpose.
Hopefully all of those new football boots bought as presents for Christmas will have somewhere to play. But watch for the domino effect in 2018.
Best prospect: A toss-up between Hearts kid Harry Cochrane and St Mirren’s Lewis Morgan but the Buddie is 21 so he doesn’t have much time on his side for when potential reaches its sell-by date.
There’s a belief in Morgan’s play which marks him as a cut above the rest in the Championship but whether he’ll translate that at Premiership level is set to be tested within the next 12 months.
Artificial intelligence: Rugby Park was once one of the best grass pitches in British football but now it’s gone plastic it’s one of the worst.
It’s taken a while but now they have installed a proper manager in the shape of Steve Clarke, why not go the whole hog in their recovery process by ripping out their plastic pitch and getting back to playing on a proper football surface.
No trail blazers: SFA chief executive Stewart Regan and his president continue to leave the national side without a manager and it should be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Biggest managerial flop: Ian Cathro’s car crash reign at Hearts was a story of pity and pain watching a coach badly out of his depth.
Nature or nurture: Gordon Strachan blamed genetics for Scotland’s failings in our World Cup qualification campaign. But sadly wee man syndrome was at play.
Our lack of ability in taking the ball under pressure and the
Lack of ability in taking the ball under pressure the real downfall
absence of decent defenders were the real downfall and why we’ll be on the outside looking in when the tournament begins in Russia next summer.
Taking the p***: Shettleston keeper Gary Whyte was sent off for relieving himself behind his goal. He claims to have moved on from the incident as it’s now water under the bridge.
Mealy-mouthed: This was the year which unleashed concomitant into the football sphere and whoever wrote that Rangers statement about the decision from Derek McInnes to snub the chance to become their manager should take a bow.
It was perfectly-timed for the Christmas period and worth a whopping 17 points on the scrabble board.