Scots talked the talk .. but failed to walk the walk

IN the year 1100 AD the Crusaders had a very successful clash against the locals at Haifa but unfortunately in the same town on Thursday, Scotland could not do the same.

I had a bad feeling about this match beforehand. There was far too much talking off the pitch, with apparently everyone, the management, current players and even former stars, all seemingly happy to go public in having their say on the team, tactics etc.

As for the match itself we started well but gradually allowed Israel to take control. I was a bit surprised to see James Forrest only making the bench. He had a day to remember when scoring four last weekend and when someone is in form like that it might be sensible to play him.

While these international weeks and matches catch the attention of the Scottish football public, I’d imagine they’re not quite so popular with every manager.

For instance both Celtic and Rangers had good wins last weekend, the results suggesting they are either right on song or coming into it.

Brendan Rodgers and Steven Gerrard would have been keen for their teams to carry that form into the next set of matches.

Unfortunately that is not until a week today so what does a manager do with the players not on international duty in the meantime?

The situation is even worse for the teams who lost their last matches. The managers of St Johnstone and Hamilton in particular – both of whom were hit for six last Saturday – must be wondering what precisely to do at training.

These managers must firstly decide the reason for losing these goals. It could be a lack of fitness, lapses of concentration in defence or poor team play. You would imagine, at this time of year, most players have reached full fitness, so you could almost discard that possibility.

But if the boss decides he wants his team fitter then instead of giving them a rest during international week, he brings them in, sometimes twice daily, and puts them through the mill.

This might help their fitness but from experience does nothing for team spirit and morale.

If the answer lies in a lack of concentration or poor team play, that must be worked on. But again from experience, it can be almost soul-destroying to go through the same routines in training time after time, particularly against the same team-mates.

Much better if short sessions are used, then the systems put in place against a team from a lower league. That way they get tested. Unfortunately there is always the risk of injury.

That usually happens when a player from the lower-placed team is so determined to show what he is capable of he tends to overdo the challenges.

Some managers get it right with their sides, at least temporarily.

Top of the Championship just now are Ayr, whose boss Ian McCall seems to have organised his team to strike a nice balance between knocking in the goals (18 in eight matches) while keeping the gate shut at the other end.

But I think the club is also helped by its location. There seems to be something in the air down by the west coast that is helping teams from that area perform well. After all, another Ayr are top of the rugby Premiership.